"Yes, yes! But, Mary, don"t delay me longer in this work--I have so many years to make up, and so little time to do it in," mourned Aunt Selina.
"All right! Now that is settled--we hire a firm to do the addressing, and Mrs. Wells will see to the envelopes. What next?" said Mrs. Talmage.
"Oh, Mother Wings, don"t forget about that book--you know?" reminded Ruth.
"Oh, of course! One of our great secrets! Here is a volume loaned us by Mr. White, of the Oakdale Paper Mills, and it has the addresses of all the stationers in the country," explained Mrs. Talmage. "He suggested that we send a sample magazine to each, with a letter stating agents"
commissions and price of subscription."
"And that reminds me--the book you wrote for was given me to bring in to-night, and I left it out in the hall," said Mrs. Wells, turning to Frances and asking her to get it.
The inst.i.tution book was brought in, and its pages eagerly scanned.
"My! what a lot of poor children there are!" said Dot sympathetically.
"It doesn"t seem possible, does it?" said Mrs. Starr, turning to the others.
"We never realize what needs there are for help until we face something of this sort," said Mrs. Talmage, turning page after page. Suddenly she stopped.
"Has anyone here an idea of how many dependent little ones there are in the United States alone?"
Heads were silently shaken, and Mrs. Talmage continued:
"There are 87,000 children"s inst.i.tutions--homes, hospitals, asylums, and homes for cripples that are mostly supported by gifts, philanthropy, or legacies. About one-fourth of these are partially controlled by the state. The number of inmates in these inst.i.tutions amounts to 1,740,520 children. Think of it! Practically a million and three-quarters! How terrible!" And Mrs. Talmage had to find her handkerchief to dry her eyes at the picture of so many, many dear little ones bereft of home and mother-love.
"Mary, Mary, I shall have to run away from here if you keep on!" cried Aunt Selina.
"But, Aunty, it is not your fault, and you must not feel this way, especially as you are doing so much to improve the conditions," said Mrs. Talmage.
"Well, mother, I should say that if there are 87,000 addresses to send letters to, we"d better begin that letter now, and not spoil Flutey"s pleasure by thinking of all the things she never did," advised Ruth, very sensibly.
"Yes, that letter is very important--let us compose it," said Aunt Selina.
After an hour of writing and rewriting, Mrs. Talmage read aloud the result of their labor:
"Dear Friend:
"The Blue Birds of Oakdale have started a philanthropic work which must appeal to everyone who is willing to help our poor children. A magazine is being published, a sample of which is being sent you, that will contain instructive, helpful, interesting articles.
"Perhaps you know that there are 87,000 benevolent inst.i.tutions in this country filled with over a million and a half poor children, to whom this magazine will prove a welcome visitor. The cost of producing this magazine is partially paid for by donations, and the profit of the work is all devoted to a settlement in the country where the city children can spend the summer.
"Inclosed find a subscription blank. Make all checks payable to "Blue Birds of Happy Times Nest.""
"Wish we had time to run over to the Bobolinks and order fifty thousand of these letters," suggested Dot.
"Oh, wouldn"t it be fun to see their faces!" laughed Norma.
"Maybe we will have time--it is only five minutes to nine," announced Mrs. Talmage, looking at her watch.
"We can try it--we will walk down the path, and if we find they are leaving we can keep our own council until another night," said Mrs.
Talmage, as everyone rose hurriedly to go.
The children hurried on before, while the ladies followed more sedately.
The heavy doors were closed, but an opening about a foot wide left s.p.a.ce enough for Ruth to squeeze through and pull one of the sliding doors along the groove to admit the other visitors.
The men had been lounging about, talking and watching their sons work, but upon the entrance of the ladies everyone arose in surprise.
"Rather a late hour for a call, dear," ventured Mr. Stevens.
"Oh, not at all. We were attending a business meeting, and found it necessary to leave an order with the Bobolinks."
"An order--what kind of an order?" questioned Ned dubiously.
Mrs. Talmage handed over the copy of the letter she wanted printed, and directed the company to get out a proof as soon as possible, for they would need about fifty thousand.
"Fifty thousand!" gasped the boys, while the men looked incredulous.
The Blue Birds could not restrain a giggle at the utter amazement of the Bobolinks, and the ladies thoroughly enjoyed their husbands" surprise.
"Oh, well, I suppose it will take you a long time to run off so many, so you may do ten thousand at a time," said Mrs. Talmage.
The Bobolinks could find no words with which to reply, and the men seemed to have lost their tongues also. While Mrs. Talmage waited for an answer, Don scowled at his twin sister.
"I am still waiting to hear you accept the order," smiled Mrs. Talmage, feeling that the Blue Birds had scored a point.
"Maybe you are not yet ready to do business," suggested Mrs. Wells, with just a touch of sarcasm.
"Of course we are ready!" exclaimed several boys, faintly echoed by the men.
"Then tell us how long will it be before you can show us a proof?" asked Mrs. Talmage.
"H"m! We will have to consult," replied Ned, as he beckoned some of the Bobolinks to the rear of the room.
The Blue Birds were so delighted at catching the Bobolinks napping that they danced up and down, finding it very difficult to keep their secret.
Don was the first to come over to the ladies.
"Say, what do you want that letter for? Where will you ever get paper enough to print ten thousand--we can"t buy it for you," he growled.
"Don, come back here and mind your business!" shouted Meredith.
"When you return to the boys, please ask them to hurry, as we have another letter to ask them about--we may need 100,000 of these," said Mrs. Starr sweetly.
The Blue Birds noticed that their fathers looked sceptical at the last sentence.
"You never made up a list like that!" grunted Don, looking at the Blue Birds with fire shining in his eyes.
"What do you think we were doing while you spent your evenings having a good time?" retorted Dot.