Paul Leicester Ford

“ Ferguson, “every one knows about her mother’s fortune—and men are so mercenary in these days.”
“Oh, Josie, I don’t like to speak of that myself, but it is such a relief to have you say it. That is the whole trouble. What sort of a chance have my poor dears, who will inherit so little compared to her wealth, and that not till—till we are through with it—against Constance? I call it really shameful of her to keep on standing in their light!”
“Have you—Couldn’t you let her see—drop a hint—of the unconscious injury she is—”
“That is the cruelty of my position,” moaned Mrs. Durant. ”

“ Armstrong began feeling for his glasses, as he asked, “Are you connected with this hospital, Miss Durant?”
“No, but it was my carriage ran over him, and—”
“And is it because you ran over the boy, Miss Durant,” he interrupted, “that you think it is your right to come here and issue instructions for our treatment of him?”
“It is every one’s right to see that assistance is given to an injured person as quickly as possible,” retorted the girl, though flushing, “and to protest if human suffering, perhaps life itself, is made to wait the convenience of one who is paid to save both.” ”

“ A Match-Maker
“You understand, Josie, that I wouldn’t for a moment wish Constance to marry without being in love, but—”
Mrs. Durant hesitated long enough to convey the inference that she was unfeminine enough to place a value on her own words, and then, the pause having led to a change, or, at least, modification of what had almost found utterance, she continued, with a touch of petulance which suggested that the general principle had in the mind of the speaker a special application, “It is certainly a great pity that the modern girl should be so unimpressionable!” ”

“ And then Jack made matters worse by saying that my interest would be satisfied with common stock, but Constance would only accept preferred for hers. Men do blurt things out so—and yet they assert that we women haven’t tongue discretion. No, dear, with them about it’s perfectly useless for me to do so much as lift a finger to marry Constance off, let alone her own naturally distrustful nature. ”

“ Constance laughed happily. “Still, I’m very glad I gave it to you, Swot,” she said, with a glance of the eyes, half shy and half arch, at the man beside her.
“Did youse like Miss Constance’s present too, doc?”
“Yes,” replied the doctor, “especially the one you haven’t seen, Swot.”
“Wot wuz dat?”
“A something called hope—which is the finest thing in the world.”
“No. There is one thing better,” said Miss Durant. ”

“ Durant.
“I don’t think it’s that, Anne. It’s her proud face and reserved manner. And I believe those are the real reasons for her not marrying. However much men may admire her, they—they—Well, it’s your kittenish, cuddling kind of a girl they marry.”
“No; you are entirely wrong. Doubtless it is her money, but Constance has had plenty of admirers, and if she were less self—if she considered the interests of the family—she would have married years ago. But she is wholly blind to her duty, and checks or rebuffs every man who attempts to show her devotion. ”

“ White with terror, the girl caught at the handle, but she did no more than throw open the door, for, as if they sprang from the ground, a crowd of men were pressing about the brougham. All was confusion for a moment; then the tangle of vehicles seemed to open out and the mob of people, struggling and gesticulating, fell back before a policeman while another, aided by some one, caught the heads of the two horses, just as the footman drew out from under their feet into the cleared space something which looked like a bundle of rags and newspapers. ”

“ Armstrong smiled and nodded his head, but something in his face or manner seemed to give a change to the boy’s thoughts, for, after eyeing him intently, he said to Constance,—
“Oin’t youse goin’ to invite de doc?”
Miss Durant coloured as she said, with a touch of eagerness yet shyness, “Dr. Armstrong, I intended to ask you, and it will give me a great deal of pleasure if you will come to Swot’s and my festival.” And when the doctor seemed to hesitate, she added, “Please!” in a way that would have very much surprised any man of her own circle. ”

“ For a moment Miss Durant vacillated, then, with a very slight inclination of her head, conveying the smallest quantity of consent and acknowledgment she could express, she walked out of the porte-cochere.
The doctor put himself beside her, and; they turned down the street, but not one word did she say. “If he will force his society upon me, I will at least show him my dislike of it,” was her thought.
Obviously Dr. Armstrong was not disturbed by Miss Durant’s programme, for the whole distance was walked in silence ”

