"'Twas all the doin's o' the primrose ring." And then Bridget shouted
gaily across to the gray wisp of a woman. "Ye tell them. Weren't ye
afther givin' us the promise of a home?"
"And haven't I come to keep the promise?" she answered, as gaily. But
in an instant she sobered as her eyes fell on the open letter on the
President's desk. "I am so sorry I wrote it--that is why I have come;
not that I don't think you deserved it, for you do," and the widow of
the Richest Trustee looked at them unwaveringly.
If she was conscious of the surprised faces about, she gave no sign for
others to reckon by. Instead, she walked the length of the board-room
to the President's desk and went on speaking hurriedly, as if she
feared to be interrupted before she had said all she had come to say.
"I wish I had written in another way, a more helpful way. Why not add
your second surgical ward to Saint Margaret's and do all the good work
you can, as you had planned? Only let me have these children to start
a home which shall be a future harbor for all the cases you cannot mend
with your science and which you ought not to set adrift. You can send
me all the convalescing children, too, who need country air and
building up. In return for this, and because you deserve to be
punished--just a little--for yesterday--I shall try my best to take
with me Margaret MacLean and your House Surgeon."
She laid a hand on both, while she added, softly: "Suppose we three go
home together and talk things over. Shall we?"
So the "Home for Curables" has come true. It crests a hilltop, and is
well worth the penny that Bridget gave for it. As the children
specified, there are no "trusters"; and it has all the modern
improvements, including Margaret MacLean, who is still "Miss Peggie,"
although she is married to their new Senior Surgeon.
There is one very particular thing about the Home which ought to be
mentioned. When the children arrived Toby was on the steps, barking a
welcome. No one was surprised; in fact, everybody acted as though he
belonged there. Perhaps the surprising thing would have been not
having the promise kept. Toby is allowed right of way, everywhere; and
rumor has it that he often sneaks in at night and sleeps on Peter's
bed. But, of course, that is just rumor.
The children are supremely happy; which means that no one is allowed to
cross the threshold who cannot give the password of a friend. And you
might like to know that many of the trustees of Saint Margaret's come
as often as anybody, and are always welcomed with a shout. The
President, in particular, has developed the habit of secreting things
in his pockets until he comes looking very bulgy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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