SHOPPING.
It was settled that I should wait a day or two in New York to get my
wardrobe arranged, and then begin my school experience. But when we
got to New York, we found Mrs. Sandford's sister so ill as to claim
her whole time. There was none to spare for me and my wardrobe. Mrs.
Sandford said I must attend to it myself as well as I could, and the
doctor would go with me. He was off duty, he reported, and at leisure
for ladies' affairs. Mrs. Sandford told me what I would need. A warm
school dress, she said; for the days would be often cold in this
latitude until May, and even later; and schoolrooms not always warm. A
warm dress for every day was the first thing. A fine merino, Mrs.
Sandford said, would be, she thought, what my mother would choose. I
had silks which might be warm enough for other occasions. Then I must
have a thick coat or cloak. Long coats, with sleeves, were fashionable
then, she told me; the doctor would take me where I would find plenty
to choose from. And I needed a hat, or a bonnet. Unless, Mrs.
Sandford said, I chose to wear my riding-cap with the feather; that
was warm, and very pretty, and would do.
How much would it all cost? I asked. Mrs. Sandford made a rapid
calculation. The merino would be two dollars a yard, she said; the
coat might be got for thirty-five or thereabouts sufficiently good;
the hat was entirely what I chose to make it. "But you know, my dear,"
Mrs. Sandford said, "the sort of quality and style your mother likes,
and you will be guided by that."
Must I be guided by that?--I questioned with myself. Yes, I knew. I
knew very well; but I had other things to think of. I pondered. While
I was pondering, Dr. Sandford was quietly opening his pocket-book and
unfolding a roll of bills. He put a number of them into my hand.
"That will cover it all, Daisy," he said. "It is money your father has
made over to my keeping, for this and similar purposes."
"Oh, thank you!" I said, breathless; and then I counted the bills.
"Oh, thank you, Dr. Sandford: but may I spend all this?"
"Certainly. Mr. Randolph desired it should go, this and more of it, to
your expenses, of whatever kind. This covers my sister's estimate, and
leaves something for your pocket besides."
"And when shall we go?" I asked.
"To spend it? Now, if you like. Why, Daisy, I did not know--"
"What, sir?" I said as he paused.
"Really, nothing," he said, smiling. "Somehow I had not fancied that
you shared the passion of your sex for what they call _shopping_. You
are all alike in some things."
"I like it very much to-day," I said.
"It would be safe for you to keep Daisy's money in your own pocket,
Grant," Mrs. Sandford said. "It will be stolen from her, certainly."
The doctor smiled and stretched out his hand; I put the bills into it:
and away we went. My head was very busy. I knew, as Mrs. Sandford
said, the sort and style of purchases my mother would make and
approve; but then on the other hand the remembrance was burnt into me,
whence that money came which I was expected to spend so freely, and
what other uses and calls for it there were, even in the case of those
very people whose hands had earned it for us. Not to go further,
Margaret's wardrobe needed refitting quite as much as mine. She was
quite as unaccustomed as I to the chills and blasts of a cold climate,
and fully as unfurnished to meet them. I had seen her draw her thin
checked shawl around her, when I knew it was not enough to save her
from the weather, and that she had no more. And her gowns, of thin
cotton stuff, such as she wore about her housework at Magnolia, were a
bare provision against the nipping bite of the air here at the North.
Yet nobody spoke of any addition to _her_ stock of clothes. It was on
my heart alone. But now it was in my hand too, and I felt very glad;
though just how to manage Dr. Sandford I did not know. I thought a
great deal about the whole matter as we went through the streets; as I
had also thought long before; and my mind was clear, that while so
many whom I knew needed the money, or while _any_ whom I knew needed
it, I would spend no useless dollars upon myself. How should I manage
Dr. Sandford? There he was, my cash-keeper; and I had not the least
wish to unfold my plans to him.
"I suppose the dress is the first thing, Daisy," he said, as we
entered the great establishment where everything was to be had; and he
inquired for the counter where we should find merinoes. I had no
objection ready.
"What colour, Daisy?"
"I want something quiet," I said.
"Something dark," said the doctor, seating himself. "And fine quality.
Not green, Daisy, if I might advise. It is too cold."
"Cold!" said I.
"For this season. It is a very nice colour in summer, Daisy," he said,
smiling.
