“Well, we came back to town and the basement kitchen. Margaret was inconsolable when she heard the decision. The Whalen children, too, were disappointed; but Mr. Whalen and his wife were deaf to their entreaties. In the end I persuaded them to move to rooms that at least had the sun and air—though they were still in the Alley—and there I left them with a well-stocked larder and wardrobe, and with the rent paid six months in advance. I shall keep my eye on them, of course, for Margaret’s sake, and I hope to do something really worth while for the children. Patty and the twins are still with them at present.”
“But wasn’t Margaret satisfied with that?” asked the doctor.
“Yes, so far as it went: but there were still the others. Harry, that child has the whole Alley on her heart. I’m at my wits’ end to know what to do. You heard her this afternoon—she didn’t want to ride home because Patty must walk in New York. She looks askance at the frosting on her cake, and questions her right to wear anything but rags. Harry, what can I do?”
The man was silent.
“I don’t know, dear,” he said slowly, at last. “We must think—and think hard. Hers is not a common case. There is no precedent to determine our course. Small girls of five that have been reared in luxury are not often thrust into the streets and sweat shops of a great city and there forced to spend four years of their life—thank God! That those four years should have had a tremendous influence is certain. She can’t be the same girl she would have been had she spent those years at her mother’s knee. One thing is sure, however, seems to me. In her present nervous condition, if there is such a thing as getting her mind off those four years of her life and everything connected with it, it should be done.”
The doctor paused, and at that instant a step sounded on the graveled driveway. A moment later a boy’s face flashed into the light that streamed through the open door.
“Why, Bobby, is that you?” cried Mrs. Kendall.
“Yes, ma’am, it’s me, please. Did Mag—I mean Margaret come home, please?”
“Yes, she came to-night.”
Bobby hesitated. He stood first on one foot, then on the other. At last, very slowly he dragged his right hand from behind his back.