Going to his ’phone he called up Mrs. Carruth’s home. Constance had already gone to school, but Mrs. Carruth answered the ’phone. She was quite as delighted as Constance would have been, and promised to deliver the message to her upon her return. When she heard it Constance’s cheeks glowed.
“Isn’t he a dear, mother, to take so much trouble for me? And now I must get busy, busy, busy. I’ve pounds and pounds of candy to make between this and Saturday, and I must make it afternoons.”
“I can not bear to think of you doing this, dear,” said Mrs. Carruth, laying her hand tenderly upon the soft brown hair.
“Why not, I’d like to know?” cried Constance.
“Because it takes the time you should spend in outdoor exercise. You work hard in school, and that has always seemed to me to be quite enough for any girl to undertake. Yet here you and Eleanor are about to give up your afternoons for this work and the coaching.”
Mrs. Carruth sighed, for it was hard for her to adjust herself to the new order of things in her family. Raised upon a large plantation, where she, the only daughter, was her father’s idol, for whom everything must be done, and whose every wish must be considered, she shrank from the thought of her girls laboring for their daily bread, or stepping out into the world beyond their own thresholds. Her father would have felt that the world was about to cease revolving had she been obliged to take such a step. Indeed it would have quite broken his heart, for never had any woman of his household been forced to do aught toward her own maintenance. But times had changed since Reginald Blairsdale had been laid away in the little burial plot upon the plantation, where his wife had slept for so many years, and his daughter had lived to see many changes take place which would have outraged all his traditions.
“Now, mother, please listen to me,” said Constance, earnestly, as she slipped her arm about her mother’s waist. “I am not going to give up all my afternoons, and neither is Eleanor. As to the exercise, we each have a pretty long walk to and from school mornings and afternoons, and, in addition to that, Eleanor will go to her pupils’ houses to do her coaching. That gives her a good bit of exercise three afternoons each week, and she has all her Saturdays free. I shall give little more than two hours a day to my candy making, and I know you and Jean will gladly help me do the packing and tying up. Just how I shall send it over, I haven’t decided yet; that can be settled later when I send a ton or so each day,” laughed Constance. “Meanwhile Mammy will take it over, or I can. Only please don’t dampen my enthusiasm or worry because I am undertaking this step. I am perfectly well and strong, and I’ll promise not to do anything to endanger that health and strength. So smile upon my venture, Mumsey, dear, and make up your mind that it is going to be a great success,—because it is,” ended Constance, with a rapturous hug.
“You are my brave, sweet girl!” said Mrs. Carruth, very tenderly. “Yes, I’ll put my Blairsdale pride in my pocket—or rather my hand-bag, since pockets are no longer in fashion, and try to be a full-fledged, twentieth-century woman. Now what is the first step?”
“The first step is to make my candies before I try to sell ’em. No, the first is to order the stuff sent home to make them of. I’ll ’phone right down to Van Dorn’s this minute. I’ve plenty on hand for this afternoon’s candy, but I’ll lay in a big supply ahead.”
The ’phoning was soon done, and then Constance hurried to the kitchen where for the two ensuing hours she worked like a beaver. At the end of that time several pounds of tempting sweets were made and ready to be wrapped in paraffin paper. When this was done all was packed carefully into tin boxes to await the arrival of the paper ones.