THE HAND-ORGAN MAN

Hardly had the four younger girls disappeared across the fields on the way to school the next morning, when the Abbott carriage drew up in front of the little brown house, and Cecile and Frances hurried up the path to the door. Gail answered the imperative knock, and looked so surprised and pleased at the unexpected call that the Judge’s daughter’s face crimsoned with contrition and shame to think she had neglected this old-time friend so long.

“Why, Cecile!” stammered Gail, glancing involuntarily from the girls’ fresh, white suits to her own shabby print frock and rolled-up sleeves. “This is a great treat. Come right in! We are so glad to have you call. Don’t apologize; you are more than welcome. But please excuse my appearance. It is Monday morning and Faith and I are washing.”

“Then don’t you apologize, either,” said Cecile, trying to laugh easily and failing utterly. “We should not have called at this outrageous hour, but Frances is to return to the city this afternoon, and she insisted upon coming to see about the children before she left.”

“Oh!” The bright light died from Gail’s eyes, and the girls looked uncomfortable. So it was an errand after all and not a friendly call which brought them. “What is the matter with the children? Has Peace ”

“No, oh, no, nothing has happened,” Cecile began hastily, when Frances interrupted, “It was on my account. Your little whistler has captivated me completely and mamma, too. We wanted to know if we might borrow them next Saturday, Peace and Allee, to help out in the program at a party I am giving that night. Oh, don’t say no! I have set my heart on it. We will take the best care of them and bring them home early Sunday morning. We are coming out here for dinner at Mr. Strong’s house that day, and of course must arrive in time for church service. Please say we can borrow them. I do want them so much!”

“Dear me,” exclaimed Cecile in mortification. “I haven’t even introduced you two girls. No wonder you think I am crazy, Gail. This is my chum from Martindale, Miss Sherrar, Miss Greenfield ”

“I’m Frances,” again the radiant-faced stranger interrupted.

“And I am Gail,” smiled the other. “I have heard the Strongs speak of you often.”

“No oftener than we have heard them speak about you,” Frances assured her. “We have known both of them for years, and ever since they took charge here in Parker we have heard lots about you.”

“No doubt. Mr. Strong is quite a champion of Peace’s, and she certainly needs one. I am afraid I don’t make much of a success in bringing up the little ones.”

“I think Peace is a perfect cherub in looks.”

The trio laughed merrily, and Cecile added, “She means to be in actions, but nothing she ever does comes out the way she intended it to, and she keeps everyone guessing as to what she will do next. You ought to hear Daddy rave about her. He thinks she is the smartest child he ever saw.”

“I think she is the sweetest,” said Frances, “she and Allee. They are both too cunning for anything. I simply must have them at my party. Won’t you say they can come?”

“They have nothing to wear for such a grand occasion,” Gail hesitated, anxious to please, and yet not quite willing to trust two of the precious sisters with strangers for even a twenty-four hours.

“That is easily remedied. I have some little cousins who are sure to have dresses that will fit. It is to be rather a dress-parade, I must admit, but you needn’t worry on that account. Mamma knows how to fix them up in Sara’s and Marion’s clothes. We must have them. Mr. Strong will give us a good recommend, I know.”

Gail laughed. “There is no need of that at all. I am willing that they should go, only you can hardly blame me for hesitating a little, as this will be the first time either one has been away from home over night; and besides, Peace is such a blunderbus, I rather dread to let her go anywhere for fear she will get into trouble.”

“Now you oughtn’t to feel that way at all,” cried Frances gaily. “I was just such a child as she is, and see what a well-behaved young lady I have grown to be! But really, she has such a sweet disposition and great, tender heart, she will come out all right, I know. Mr. Strong says so, and he is a splendid character reader. Oh, of course, I suppose she has her bad days. We all do, but she is too much of a darling to stay bad long. You should hear your preacher sermonize about her. He says just as sure as she gets into mischief of any kind she comes to him and tells him all about it, cries over it, and goes away promising to be a better girl. Oh, I have lost my heart to her completely! We won’t let her get into mischief of any kind, I promise. And I know she will enjoy herself.”