And he looked on in a kind of amused way, while the clerk of the
merinoes and I confronted each other. There was displayed now before
me a piece of claret-coloured stuff, dark and bright; a lovely tint
and a very beautiful piece of goods. I knew enough of the matter to
know that. Fine and thick and lustrous, it just suited my fancy; I
knew it was just what my mother would buy; I saw Dr. Sandford's eye
watch me in its amusement with a glance of expectation. But the stuff
was two dollars and a quarter a yard. Yes, it suited me exactly; but
what was to become of others if I were covered so luxuriously? And how
could I save money if I spent it? It was hard to speak, too, before
that shopman, who held the merino in his hand, expecting me to say I
would take it; but I had no way to escape that trouble. I turned from
the rich folds of claret stuff to the doctor at my side.
"Dr. Sandford," I said, "I want to get something that will not cost so
much."
"Does it not please you?" he asked.
"Yes; I like it: but I want some stuff that will not cost so much."
"This is not far above my sister's estimate, Daisy."
"No--" I said.
"And the difference is a trifle--if you like the piece."
"I like it," I said; "but it is very much above _my_ estimate."
"You had one of your own!" said the doctor. "Do you like something
else here better?--or what is your estimate, Daisy?"
"I do not want a poor merino," I said. "I would rather get some other
stuff--if I can. I do not want to give more than a dollar."
"The young lady may find what will suit her at the plaid counter,"
said the shopman, letting fall the rich drapery he had been holding
up. "Just round that corner, sir, to the left."
Dr. Sandford led the way, and I followed. There certainly I found
plenty of warm stuffs, in various patterns and colours, and with
prices as various. But nothing to match the grave elegance of those
claret folds. It was coming down a step, to leave that counter for
this. I knew it perfectly well; while I sought out the simplest and
prettiest dark small plaid I could find.
"Do you like these things better?" the doctor asked me privately.
"No, sir," I said.
"Then why come here, Daisy? Pardon me, may I ask?"
"I have other things to get, Dr. Sandford," I said low.
"But Daisy!" said the doctor, rousing up, "I have performed my part
ill. You are not restricted--your father has not restricted you. I am
your banker for whatever sums you may need--for whatever purposes."
"Yes," I said, "I know. Oh no, I know papa has not restricted you; but
I think I ought not to spend any more. It is my own affair."
"And not mine. Pardon me, Daisy; I submit."
"Please, Dr. Sandford, don't speak so!" I said. "I don't mean that. I
mean, it is my own affair and not papa's."
"Certainly, I have no more to say," said the doctor, smiling.
"I will tell you all about it," I said; and then I desired the shopman
to cut off the dress I had fixed upon; and we went upstairs to look
for cloaks, I feeling hot and confused and half perplexed. I had never
worn such a dress as this plaid I had bought in my life. It was nice
and good, and pretty too; but it did not match the quality or the
elegance of the things my mother always had got for me. _She_ would
not have liked it nor let me wear it; I knew that; but then--whence
came the wealth that flowed over in such exquisite forms upon her and
upon me? Were not its original and proper channels bare? And whence
were they to be, even in any measure, refilled, if all the supply
must, as usual, be led off in other directions? I mused as I went up
the stairs, feeling perplexed, nevertheless, at the strangeness of the
work I was doing, and with something in my heart giving a pull at my
judgment towards the side of what was undoubtedly "pleasant to the
eyes." So I followed Dr. Sandford up the stairs and into the
wilderness of the cloak department, where all manner of elegancies, in
silk, and velvet, and cloth, were displayed in orderly confusion. It
was a wilderness to me, in the mood of my thoughts. Was I going to
repeat here the process just gone through downstairs?
The doctor seated me, asked what I wanted to see, and gave the order.
And forthwith my eyes were regaled with a variety of temptations. A
nice little black silk pelisse was hung on the stand opposite me; it
was nice; a good gloss was upon the silk, the article was in the
neatest style, and trimmed with great simplicity. I would have been
well satisfied to wear that. By its side was displayed another of
velvet; then yet another of very fine dark cloth; perfect in material
and make, faultless in its elegance of finish. But the silk was
forty-five and the cloth was forty, and the velvet was sixty dollars.
I sat and looked at them. There is no denying that I wanted the silk
or the cloth. Either of them would do. Either of them was utterly
girl-like and plain, but both of them had the finish of perfection, in
make, style, and material. I wanted the one or the other. But, if I
had it, what would be left for Margaret?
"Are you tired, Daisy?" said Dr. Sandford, bending down to look in my
face.
"No, sir. At least, that was not what I was thinking of."
"When then?" said he. "Will one of these do?"
"They would do," I said slowly. "But, Dr. Sandford, I should like to
see something else--something that would do for somebody that was
poorer than I."
