“Ask them about it,” he said, rising, and would say no more.
Mr. Harriman limped out.
“What are Girl Scouts?” Mr. Harriman asked his chauffeur as they drove to his office.
“I dunno, sah,” said the colored man, starting. He always jumped when Mr. Harriman spoke. Everyone wanted to.
“Idiot!” said Mr. Harriman.
“Yes, sah,” said the chauffeur cheerfully.
There seemed nothing else to say.
Mr. Harriman’s hand healed very quickly for so old a man, and the doctor stubbornly gave all the credit to Rosanna’s first-aid treatment. Mr. Harriman could say “Stuff and nonsense!” as many times as he liked, but it made no difference to the doctor, who smiled and refused to discuss the matter. Mr. Harriman commenced to have a troublesome conscience. He felt as though he should call and thank the little girl who had befriended him to such good purpose, especially as he had known Rosanna’s grandmother all her life, but he could not bring himself to do it and contented himself with sending two immense wax dolls and a huge box of candy to Rosanna’s house addressed to “The two girls who recently bound up my hand.” Rosanna and Helen were quite embarrassed, but Mrs. Horton, who was immensely amused, told them that all that was necessary was a note of thanks, which they wrote and sent off in a great hurry. They didn’t want to keep Mr. Harriman waiting. No one did. But he couldn’t find out anything about the Girl Scouts because the only persons he asked were the very persons who would never know anything much about anything that had to do with girls or good times or youth or happiness. He asked his old friends at the club, when he felt like talking at all, and so the time went on.
In the meantime, at a Scout meeting Rosanna found herself telling the girls all about Gwenny and the play and the plans for sending the poor little cripple to Cincinnati for the operation which might make her well. It was only might. Doctor MacLaren and the other doctors whom he had taken to see Gwenny would only say that it could be tried. And the great surgeon, Dr. Branshaw, had written Dr. MacLaren that as soon as the child was in a fit condition she could be brought to him and he would do what he could. He said nothing about the cost, Rosanna noticed, when she read his letter, so she could not tell the girls what the operation would cost. They were all as interested as they could be and promised to work as hard as they could selling tickets, and the ones who were chosen to take parts in the play were very happy about it. As a matter of fact, all of them were to come on the stage, for those who had no speaking parts came on and marched and so had a share in the glory.