very, very much, for I do think she ought to be rewarded for
getting me out of the mess,” said Jack, as they’d rove happily
home again.
“I hope to have something in a day or two that will delight her very
much. I will say no more now, but keep my little secret and let it
be a surprise to all by and by,” answered his mother, looking as if
she had not much doubt about the matter.
“That will be jolly. You are welcome to your secret, Mamma. I’ve
had enough of them for one while”; and Jack shrugged his broad
shoulders as if a burden had been taken off.
In the evening Ed came, and Jack was quite satisfied when he saw
how pleased his friend was at what he had done.
“I never meant you should take so much trouble, only be kind to
Bob,” said Ed, who did not know how strong his influence was,
nor what a sweet example of quiet well-doing his own life was to
all his mates.
“I wished to be really useful; not just to talk about it and do
nothing. That isn’t your way, and I want to be like you,” answered
Jack, with such affectionate sincerity that Ed could not help
believing him, though he modestly declined the compliment by
saying, as he began to play softly, “Better than I am, I hope. I don’t
amount to much.”
“Yes, you do! and if anyone says you don’t I’ll shake him. I can’t
tell what it is, only you always look so happy and contented–sort
of sweet and shiny,” said Jack, as he stroked the smooth brown
head, rather at a loss to describe the unusually fresh and sunny
expression of Ed’s face, which was always cheerful, yet had a
certain thoughtfulness that made it very attractive to both young
and old.
“Soap makes him shiny; I never saw such a fellow to wash and
brush,” put in Frank, as he came up with one of the pieces of music
he and Ed were fond of practising together.
“I don’t mean that!” said Jack indignantly. “I wash and brush till
you call me a dandy, but I don’t have the same look–it seems to
come from the inside, somehow, as if he was always jolly and
clean and good in his mind, you know.”
“Born so,” said Frank, rumbling away in the bass with a pair of
hands that would have been the better for some of the above-
mentioned soap, for he did not love to do much in the washing and
brushing line.
“I suppose that’s it. Well, I like it, and I shall keep on trying, for
being loved by everyone is about the nicest thing in the world. Isn’t
it, Ed?” asked Jack, with a gentle tweak of the ear as he put a
question which he knew would get no answer, for Ed was so
modest he could not see wherein he differed from other boys, nor
believe that the sunshine he saw in other faces was only the
reflection from his own.
Sunday evening Mrs. Minot sat by the fire, planning how she
should tell some good news she had been saving up all day. Mrs.
Pecq knew it, and seemed so delighted that she went about smiling
as if she did not know what trouble meant, and could not do
enough for the family. She was downstairs now, seeing that the
clothes were properly prepared for the wash, so there was no one
in the Bird Room but Mamma and the children. Frank was reading
up all he could find about some Biblical hero mentioned in the
day’s sermon; Jill lay where she had lain for nearly four long
months, and though her face was pale and thin with the
confinement, there was an expression on it now sweeter even than
health. Jack sat on the rug beside her, looking at a white carnation
through the magnifying glass, while she was enjoying the perfume
of a red one as she talked to him.
“If you look at the white petals you’ll see that they sparkle like
marble, and go winding a long way down to the middle of the