AS soon as Mr. and Mrs. Fairfax returned Sister Julia went back to her work at the great hospital. Mrs. Fairfax begged her to stay through the holidays, and the children coaxed1 and coaxed, but to no avail, for she knew that “little lame2 Madeline,” as every one called her, was longing3 for her to come. Madeline had been in the hospital once before, and for almost a year, but now she had come back to stay. The doctors said she would never be able to leave it again, nor would she be there very long. The best of care and kindest of nursing must soon fail to cage the little spirit in any house that human hands had made.
“I can understand how you feel that you must go,” Mrs. Fairfax had said to Sister Julia at the close of a long talk they had been having about it; “but it does seem too bad that you should take up your hospital work again without having had a vacation.”
“Vacation!” laughed Sister Julia. “Why, I have just come home from the happiest vacation of my life!”
“But you were at work all the time caring for Reginald, teaching the children, and, hardest of all, tending those poor wrecked4 sailors.''
“Yes, but it was all a pleasure. Every day I was breathing that strong salt air, and taking long strolls on the beach. To have chosen your life work, and to feel yourself hour by hour gaining strength and health that enables you to keep cheerily and steadily5 at it, why, there is no happiness for me, Mrs. Fairfax, that at all compares with that; and while that state of things continues, no idle vacation, if you please. I should be half miserable6 all the time.”
Mrs. Fairfax knew that Sister Julia was right in the matter, and bade her good-bye and God-speed with tears in her eyes, but they were tears of loving appreciation7, and not because she did not expect to see Sister Julia soon again. Indeed, it had been arranged that she should come down from the hospital the very next Sunday, and go with the children to the afternoon service at Mr. Vale's church.
Sunday came—a clear, cold Sunday, and little Nan woke and gave a sigh as she looked about the little room that had been hers for a week. It was a beautiful room. She was lying in the shiniest of little brass8 bedsteads, and there were lovely pictures on the walls, and pretty things of one sort or another on every side.
“Dear me!” she thought, a little regretfully; “only one more night, and we must go home,” but at the same time that one word home sent a glad little thrill through her heart. She felt sure that, after all, she would not exchange her own little room, with its wide-reaching view skyward, and landward, and seaward, for the finest room in the city, overlooking only a narrow street, and dreary9 stone walls and pavements; besides, though everyone had been so kind, and she loved them all dearly, it would be nice to curl up in her own mother's arms again, for even an eight-year-old little woman sometimes clings tenderly to certain comforts and luxuries of babyhood.
Sister Julia came at a quarter of four, and found the children eagerly waiting for her. As they walked down Fifth Avenue people looked with considerable interest at the sweet-faced woman, whose dress betrayed her a member of a sisterhood, and at the three children, who kept up a constant exchange of the place of honour, which consisted in being close to Sister Julia, on one side or the other, where they could have the privilege of clasping whichever hand was in best condition to forego the comfort of her muff.
There was nothing connected with this visit to which Nan and Harry10 had looked forward with more pleasure than to seeing Mr. Vale's church, and hearing him preach; and with beaming faces they followed Rex to the pew which they were to have quite to themselves, for Mr. and Mrs. Fairfax had gone to spend the afternoon with Grandma Fairfax, in Brooklyn.
“I think the church is beautiful,” whispered Nan to Sister Julia.
“I knew you would like it,” Sister Julia whispered back.
“The stained-glass windows are lovely, with the light coming through them.”
“Yes,” answered Sister Julia, for she did not fancy prolonged conversations in church.
“Must have cost a lot,” Harry remarked to Regie, after staring all about him, and turning his body from side to side, in a take-everything-in sort of fashion.
“Yes, it did,” Regie replied; “Mr. Vale thought the rich men ought to make it as beautiful as their homes.”
“Who do you have to blow your organ, a man or a boy?”
“It's run by water-power, you goosie.”
“I would rather you would not talk any more now,” Sister Julia interrupted, for she could see that the children's stage whispers were audible several pews away.
They were quite willing to be silent, however, for Mr. Vale had come into the chancel, and they felt themselves on their good behaviour; beside, they were too much interested in his every gesture to have eyes or ears for aught else. Indeed, Nan was by nature a most devout12 little worshipper. She loved everything connected with the service. Long before she knew one letter from another she had her own little prayerbook in the chapel13 at Moorlow, and would turn from page to page, as though perfectly14 familiar with the order, and during the responses she would emit certain audible little sounds, which greatly amused other children near her, and yet, to her little ladyship, were perfectly satisfactory. But she entered even more heartily15 into this afternoon's service than ever before.
Mr. Vale's earnest spirit seemed always to pervade16 the whole congregation worshipping in the old Tower Church. They knew he never preached a word which he did not faithfully strive to practise, and even little folk feel the power of a consistent life, before ever they can tell what the power is or why they feel it. There was much in this afternoon's sermon that the children could understand, and only once was Nan's attention distracted; that was when a restless little five-year-old, who sat before them, having disappeared for several seconds in the bottom of the pew, suddenly popped up again, dangling17 her button-boots and stockings over the back of the seat.
Harry and Rex clapped their hands over their mouths to keep from laughing outright18. Nan smiled, and touched Sister Julia, who leaned forward and succeeded in inducing her to quietly put them on again. That was the first the little witch's father knew of the transaction, for he had been listening intently to the sermon; but he looked gratefully at Sister Julia when he saw what she had done, and shook his head, as much as to say, “She is a most unruly little maiden19.”
After this performance the child leaned her head against the back of the pew, and became absorbed in a study of the stained-glass window over the chancel. No wonder it attracted her childish gaze. At the beginning of the service the light had fallen upon it from without, but now the wintry twilight20 was gathering21 fast, and the rims22 of brass in which the discs of glass were set were brilliantly flashing from the glow of the gas-jets. Ere long the service is over, and people are leaving the church. Reluctant to go, the children linger a moment in the pew, and fortunately too, for Ole, the old Norwegian sexton, is elbowing his way toward them, with a message from Mr. Vale. Quite out of breath he reaches them, explaining that “Mr. Vale would like to have the children come up to the study, and that he said he would see them safely home if Sister Julia must hurry back to the hospital.”
Harry and Nan give Sister Julia a good-bye hug, “real hard,” for they will not see her again before going home to Moorlow to-morrow; and then with happy hearts they follow Ole up the winding23 stairs that lead to the study.
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1
coaxed
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱 | |
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2
lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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3
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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4
wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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5
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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6
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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7
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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8
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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10
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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11
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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12
devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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13
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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14
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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15
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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16
pervade
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| v.弥漫，遍及，充满，渗透，漫延 | |
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17
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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18
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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19
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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20
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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21
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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22
rims
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| n.（圆形物体的）边( rim的名词复数 )；缘；轮辋；轮圈 | |
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23
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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