Nina Rhoades

“ Hamilton had gone back to her own apartment Mrs. Randall called Betty to her side.
"Betty, darling," she said, and though there were tears in her eyes, there was a more peaceful expression on her face than the little girl had ever seen there before. "I am afraid I have been a very foolish, selfish mother to you and Jack, but we all make mistakes sometimes, and I am going to try and undo mine as soon as I can. Everybody has been so good it makes me ashamed of my old foolish pride. Mrs. Hamilton has taught me a lesson this morning that I shall never forget. ”

“ I see your point, though; you don't want your sister to be obliged to work."
"No," said Jack; "not if I can take care of her. I want her to live in a beautiful place, with a park, like mother—I mean like some people—and never have to do anything she doesn't want to."
"Well," said Lord Carresford, smiling, "I am not certain about the park, but you ought to be able to make a comfortable home for your mother and sister. You have talent, my boy, and it should be cultivated. You must have lessons."
Jack's bright face clouded.
"Don't lessons cost a good deal, sir?" ”

“ Bell wants him to be in the open air as much as possible."
"Mother," said Jack suddenly, as his mother was making him comfortable in the big wicker armchair by the window of their pleasant room on the ground floor, "did you ever see a lord when you were in England?"
"I think I have seen several in my life," said Mrs. Randall, smiling; "why do you want to know?"
"Because one is coming to stay at Lulu Bell's house, and I want to see him very much."
"Lords don't look any different from other people, do they, mother?" questioned Betty.
"Not in the least. I have an uncle who is a lord." ”

“ I wish she didn't have to go out on rainy days."
"So do I," said Betty decidedly. "Don't you hate being poor, Jack?"
"If you were only grown up," Jack went on, ignoring his sister's question, "you could go out and give the lessons on wet days or when mother didn't feel well, and she could stay at home and rest."49
"No, I couldn't," said Betty, dolefully. "You know I'm not a bit musical; I couldn't play like mother if I tried all my life. I don't see how I'm ever going to be any kind of a teacher if I can't go to school and get a diploma. People can't teach without diplomas; Mrs. Flynn says so. ”

“ Randall had started out on her afternoon rounds, Jack remarked suddenly, as he was turning over the pages in his English history:
"Now, Betty, you know the kind of lady I want you to be. I don't believe lords' relations ever work; not the lady relations, I mean, of course the men do."
"I don't see any use in being related to people if we don't even know them," said Betty, a little discontentedly. "Anyhow, I don't want to think about it, because if I do I shall forget and tell people, and then mother will be displeased. ”

“ Come, Winifred."
"Mother," said Winifred, as they left the bakery, "I really do wish I knew that little girl. She has a very nice face, and if her brother is a cripple, I might go and read to him sometimes. You know I'm very fond of cripples."
The lady laughed.
"Well, you may speak to the child, if you like," she said kindly. "I scarcely know whether it would do for you to call on the family. You see, dear, a great many people live in that big apartment house, and they may not all be desirable friends for you. But look, isn't that the very child you are talking about? ”

“ And Winifred slipped her kind little hand lovingly into that of her friend.
Jack gave the small fingers an appreciative squeeze.
"There's only one thing I'm sorry about," he whispered shyly, "and that is that when we go to England to live we won't see you any more, not unless you come over there to see us some time."
"Perhaps we shall," said Winifred hopefully. "If we do will you ask us to stay at your castle?"
"Of course, and—I say, Winnie, when I grow up—I shall be able to walk like other people then, you know—I'll come over here to see you, and—and I'll marry you if you want me to. ”

“ I don't want mother to give music lessons when I grow up, and Betty mustn't be a housekeeper, though she says she would like to be one."
"Have you a particular objection to housekeepers, then?"
"Oh, no, it isn't that, only I don't think—Lord Carresford, would you mind telling me something?"
"Not at all; what is it?"
"It's about ladies," said Jack, flushing; "English ladies I mean. They never work, do they?"
"Many of them do when it is necessary. There is nothing to be ashamed of in honest work, you know."
"Oh, I know there isn't. Mother works, and Lulu's aunt writes books. ”