“ Even a criminal has his pals, but, like the forest animal, everyone—even his own kind—is an enemy to the street waif.”
“It must be terrible to suspect and fear even kindness,” sighed the girl, with a slight shudder. “I shall try to teach him what it means.”
“There does not appear to be any carriage here, Miss Durant,” announced her escort. ”

“ As if I hadn’t, a dozen times at the least,”
“And what does he say?”
“That Constance shows her sense by not caring for the men I invite to the house! As if I could help it! Of course with three girls in the house one must cultivate dancing-men, and it’s very unfair to blame me if they aren’t all one could wish.”
“I thought Constance gave up going to dances last winter?”
“She did, but still I must ask them to my dinners, for if I don’t they won’t show Muriel and Doris attention. Mr. Durant should realise that I only do it for their sakes ”

“ Don’t youse see dat he wants to, ’cause he’s stuck on youse?”
“Then I’ll come to-morrow and read to you, Swot,” hastily remarked Miss Durant, pulling her veil over her face. “Good-bye.” Without heeding the boy’s “Dat’s fine,” or giving Dr. Armstrong a word of farewell, she went hurrying along the ward, and then downstairs, to her carriage. Yet once within its shelter, the girl leaned back and laughed merrily. “It’s perfectly absurd for him to behave so before all the nurses and patients, and he ought to know better. ”

“ Armstrong, I did not mean to interrupt you in your duties, and you must not let me detain you from them.”
“I had made my morning rounds long before you came, Miss Durant,” equably answered the doctor, “and had merely come back for a moment to take a look at one of the patients.”
“I feared you were neglecting—were allowing my arrival to interfere with more important matters,” replied Miss Durant, frigidly. “I never knew a denser man,” she added to herself, again seeking to ignore his presence by giving her attention to Swot. ”

“ At the sound of her footsteps the boy turned his head till he caught sight of her, when, after an instant’s stare, he surprised the girl by hiding his eyes and beginning to cry.
“Ise knowed all along youse wuz goin’ to kill me,” he sobbed.
“Why, Swot,” cried Constance, going to his side. “Nobody is going to kill you.”
The hands were removed from the eyes, and still full of tears, they blinkingly stared a moment at the girl.
“Hully gee! Is dat youse?” he ejaculated. “Ise tought youse wuz de angel come for me.” ”

“ Durant. “Don’t think that I want to sacrifice her, dear; but she really isn’t happy herself—for—well—she is a stepdaughter, you know—and so can never quite be the same in the family life; and now that she has tired of society, she really doesn’t find enough to do to keep busy. Constance wanted to go into the Settlement work, but her father wouldn’t hear of it—and really, Josie, every one would be happier and better if she only would marry—”
“I beg your pardon for interrupting you, mama. I thought you were alone,” came a voice from the doorway. “How do you do, Mrs. Ferguson?” ”

“ But if you could hear the little chap sing your praises to the nurses and to me, you would not think him heartless. ‘My loidy’ is his favourite description of you.”
“He wants to see me?” questioned the girl, eagerly.
“Yes. Like most of the poorer class, Miss Durant,” explained the doctor, “he has a great dread of the knife. ”

“ The look of hope and pride faded out of the boy’s face. “Ise oin’t playin’ in no sorter luck dese days,” he sighed. Suddenly the expression of alarm reappeared in his face. “Wheer’s me papes?”
“They’re all right. Don’t you work yourself up over them,” said the roundsman, heartily.
“Youse didn’t let de udder newsies swipe dem, did youse?” the lad appealed anxiously.
“I’ll pay you for every one you lost,” offered Constance. “How many did you have?” ”

“ Like me to learn youse?”
“No,” replied the girl, as she closed the book.
“Goils never oin’t no good,” remarked Swot, discontentedly.
Really irritated, Miss Durant rose and adjusted her boa. “Swot,” she said, “you are the most ungrateful boy I ever knew, and I’m not merely not going to read any more to-day, but I have a good mind not to come to-morrow, just to punish you.”
“Ah, chase youseself!” was the response. “Youse can’t pass dat gold brick on me, well, I guess!”
“What are you talking about?” indignantly asked Constance.
“Tink Ise oin’t onter youse curves? ”

