“Faith, ma’am, it’s a perfect lady you’re afther makin’ of my girl. Her mother would bless you were she here,” and Mrs. Hollister would reply:
“She is naturally a perfect lady, Mr. Casey, so it’s not hard work. I consider Nora a very superior girl and I’m very fond of her,” at which the father’s eyes would grow half tearful, and he’d seem proud to hear it.
Nannie Bigelow and Nora became very intimate and she was made much of by Dorothy Kip and Sara Judson. Nora took an active interest in the Day Nursery and donated generously for its maintenance. Twice a week she’d go and read to the elder children and get on the floor and play with the younger ones, for she adored babies. She was especially sweet and generous to Grandmother, spending hours with her lest she should become lonely. It was like a mother and daughter, instead of a girl and chaperon, to see Mrs. Hollister and Nora go about together.
“I wish I had a son, Nora,” said that lady one day. “Then I should never have to see you leave me.”
Nora blushed rosy red, saying:
“I wish you had, Mrs. Hollister. I dislike to think of our separation.”
Mr. Casey sent the most wonderful barrels of apples and potatoes from his own place to the Hollisters, and when he came to New York he’d order fruit from the most expensive fruiterers to be sent three times a week, say nothing of boxes of flowers which came regularly throughout the entire winter.
CHAPTER XIV
A BIRTHDAY PRESENT
On one of Mr. Casey’s flying trips to the city it happened to be Mrs. Hollister’s birthday. Nora told him of the fact and after school together they whisked away in a taxi to shop. Upon their return he presented Mrs. Hollister with a large box, and in the most delicate manner begged her to accept it as a slight token of his gratitude for her interest in and kindness to Nora.