CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII
There was a long silence during which Rosanna studied her uncle closely. She even forgot the puppy. What if anything should happen to Uncle Robert? As she looked at him it flashed over her that she cared for him with all her heart. She would not know what to do without him. She felt very sad, and when Uncle Robert looked up and surprised the worried expression on her face he laughed, and said:
“Cheer up, sweetness! I am all right, and I want you to promise me that you won’t tell mother what I have just told you. I don’t want to worry her.”
“I promise, Uncle Robert; and I always keep my promises,” said Rosanna.
“That is a good thing,” said Uncle Robert. “I wish I had known that before. I would have had you make me some.” But he wouldn’t explain that remark, and soon went out, not seeming to care for the rest of the news which, being all about the Scouts, Rosanna had left until the last as the most important.
The Girl Scouts were very busy now getting ready for Christmas. There was a cast-iron rule in thatparticular troop that all Christmas presents should be finished and wrapped up three weeks before Christmas.
So with all their own work well out of the way, they were busy as bees making tarleton stockings and collecting toys and dolls for the particular orphanage they had assumed the care of. Louisville is full of orphanages, and every year the girls were in the habit of choosing one of them for their attention. They dressed a tree, and secured presents for each of the children. These presents were often dolls and toys that had been cast aside by more fortunate children, but the girls took them and mended and painted and dressed them until you would have been surprised at the result. At least they never offered anything that looked shabby. The stockings were filled with popcorn and candy, and a big golden orange gladdened each little heart.
Rosanna worked harder than anyone. School went right on as it always does whether or not Girl Scouts are busy at other things, and every spare moment was spent with the dear little puppy that her uncle had brought her. Mr. Horton still complained to Rosanna about his heart, but was unable to go east as he had planned. He often asked Rosanna if Miss Hooker had returned, although Rosanna had told him a good many times that she did not expect to come back before spring.
But news came from Gwenny. She was so muchbetter that she could come back. As Miss Hooker was away, and Uncle Robert always seemed to have time to do things, the Girl Scouts made him a committee to go and pay the doctor and the hospital bills, and see that Gwenny and her mother reached home safely.
Uncle Robert dashed off to Cincinnati that very night. The next day he returned without Gwenny, and with a queer look on his face asked Rosanna to ask their Lieutenant, who was in charge of the troop, to call a meeting that very afternoon or evening. Rosanna called Miss Jamieson up, and between them they were able to get word to all the girls. Rosanna was as excited as any of them, because Uncle Robert would not tell her what the matter was. When the girls all gathered in Rosanna’s sitting-room, he came in, looking very mysterious and important.
“I have news for you girls—quite remarkable news, I think. To begin, I went down to Cincinnati and found Gwenny so improved that I actually did not know her. Of course she is still in a wheel chair, and will have to stay there most of the time for the next year but every day she goes through certain exercises, and soon will begin to take a few steps. Doctor Branshaw assured me that she will some day be as well as any of you. They have taught Mrs. Harter just how to rub her, and help her with her exercises.
“After I had seen Gwenny I went down and paidthe hospital bill. It came to a little over two hundred dollars. I have the items in my pocket. Then I went to Doctor Branshaw’s office, and asked him for his bill. He said, ‘Sit down. I want to have a talk with you.’ Well, girls, he wanted to know all about you, and the work you are doing, and how many there are of you in the troop that is taking care of Gwenny. I told him about the benefit, and he said he had heard about that from Gwenny, and her mother as well.
“I didn’t want to bore him, so after we had talked you pretty well out, and over, I asked him again for his bill, and he said, ‘Horton, there is no bill.’ I said, ‘Well, sir, whenever you will have it made out, I will give a check for it. The money the girls made is banked in my name for the sake of convenience.’
“‘How much is there?’ asked the doctor. I thought he didn’t want to charge over the amount we have so I told him. He fiddled with a pencil for awhile, then he said:
“‘Horton, I make the rich pay, and pay well, but I do not intend to ask those girls of yours a cent for this operation.’”
A great “O-o-o-o-h!” went up from the girls.
Uncle Robert went on.
“Then the doctor said, before I could thank him, ‘I wonder if the girls would mind if I make a suggestion,’ and I assured him that you would like it very much.
“‘Well then,’ said the doctor, ‘here it is. Gwenny will require a great deal of care for many months to come, rubbing and so forth. Why don’t those good girls take the money and buy a little house somewhere on the edge of the city, or on a quiet street, where the Harters could live and where Mrs. Harter would not have to work so hard to earn the rent? From what she says, the boys earn nearly enough to feed the family. What do you think of that?’
“I told him that I thought it was a splendid idea, and would see what could be done about it. Then he made the finest suggestion of all. He said that another week in the hospital would be of great benefit to Gwenny, and why didn’t I come home and see you and if you all approve, we can buy a small house and settle it and Gwenny can be moved right there.”