"Poorer?" said the doctor, looking funny. "What is the matter, Daisy?
Have you suddenly become bankrupt? You need not be afraid, for the
bank is in my pocket; and I know it will stand all your demands upon
it."
"No, but--I would indeed, if you please, Dr. Sandford. These things
cost too much for what I want now."
"Do you like them?"
"I like them very well."
"Then take whichever you like best. That is my advice to you, Daisy.
The bank will bear it."
"I think I must not. Please, Dr. Sandford, I should like to see
something that would not cost so much. Do they _all_ cost as much as
these?"
The doctor gave the order as I desired. The shopman who was serving us
cast another comprehensive glance at me--I had seen him give one at
the beginning--and tossing off the velvet coat and twisting off the
silk one, he walked away. Presently he came back with a brown silk,
which he hung in the place of the velvet one, and a blue cloth, which
replaced the black silk. Every whit as costly, and almost as pretty,
both of them.
"No," said the doctor,--"you mistook me. We want to look at some goods
fitted for persons who have not long purses."
"Something inferior to these--" said the man. He was not uncivil; he
just stated the fact. In accordance with which he replaced the last
two coats with a little grey dreadnought, and a black cloth; the first
neat and rough, the last not to be looked at. It was not in good
taste, and a sort of thing that I neither had worn nor could wear. But
the grey dreadnought was simple and warm and neat, and would offend
nobody. I looked from it to the pretty black cloth which still hung in
contrast with it, the one of the first there. Certainly, in style and
elegance _this_ looked like my mother's child, and the other did not.
But this was forty dollars. The dreadnought was exactly half that sum.
I had a little debate with myself--I remember it, for it was my first
experience of that kind of thing--and all my mother's training had
refined in me the sense of what was elegant and fitting, in dress as
well as in other matters. Until now, I had never had my fancy crossed
by anything I ever had to wear. The little grey dreadnought--how would
it go with my silk dresses? It was like what I had seen other people
dressed in; never my mother or me. Yet it was perfectly fitting a
lady's child, if she could not afford other; and where was Margaret's
cloak to come from? And who had the best right? I pondered and
debated, and then I told Dr. Sandford I would have the grey coat. I
believe I half wished he would make some objection; but he did not; he
paid for the dreadnought and ordered it sent home; and then I began to
congratulate myself that Margaret's comfort was secure.
"Is that all, Daisy?" my friend asked.
"Dr. Sandford," said I, standing up and speaking low, "I want to
find--can I find here, do you think?--a good warm cloak and dress for
Margaret."
"For Margaret?" said the doctor.
"Yes; she is not used to the cold, you know; and she has nothing to
keep her comfortable."
"But, Daisy!" said the doctor,--"sit down here again; I must
understand this. Was _Margaret_ at the bottom of all these financial
operations?"
"I knew she wanted something, ever since we came from Washington," I
said.
"Daisy, she could have had it."
"Yes, Dr. Sandford;--but--"
"But what, if you will be so good?"
"I think it was right for me to get it."
"I am sorry I do not agree with you at all. It was for _me_ to get
it--I am supplied with funds, Daisy--and your father has entrusted to
me the making of all arrangements which are in any way good for your
comfort. I think, with your leave, I shall reverse these bargains.
Have you been all this time pleasing Margaret and _not_ yourself?"
"No, sir," I said,--"if you please. I cannot explain it, Dr. Sandford,
but I know it is right."
"What is right, Daisy? My faculties are stupid."
"No, sir; but--Let it be as it is, please."
"But won't you explain it? I ought to know what I am giving my consent
to, Daisy; for just now I am constituted your guardian. What has
Margaret to do with your cloaks? There is enough for both."
"But," said I, in a great deal of difficulty,--"there is not enough
for me and everybody."
"Are you going to take care of the wants of everybody?"
"I think--I ought to take care of all that I can," I said.
"But you have not the power."
"I won't do but what I _have_ the power for."
"Daisy, what would your father and mother say to such a course of
action? would they allow it, do you think?"
"But _you_ are my guardian now, Dr. Sandford," I said, looking up at
him. He paused a minute doubtfully.
"I am conquered!" he said. "You have absolutely conquered me, Daisy. I
have not a word to say. I wonder if that is the way you are going
through the world in future? What is it now about Margaret?--for I was
bewildered and did not understand."
"A warm cloak and dress," I said, delighted; "that is what I want. Can
I get them here?"
"Doubtful, I should say," he answered; "but we will try."
