Helen saw the nurse before she left the house, and left the dear old creature very happy indeed. Helen was sure Nurse Boyle would never be so lonely again, for her friends had remembered her.
Even Mrs. Olstrom, the housekeeper, came to shake hands with the girl who had been tucked away into an attic bedroom as "a pauper cousin." And old Mr. Lawdor fairly shed tears when he learned that he was not likely to see Helen again.
There were other people in the great city who were sorry to see Helen Morrell start West. Through Dud Stone, Allen Chesterton had been found light work and a pleasant boarding place. There would always be a watchful eye upon the old man--and that eye belonged to Miss Sadie Goronsky--rather, "S. Goron, Milliner," as the new sign over the hat shop door read.
"For you see," said Miss Sadie, with a toss of her head, "there ain"t no use in advertisin" it that you are a Yid. _That_ don"t do no good, as I tell mommer. Sure, I"m proud I"m a Jew. We"re the greatest people in the world yet. But it ain"t good for business.
"Now, "Goron" sounds Frenchy; don"t it, Helen? And when I get a-going down here good, I"ll be wantin" some time to look at a place on Fift" Av"ner, maybe. "Madame Goron" would be dead swell--yes? But you put the "sky" to it and it"s like tying a can to a dog"s tail. There ain"t nowhere to go then but _home_," declared this worldly wise young girl.
Helen had dinner again with the Goronskys, and Sadie"s mother could not do enough to show her fondness for her daughter"s benefactor. Sadie promised to write to Helen frequently and the two girls--so much alike in some ways, yet as far apart as the poles in others--bade each other an affectionate farewell.
The next day Helen Morrell and her two friends, Dud and Jess Stone, were headed West. That second trip across the continent was a very different journey for Helen than the first had been.
She and Jess Stone had become the best of friends. And as the months slid by the two girls--Helen, a product of the West, and Jessie, a product of the great Eastern city--became dearer and dearer companions.
As for Dud--of course he was always hanging around. His sister sometimes wondered--and that audibly--how he found time for business, he was so frequently at Sunset Ranch. This was only said, however, in wicked enjoyment of his discomfiture--and of Helen"s blushes.
For by that time it was an understood thing about Sunset Ranch that in time Dud was going to have the right to call its mistress "Snuggy" for all the years of her life--just as her father had. And Helen, contemplating this possibility, did not seem to mind.
THE END
SOMETHING ABOUT AMY BELL MARLOWE AND HER BOOKS FOR GIRLS
In these days, when the printing presses are turning out so many books for girls that are good, bad and indifferent, it is refreshing to come upon the works of such a gifted auth.o.r.ess as Miss Amy Bell Marlowe, who is now under contract to write exclusively for Messrs. Grosset & Dunlap.
In many ways Miss Marlowe"s books may be compared with those of Miss Alcott and Mrs. Meade, but all are thoroughly modern and wholly American in scene and action. Her plots, while never improbable, are exceedingly clever, and her girlish characters are as natural as they are interesting.
On the following pages will be found a list of Miss Marlowe"s books. Every girl in our land ought to read these fresh and wholesome tales. They are to be found at all booksellers. Each volume is handsomely ill.u.s.trated and bound in cloth, stamped in colors. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, New York. A free catalogue of Miss Marlowe"s books may be had for the asking.
THE OLDEST OF FOUR
"I don"t see any way out!"
It was Natalie"s mother who said that, after the awful news had been received that Mr. Raymond had been lost in a shipwreck on the Atlantic.
Natalie was the oldest of four children, and the family was left with but scant means for support.
"I"ve got to do something--yes, I"ve just got to!" Natalie said to herself, and what the brave girl did is well related in "The Oldest of Four; Or, Natalie"s Way Out." In this volume we find Natalie with a strong desire to become a writer. At first she contributes to a local paper, but soon she aspires to larger things, and comes in contact with the editor of a popular magazine. This man becomes her warm friend, and not only aids her in a literary way but also helps in a hunt for the missing Mr.
Raymond.
