But for her own foolishness that sweet little child might have been
hers, she thought, as her heart went after the little one with an
indescribable yearning which made her stretch out her arms as if to take
the baby to her bosom and hold it there forever. Guy had called it for
_her_, and that touched her more than anything else. He had not
forgotten her then. She had never supposed he had, but to be thus
assured of it was very sweet, and as she thought of it, and read again
little Daisy’s letter, the tightness about her heart and the choking
sensation in her throat began to give way, and one after another the
great tears rolled down her cheeks, slowly at first, but gradually
faster and faster until they fell in torrents, and a tempest of sobs
shook her frame, as with her head bowed upon her dressing-table she gave
vent to her grief. It seemed to her she never could stop crying or grow
calm again, for as often as she thought of the touching words, "I pays
for you," there came a fresh burst of sobs and tears, until at last
nature was exhausted, and with a low moan Daisy sank upon her knees and
tried to pray, the words which first sprang to her lips framing
themselves into thanks that somewhere in the world there was one who
prayed for her and loved her too, even though the love might have for
its object merely dolls, and candies, and toys. And these the child
should have in abundance, and Miss McDonald found herself longing for
the morrow in which to begin again the shopping she had thought was
nearly ended.
It was in vain next day that her mother remonstrated against her going
out, pleading her white, haggard face and the rawness of the day. Daisy
was not to be detained at home, and before ten o’clock she was down on
Broadway, and the dolly with the "shash," and "pairesol," which she had
seen the day before under its glass case was hers for twenty-five
dollars, and the plainer bit of china, who was to be dollie’s mother and
perform the parental duty of "panking her when she was naughty," was
also purchased, and the dishes, and the table, and stove, and bedstead,
with ruffled sheets, and pillow-cases, and blue satin spread, and the
washboard, and clothes-bars, and tiny wringer, and diverse other toys,
were bought with a disregard of expense which made Miss McDonald a
wonder to those who waited on her. Such a Christmas-box was seldom sent
to a child as that which Daisy packed in her room that night, with her
mother looking on and wondering what Sunday-school was to be the
recipient of all those costly presents, and suggesting that cheaper
articles would have answered just as well.
Everything the child had asked for was there except the picture. That
Daisy dared not send, lest it should look too much like thrusting
herself upon Guy’s notice and wound Julia his wife.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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