But I said in my heart: “Madam, you are only a suspender button upon the necklace of the evening.”
V
“Papa has Come!”
There was a scurry and a flutter. Gretchen threw down her dish-rag, leaving Grandma a plate to wipe.
I heard the grandfather say, “Wel-come, son, wel-come indeed!” The young wife gave a smothered shriek, and then in a minute I heard her exclaim, “John, you’re a scamp!”
I put on my hot shoes and went in to see what this looked like. Gretchen-Cecilia was somewhere between them, and then on her father’s shoulder, mussing his hair. And the mother took Gretchen down, as John said in reply to a question:—
“Business is good. Whether there’s oil or not, I dig the hole and get paid.”
This man was now standing his full height for his family to admire. He was one I too could not help admiring. He had an open sunburned face, and I thought that behind it there was a non-scheming mind, that had attained good fortune beyond the lot of most of the simple. He was worth the dressing up the family had done for him, and almost worthy of Gretchen’s extra crisp hair ribbons.
His wife put her arms around his neck and whispered something, evidently about me. He watched me over his shoulder as much as to say:—
“And so it’s a stray dog wants shelter? No objections.”
He unwrapped his package. It was an extraordinary doll, with truly truly hair, and Gretchen-Cecilia had to give him seven kisses and almost cry before he surrendered it.