“Well,” answered Gail, slowly, “they may go, if you wish them so badly. How ”

“Cecile will bring them when she comes Saturday morning, if you are willing. That will give us plenty of time to get everything fixed up properly. I thank you so much for your permission; and, Gail, though we must hurry away this morning, the next time I come out here for a visit, I shall run in to see you for a nice long chat. May I?”

“Oh, if you just would!” cried gentle Gail impulsively, longing to take the bright face between her hands and kiss it. “We are too busy here to get out very much ourselves, but we do like company ‘awfully bad,’ as Peace used to say. I hope you come soon. The children will be ready for Cecile Saturday when she gets here. Good-bye, I am sorry you must go so soon. Come again, Cecile.” The girls were gone, and Gail went back to her wash-tubs in a daze.

Needless to say, the little girls were wild with excitement when told of the coming gala day, and Cherry was green-eyed with envy, though, like the well-behaved child she was, she never said a word to mar the beautiful time in store for the two more fortunate sisters. Long before Cecile arrived Saturday morning, the stiffly-starched duet stood on the steps, waiting in a fever of impatience; and by the time the Sherrar house in the great city was reached, both little girls were almost transported with joy. They nearly talked Cecile’s head off, so eager were they to find out all about the grand party, and everything else of interest they could think of; so she was more than relieved to turn her lively charges over to Frances the minute that young lady put in appearance.

“You little darlings!” the hostess exclaimed at sight of them. “Take them right upstairs, Sophy; mamma wants them at once. Cecile, you look tired out. Oh, yes, I can understand just how you feel for Sara and Marion were here all day yesterday, and what do you think? They haven’t a thing suitable for us to borrow. Mamma says we’ll have to go downtown and buy something ready-made for Peace and Allee. She is dressing now, and if you aren’t too tired, I’m going to drag you along.”

“Oh, I’m never too tired for gadding,” replied Cecile with animation. “But I can’t answer half the questions those chatterboxes ask, and this morning Allee was as bad as Peace. She wants to know if a chandelier crows and is just an ordinary rooster. Peace thinks those green-houses we pass on the car ought to be called ‘white-houses,’ because they are painted white. Just before we got off at our avenue she suddenly demanded to know for whom ‘Vandrevort Street’ was named. I couldn’t think for the life of me what she meant until I remembered we cross Twenty-fourth Street, and the conductor was a foreigner who doesn’t pronounce his words distinctly. She is possessed to know why, if the world is round, the houses on the other side don’t fall off; and why, when we lift our feet to step, they always come down to the earth again instead of staying in the air. Why is it we can’t pick ourselves up in our own arms; why don’t women’s shoes hook up like men’s; what is the reason policemen’s clothes are always blue and the grass is never anything but green; why don’t mules look like horses and what makes them kick?”

Cecile stopped for breath, and Frances screamed with delight. “Maybe we better stop and consult the doctor while we are in town,” she suggested.

“No, I guess that won’t be necessary now, for I have resigned them to your tender mercies, and you must answer their questions after this. If you don’t get enough of it, Frances Sherrar, before tomorrow morning ”

“Don’t prophesy, Cecile! If they can hold a candle to Marion and Sara, I’ll give you my opal ring.”

“I stand a pretty good chance of getting the ring, then,” answered Cecile, half-laughing, half-serious; but at that moment Mrs. Sherrar hustled down the stairway, with the two children in her wake, and the merry group set out for town.

“This is the corner, mamma,” said Frances, as the car came to a standstill at one of the busiest streets; “and, oh, if there aren’t Mrs. Tate and Lucy! I haven’t seen them for an age. Hurry, mamma, you know you are as anxious to see them as I am.”

Peace and Allee found themselves bundled hurriedly down the steps, jerked through the surging crowd of people, teams and automobiles in street, and landed on the opposite corner breathless, but game.

