Madame Laurin stood in the bare little room and looked pityingly at the wasted, wistful face on the pillow.
"This is Madame Laurin, and she is going to sing for you, Denise,"
whispered Little Joyce.
Denise"s face lighted up, and she clasped her hands.
"If you please," she said faintly. "A French song, Madame--de ole French song dey sing long "go."
Then did Madame Laurin sing. Never had that kitchen chamber been so filled with glorious melody. Song after song she sang--the old folklore songs of the _habitant_, the songs perhaps that Evangeline listened to in her childhood.
Little Joyce knelt by the bed, her eyes on the singer like one entranced. Denise lay with her face full of joy and rapture--such joy and rapture! Little Joyce did not regret the sacrifice of her black doll--never could regret it, as long as she remembered Denise"s look.
"T"ank you, Madame," said Denise brokenly, when Madame ceased. "Dat was so beautiful--de angel, dey cannot sing more sweet. I love music so much, Madame. Leetle Joyce, she sing to me often and often--she sing sweet, but not lak you--oh, not lak you."
"Little Joyce must sing for me," said Madame, smiling, as she sat down by the window. "I always like to hear fresh, childish voices. Will you, Little Joyce?"
"Oh, yes." Little Joyce was quite unembarra.s.sed and perfectly willing to do anything she could for this wonderful woman who had brought that look to Denise"s face. "I will sing as well as I can for you. Of course, I can"t sing very well and I don"t know anything but hymns. I always sing hymns for Denise, although she is a Catholic and the hymns are Protestant. But her priest told her it was all right, because all music was of G.o.d. Denise"s priest is a very nice man, and I like him.
He thought my little black doll--_your_ little black doll--was splendid. I"ll sing "Lead, Kindly Light." That is Denise"s favourite hymn."
Then Little Joyce, slipping her hand into Denise"s, began to sing. At the first note Madame Laurin, who had been gazing out of the window with a rather listless smile, turned quickly and looked at Little Joyce with amazed eyes. Delight followed amazement, and when Little Joyce had finished, the great Madame rose impulsively, her face and eyes glowing, stepped swiftly to Little Joyce and took the thin dark face between her gemmed hands.
"Child, do you know what a wonderful voice you have--what a marvellous voice? It is--it is--I never heard such a voice in a child of your age. Mine was nothing to it--nothing at all. You will be a great singer some day--far greater than I--yes. But you must have the training. Where are your parents? I must see them."
"I have no parents," said the bewildered Little Joyce. "I belong to Grandmother Marshall, and she is out driving."
"Then I shall wait until your Grandmother Marshall comes home from her drive," said Madame Laurin decidedly.
Half an hour later a very much surprised old lady was listening to Madame Laurin"s enthusiastic statements.
"How is it I have never heard you sing, if you can sing so well?"
asked Grandmother Marshall, looking at Little Joyce with something in her eyes that had never been in them before--as Little Joyce instantly felt to the core of her sensitive soul. But Little Joyce hung her head. It had never occurred to her to sing in Grandmother Marshall"s presence.
"This child must be trained by-and-by," said Madame Laurin. "If you cannot afford it, Mrs. Marshall, I will see to it. Such a voice must not be wasted."
"Thank you, Madame Laurin," said Grandmother Marshall with a gracious dignity, "but I am quite able to give my granddaughter all the necessary advantages for the development of her gift. And I thank you very much for telling me of it."
Madame Laurin bent and kissed Little Joyce"s brown cheek.
"Little gypsy, good-by. But come every day to this hotel to see me.
And next summer I shall be back. I like you--because some day you will be a great singer and because today you are a loving, unselfish baby."
"You have forgotten the little black doll, Madame," said Little Joyce gravely.
Madame threw up her hands, laughing. "No, no, I shall not take your little black doll of the four thousand years. Keep it for a mascot. A great singer always needs a mascot. But do not, I command you, take it out of the box till I am gone, for if I were to see it again, I might not be able to resist the temptation. Some day I shall show you _my_ dolls, but there is not such a gem among them."
When Madame Laurin had gone, Grandmother Marshall looked at Little Joyce.
"Come to my room, Joyce. I want to see if we cannot find a more becoming way of arranging your hair. It has grown so thick and long. I had no idea how thick and long. Yes, we must certainly find a better way than that stiff braid. Come!"