A shriek of delight went up, and everyone commenced to talk at once.
“Order, order!” cried Mr. Horton. He could scarcely make himself heard.
At last after much talking, it was settled that Mr. Horton should look at a number of houses, and when he had seen them he was to select the three that seemed most promising and take all the girls to see them. But he stipulated that a couple of older ladies should look them over with him, and Mrs. Breen and Mrs. Hargrave were chosen by unanimous vote.
“Now, girls, how are you going to thank the Doctor?” he asked.
No one knew and finally Rosanna suggested that it would be well to think it over. So they all trooped home, Uncle Robert promising to make a report at the end of three days.
It was a long three days, but it passed finally, and Uncle Robert appeared with an account of three little bungalows that seemed all that he had hoped for, and more. One of them he thought was the one for them to take, as it was right on a good part of Preston Street where the children could easily get to school. It was brand new, and had never been occupied. Indeed it was not finished but would be within two or three days. After the girls had seen the three houses, Mr. Horton said he would tell them which one Mrs. Hargrave and Mrs. Breen liked the best. Of course all the girls piled into the automobiles of the girls who had them, and made the rounds, and equally of course they all decided on the Preston Street house which was the very one that Mrs. Hargrave and Mrs. Breen had liked. It was all done except the plumbing in the kitchen, so Mr. Horton went right over to see Minnie who was still keeping house for the Harter children. Minnie heard all about the new plan, and Mr. Horton asked:
“Now, Minnie, do you feel like moving these people all over there, before Mrs. Harter and Gwenny come home, or is it too much to ask you?”
“Just you fetch me a moving van the day you want we should move,” said Minnie, “and I will do the rest.” She cast an eye around the dilapidated, shabby room. “My, my! What a piece of good luck for thedeservingestwoman! I tell you, Mr. Robert, the time I’ve been here has been a lesson to me. The way she has scrimped, and saved, and patched, and turned, and mended, and went without! My young man and me on his wages ought to put away fifty dollars every month of our lives. And so I told him we was going to do. Of course I will move ’em! And Mr. Robert, if it was so I could go around and see the house, perhaps I could tell better how to pack.”
“That’s right, Minnie. Suppose we go over now,” said Mr. Horton.
Minnie was overjoyed when she saw the little house, and at once picked out a room for Gwenny. The other children could double up, but Gwenny should have a room to herself. Minnie seemed thoughtful all the way home, and finally said, “Mr. Horton, up in your garret, there is a pile of window curtains that don’t fit anywhere, and they will never be used. I have handled ’em a million times while I worked for your mother. And there’s a square table with a marble top that your mother can’t abide the sight of, and a couple of brass beds put up there when they went out of date. If your mother would spare any of those things I could fix that house so tasty.”
“I don’t suppose she wants any of them,” said Robert heartily. “I will speak to her about them when I go home, and after supper Rosanna and I will take a joy ride over here and tell you what her answer is.”
The answer was that Mrs. Horton was only too glad to get rid of the things Minnie had mentioned, and suggested that before settling the house Minnie might go through the attic and see if there was anything else that she thought would be of service. Mrs. Horton, knowing that Minnie would know better than she could, just what the Harters would appreciate, refrained from making any suggestions; and Minnie found many treasures in the attic. There were portières, and a soft low couch, the very thing for Gwenny to rest on in the pleasant sitting-room, and the beds, and a table and two bureaus. And she found two carpet rugs.
She set Mary and Myron to work with a pot of cream colored paint, and in two days the shabby old dining-room table and shabbier chairs were all wearing bright new coats.
As soon as ever she could, she called on Mr. Robert for the moving van, and moved everything over to the new house. Settling was a joy, there were so many to help. All the Girl Scouts wanted to do something, and between them they outfitted Gwenny’s dresser (a walnut one that was put through the paint test and came out pretty as could be). The two carpet rugs were laid down in theliving-room and the dining-room, and looked scarcely worn at all after Minnie had finished scrubbing, and Tommy and Myron had whipped them. The dining-room rug was dark blue, and how that table and those chairs did show up on it. The springs were broken down in the couch Minnie had picked out, but she turned it over and her young man nailed a new piece of webbing underneath, and in five minutes it was as good as new. Rosanna helped her as much as she could. When they were busy putting up the curtains Minnie said, “Rosanna dear, I think your Uncle Robert looks thin.”
“I think he does too,” said Rosanna, but remembering her promise would say no more.
“In love,” said Minnie, wisely nodding her head.
“Of coursenot,” said Rosanna. “He doesn’t like girls.”
“No, he doesn’t. Oh no!” said Minnie. “Of course he is in love! Do you mean to tell me, Rosanna, that you don’t know that he is in love with little Miss Hooker? Don’t tell me that!”