“Stay right here,” they heard Mrs. Sherrar say; and the next instant the older members of the party were wholly absorbed with those unexpectedly-met friends. The children listened impatiently for a few moments, but finding the conversation very uninteresting, looked about them for other more congenial amusement.

Just then a wheezy old hand-organ behind them began a familiar melody, and Peace beheld the player, a bent, white-haired, blind man, sitting in the shadow of a lamp-post on the edge of the curbing, slowly, patiently turning the crank of the little machine. She was at his side in an instant, staring into the sightless face with her great, brown, pitying eyes. His clothes were very shabby, his cheeks were pinched and pale; his cup, she noticed, stood empty on the top of the organ; his hands were terribly thin, and trembled as he played, so that he had to stop frequently between songs and rest.

“Are you sick, Mr. Blind-man?” she asked before she was aware she had spoken her thoughts aloud.

The white, unseeing eyes of the organist turned in the direction of the voice, and he answered with a show of cheerfulness, “Not now, little lady.”

“Then you have been?”

“Yes, this is my first day out for two weeks.”

“Oh, you poor man! It must tire you dreadfully to have to grind that box all day. Won’t you let me try it awhile? I know I can do it all right. You can count your money while I play.”

“There ain’t been any to count so far this morning,” he murmured, unconsciously dropping his hand from the organ as the quaint, old-fashioned song was finished; and before he had a chance to remonstrate, Peace had seized the crank with both hands, and was grinding away with all her might. But, though the crank seemed to turn easily enough, the music came in jerks, and the blind player took possession of his organ the minute she had completed the last bar, saying gently, “I am afraid you don’t know how to make the music, little one. But I thank you a thousand times for your great good-will. I shall soon be strong enough to play as well as I always have. The first day is a little hard. Tomorrow it will be better. We’ll change the roll now, and give them another tune.” He fumbled about the organ for a moment or two, and then the strains of Annie Laurie filled the air.

“Oh, I know that!” cried Peace, with animation. “Allee, you come and sing, while I whistle. We can do it lovely. Now begin again.”

Nothing loath to humor his strange, sympathetic little guests, he began the second time to grind out the wheezy notes of the beautiful, time-honored song, and Peace’s red lips took up the accompaniment, while Allée’s sweet, childish voice warbled the words:

“Maxwellton braes are bonnie,
Where early fa’s the dew,
And it’s there that Annie Laurie
Gied me her promise true
Gied me her promise true,
Which ne’er forgot will be;
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I’d lay me doon and dee.”

Mrs. Sherrar wheeled in amazement at the sound; the girls broke off their animated conversation to stare at the quaint group on the corner; a crowd gathered quickly; and with sudden, characteristic impulsiveness, Peace caught up the battered tin cup from the old hand-organ, and held it out invitingly. Hand after hand plunged deep into scores of pockets; coin after coin rattled into the little dipper; the old man played eagerly, breathlessly; and the children sang again and again in response to the applause from the street.

How long the impromptu concert might have continued no one knows, but through a break in the sea of faces surrounding them, Peace caught a glimpse of Mrs. Sherrar’s portly form, and it reminded her suddenly of where she was and how she came to be there. Breaking off in the midst of her song, she thrust the heavy cup back into the owner’s hands, bowed to the astonished throng, and cried shrilly, “He’s been sick and can’t play as much as he used to could, until he gets strong again; so he needs all the money he can get. Don’t forget him when you go by again.”

Grabbing Allee by the arm, she whisked away to where her friends were waiting, fearful lest they might not approve of her impulsive action; so before they had a chance to speak a word either of blame or praise, she began, excusingly, “Just s’posing we all had our eyes punched out so’s we couldn’t see, and had to sit on street corners and grind out music all day long. Wouldn’t it be terrible? I I thought maybe it might help a little if we joined in the music, and it did. He’s got a whole cupful of money, and now maybe he’ll go home and rest a bit. He’s been sick.”

Tears filled the eyes of the little company of grown-ups, and Frances, with an understanding heart, drew the childish figures close, saying tenderly, “For these bonnie little lassies I’d lay me doon and dee.”