Lucien was blushing furiously now. "Don't," he pleaded.
William ignored the remark, and smiling, again proceeded, "Honest,
Sally, he's a pippin, is Lucien. Why, first thing we know he'll be the
boss architect of Canada, and the real thing in inventions too. He's
always trying his hand at something; and he'll come out ahead, will
Lucien."
Sally murmured a hope that he would.
"Oh, you needn't be afraid to speak up, Sally," said William, gaily.
"You can't phase Lucien. He'll listen to you until the cows come
home--he's a good listener, and," he laid one arm affectionately on
Lucien's shoulder, "he's a good doer, too, is my friend Lucien."
Lucien came frequently after that, and often alone. He never had much
to say, and yet Sally felt after his visits as though he had said a
great deal. He thought much of her, and the first practical outcome of
his thinking was the invention of an ingenious little table that could
be mounted on the bed, and moved easily by the patient, so that she
could use it as a book support, or a table on which to lay the trifles
she made for the little children. William saw it the first day Sally
used it, questioned her closely, took the table back to Lucien, and
gave him no rest until there had been a consultation with Whimple and
the first steps had been taken toward patenting the invention. It is
in use by every hospital almost in the world now, but few recall that a
boy then barely seventeen years of age invented it.
And as Sally thought of the past, she saw Lucien coming steadily up the
pathway toward her. He greeted her with a quiet, "How are you?" and
sat beside her on the verandah. It was almost dark, but warm, and a
gentle breeze tempered the atmosphere that throughout the day had been
oppressive. From the verandah the central portion of the city to the
Bay was stretched out in long regular streets, marked by the glimmering
of electric lights. Beyond the wharves the lights of the Island,
sentinel like, marked the indented shore facing the city, and beyond
that again there flickered faintly from Lake Ontario the lights of a
few steamers, some of them pleasure craft, others bearing burdens of
freight from, or toward, the sea-ports.
In silence they watched for a long time. It was Lucien who spoke
first. "Toronto is growing fast," he said, "it will soon be all built
up around here: and it is a fine city--I--I love it--I love it. Some
day--I'm foolish, though----"
"Some day," she echoed.
"Some day--I--I--hope I may do something to help to make it a greater
city still. Work for one's self isn't everything. Father often talks
to me of 'the public good.' 'Every man,' he says, 'should take an
intelligent interest in the affairs of his own municipality, and any
man who can serve his city in even a humble capacity should be proud to
do it.'"
"And you will, Lucien--I know you will." He took one of her hands and
held it in his own, and again they sat silent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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