“No, I’m not sorry, nor do I grudge you any thing; but it was a girl’s freak, and I am not worthy of so much praise and honor.”
“It was a good girl’s good intention,” he said almost solemnly. “Let us be thankful that it succeeded.”
Nelly went back to the bedside of the old woman with a fluttering heart. How strange it seemed to think this sick woman was old enough to have outlived all anxieties except those about her pains and her supper! Had not she been young once? and had no one ever looked at her as Dr. Joe looked?
The next morning he came again. His medicine, a night’s sleep, Nelly’s care,--something seemed to have given the poor old patient a fresh lease of life. There was no need that Nelly should stay with her any more; but she went to see her daily, and it was curious how often Dr. Joe’s visits happened at the same time.
One night the doctor had left his horse at home, and he and Nelly walked away together. They talked about the lingering sunset and the soft south wind and even the old woman; for Nelly, woman-like, was struggling desperately to keep Dr. Joe from saying what she desperately wanted to hear. But, at last, it came,--a half-blunt, half-awkward speech, yet with Dr. Joe’s honest heart in it,--
“I’ve lived all these years just to earn your esteem, and now I find I don’t care a thing about that unless I can also win your love.”
I think Nelly’s answer must have satisfied him, for she is Mrs. Joseph Greene now; and that valentine--worn and old, but choicely framed--always hangs over the doctor’s study table.
JOLLY GOOD TIMES; or, CHILD LIFE ON A FARM. JOLLY GOOD TIMES AT SCHOOL; also, SOME TIMES NOT SO JOLLY. THE BROWNS. THEIR CANOE TRIP. JOLLY GOOD TIMES AT HACKMATACK. MORE GOOD TIMES AT HACKMATACK. JOLLY GOOD TIMES TO-DAY. A JOLLY GOOD SUMMER.
_With Illustrations, 12 mo, cloth, gilt, $1.25 per volume. The set of eight volumes, uniformly bound in cloth, gilt, in a box, $10.00._
Of these stories the Boston “Transcript” says: “Few series of juvenile books appeal more strongly to children than the ‘Jolly Good Times’ Series, written by Mary P. Wells Smith. The naturalness of the stories, their brightness, their truth to boy and girl life and character, and the skill with which the author manages incident and dialogue, have given them deserved popularity.”