“ Jack's blue eyes opened wide in surprise. "It's because we're English, and mother once lived in that beautiful place with the park and the deer. She can't forget about it, even if she is poor now. She has to remember she's a lady, and ladies never do take money from strangers."
Betty sighed impatiently.
"I suppose it's wrong," she said, "but sometimes I can't help wishing mother hadn't been quite such a grand person when she lived in England. What's the use of it now when we have to live in a flat, and mother has to give music lessons and do all the housework herself? ”

“ Mother almost always takes me and comes for me herself, because we have only Lizzie, and she has a great deal to do."
"We don't keep any girl at all now," said Betty, "and so I can't go to school, because there would be nobody to take care of Jack. We did keep a girl last year, but some of mother's pupils gave up, and she couldn't get any new ones, so we had to let her go. Mother gives us our lessons every afternoon when she comes home, and we study in the mornings by ourselves." ”

“ You know my father was an artist."
"You will be an artist and Lulu will be an authoress," said Winifred reflectively. "I wish Betty and I could both be something nice too."
"I'm afraid I shall never be anything in particular, unless it's a housekeeper," remarked Betty from her seat on the bathing house steps. "I like to sweep and dust and cook better than anything else."
"You'll be a greater sewer, I think," said Winifred, with an admiring glance at the stocking her friend was darning. "Mother says she never saw a little girl who could sew as well as you can." ”

“ Aunt Estelle doesn't like sea air, so we always went to the mountains."
"Wouldn't you like to go to Navesink too?" Betty asked.
"I should just love it. Lulu wants me to come and visit her, but of course I can't leave mother."
"New York isn't so bad in summer," said Betty cheerfully. "We were here last year. It's nice in the park and on the Riverside, but of course the real country must be much nicer."
"I think any place is nice where mother is," said Winifred, with simple conviction. "Oh, Betty, there's the door bell, and it's mother's ring." ”

“ One of them took care of Lulu's aunt when she broke her knee last year, and they all liked her very much. And then, you know, Dr. Bell goes there every day, and we shall go too, just as soon as Jack is well enough to see us. Oh, Betty, dear, I'm sure God is going to let Jack get well and be just like other people. I've been saying little prayers to Him all day about it."
"So have I," said Betty, who was beginning to find Winifred's society very cheering. "He'll be so happy if he can walk, and mother says Dr. Bell wants us all to go to the country as soon as Jack is strong enough." ”

“ Lulu was standing on the piazza, as the three other children approached the Bells' cottage, Winifred pushing the go-cart this time, and Betty holding a parasol over Jack's head. Instead of calling out a cheerful greeting as usual, however, she ran hastily and silently down the steps, and met them halfway across the lawn.
"We mustn't make any more noise than we can help," she said softly. "Poor Aunt Daisy has a dreadful headache. It came on all of a sudden, and she's gone to lie down. She says it may go away by and by if she can get a nap. ”

“ Randall is coming in half an hour for my music lesson. Are you going to the beach, Lulu?"
"No; mamma thinks it too hot on the beach to-day, and Mrs. Hamilton doesn't want Winifred to go either. We've asked Betty and Jack over here, and mamma says we may have lemonade and cookies by and by."
"Lulu," said Lord Carresford, as the screen door closed behind Miss Warren, "who is Mrs. Randall?"
"Why, don't you know? She's Betty and Jack's mother, and she gives Aunt Daisy music lessons. She's a splendid music teacher, every one says so." ”

“ Hamilton said we mustn't. They thought your mother and Lord Carresford might have a great many things to talk about, and wouldn't want us around."
"They've been talking all the afternoon in mother's room," said Betty, "and Jack and I stayed out on the piazza, but a little while ago they called us in, and told us about everything. You can't think how pretty mother looks; her eyes are just shining, and she's got such a lovely color in her cheeks." ”

“ You are both going to be brave little people, I know, and perhaps by and by you may like to go and make a little visit to some of your friends, just until your mother gets stronger."
"We haven't any friends," said Betty; "we don't know any one at all, except Mrs. Hamilton and Winifred." ”

