Part 26 (2/2)
”I have been thinking it over, Miss Page-”
”O dear,” thought poor Nathalie, ”she is going to change her mind about the drill!”
”And I wanted to know-of course this is a business proposition-” she paused. ”You have given so much pleasure to Nita, I thought perhaps you might be willing to come regularly every day, say for a couple of hours.”
”Oh, Mrs. Van Vorst,” cried relieved Nathalie, ”that would be just fine!
I should be only too glad, but you know, I have things to do for Mother, we haven't any maid at present.”
”But would it not pay you to give up these things, or let some one else do them? It would only be two hours in the morning,” there was a persuasive note in her voice, ”and of course I would pay you enough to make it worth your while, and oh, I would give anything to bring joy into-”
She stopped, for there was something in the girl's wide opened eyes that made her hesitate.
”Oh, I would not like to take money just for talking to Nita-that would hardly be fair-” Nathalie floundered desperately, for something brought d.i.c.k and his operation to her mind, and she did want so badly to earn money. She caught her breath sharply, opened her mouth, and then said, ”Why, I don't know, I will see what Mother says and let you know.”
”That will be just the thing,” was the reply. ”You can drop me a note as soon as you decide, for Nita will be anxious, and then we will want to fix the days and times. If you can make up your mind to do this for me, Miss Page, I shall feel so indebted to you!”
As Nathalie flew post-haste towards home she heard the chug of an automobile and looked up in time to see Dr. Morrow sweep past in his car. But he, too, had eyes, and a moment later had backed his car and was asking Nathalie if she would like a ride home. The girl was only too pleased to accept, as she was fairly br.i.m.m.i.n.g over with impatience to tell some one her two surprises. They had not gone far before the story was out, and the doctor had heard everything.
”Well now, I call that luck,” declared the doctor, ”and of course you said you would accept Mrs. Van Vorst's offer?”
”Why, no,” answered the girl hesitatingly, ”I should love to do it, but I don't know that I ought to take money for it.”
”And why not?” queried Dr. Morrow with some surprise. ”Isn't money as much to you as to other people?”
”Oh, yes,” laughed honest Nathalie; ”of course I would like the money, I am just dying to earn money for d.i.c.k.” The girl stopped with frightened eyes; oh, what was she going to tell? ”But then it doesn't seem exactly right to take money just for talking, and I don't know how Mother would feel about it, she might feel badly.” Nathalie choked, and her eyes filled with tears as she remembered how hard it was for her mother to think of even d.i.c.k earning money when he was so helpless.
”You haven't got to if you don't want to, little Blue Robin,” declared her friend, who perhaps suspected how things were. ”But I tell you what, friend Nathalie-” emphatically-”if I had a nice little voice like a certain Robin I know, with big brown eyes, and knew how to use those big eyes and that sweet little tru-al-lee of a voice by telling people stories, or talking to them-it's all the same-well, I'd waste no time in accepting that offer. And then, too, see what pleasure it would bring Nita and her mother, too, for that matter. Of course, I'm a man and look at things from a commercial point of view; ah, here we are!” And then with a cheery farewell the doctor helped the girl out of the car and Nathalie walked slowly up the path.
To Nathalie's surprise, her mother thought as the doctor did about the matter. She was not hurt at all, but overjoyed to think that Nathalie was clever enough to earn money that way.
”Why, Nathalie,” she mused, pleasantly, ”you can do lots of things with the money you earn. It probably won't be much, but it will give you pin-money, and a few necessities. Perhaps it will pay your way to camp!”
”Now, Mumsie,” laughed the girl with a trill of glee in her voice, ”remember about counting your chicks before they're hatched!”
She turned and ran swiftly up-stairs, and after imparting her good news to d.i.c.k, she sat down and penned her note to Mrs. Van Vorst, all her doubts and fears at rest. And she knew what she would do with the money, it came like a flash into her mind as she looked up and saw d.i.c.k plodding through an official-looking doc.u.ment.
After the note was mailed, there were just a few minutes left to run over and tell Mrs. Morrow what had transpired in regard to the lawn for the Flag Drill, and to announce, with joy s.h.i.+ning in every feature, that they could have the drill on the fourteenth. Then came a few minutes at Helen's, where the news was also told, two surprises, Nathalie declared, after she had unburdened herself to that young lady of the many things she had been bottling up for the last few weeks.
But Nathalie's day of surprises was to bear more fruit, for about five o'clock the postman delivered a package by parcel post, a big box that had a very mysterious look about it. ”I don't see what it can be?” she soliloquized, as she looked at the address. And then, ”Oh, Mother, do you know where the scissors are?” as she found that her fingers were too unsteady with haste to untie the string.
d.i.c.k, however, after hearing her excited outcry, had whipped out a penknife. There was a zip, the string was off, the box slipped out of the paper, and then the girl, with radiant, mystified eyes, was looking down at a Pioneer uniform, a jaunty little affair, with its red tie and red-banded hat to complete the outfit.
”Don't stand there and gape at it any longer, Nathalie,” imperiously voiced d.i.c.k, with an odd gleam in his eyes. ”Look at the card and see who sent it!”
CHAPTER XVI-PIONEER STUNTS
An exclamation escaped dazed Nathalie; and then a search was started, resulting at last in finding the card in one of the pockets of the skirt. Another cry issued from the finder as she read:
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