CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
Three in a row, they sat and thought while the leaf piles smouldered and the afternoon went by. Plan after plan was offered and discussed and cast aside. At last Elise glanced at her little silver wrist watch, and wound up her scarf.
“Time for maman to come home,” she said. “She likes it when I meet her at the door with my love, and myself likes it too.”
“Of course you do, you dear!” said Helen. “Good-bye! We will keep on thinking and perhaps tomorrow we will be able to get hold of some plan that will be worth acting on. I must go too, Rosanna.”
“I will walk around the block with you,” said Rosanna, rising and calling a gay good-bye after Elise. She went with Helen almost to the door of her apartment and then returned very slowly. How she did long to help Gwenny! There must be some way. Poor patient, uncomplaining Gwenny! Rosanna could not think of her at all without an ache in her heart. She was so thin and her young face had so many,manylines of pain.
She was so thoughtful at dinner time that her Uncle Robert teased her about it. He wanted toknow if she had robbed a bank or had decided to run off and get married and so many silly things that his mother told him to leave Rosanna alone. Rosanna smiled and simply went on thinking. After dinner she slipped away and went up to her own sitting-room. Then Uncle Robert commenced to worry in earnest. He had his hat in his hand ready to go over and see Mr. Culver, but he put it down again and went up to Rosanna’s room, three steps at a time.
Rosanna called “Come,” in answer to his knock in quite her usual tone of voice, and Uncle Robert heaved a sigh of relief.
He stuck his head in the door, and said in a meek tone: “I thought I would come up to call on you, Princess. Mother is expecting a bridge party, and it is no place for me.”
“That is what I thought,” said Rosanna. “Besides I wanted to think.”
“Well, I am known as a hard thinker myself,” said Uncle Robert. “If you will invite the part of me that is out here in the hall to follow my head, I will be glad to help you if I can.”
“I don’t see why I shouldn’t tell you about things anyway,” mused Rosanna. “You are not a parent, are you?”
“No, ma’am, I amnot,” said Uncle Robert. “Nary a parent! Why?”
He came in without a further invitation and sat down in Rosanna’s biggest chair. At that itsqueaked in an alarming manner, and Uncle Robert made remarks about furniture that wouldn’t hold up a growing boy like himself. When he appeared to be all settled and comfortable, and Rosanna had shoved an ash tray over in a manner that Uncle Robert said made him feel like an old married man, he said, “Now fire ahead!” and Rosanna did.
She told him all about Gwenny and her family—her mother and Mary and selfish Tommy, and good little Myron, and Luella and the heavy baby, and the story was so well told that Uncle Robert had hard work holding himself down. He felt as though the check book in his pocket was all full of prickers which were sticking into him, and in another pocket a bank book with a big, big deposit, put in it that very day, kept shouting, “Take care of Gwenny yourself!” so loudly that he was sure Rosanna must hear.
But Uncle Robert knew that that was not the thing for him to do. He could not take all the beauty and generosity out of their effort when their dear little hearts were so eagerly trying to find a way to help.
He hushed the bank book up as best he could and said to Rosanna, “I don’t worry a minute about this thing, Rosanna. I know perfectly well that you will think up some wonderful plan that will bring you wads of money, and as long as I amnota parent, I don’t see why I can’t be your councillor. There might be things that I could attend to. Icould take the tickets at the door or something like that.”
“Tickets!” said Rosanna, quite horrified. “Why, Uncle Bob, we can’t give ashow!”
“I don’t see why not, if you know what you want to show,” answered Uncle Robert. “You see benefit performances given all the time for singers and pianists and actors who want to retire with a good income. Some of them have one every year, but you couldn’t do that for Gwenny. However I’ll stand by whenever you want me, you may feel sure of that, and if I can advance anything in the way of a little money—” he tapped the bank book, which jumped with joy.
“Oh, thank you!” said Rosanna. “We will be sure to tell you as soon as we can hit on a plan, and we will have you to go to for advice, and that will be such a help!”
After Uncle Bob had taken himself off, Rosanna went slowly to bed. She thought while she was undressing and after she had put out the light and was waiting for her grandmother to come in and kiss her good-night. And the last thing before she dropped off to sleep her mind was whirling with all sorts of wild ideas, but not one seemed to be just what was wanted. One thing seemed to grow clearer and bigger and stronger, and that was the feeling that Gwenny must be helped.
The first thing that she and Helen asked each other the next day when they met on the way toschool was like a chorus. They both said, “Did you think of anything?” and neither one had.
Sad to relate, neither Rosanna nor Helen made brilliant recitations that day, and coming home from school Helen said gravely, “What marks did you get today, Rosanna?”
“Seventy,” answered Rosanna with a flush.
“I got seventy-two, and it was a review. Oh dear, this won’t do at all! I was thinking about Gwenny, and trying to work up a plan so hard that I just couldn’t study. Either we have positively got to think up something right away, or else we will have to make up our minds that we must do our thinking on Saturdays only. Can’t you think of a single thing?”
“I seem to have glimmers of an idea,” said Rosanna, “but not very bright ones.”
