Part 10 (1/2)

The old lady looked at Jenny Lind in a strange way. ”I haven't seen a canary bird for years,” she murmured, more to herself than to Mary Rose.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”'I haven't seen a canary bird for years,' she murmured.”]

Mary Rose answered her impulsively as she usually answered people.

”Would you like to have her visit you until I come back? I'm not going to take her with us. She wouldn't be any trouble. She's used to visiting. All you have to do is to let her have a chair or a table to sit on.” She offered the cage generously.

The old lady seemed to hesitate. She looked like Gladys' grandmother, only not so comfortable, Mary Rose thought. At last she held out her hand.

”I declare I don't know but I will let you leave it with me. I'm all alone, and even a bird is company.”

”Jenny Lind's splendid company. Shall I put her on the table for you?

There! I'll run up before supper and get her. And don't you worry, because Uncle Larry said the law doesn't say one word about birds.” And before startled Mother Johnson could ask her what she meant by the law, she ran off, stumbling down the two flights of stairs to the bas.e.m.e.nt.

Only the special Providence that looks after children saved her.

Aunt Kate was in the kitchen and she exclaimed in surprise when she heard that Mary Rose was going to the lake with Miss Thorley and had left Jenny Lind to spend the afternoon with the grandmother on the second floor.

”My soul an' body!” she said. ”Whatever will you do next!”

Mary Rose saw Mr. Jerry in his car in the alley and ran to the open window to tell him of the pleasure that was in store for her.

”Mr. Jerry! Oh, Mr. Jerry! I'm going to the lake with the enchanted princess. Don't you wish you were me?”

Mr. Jerry waved his hand as he smiled and nodded, but Mary Rose did not wait to hear whether he would like to change places with her, for she had to slip out of the plaid skirt and middy blouse into a white frock that Aunt Kate had shortened.

”Isn't it the luckiest thing that Ella had so many beautiful clothes!”

she said breathlessly. ”I shouldn't want to go out with Miss Thorley in that horrid boys' suit.”

She was ready first, and as she waited in the lower hall she talked to Mrs. Schuneman about Germania. Miss Thorley found them together when she came down, looking exactly like a princess to Mary Rose, in her white linen skirt and lingerie blouse and with a big black hat all a-bloom with pink roses on her red-brown head.

”I was ready first,” Mary Rose cried happily, ”but I didn't mind waiting, for I was talking to a friend, to Mrs. Schuneman. She has Germania, you know. This is my friend, Miss Thorley, Mrs. Schuneman.” She introduced them politely.

Miss Thorley nodded carelessly, but even a careless glance told her that there was not the sign of a grouch on Mrs. Schuneman's fat red face that day. Indeed, it quite beamed with friendliness as she hoped that they would have a good time.

”You see, she's very pleasant when you know her,” Mary Rose explained as they walked over to the street car. ”That's why it's so important to know people. If you don't really know them, you might often think they were grouchy when they aren't.”

CHAPTER IX

Lake Nokomis was on the outskirts of Waloo and was a popular pleasure resort for Waloo people from June until September. A band played in the pavilion, there was a moving picture show, a merry-go-round with a wheezy organ, a roller coaster and many other amus.e.m.e.nt features, as well as several ice-cream parlors. There was always a crowd drifting from one place to another, and Mary Rose fairly danced with delight when she and Miss Thorley became a part of the good-natured throng.

They were standing beside the enclosure in which the fat Shetland ponies waited for the children who were fortunate enough to possess a nickel to pay for a ride on their broad backs or a drive in a roomy carriage, when Mary Rose saw Mr. Jerry. She had sadly refused Miss Thorley's invitation to ride because she did not wish to leave her alone, and Miss Thorley would not ride one of the ponies nor drive in one of the carriages.

”There's Mr. Jerry!” squealed Mary Rose when she saw him. She could scarcely believe her eyes, but she waved her hand. ”He's the man who boards my cat, you know,” she explained to Miss Thorley. ”And he's very pleasant and friendly, just like a Mifflin man.”

Miss Thorley looked first surprised and then displeased and then she frowned and shrugged her shoulders as if she did not really care whether Mr. Jerry was there or not. She gave him rather a curt greeting when he joined them with a cheery:

”Hullo, Mary Rose. Are you thinking of a canter in the park?”

There was nothing curt in the greeting Mary Rose gave him. She smiled enchantingly and slipped her hand into his. ”We're just watching the ponies. Aren't they loves? Miss Thorley thinks they are too small for her to ride, but I don't see how she can be sure unless she tries. Do you know Mr. Jerry, Miss Thorley? He's making such a comfortable home for George Was.h.i.+ngton. She didn't feel like painting today,” she explained to Mr. Jerry, ”so we came out for a change. Oh, I do just love that blackest pony, but no one seems to choose him!” She pointed an eager finger to the corner where the blackest and fattest pony stood neglected.

”Suppose you choose him. I've money to treat a lady friend to a ride.”