Natalie has many ups and downs, and has to face more than one bitter disappointment. But she is a plucky girl through and through.
"One of the brightest girls" stories ever penned," one well-known author has said of this book, and we agree with him. Natalie is a thoroughly lovable character, and one long to be remembered. Published as are all the Amy Bell Marlowe books, by Grosset & Dunlap, New York, and for sale by all booksellers. Ask your dealer to let you look the volume over.
THE GIRLS OF HILLCREST FARM
"We"ll go to the old farm, and we"ll take boarders! We can fix the old place up, and, maybe, make money!"
The father of the two girls was broken down in health and a physician had recommended that he go to the country, where he could get plenty of fresh air and sunshine. An aunt owned an abandoned farm and she said the family could live on this and use the place as they pleased. It was great sport moving and getting settled, and the boarders offered one surprise after another. There was a mystery about the old farm, and a mystery concerning one of the boarders, and how the girls got to the bottom of affairs is told in detail in the story, which is called, "The Girls of Hillcrest Farm; Or, The Secret of the Rocks."
It was great fun to move to the farm, and once the girls had the scare of their lives. And they attended a great "vendue" too.
"I just had to write that story--I couldn"t help, it," said Miss Marlowe, when she handed in the ma.n.u.script. "I knew just such a farm when I was a little girl, and oh! what fun I had there! And there was a mystery about that place, too!"
Published, like all the Marlowe books, by Grosset & Dunlap, New York, and for sale wherever good books are sold.
A LITTLE MISS n.o.bODY
"Oh, she"s only a little n.o.body! Don"t have anything to do with her!"
How often poor Nancy Nelson heard those words, and how they cut her to the heart. And the saying was true, she _was_ a n.o.body. She had no folks, and she did not know where she had come from. All she did know was that she was at a boarding school and that a lawyer paid her tuition bills and gave her a mite of spending money.
"I am going to find out who I am, and where I came from," said Nancy to herself, one day, and what she did, and how it all ended, is absorbingly related in "A Little Miss n.o.body; Or, With the Girls of Pinewood Hall."
Nancy made a warm friend of a poor office boy who worked for that lawyer, and this boy kept his eyes and ears open and learned many things.
The book tells much about boarding school life, of study and fun mixed, and of a great race on skates. Nancy made some friends as well as enemies, and on more than one occasion proved that she was "true blue" in the best meaning of that term.
Published by Grosset & Dunlap, New York, and for sale by booksellers everywhere. If you desire a catalogue of Amy Bell Marlowe books send to the publishers for it and it will come free.
THE GIRL FROM SUNSET RANCH
Helen was very thoughtful as she rode along the trail from Sunset Ranch to the View. She had lost her father but a month before, and he had pa.s.sed away with a stain on his name--a stain of many years" standing, as the girl had just found out.
"I am going to New York and I am going to clear his name!" she resolved, and just then she saw a young man dashing along, close to the edge of a cliff. Over he went, and Helen, with no thought of the danger to herself, went to the rescue.
Then the brave Western girl found herself set down at the Grand Central Terminal in New York City. She knew not which way to go or what to do. Her relatives, who thought she was poor and ignorant, had refused to even meet her. She had to fight her way along from the start, and how she did this, and won out, is well related in "The Girl from Sunset Ranch; Or, Alone in a Great City."
This is one of the finest of Amy Bell Marlowe"s books, with its true-to-life scenes of the plains and mountains, and of the great metropolis. Helen is a girl all readers will love from the start.
Published by Grosset & Dunlap, New York, and for sale by booksellers everywhere.
WYN"S CAMPING DAYS
"Oh, girls, such news!" cried Wynifred Mallory to her chums, one day. "We can go camping on Lake Honotonka! Isn"t it grand!"
It certainly was, and the members of the Go-Ahead Club were delighted.
Soon they set off, with their boy friends to keep them company in another camp not far away. Those boys played numerous tricks on the girls, and the girls retaliated, you may be sure. And then Wyn did a strange girl a favor, and learned how some ancient statues of rare value had been lost in the lake, and how the girl"s father was accused of stealing them.