“Idotell you,” said Rosanna. “He doesn’t even like her, sweet as she is.”
“My good land, hear the child!” said Minnie, sitting down on the top step of the ladder, and letting the stiffly starched curtain trail to the floor.
“Do you remember the day she came to see you when you were sick after your accident, and your grandmother had said you could be a Girl Scout?Do you remember that your Uncle Robert was there when she came in? Well, believe me, Rosanna, your Uncle Robert fell in love with her that very day and hour and minute, and that’s the truth.”
“I wish it was,” sighed Rosanna. “Idowish it was, but he truly does not like her. I don’t know why.”
“Well, that beats me!” said Minnie, picking up the slack of the curtain again, and sadly hanging it. “I certainly am disappointed, for she is thesweetestlittle bit I ever hope to see, and it would be a mercy to see that good, kind, nice actin’ young man get the likes of her rather than some high nosed madam, who would look down on all his humble friends (as friends weare, Rosanna, as you may well believe).”
Rosanna did not answer. She was too low in her mind. She knew that Uncle Robert did not care for anyone, but what if someoneshouldgrab him anyhow? Rosanna felt that life was full of perils.
Two days later the little house was in perfect order, and Uncle Robert went again to Cincinnati after Gwenny. It was decided that no one should meet them on account of tiring Gwenny after her journey, so Uncle Robert carried Gwenny to the automobile and took her home to the little new house, her mother looking back with her sweet, anxious smile from the front seat of the automobile.When they reached the Preston Street house, and Mary and Myron and boisterous Tommy and little Luella all filed out quite quiet, but brimming with happiness, Mrs. Harter could only stare.
“This is Gwenny’s house, Mrs. Harter, deeded to her. Come in!” said Mr. Horton, as Minnie rushed out and led the dazed woman into all the glories of the new home.
Mr. Horton carried Gwenny straight to her own room, and laid her down on the sparkling, gleaming brass bed, where he left her listening to Mary’s rapid explanations. When he went downstairs he found Mrs. Harter in the kitchen, crying silently.
“Now, now, Mrs. Harter, you must not do that!” he said. “Brace up like a good woman! Gwenny will need a lot of care for a few days, and you will need all your strength.”
“Oh, but I am so thankful that my heart feels as though it would break!” said Mrs. Harter.
Mr. Horton laughed. “It won’t break,” he said. “Minnie, shall I take you home?”
“Thank you, sir, but my Tom is coming over a little later. I have supper all fixed, so we will have a small feast to celebrate, after Gwenny is attended to and safe in bed, so I will get home nicely, thank you.”
“Good night then,” said Mr. Horton. “Don’t let those Girl Scouts run over you, Mrs. Harter.” He raised his hat and ran down the steps whistling.
“There goes one good man,” said Minniesolemnly. “Come, dear, and take off your hat in your own house, and see the ducky closet under the stairs to keep it in.”
And so it was that Gwenny came home.
Mr. Horton sped to his own home as fast as he dared drive the car, the chauffeur sitting silently beside him. Robert was too happy to let anyone else handle the wheel. Once more he dashed up the steps three at a time, whistling. Rosanna was at the door.
“Be careful of your heart, Uncle Robert,” she whispered, looking around to see that her grandmother was not within hearing. “Were they pleased?”
“Werethey?” said Uncle Robert. “I should say theywere! Everybody perfectly happy! Gwenny staring around her pretty room, and Mrs. Harter crying in the sink. Yes, everybody is happy. Teedle-ee, teedle-oo!” warbled Uncle Robert.
“How good and kind you are, dear Uncle Robert!” said Rosanna tenderly.
“Yes,ain’t I?” said Uncle Robert, deliberately ungrammatical. “Oh, yes, Ibe!” he went on chanting, as he sat down and fished out a cigarette. Then changing to a sober tone, “Rosanna, whom do you think I found in Cincinnati? Up there at that Hospital as large as life?”
“I don’t know,” said Rosanna.
“Well, if you will believe me, there was that badlittle bit of a Miss Hooker, who had come back from Atlantic City to see that Gwenny was all right. She helped me bring them home. And Rosanna, perhaps I didn’tget evenwith her, for what she said about my being funny! You know I told you I would. I did! It was hard, hard work but I done it, I done it! Tra-la-de-lu-de-lu-de-i-i-i-i-i!” yodeled Uncle Robert, whisking the ash off his cigarette.
“What did you do to her?” asked Rosanna in a small, fearful voice.
Uncle Robert looked very sternly at Rosanna.
“What did I do?” he asked. “What did Ido? Well, I made her promise to marry me;that’swhat I did! Pretty smart uncle, hey, Rosanna?”