“Mother dear, can’t you sell that fishing rod for me that I got from Uncle Isaac?”
“Sell your fishing rod? Indeed, you must not think of such a thing.”
“Oh, yes, I must. I must. And my coin collection—awfully rare, some of the coins are, really; and my egg collection, too—there are three perfectly whole eggs in it, at the very least, and”—
“But why in the world should you sell all these things?”
“Oh, so that—so that—I tell you what, Mother, it is dreadful to be blind.”
Mother stared in blank amazement.
“And Tellef’s grandmother says that if the master of Kingthorpe were alive, she would ask him for money to go and have her eyes operated on. It costs frightfully, you see, Mother, and I have to be the master of Kingthorpe now; so I want to give Tellef’s grandmother the money. I must do it because Uncle Isaac would, and I am the Kingthorpe heir.”
Johnny Blossom talked so fast that his words tumbled over each other. “Oh, I must,” he continued, “for Grandmother said it would be heavenly to see the ocean once more.”
Mother patted Johnny’s hand. “We’ll think about it, little John, and talk it over with Father.”
But Johnny went to work at once to take the fishing rod apart, and then wrapped it very carefully in old newspapers. Great sport it would have been to have this fine rod to fish with—it was such a beauty—but think of not being able to see, just to walk around a house holding on to the walls! My, oh, my! how frightfully sad that was!