FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27  
28   29   30   31   32   33   34   >>  
ome of them home," ventured Aunt Ellen, biting her lip courageously, whereupon the old Doctor patted her shoulder gently with a cheery word of advice. Now, there was something in the touch of the old Doctor's broad and gentle hand that always soothed, wherefore Aunt Ellen presently wiped her troublesome glasses again and bravely tried to smile, and the Doctor making a vast and altogether cheerful to-do about turning the blazing log, began a brisk description of his day. It had ended, professionally, at a lonely little house in the heart of the forest, which Jarvis Hildreth, dying but a scant year since, had bequeathed to his orphaned children, Madge and Roger. "And, Ellen," finished the Doctor, soberly, "there he sits by the window, day by day, poor lame little lad!--staring away so wistfully at the forest, and Madge, bless her brave young heart!--she bastes and stitches and sews away, all the while weaving him wonderful yarns about the pines and cedars to amuse him--all out of her pretty head, mind you! A lame brother and a passion for books--" said the Doctor, shaking his head, "a poor inheritance for the lass. They worry me a lot, Ellen, for Madge looks thin and tired, and to-day--" the Doctor cleared his throat, "I think she had been crying." "Crying!" exclaimed Aunt Ellen, her kindly brown eyes warm with sympathy. "Dear, dear!--And Christmas only three days off! Why, John, dear, we must have them over here for Christmas. To be sure! And we'll have a tree for little Roger and a Christmas masquerade and such a wonderful Christmas altogether as he's never known before!" And Aunt Ellen, with the all-embracing motherhood of her gentle heart aroused, fell to planning a Christmas for Madge and Roger Hildreth that would have gladdened the heart of the Christmas saint himself. Face aglow, the old Doctor bent and patted his wife's wrinkled hand. "Why, Ellen," he confessed, warmly, "it's the thing I most desired! Dear me, it's a very strange thing indeed, my dear, how often we seem to agree. I'll hitch old Billy to the sleigh and go straight after them now while Annie's getting supper!" And at that instant one glance at Aunt Ellen Leslie's fine old face, framed in the winter firelight which grew brighter as the checkerboard window beside her slowly purpled, would have revealed to the veriest tyro why the Doctor's patients liked best to call her "Aunt" Ellen. So, with a violent jingle of sleigh-bells, the Doctor pr
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27  
28   29   30   31   32   33   34   >>  



Top keywords:

Doctor

 

Christmas

 

Hildreth

 
wonderful
 
sleigh
 

window

 
forest
 

altogether

 

gentle

 

patted


patients
 

masquerade

 

revealed

 

aroused

 

slowly

 
motherhood
 

purpled

 

veriest

 

embracing

 
jingle

violent

 
sympathy
 

planning

 

kindly

 

instant

 

supper

 

strange

 
glance
 

straight

 

desired


brighter

 

checkerboard

 

gladdened

 

firelight

 

warmly

 

Leslie

 

confessed

 

wrinkled

 

winter

 

framed


cheerful

 

turning

 

blazing

 

making

 

bravely

 

Jarvis

 
lonely
 

professionally

 

description

 

glasses