charms of the new plan.
“And I’ll teach you to swim, and roll you over the beach, and get
sea-weed and shells, and no end of nice things, and we’ll all come
home as strong as lions,” added Jack, scrambling up as if about to
set off at once.
“The doctor says you have been doing finely of late, and the brace
will come to-morrow, and the first really mild day you are to have
a breath of fresh air. Won’t that be good?” asked Mrs. Minot,
hoping her story had not been too interesting.
“Is she crying?” said Jack, much concerned as he patted the pillow
in his most soothing way, while Frank lifted one curl after another
to see what was hidden underneath.
Not tears, for two eyes sparkled behind the fingers, then the hands
came down like clouds from before the sun, and Jill’s face shone
out so bright and happy it did one’s heart good to see it.
“I’m not crying,” she said with a laugh which was fuller of blithe
music than any song she sung. “But it was so splendid, it sort of
took my breath away for a minute. I thought I wasn’t any better,
and never should be, and I made up my mind I wouldn’t ask, it
would be so hard for anyone to tell me so. Now I see why the
doctor made me stand up, and told me to get my baskets ready to
go a-Maying. I thought he was in fun; did he really mean I could
go?” asked Jill, expecting too much, for a word of encouragement
made her as hopeful as she had been despondent before.
“No, dear, not so soon as that. It will be months, probably, before
you can walk and run, as you used to; but they will soon pass. You
needn’t mind about May-day; it is always too cold for flowers, and
you will find more here among your own plants, than on the hills,
to fill your baskets,” answered Mrs. Minot, hastening to suggest
something pleasant to beguile the time of probation.
“I can wait. Months are not years, and if I’m truly getting well,
everything will seem beautiful and easy to me,” said Jill, laying
herself down again, with the patient look she had learned to wear,
and gathering up the scattered carnations to enjoy their spicy
breath, as if the fairies hidden there had taught her some of their
sweet secrets.
“Dear little girl, it has been a long, hard trial for you, but it is
coming to an end, and I think you will find that it has not been
time wasted, I don’t want you to be a saint quite yet, but I am sure
a gentler Jill will rise up from that sofa than the one who lay down
there in December.”
“How could I help growing better, when you were so good to me?”
cried Jill, putting up both arms, as Mrs. Minot went to take Frank’s
place, and he retired to the fire, there to stand surveying the scene
with calm approval.
“You have done quite as much for us; so we are even. I proved that
to your mother, and she is going to let the little house and take care
of the big one for me, while I borrow you to keep me happy and
make the boys gentle and kind. That is the bargain, and we get the
best of it,” said Mrs. Minot, looking well pleased, while Jack
added, “That’s so!” and Frank observed with an air of conviction,
‘We couldn’t get on without Jill, possibly.”
“Can I do all that? I’d idn’t know I was of any use. I only tried to be
good and grateful, for there didn’t seem to be anything else I could
do,” said Jill, wondering why they were all so fond of her.
“No real trying is ever in vain. It is like the spring rain, and flowers
are sure to follow in good time. The three gifts Patience gave Saint
Lucy were courage, cheerfulness, and love, and with these one can
work the sweetest miracles in the world, as you see,” and Mrs.
Minot pointed to the pretty room and its happy inmates.