"Oh, I know now! How absurd! Didn"t the girls tell you about my gla.s.ses getting broken? It must have been when I was going to have them mended. You know I am so near-sighted I can"t see across the street without them."
Carl looked rather foolish. Dora had worn gla.s.ses only a short time, and he had not noticed their absence.
"You knew I would not do such a thing; how could you be so silly?" She was decidedly vexed with him.
"I thought perhaps you really did not care to have anything to do with me after--"
"You thought I would stop speaking to you for that!" she exclaimed.
"Why Bess told me how sorry you were, and at any rate it would have been acting as if I never did wrong myself."
"You wouldn"t do anything so horrid."
"I _was_ a little surprised at you," Dora, acknowledged, "but it is so disagreeable not to be friends with people. I am glad you and Ikey have made up; he was telling me about it."
By this time they had reached the gate, and Carl said, "I don"t think the girls are at home; they were going out with Aunt Zelie, but you might come in and wait, if you don"t mind talking to me while I look over some books for father."
"I don"t mind talking to you," she answered, laughing, "but I can"t stay long. I want "Water Babies." Louise said I could have it to read."
"Come in, then, and I"ll find it for you."
They went up to the star chamber together, and Dora sat down in the west window, where a little wintry sunshine still lingered, while Carl looked for the book.
"I can"t see how you could be such a goose as to think I would not speak to you," she said presently.
"I suppose I knew I deserved it." Carl laid "Water Babies" on her lap, and, kneeling on the floor with his elbows on the window-sill and his chin in his hands, looked thoughtfully out at the bare branches of the maples.
"I"ll tell you what it is," he said after a minute"s silence, "Aunt Zelie is a trump."
"I know that, only I"d call her a prettier name," said Dora, smiling.
"You can"t know really till you have been very had. She was so good to me. It makes a fellow feel awfully when somebody like her cares a lot for him and he goes and disappoints her."
"But you won"t again, I"m sure."
"You see," Carl went on, "she cares for me particularly because I am named for Uncle Carl. Has Bess or Louise ever told you about him?"
Dora shook her head.
"He was Mamma"s brother, you know, and he was splendid. I thought there was n.o.body like him when I was a little fellow. He used to be here a great deal, and we were glad when he married Aunt Zelie because we were so fond of them both. The only thing we did not like about it was that Aunt Zelie went away to live, but they came to see us very often. Then Uncle Carl died. He was skating with some people, and a friend of his went where the ice wouldn"t hold, and broke through.
n.o.body knew just what to do, it was so hard to get to him on the broken ice, and the man couldn"t swim. Uncle Carl saw that he would drown before help came, so he went right into the freezing water and held up his head till they brought ropes."
"He wasn"t drowned, was he?" Dora asked in an awestruck voice.
"No, but he was in the water so long that it made him ill. The other man got well. It happened not long before Mamma died. Then, you know, Aunt Zelie came back to us."
"You must be glad you are named for him."
"Yes, I am, only I am not good enough. I am afraid I shall never do anything brave like that."
"I think, perhaps, little things have to come first," said Dora wisely, adding, "He was helping, wasn"t he?"
"I had not thought of that," said Carl.
As she walked home an idea came into Dora"s head, which interested her so much that "Water Babies" lay unopened on her lap for half an hour that night. Next day she confided it to Bess and Louise, who highly approved.
"Why, Dora, you are very clever. When you are grown up you will be as good at thinking of things as Aunt Zelie," said Bess.
"You think of pretty good things yourself, Bess," added Louise.
"And so do you, for you first thought of trying to help the harp man,"
said Dora merrily.
"The G.N. Club meets to-night, and we"ll ask the boys to let us in.
You come over to dinner," Louise suggested.
"They won"t do it," said her sister positively.
"Oh, perhaps they will if we are very polite; we will try."
The weekly meetings of the G.N. Club had begun again with great interest. No one enjoyed them more than Aunt Zelie, and nothing was allowed to interfere with this engagement with the boys if she could help it. However, it happened this evening that some old friends of the family who were pa.s.sing through the city on their way south called, and it was impossible to excuse herself, so the boys were left to their own devices.
Though the star chamber looked as cheerful as usual and Carl did his best as host, it was not quite the same without her.
Jim recalled with wonder that first evening when he hoped she would not come. The rehearsals for the harp man"s benefit had made them all feel very well acquainted with her and one another.
They were beginning work on some screens for the Children"s Hospital when there came a knock at the door. Ikey opened it and Carie walked in.
"I came to bring you a letter," she announced, handing Carl a folded paper, and shyly surveying the rest of the company from behind him.
He read it aloud.
To the G.N.C.:
We should like to come to your meeting this evening, if you will let us. We have a splendid plan to tell you. Dora thought of it.
Send reply by bearer.
Yours truly,
$1$2.
"Shall we let them come?" he asked.
"Of course," said Jim, and as n.o.body was actively opposed, Carl scribbled, "Come on," on the back of their elegant note.
Within five minutes the girls were established in their midst, quite as if they belonged there.
When the screens were duly admired and their offers of help politely declined, Bess explained the object of their visit.
"We think it would be nice, now that we haven"t secrets any more, and because you helped us with the harp man"s benefit, for our clubs to be friends and meet together sometimes. Dora has thought of a beautiful plan. Won"t you tell about it yourself, Dora?"