“ Meredith made no answer, and Winifred soon forgot her curiosity in the interest of other subjects. But she would have wondered a good deal more if she could have heard the words her mother was at that moment saying to Lizzie, for no sooner had the door closed behind Winifred and her aunt than Mrs. Hamilton hurried back to the kitchen.
"We can begin right away now, Lizzie," she said, laughing; "the darling is safely out of the way for the rest of the day, and we shall have to work like beavers to accomplish all we have to do. ”

“ Jack inquired wonderingly.
"Well, one very important part of a soldier's duty is to obey orders. Now we know that you want to stay here with your mother and Betty, but we feel that it will be much better for you to go home with Mrs. Hamilton, who has very kindly offered to take you with her. Betty can be a great help to Miss Clark, the nurse, if she stays here. You would like to do something to help your mother get well, wouldn't you?" ”

“ Betty will have to sleep in your bed, and then there is Miss Clark, you know. So I want you to be a very good boy, and come home with me. Betty shall come down to see you the first thing in the morning, and you and Winifred will have such good times together."
Jack began to cry.
"I'd rather not, indeed, I would much rather not," he sobbed; "I've never been away from mother and Betty at night. Mother always puts me to bed."
Mrs. Hamilton looked distressed and rather helpless, but the doctor came to the rescue. ”

“ A boy who can draw as well as you can without ever taking a lesson, ought to have every advantage for improving his talent. Your mother should place you under one of the very best teachers in New York, and then when192 you are older you will be able to make good use of the advantages you have received."
"But if it costs a good deal of money I'm afraid mother couldn't possibly afford it," said Jack mournfully. "I shouldn't like to speak to her about it either, because it might worry her. When mother's worried about things she doesn't sleep, and then her eyes look so tired." ”

“ It might make her feel badly to go back."
"So it might; I never thought about that, but she might like to see Uncle Jack. I should like to see him, shouldn't you, Betty?"
"Yes; I wonder if we ever shall. Mother doesn't like to have us talk much about him, but I know she loves him very much; her eyes always look that way when she tells us how handsome and splendid he used to be when he was a boy."
"Wouldn't it be nice if Winifred Hamilton51 came to see us this afternoon," Jack remarked rather irrelevantly; "I do like her very much, don't you?" ”

“ While they ate their host talked to them, and he was so pleasant and merry, and, in fact, talked so much like any other gentleman, that Winifred whispered to Jack: "Betty was right, wasn't she? A lord isn't a bit different from anybody else," to which Jack replied, "No, only rather nicer than most people, don't you think so?"
By the time the impromptu repast was finished the yacht had reached the steamboat landing, and Lord Carresford hurried away to the telephone office to inform Dr. and Mrs. Bell of their little daughter's whereabouts. ”

“ Betty's cheeks were scarlet, and her eyes drooped, but she said nothing, and in silence they went back to Jack. The little boy looked imploringly at Winifred, as if with some faint hope that she might be able to set matters right.
"Do you think she's very ill?" he asked tremulously.
"I think a doctor ought to see her," said Winifred decidedly. "My friend Lulu Bell's papa is a doctor, and he's very kind. Would you like to have me ask him to come and see your mother?"74
"No," said Betty sharply; "mother doesn't want a doctor ”

“ Do you think your friends will be very much frightened about you?"
"I don't think so," said Lulu. "My mother has gone to the city for the day; Winifred's mother is out driving, and Betty and Jack say their mother told them they needn't come home before six. My papa has a telephone, and we can let them know as soon as we get to the landing."
"Not at all a bad idea, and in the meantime won't you make yourselves at home on board my yacht? By the way, I think shipwrecked people are apt to be hungry." ”

“ Randall, who had now left her seat, and was standing with her back to them, looking out of the window. But after a little while they began to talk in whispers.
"I guess mother will be back pretty soon now," said Winifred, giving Betty's cold little hand an encouraging squeeze. "She'll be sure to come and tell you about Jack the very first thing."
Betty said nothing, and after a little pause Winifred went on.
"Won't it be lovely when Jack gets well? Just think, he may be a soldier after all when he grows up. You know Dr. Bell always calls him a little soldier boy." ”