Grandfathers -- Juvenile fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Juvenile fiction; Orphans -- Juvenile fiction; Poor girls -- Juvenile fiction
In his anger, the blind man clasped his knife till its blade cut his
hand and Glory cried out in dismay. But he would not have her bathe the
wound and resumed his carving in silence. The little girl waited awhile,
once more fitting the small patch into the big hole of Posy Jane's
jacket; then she went on as if nothing had occurred:
"When we go there to live, me an' you, we'll have a room as big an' nice
as this an' you won't have to do a hand's turn for yourself. You an'
Bo'sn'll just set round in rockin'-chairs--I've seen 'em in the
stores--with welwet cushings on your laps--I mean you two a settin' on
the cushings, a dressed up to beat. Maybe, they'll let you order the
whole crew, yourself, into white ducks for muster at six bells, or
somethin'.
"An'," Glory continued, "there'll be me a wearin' a white frock, all new
an' never mended, an' my hair growed long an' lovely, an' me just as
purty as I wish I was, an' as everybody has to be that lives to the
'Harbor.' An' bime-by, of a Sunday, maybe, when they can spare the time,
Posy Jane an' Billy Buttons, an' Nick, the Parson, 'll come walkin' up
to the beautiful gate, an' the captain what keeps it'll write their
names in a book an' say, 'Walk right in, ladies an' gentlemens, walk
right in. You'll find Captain Simon Beck an' Miss Glorietta
Beck'--'cause I'm goin' to put that long tail to my plain 'Glory' when I
go to live there, grandpa.
"Lemme see. Where was I?" the little girl went on. "Oh, yes. The Elbow
folks had just come, an' was showed in. They was told, 'Walk right in.
You'll find your friends settin' in the front parlor on them welwet
cushings readin' stories out o' books an' chewin' candy all day long.'
An' then they'll scurce know us, Billy an' them, an' not till I laugh
an' show my teeth an' you get up an' salute will they suspicion us. An'
you'll have on gold specs an' dress-uniform an' that'll make you look
just like you could see same's other folks. Why, grandpa, darlin', I've
just thought, just this very minute that ever was, maybe, to the
'Harbor' you won't be blind any more; for true, maybe not. In such a
splendid place, with doctors settin' round doin' nothin', an' hospitals
an' all, likely they'll put somethin' in your eyes will make you see
again. O grandpa---- If!"
The old man listened silently.
"An' when--when do you think would be the soonest we might go? 'Twon't
cost much to take me an' you an' Bo'sn on the boat to Staten Island. I
know the way. Onct I went clear down to the ferry where they start from
just a purpose to see, an' we could 'most any time. Will we go 'fore
next winter, grandpa? An' yet I hate, I do hate, to leave this dear
Lane. We live so lovely in our hull house an' the folks'd miss us so an'
we'd miss the folks. Anyway, I should. You wouldn't, course, havin' so
many other old sailors all around you. An'---- Why, here's that same man
again!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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