And we did succeed in finding the dress, strong and warm and suitable;
the cloak we had to go to another shop for. On the way we stopped at
the milliner's. My Aunt Gary and Mrs. Sandford employed the same one.
"I put it in your hands, Daisy!" Dr. Sandford said, as we went in.
"Only let me look on."
I kept him waiting a good while, I am afraid; but he was very patient
and seemed amused. _I_ was not. The business was very troublesome to
me. This was not so easy a matter as to choose between stuffs and have
the yards measured off. Bonnets are bonnets, as my aunt always said;
and things good in themselves may not be in the least good for you.
And I found the thing that suited was even more tempting here than it
had been in the cloak wareroom. There was a little velvet hat which I
fancied mamma would have bought for me; it was so stylish, and at the
same time so simple, and became me so well. But it was of a price
corresponding with its beauty. I turned my back on it, though I seemed
to see it just as well through the back of my head, and tried to find
something else. The milliner would have it there was nothing beside
that fitted me. The hat must go on.
"She has grown," said the milliner, appealing to Dr. Sandford; "and
you see this is the very thing. This tinge of colour inside is just
enough to relieve the pale cheeks. Do you see, sir?"
"It is without a fault," said the doctor.
"Take it off, please," I said. "I want to find something that will not
cost so much--something that will not cost near so much."
"There is that cap that is too large for Miss Van Allen--" the
milliner's assistant remarked.
"It would not suit Mrs. Randolph at all," was the answer aside.
But I begged to see it. Now this was a comfortable, soft quilted silk
cap, with a chinchilla border. Not much style about it, but also
nothing to dislike, except its simplicity. The price was moderate, and
it fitted me.
You are going to be a different Daisy Randolph from what you have been
all your life--something whispered to me. And the doctor said, "That
makes you look about ten years old again, Daisy." I had a minute of
doubt and delay; then I said I would have the cap; and the great
business was ended.
Margaret's purchases were all found, and we went home, with money
still in my bank, Dr. Sandford informed me. I was very tired; but on
the whole I was very satisfied, until my things came home, and I saw
that Mrs. Sandford did not like them.
"I wish I could have been with you!" she said.
"What is the matter?" said the doctor. It was the evening, and we were
all together for a few minutes, before Mrs. Sandford went to her
sister.
"Did you choose these things, Grant?"
"What is the matter with them?"
"They are hardly suitable."
"For the third time, what is the matter with them?" said the doctor.
"They are neat, but they are not _handsome_."
"They will look handsome when they are on," said Dr. Sandford.
"No they won't; they will look common. I don't mean _vulgar_--you
could not buy anything in bad taste--but they are just what anybody's
child might wear."
"Then Mrs. Randolph's child might."
Mrs. Sandford gave him a look. "That is just the thing," she said.
"Mrs. Randolph's child might _not_. I never saw anybody more elegant
or more particular about the choice of her dress than Mrs. Randolph;
it is always perfect; and Daisy's always was. Mrs. Randolph would not
like these."
"Shall we change them, Daisy?" said the doctor.
I said "No."
"Then I hope they will wear out before Mrs. Randolph comes home," he
said.
All this, somehow, made me uncomfortable. I went off to the room which
had been given to me, where a fire was kept; and I sat down to think.
Certainly, I would have liked the other coat and hat better, that I
had rejected; and the thought of the rich soft folds of that silky
merino were not pleasant to me. The plaid I had bought _did_ wear a
common look in comparison. I knew it, quite as well as Mrs. Sandford;
and that I had never worn common things; and I knew that in the
merino, properly made, I should have looked my mother's child; and
that in the plaid my mother would not know me. Was I right? was I
wrong? I knelt down before the fire, feeling that the straight path
was not always easy to find. Yet I had thought I saw it before me. I
knelt before the fire, which was the only light in the room, and
opened the page of my dear little book that had the Bible lessons for
every day. This day's lesson was headed, "That ye adorn the doctrine
of God our Saviour in all things."
The mist began to clear away. Between adorning and being adorned, the
difference was so great, it set my face quite another way directly. I
went on. "Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of
Christ."
And how should that be? Certainly, the spirit of that gospel had no
regard to self-glorification; and had most tender regard to the wants of
others. I began to feel sure that I was in the way and not out of it.
Then came--"If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye. But
let none of you suffer ... _as a thief, or as an evildoer_"--"Let your
light so shine before men"--"Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; bind
them about thy neck;"--"Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are
honest, whatsoever things are _just_ ... think on these things."