Little Joyce, taking Grandmother Marshall"s extended hand, felt very happy. She realized that this strange, stately old lady, who never liked little girls unless they were pretty or graceful or clever, was beginning to love her at last.
The Man on the Train
When the telegram came from William George, Grandma Sheldon was all alone with Cyrus and Louise. And Cyrus and Louise, aged respectively twelve and eleven, were not very much good, Grandma thought, when it came to advising what was to be done. Grandma was "all in a flutter, dear, oh dear," as she said.
The telegram said that Delia, William George"s wife, was seriously ill down at Green Village, and William George wanted Samuel to bring Grandma down immediately. Delia had always thought there was n.o.body like Grandma when it came to nursing sick folks.
But Samuel and his wife were both away--had been away for two days and intended to be away for five more. They had driven to Sinclair, twenty miles away, to visit with Mrs. Samuel"s folks for a week.
"Dear, oh dear, what shall I do?" said Grandma.
"Go right to Green Village on the evening train," said Cyrus briskly.
"Dear, oh dear, and leave you two alone!" cried Grandma.
"Louise and I will do very well until tomorrow," said Cyrus st.u.r.dily.
"We will send word to Sinclair by today"s mail, and Father and Mother will be home by tomorrow night."
"But I never was on the cars in my life," protested Grandma nervously.
"I"m--I"m so frightened to start alone. And you never know what kind of people you may meet on the train."
"You"ll be all right, Grandma. I"ll drive you to the station, get you your ticket, and put you on the train. Then you"ll have nothing to do until the train gets to Green Village. I"ll send a telegram to Uncle William George to meet you."
"I shall fall and break my neck getting off the train," said Grandma pessimistically. But she was wondering at the same time whether she had better take the black valise or the yellow, and whether William George would be likely to have plenty of flaxseed in the house.
It was six miles to the station, and Cyrus drove Grandma over in time to catch a train that reached Green Village at nine o"clock.
"Dear, oh dear," said Grandma, "what if William George"s folks ain"t there to meet me? It"s all very well, Cyrus, to say that they will be there, but you don"t know. And it"s all very well to say not to be nervous because everything will be all right. If you were seventy-five years old and had never set foot on the cars in your life you"d be nervous too, and you can"t be sure that everything will be all right.
You never know what sort of people you"ll meet on the train. I may get on the wrong train or lose my ticket or get carried past Green Village or get my pocket picked. Well, no, I won"t do that, for not one cent will I carry with me. You shall take back home all the money you don"t need to get my ticket. Then I shall be easier in my mind. Dear, oh dear, if it wasn"t that Delia is so seriously ill I wouldn"t go one step."
"Oh, you"ll be all right, Grandma," a.s.sured Cyrus.
He got Grandma"s ticket for her and Grandma tied it up in the corner of her handkerchief. Then the train came in and Grandma, clinging closely to Cyrus, was put on it. Cyrus found a comfortable seat for her and shook hands cheerily.
"Good-bye, Grandma. Don"t be frightened. Here"s the _Weekly Argus_. I got it at the store. You may like to look over it."
Then Cyrus was gone, and in a minute the station house and platform began to glide away.
Dear, oh dear, what has happened to it? thought Grandma in dismay. The next moment she exclaimed aloud, "Why, it"s us that"s moving, not it!"
Some of the pa.s.sengers smiled pleasantly at Grandma. She was the variety of old lady at which people do smile pleasantly; a grandma with round, pink cheeks, soft, brown eyes, and lovely snow-white curls is a nice person to look at wherever she is found.
After a while Grandma, to her amazement, discovered that she liked riding on the cars. It was not at all the disagreeable experience she had expected it to be. Why, she was just as comfortable as if she were in her own rocking chair at home! And there was such a lot of people to look at, and many of the ladies had such beautiful dresses and hats. After all, the people you met on a train, thought Grandma, are surprisingly like the people you meet off it. If it had not been for wondering how she would get off at Green Village, Grandma would have enjoyed herself thoroughly.
Four or five stations farther on the train halted at a lonely-looking place consisting of the station house and a barn, surrounded by scrub woods and blueberry barrens. One pa.s.senger got on and, finding only one vacant seat in the crowded car, sat right down beside Grandma Sheldon.