"Oh, Father!" interrupted Daphne. "He is so old and slow. He"d _never_ get here. Why don"t you ask Dr. Eaton? He lives near here."
Mr. Thornton pursed up his lips.
"He is far too young. He has not the experience of Dr. Rathman."
"But, Father, the baby isn"t dying."
Drusilla"s shrewd old eyes looked keenly at Daphne"s flushed face, and she laughed.
"I think Daphne is right. A young doctor"s better. I don"t think old doctors have a hand with babies."
"But Dr. Eaton is very young," remonstrated Mr. Thornton.
"The younger the better, then perhaps he ain"t forgot how the stomach-ache feels himself. You telephone him, Daphne."
"No," said Daphne, a little embarra.s.sed. "I think James had better do that. Oh, here"s Mrs. Donald."
The baby was given into the motherly arms of Mrs. Donald; and Mr.
Thornton drew on his gloves and said very coldly, feeling that he had lost ground on every point, "Come, Daphne; we will go. When you have decided upon the final disposition of the child, you may, as always, command my services, Miss Doane. Come, Daphne."
"But, Father, I"ll stay a while with Miss Doane."
"No, Daphne; you will go with me. Your mother needs you."
Daphne cast an imploring glance at Drusilla.
"Can"t Daphne stay a while? I"d like to talk with her," Drusilla said.
"No," said her father, with a finality in his tone that caused Daphne to go with him meekly, if unwillingly; "Daphne must return with me."
Drusilla looked at the set face a moment, and then at the rebellious face of Daphne, and her own face broke into the tiny wrinkles that accompanied her smiles.
"Oh, I see! Well, never mind, child. There are lots of other days and this baby may need the services of a doctor often." And she accompanied them to the hall with a little light of understanding in her eyes as she watched Daphne"s pouting face disappear in the motor.
The young doctor came. He was a tall, broad-shouldered young athlete, not yet thirty, and his merry blue eyes and his cheery voice won Drusilla at once. They went to the gardener"s cottage and inspected the baby. The doctor patted it and tickled it and tossed it in his arms until it was all gurgles of delight.
"He"s as sound as a dollar, Miss Doane," he said. "Couldn"t be in better condition. He could run a Marathon this minute if his legs were long enough."
Drusilla watched the proceedings with twinkling eyes.
"Well, that"s a new way to medically examine an ailin" child," she commented; "but it seems to work."
"Ailing! He isn"t ailing, Miss Doane. If he keeps this fit Mrs.
Donald won"t have to send for me often."
"That"s what I told Mr. Thornton; but he said I must have you."
Dr. Eaton stopped tossing the baby and looked at Miss Doane in astonishment.
"Are you telling me that Mr. Thornton asked you to send for me?"
"Well," and Drusilla laughed, "he didn"t exactly mention your name, but he said I should have a doctor for the baby."
"I thought Mr. Thornton wasn"t recommending me. Didn"t he mention Dr. Rathman?"
"Perhaps he did, but Miss Daphne seemed to feel that he was too old to answer a hurry call like this, so we sort of compromised, at least Daphne and me did, on you."
There was a slight flush on the young man"s face that did not miss the keen eyes of Drusilla.
"Oh," he said, "I see." And then, in an attempt to change the subject: "Is this a new baby of Donald"s? I haven"t seen him around here before."
"No," said Drusilla; "this is _my_ baby."
Dr. Eaton looked at her, and then laughed with her.
"Now what should I say, Miss Doane--many happy returns of the day, or--"
"You jest say, Dr. Eaton, "This _is_ a fine baby." But come up to the house and have breakfast with me. I clean forgot it. And we"ll talk it all over."
They went slowly up the graveled walk to the breakfast-room, and over the coffee and the cakes Drusilla explained the unexpected arrival of the baby.
"Now you know as much about it as I do," she ended; "and I suppose you"ll say with Mr. Thornton that I"m a foolish old woman to say I"ll take it. But it won"t do you no good. I"m goin" to have my way, and I"ve found out in the last few weeks that I can get it, and I"m afraid it"s spoilin" me. I"m goin" to keep the baby."
The doctor leaned back in his chair. "May I light a cigarette?
Thanks. That breakfast was corking. Now, about the baby. I think you are right. Why shouldn"t you keep the baby?"
"That"s what I said--why shouldn"t I?"
"No reason in the world why you shouldn"t."
"I like you, Dr. Eaton. I like you more and more; and I see you understand how I feel. Here I am, an old woman all alone in this big house, with nothin" to do, and a lot of pesky servants that stand around and don"t earn their salt, jest a-waitin" on me. I"ve always wanted babies, but never had a chance to have "em, and I"ve jest spent my heart lovin" other people"s, and seein" "em in other people"s arms and mine empty. Now I git a chance to have a baby most my own and I ain"t goin" to lose it."
The doctor looked at her face for a few moments in silence, and beneath the lines he saw the loneliness of the heart-hungry little old woman and he understood.
"You are perfectly right, Miss Doane. There"s nothing like a baby in all the world. It"ll give you something to do and think about and it"ll bring sunshine into the house. I envy you. Every time I go down to the "home" where I look after the health of some kiddies, I wish I could bundle every one of them up and take them to a real home with me."
"That"s what Mr. Thornton wanted me to do with it--put it in a home.
I"ve lived in a home, Dr. Eaton, and though I wasn"t treated bad and had all the comforts of four walls and enough to eat, such as it was, it ain"t a place to die in, and it sure ain"t a place to grow up in."
"You"re right again, Miss Doane. The kiddies up at our place get a bed and clothes and plenty of food; but there"s something they don"t get and that something is going to count in their life. They grow up without love, and are turned out on the world just little machines that have been taught that the world goes round at the tap of a bell.
They"ve missed something that they can never get, and if they win out in life it"s because they"ve got something pretty big inside of them which they"ve had to fight for all by themselves. And any fight is hard when it is made alone without a little tenderness to help over the hard places. Why, when I see the girls all in checked ap.r.o.ns, hair braided in two braids tied with a blue cord, all the boys in blue with hats just exactly alike with blue bands on them--all going to dinner at a regular time--all eating oatmeal out of a blue bowl, all just part of a thing that turns babies into a lot of little jelly-molds like a hundred other little jelly-molds--well, Miss Doane, it hurts something way deep inside of me. Keep the baby, Miss Doane, for your own sake and for the baby"s."
"I"m glad you see it my way. I"d made up my mind already, but you make it easier for me. I wonder that I"ll do with it at first?"
"Why don"t you let the gardener"s wife keep it until you can find out what you really want to do. You can pay her and she"ll be glad to earn the extra money. It won"t cost much."
"I ain"t thinkin" about the cost. I"m jest glad to get a chance to spend some money. Mr. Thornton come to me the other day and talked most an hour about the investment of my income, and when I got it through my head what he meant, I learnt that he has to hunt up ways to put out the money that"s comin" to me all the time, so"s it"ll make more money. Now I don"t want to invest my income, or save it. I want to spend it, and I don"t see no better way than taking babies."