“ I happen to have been born with my own living to make in the world, and when I had worked my way through the medical school, I only too gladly became ‘Interne’ here, not because it is what I wish to do, but because I need the salary. ”

“ W’y didn’t youse ask wot Ise wants?”
“And what would you like?”
“Will youse guv me a pistol?”
“Why, what would you do with it?”
“I’d trow a scare into de big newsies w’en dey starts to chase me off de good beats.”
“Really, Swot, I don’t think I ought to give you anything so dangerous. You are very young to—”
“Ah! Youse a goil, an’ deyse born frightened. Bet youse life, if youse ask de doc, he won’t tink it nuttin’ to be scared of.”
“He isn’t here this morning,” remarked Constance, for some reason looking fixedly at the glove she was removing as she spoke. ”

“ Armstrong.”
“Have no thought of me. I am twice as warmly clad as you, and am better protected than usual.”
Despite her protest he placed it about Constance’s shoulders and buttoned it up. “You know,” he said, “the society girl with her bare throat and arms is at once the marvel and the despair of us doctors, for every dinner or ball ought to have its death-list from pneumonia; but it never—”
“Will it be a very painful operation?” asked the girl.
“Not at all; and the anaesthetic prevents consciousness. If Swot were a little older, I should not have had to trouble you. ”

“ At eleven on the following morning, Miss Durant’s carriage once more stopped at the hospital door; and, bearing a burden of flowers, and followed by the footman carrying a large basket, Constance entered the ward, and made her way to the waif’s bedside.
“Good-morning,” she said to Dr. Armstrong, who stood beside the next patient. “How is our invalid doing?”
“Good-morning,” responded the doctor, taking the hand she held out. “I think—”
“We’s takin’ life dead easy, dat’s wot wese is,” came the prompt interruption from the pillow, in a voice at once youthful yet worn. ”

“ Ise goin’ to git on de force, dat’s de racket Ise outer. Say, will youse read me anudder of dem stories?”
“Gladly, if I can find the right kind this time.”
The boy raised his head to look about the ward. “Hey, doc,” called his cracked treble.
“Hush, don’t!” protested the girl.
“W’y not?”
Before she could frame a reason, the doctor was at the bedside. “What is it?” he asked.
“Say, wese got tru wid dis story, an’ Miss Constance says she’ll read me anudder, but dey’ll set de goime up on her, sure, she bein’ a goil; so will youse buy de real t’ing?” ”

“ Armstrong, his face lighting up.
The look in his eyes brought something into the girl’s thoughts, and with a slight effort she rose. “I think I am well enough now to relieve you of my intrusion,” she said.
“You will not be allowed to leave the hermit’s cell till you have finished the cracker and the milk,” affirmed the man. “I only regret that I can’t keep up the character by offering you locusts and wild honey.”
“At least don’t think it necessary to stay here with me,” said Miss Durant, as she dutifully began to eat and drink again. “If—oh—the operation—How is Swot?” ”

“ And just because others take their places, she is puffed up into the belief that she is to go through life with an everlasting train of would-be suitors, and so enjoys her own triumph, with never a thought of my girls. ”

“ Armstrong,” she said, coolly.
“I have come here—I have intruded on you, Miss Durant,” awkwardly and hurriedly began the doctor, “because nothing else would satisfy Swot McGarrigle. I trust you will understand that I—He—he is to undergo an operation, and—well, I told him it was impossible, but he still begged me so to ask you, that I hadn’t the heart to refuse him.”
“‘I have come here—I have intruded on you, Miss Durant,’ hurriedly began the doctor”
“An operation!” ”

“ Once the carriage reached the hospital, Constance followed the doctor up the stairs and through the corridor. “Let me relieve you of the coat, Miss Durant,” he advised, and took it from her and passed it over to one of the orderlies. Then, opening a door, he made way for her to enter.
“The two were quickly seated on the floot”
Constance passed into a medium-sized room, which a first glance showed her to be completely lined with marble ”