As she spoke the bell rang, and she straightened up.
“Hush! There’s someone here. Are you all right, Doctor? Shall I let ’em in?”
“Yes, Maria.” He recovered himself quickly, for he was a proud man, and as Maria went slowly to the door he wiped his eyes and straightened himself in his chair.
“Can we be coming in?”
He looked up to see Mrs. Mooney and Nellie in the doorway, smiling at him. Nellie was a different girl now. If Dr. Crossett had done nothing else in his busy life, what he had done for this child would have been a monument to his skill. Her arm was well, there was a soft color on her cheeks, and her face was bright with health and happiness.
“Come in!” He answered heartily, and as he looked at her he exclaimed gladly, “Why, Nellie, how well you are looking. Better every day!”
“She is that, Doctor. Better and happier,” said Mrs. Mooney proudly. “She’s just as good as any of ’em now.”
“Please, Doctor,” said Nellie timidly, as she held out to him a bunch of simple flowers, “will you please take these? I bought them with my first week’s pay, part of it. I’m working now. Will you take them?”
“Thank you, Nellie.” He took them from her with a smile. “They are a very satisfactory payment for anything I ever did for you.”
“She thought you’d know what she was feeling, Doctor,” interrupted Mrs. Mooney. “We can’t ever pay, but we can’t either of us ever forget.”