"Oh!" The crestfallen word slipped across to her, and Aunt Jane's face relaxed.
"It's kind of a wing I was thinking of——"
"But I gave you your wing!"
"This is a little one—a kind of place of my own—where I could have them—when they were dismissed, you know—well enough to go home but not quite ready—in their minds, maybe.... I don't know as you ever thought—that it takes courage to start?" She regarded him mildly.
"I can imagine it—yes." His tone was dry.
She nodded. "I'd like to have a little home—not belonging to the hospital, but just to me, close by—where I could take 'em in, for a visit-like, till their courage had time to grow."
"I see—a cucumber frame for courage."
She looked up to see if he were making fun. But he was gazing thoughtfully into a teacup.
"Poor folks have to get their courage somehow—and it's hard work—wastes a good deal," she said practically.... "And then sometimes, there's rich folks that don't want to go—when the time comes—" Her eyes twinkled with it. "I'd like to ask them to visit me sometimes."
He was silent, looking into his teacup.