FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95  
96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   >>   >|  
t pretty blue-eyed baby girls, but they don't want just boys--like Jim." "That's true," Alice Reynolds agreed. "My mother is a director at the Orphan Asylum, and she says nine out of ten who go there for a child to adopt, want a pretty baby girl." "But you can find some other boy for the Camp Fire," Miss Laura returned. "Not another Jim. Please share him with us, anyhow, Miss Laura," Alice urged. "I don't want to be selfish about it," Laura replied, "but somehow Jim has crept into my heart and I thought I would take him for my own special Camp Fire 'service.' And perhaps the other girls won't be willing to give up their pretty baby." "I--I'd hate to, though I like Jim too," Rose admitted. "You couldn't make pretty lacey dresses for Jim," Laura reminded her with a little laugh. "Rose is hankering for a live doll to dress, girls, so you'd better wait and see what the others say about it." "When can Jim leave the hospital?" Alice inquired. "To judge from his face when I left him, he will get well quickly, now," Miss Laura answered. And he did. The next time she went to see him, he welcomed her with a beaming smile. "I'm getting well," he exulted. "She says I can sit up to-morrow," he nodded towards the nurse. "He is certainly getting better," the nurse agreed. "He has seemed like another boy since Sunday. How did you work such magic, Miss Haven?" Laura looked at Jim and his eyes met hers steadily. "Hasn't he told you?" she asked the nurse. "He has told me nothing." Laura smiled at him as she explained, "Jim is my boy now--we agreed on that, Sunday. When he leaves the hospital he is coming to me." "Jim, I congratulate you. You are a lucky boy," said the nurse, who knew all about Judge Haven and his daughter. "I think I too am to be congratulated," said Laura quickly, and the nurse nodded. "Yes, Jim is a good boy," she answered. Then she went away and left the two together. This time Jim did not talk very much. It was enough for him to have his pretty lady where he could look at her, and be sure it was not all a dream. Not many days later, after a telephone conference with the nurse, Laura went to the hospital again. She found the boy lying there with a look of patient endurance in his eyes, but they widened with half-incredulous joy when she told him that she had come to take him away. "Not--not _now_!" he cried out, with a little break in his voice. "Yes, now--just as you are. We
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95  
96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

pretty

 

hospital

 

agreed

 

nodded

 

Sunday

 

quickly

 

answered

 

leaves


smiled
 

looked

 

steadily

 

explained

 
coming
 
patient
 

conference

 

telephone


endurance

 

widened

 

incredulous

 

congratulated

 
daughter
 

congratulate

 

selfish

 
replied

returned

 

Please

 

special

 

service

 

thought

 

Reynolds

 

mother

 

director


Orphan

 
Asylum
 

inquired

 
morrow
 

exulted

 
welcomed
 
beaming
 

couldn


admitted
 

dresses

 
reminded
 

hankering