"I"ll promise twenty."
"Two will do until next time. First, will you go and see my mother as soon as you get well, and go often?"
"That"s too easy; I want to do something _hard_ for you," she answered earnestly.
"Perhaps you will some day, who knows? There are hard enough things to do for people, I"m finding out. But, have you promised?"
"Yes, I have promised."
"And I know you keep your promises. I"m sure you won"t forget. Poor mother isn"t happy; she"s troubled."
"About you?"
"No, about herself, because she isn"t a Christian."
"That"s enough to trouble anybody," said Marjorie, wisely.
"Now, one more promise in payment. Will you write to me every two weeks?"
"Oh, I couldn"t," pleaded Marjorie.
"Now you"ve found something too hard to do for me," he said, reproachfully.
"Oh, I"ll do it, of course; but I"m afraid."
"You"ll soon get over that. You see mother doesn"t write often, and father never does, and I"m often anxious about them, and if you write and tell me about them twice a month I shall be happier. You see you are doing something for me."
"Yes, thank you. I"ll do the best I can. But I can"t write like your cousin Helen," she added, jealously.
"No matter. You"ll do; and you will be growing older and constantly improving and I shall begin to travel for the house by and by and my letters will be as entertaining as a book of travels."
"Will you write to me? I didn"t think of that."
"Goosie!" he laughed, giving her Linnet"s pet name. "Certainly I will write as often as you do, and you mustn"t stop writing until your last letter has not been answered for a month."
"I"ll remember," said Marjorie, seriously. "But I wish I could do something else. Did you have to pay money for it?"
Marjorie was accustomed to "bartering" and that is the reason that she used the expression "pay money."
"Well, yes, something," he replied, pressing his lips together.
He was angry with the shoemaker about that bargain yet.
"How much? I want to pay you."
"Ladies never ask a gentleman such a question when they make them a present," he said, laughing as he arose. "Imagine Helen asking me how much I paid for the set of books I gave her on her birthday."
The tears sprang to Marjorie"s eyes. Had she done a dreadful thing that Helen would not think of doing?
Long afterward she learned that he gave for the plate the ten dollars that his father gave him for a "vacation present."
"Good-bye, Goosie, keep both promises and don"t run up a ladder again until you learn how to run down."
But she could not speak yet for the choking in her throat.
"You have paid me twice over with those promises," he said. "I am glad you broke the old yellow pitcher."
So was she even while her heart was aching. Her fingers held the parcel tightly; what a hearts-ease it was! It had brought her peace of mind that was worth more hard promises than she could think of making.
"He said his father"s great-grandfather had eaten out of that plate over in Holland and he had but one more left to bequeath to his little grandson."
"I"m glad the great-grandfather didn"t break it," said Marjorie.
Hollis would not disturb her serenity by remarking that the shoemaker _might_ have added a century to the age of his possession; it looked two hundred years old, anyway.
"Good-bye, again, if you don"t get killed next time you fall you may live to see me again. I"ll wear a linen coat and smell of cheese and smoke a pipe too long for me to light myself by that time--when I come home from Germany."
"Oh, don"t," she exclaimed, in a startled voice.
"Which? The coat or the cheese or the pipe."
"I don"t care about the cheese or the coat--"
"You needn"t be afraid about the pipe; I promised mother to-day that I would never smoke or drink or play cards."
"That"s good," said Marjorie, contentedly.
"And so she feels safe about me; safer than I feel about myself, I reckon. But it _is_ good-bye this time. I"ll tell Helen what a little mouse and goose you are!"
"Hollis! _Hollis!_" shouted a gruff voice, impatiently.
"Aye, aye, sir," Hollis returned. "But I must say good-bye to your mother and Linnet."
Instead of giving him a last look she was giving her first look to her treasure. The first look was doubtful. It was not half as pretty as the pitcher. It was not very large and there were innumerable tiny cracks interlacing each other, there were little raised figures on the broad rim and a figure in the centre, the colors were buff and blue. But it was a treasure, twofold more a treasure than the yellow pitcher, for it was twice as old and had come from Holland. The yellow pitcher had only come from England. Miss Prudence would be satisfied that she had not hidden the pitcher to escape detection, and perhaps her friend might like this ancient plate a great deal better and be glad of what had befallen the pitcher. But suppose Miss Prudence did believe all this time that she had hidden the broken pieces and meant, never to tell! At that, she could not forbear squeezing her face into the pillow and dropping a few very sorrowful tears. Still she was glad, even with a little contradictory faint-heartedness, for Hollis would write to her and she would never lose him again. And she could _do_ something _for_ him, something hard.
Her mother, stepping in again, before the tears were dried upon her cheek, listened to the somewhat incoherent story of the naughty thing she had done and the splendid thing Hollis had done, and of how she had paid him with two promises.
Mrs. West examined the plate critically. "It"s old, there"s no sham about it. I"ve seen a few old things and I know. I shouldn"t wonder if he gave five dollars for it"
"Five dollars!" repeated Marjorie in affright "Oh, I hope not."
"Well, perhaps not, but it is worth it and more, too, to Miss Prudence"s friend."
"And I"ll keep my promises," said Marjorie"s steadfast voice.
"H"m," e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed her mother. "I rather think Hollis has the best of it."
"That depends upon me," said wise little Marjorie.