“All I can think of is to get all the girls in our group to make fancy things and have a fair.”
“That is not bad,” said Rosanna, “but would we make enough to count for much? Even if all the girls in our group should go to work and work every single night after school we would not be able to make enough fancy articles to make a whole sale.”
“I suppose not,” sighed Helen. “This is Thursday. If we can’t think of something between now and Saturday afternoon, let’s tell the girls about it at the meeting and see what they suggest, and ask if they would like to help Gwenny. But oh,I wish we could be the ones to think up something! You see Gwenny sort of belongs to us, and I feel as though we ought to do the most of the work.”
That night at dinner there was a guest at Rosanna’s house, young Doctor MacLaren, who had been in service with Uncle Robert. Rosanna quite lost her heart to him, he was so quiet and so gentle and smiled so sweetly at her grandmother. She sat still as a mouse all through the meal, listening and thinking.
After dinner when they had all wandered into the lovely old library that smelled of books, she sat on the arm of her Uncle Robert’s chair, and while her grandmother was showing some pictures to the doctor, she whispered to her uncle, “Don’t you suppose the doctor could tell us how much it would cost to cure Gwenny?”
“You tickle my ear!” he said, and bit Rosanna’s.
“Behave!” said Rosanna sternly. “Don’t you suppose he could?”
“I am sure he could, sweetness, but I sort o’ think he would have to see Gwenny first. Shall we ask him about it?”
“Oh, please let’s!” begged Rosanna.
“Th’ deed is did!” said Uncle Robert, and as soon as he could break into the conversation, he said: “Rick, Rosanna and I want to consult you.”
Rosanna squeezed his hand for that; it was so much nicer than to put it all off on her.
Doctor MacLaren laughed his nice, friendlylaugh. “Well, if you are both in some scheme, I should say it was time for honest fellows like me to be careful. Let’s hear what it is.”
“You tell, Rosanna,” said Uncle Robert. “I can’t talk and smoke all at the same time.”
So Rosanna, very brave because of Uncle Robert’s strong arm around her, commenced at the beginning and told all about Gwenny and her family, and her bravery in bearing the burden of her lameness and ill health. And she went on to tell him about the Girl Scouts and all the good they do, and that she was sure that they would help, but they (she and Helen) hated to put it before the meeting unless they had some idea of the amount of money it would be necessary for them to earn. And another thing; what if they should start to get the money, and couldn’t? What adreadfuldisappointment it would be for Gwenny and indeed all the family down to Baby Christopher!
The two young men heard her out. Then Uncle Robert said:
“I don’t know the exact reason, but it seems that you cannot work with these Girl Scouts if you are a parent. Are you a parent, Rick?”
“Please don’t tease, Uncle Bobby,” said Rosanna pleadingly. “It is only that we Scout girls are supposed to try to do things ourselves without expecting all sorts of help from our mothers and fathers—and grandmothers and uncles,” she added rather pitifully.
Robert patted her hand. Rosanna was an orphan.
“I see now how it is,” he said. “Tell us, Rick, what you think about this.”
“I think that Saturday morning, when there is no school, Rosanna might take me to call on Miss Gwenny and we will see about what the trouble is. And I think as she does, that it would be very wise to say nothing at all about this plan until we know something about the case. It would be cruel to get the child’s hopes up for nothing. If there is anything that I dare do, I will promise you now that I will gladly do it, but I cannot tell until I see her.”
“Thank you ever and ever so much!” said Rosanna. “We won’t tell anyone a thing about it!”
“Can you drive over to Gwenny’s tomorrow and tell her mother that a doctor friend of mine is coming to see her?” asked Uncle Robert.
“Indeed I can if grandmother is willing!” said Rosanna. “Oh, Idofeel as though we will think up some way of earning the money!”
Rosanna was so happy that she overslept next morning and was nearly late getting to school, so she did not see Helen until they were dismissed. They walked slowly home and sat down on their favorite place on the top step. They had been sitting quietly, watching a group of children playing in theleaves, when Rosanna jumped to her feet and commenced to dance up and down.
“Oh, Helen, Helen,” she cried. “I believe I have it! I believe I have it! Oh, I amsoexcited!”
“Well, do tell me!” exclaimed Helen.
“That is just what I am going to do,” said Rosanna, still dancing. “Let’s go around in the garden and sit in the rose arbor where no one will disturb us.”
“That is the thing to do,” agreed Helen, and together they went skipping through the iron gateway that led into the lovely old garden. Once upon a time that gate had been kept locked and little Rosanna had been almost a prisoner among the flowers and trees that made the garden so lovely. But now the gate swung on well-oiled hinges and all the little Girl Scouts were welcome to come and play with Rosanna in her playhouse or ride her fat little pony around the gravelled paths.
The children banged the gate shut behind them and went to the most sheltered spot in the garden, the rose arbor, where they were hidden from view. They threw their school books on the rustic table and settled themselves in two big chairs.
“Nowdo go on,” said Helen with a little thrill in her voice. “Oh, Idofeel that you have thought up something splendid!”