Peace"s brown eyes were shining like stars, but all she said was, "What did he do with the author lady?"
"O, that came out beautifully, too. d.i.c.k--er, Dr. Shumway told Dr.
Rosencrans her story in the office downstairs, and it happened there was a real rich author lady there waiting for her automobile to come and take her home. Her name is Mrs. Selwyn, and she has been very sick, too, and must not try to write any more for a long time yet. But she became so interested in this poor little Miss Garland, that she insisted upon having her taken to her big, beautiful house for a few weeks. Mrs.
Selwyn employs a secretary to do much of her typewriting, and this secretary is now to help Miss Garland get her book finished, so it can go to the publishers as soon as possible."
"Is Miss Garland _my_ author lady?"
"Yes, dear."
"Then she won"t need a typewriter herself now."
"O, yes, for this arrangement is only for a little while,--until Mrs.
Selwyn is well again. So some of us,--Dr. Rosencrans, Dr. Race, Dr.
Shumway, Dr. Crandall, Miss Pierson, Miss Wayne, and oh, a whole bunch of nurses and friends, got up a collection and bought her a splendid new machine like she wanted, and when she goes home she will find it waiting for her."
"Doesn"t she know?"
"Not a whisper. It"s always to be a secret who gave it to her. We feared that she might feel as if we thought she had been begging, if she knew the names of the senders,--she is so extremely sensitive. So we just tied a card to the case, and wrote on it, "From your loving friends.""
"That"s reg"lar splendid, and I want my five dollars to help pay for it, too."
"But, Peace,--" Gail began.
"There ain"t any "but" to it," declared the small sister with determination. "I was the one who found her, and I mean to help."
"Very well," sighed Gail, studying the stubborn little chin and knowing that Peace would gain her point in some way, even if denied the privilege of contributing her one gold piece. "You surely did set the ball rolling, for Mrs. Selwyn says your little author lady will make her mark in the world before many years."
"Yes, I guess she will make a mark on the world, too," Peace agreed complacently, "for now Benny"s going to be like other children, and the mother won"t be so sick any more. Doesn"t _everything_ end just splendid?"
"Yes, my darling," whispered Gail to herself, "when you are around."
CHAPTER XIV
KETURAH AND BILLY BOLEE
"Well, Kitty, I am awful sorry, but it can"t be helped now. It won"t take me more than half an hour or so in all probability, but will you care to wait for me?"
Peace, dozing in her wheel-chair in a little, sheltered niche at the end of the corridor, awoke with a start. Was that Dr. d.i.c.k speaking, or had those words been part of a dream?
Another voice, unfamiliar to her, and sounding weary, indifferent and pathetically mournful, answered, "Tomorrow will be the same."
"Yes," Dr. Shumway laughed apologetically, "I suppose it will.
Physicians can hardly claim a minute of their time for themselves."
"Then I might as well wait for you now."
"Very well. Shall I send you down to the Library in the auto,--or to one of the stores? Or will you stay here? I"m afraid you won"t find much to amuse yourself with in this place."
"Nevertheless I"ll stay," answered the world-weary voice again. "But please hurry. I don"t like the smell of lysol and ether."
"I"ll be back as soon as I can, Kit. You"ll find a pretty view from that bay window if you care to look at our scenery." The busy doctor was gone, and the black-clad figure, left to her own devices for the next thirty minutes, turned with a heavy sigh toward the window her companion had indicated, but paused at sight of a bright, alert little face, peeping around the back of an invalid"s chair which she had not noticed before.
The rosy lips parted in a smile, and before the startled woman could regain her composure, the child spoke. "So this is _Catarrhar_, is it?"
"My name is Mrs. Wood," answered the woman, dumbfounded by her salutation.
"But your first name?" persisted the brown-eyed sprite.
"What does it matter?" The woman"s voice was cold and crisp.
"Aren"t you Dr. d.i.c.k"s sister?"
"Dr. d.i.c.kson Shumway is my brother, if that is what you mean."
"I thought so. Well, he"s got better manners than you have."
The woman gasped. Who in the world was this frank, friendly creature? No one had ever dared to speak like that to her before. Flushed with anger, she turned to seek another retreat, but Peace forestalled her. "Your father said you weren"t as homely as he is, and that"s so. You"d be real _pretty_ if you just looked a little more human."
"Human!" The exclamation burst from her involuntarily, as the woman sank limply into the nearest chair and stared in utter surprise at her tormentor.
"Yes. You look so scowly and--and--oh, so frosty. I like warm faces that smile and look happy, like Dr. d.i.c.k"s, you know. Your sister Penelope has the smile but not the good looks. Pansy has neither, but I don"t blame her. Having such a name and being so fat is enough to make anyone cross. Her waist tapers in the wrong direction. I"ve never seen Carrie, so I don"t know what she is like. But you--"
"Who--who are you?" the black-clad figure found voice to stammer.
"Me? I"m Peace--"
"Seems to me that name doesn"t fit very well, either," said the other sarcastically, for Peace"s candid criticisms had wounded her pride.
"It"s perfectly awful, ain"t it?" Peace serenely admitted. "But though I can"t help my name, I I can help being ugly about it. There"s nothing at all peaceful about me, I know. Grandma says she thinks I must be strung on wires, for I _can"t_ keep still. There"s always a commotion when I"m around. I"ve tried and tried to be sweet and quiet like Gail and Hope and Allee, but it"s no use. So now I just try to be happy and cheerful.
That doesn"t _always_ work, either. Sometimes I get in an awful stew about having to sit in a chair day after day, but then I "member what my Lilac Lady wrote, and I try to be good again."
"Your Lilac Lady?"
"She was lame like me," the child explained, and promptly regaled her visitor with the history of the dear friend who had slipped out from her prison house of pain not two years before, while the icy Mrs. Wood sat listening with real interest in her heart.
When the tale was ended, the woman whispered, "And now you--"
"Yes," interrupted the child calmly. "I thought for a while I"d be like her, but Dr. d.i.c.k says before many more weeks he thinks I may be strong enough to try crutches. You see, my legs didn"t use to have any life in "em. I could stick "em with pins and never feel it, but I can"t do that now. They feel just like they did before I was hurt, but they are too weak yet to hold me up. I tried it one day just after Miss Wayne left, and I slumped right flat on the floor. I was scared for fear I"d have to call Miss Keith to help me onto the couch, and then she would scold; but after I rested a bit, I lifted myself _easy_."
"What would the doctor say if he knew you did that?"
"O, he knows. I told him. _He_ never scolds. He just said that I mustn"t do it again until he let me himself, and I haven"t. He"s an awful nice doctor. He"s always playing jokes, ain"t he? When I first woke up from the _antiseptic_, I wanted a drink awfully bad, but Miss Wayne wouldn"t let me have a drop of cold water; so when he came in to see me, I asked him for just a swallow, and what do you s"pose he did?"
"I don"t know," murmured her companion, still interested in the small patient"s prattle in spite of herself.