The words came about me, binding up my doubts, making sound my heart,
laying a soft touch upon every rough spot in my thoughts. True,
honest, just, lovely, and of good report,--yes, I would think on these
things, and I would not be turned aside from them. And if I suffered
as a Christian, I determined that I would not be ashamed; I prayed
that I might never; I would take as no dishonour the laughter or the
contempt of those who did not see the two sides of the question; but
as a _thief_ I would not suffer. I earnestly prayed that I might not.
No beauty of dresses or stylishness of coats or bonnets should adorn
me, the price of which God saw belonged and was due to the sufferings
of others; more especially to the wants of those whose wants made my
supply. That my father and mother, with the usage of old habit, and
the influence of universal custom, should be blind to what I saw so
clearly, made no difference in my duty. I had the light of the Bible
rule, which was not yet, I knew, the lamp to their feet. _I_ must walk
by it, all the same. And my thought went back now with great
tenderness to Mammy Theresa's rheumatism, which wanted flannel; to
Maria's hyacinths, which were her great earthly interest, out of the
things of religion; to Darry's lonely cottage, where he had no lamp to
read the Bible o' nights, and no oil to burn in it. To Pete's solitary
hut, too, where he was struggling to learn to read well, and where a
hymn-book would be the greatest comfort to him. To the old people,
whose one solace of a cup of tea would be gone unless I gave it them;
to the boys who were learning to read, who wanted testaments; to the
bed-ridden and sick, who wanted blankets; to the young and well, who
wanted gowns (not indeed for decency, but for the natural pleasure of
looking neat and smart)--and to Margaret, first and last, who was
nearest to me, and who, I began to think, might want some other
trifles besides a cloak. The girl come in at the minute.
"Margaret," I said, "I have got you a warm gown and a good thick warm
cloak, to-day."
"A cloak! Miss Daisy--" Margaret's lips just parted and showed the
white teeth between them.
"Yes. I saw you were not warm in that thin shawl."
"It's mighty cold up these ways!--" the girls shoulders drew together
with involuntary expression.
"And now, Margaret, what other things do you want, to be nice and
comfortable? You must tell me now, because after I go to school I
cannot see you often, you know."
"Reckon I find something to do at the school, Miss Daisy. Ain't there
servants?"
"Yes, but I am afraid there may not be another wanted. What else ought
you to have, Margaret?"
"Miss Daisy knows, I'll hire myself out, and reckon I'll get a right
smart chance of wages; and then, if Miss Daisy let me take some
change, I'd like to get some things--"
"You may keep all your wages, Margaret," I said hastily; "you need not
bring them to me; but I want to know if you have all you need _now_,
to be nice and warm?"
"'Spect I'd be better for some underclothes--" Margaret said, half
under her breath.
Of course! I knew it the moment she said it. I knew the scanty coarse
supply which was furnished to the girls and women at Magnolia; I knew
that more was needed for neatness as well as for comfort, and
something different, now that she was where no evil distinction would
arise from her having it. I said I would get what she wanted; and went
back again to the parlour. I mused as I went. If I let Margaret keep
her wages--and I was very certain I could not receive them from her--I
must be prepared to answer it to my father. Perhaps,--yes, I felt sure
as I thought about it--I must contrive to save the amount of her wages
out of what was given to myself; or else my grant might be reversed
and my action disallowed, or at least greatly disapproved. And my
father had given me no right to dispose of Margaret's wages, or of
herself.
So I came into the parlour. Dr. Sandford alone was there, lying on the
sofa. He jumped up immediately; pulled a great arm chair near to the
fire, and taking hold of me, put me into it. My purchases were lying
on the table, where they had been disapproved, but I knew what to
think of them now. I could look at them very contentedly.
"How do they seem, Daisy?" said the doctor, stretching himself on the
cushions again, after asking my permission and pardon.
"Very well,"--I said, smiling.
"You are satisfied?"
I said yes.
"Daisy," said he, "you have conquered me to-day--I have yielded--I
owned myself conquered; but won't you enlighten me? As a matter of
favour?"
"About what, Dr. Sandford?"
"I don't understand you."
I remember looking at him and smiling. It was so curious a thing,
both that he should, in his philosophy, be puzzled by a child like me,
and that he should care about undoing the puzzle.
"There!" said he,--"that is my old little Daisy of ten years old.
Daisy, I used to think she was an extremely dainty and particular
little person."
"Yes--" said I.
"Was that correct?"
"I don't know," said I. "I think it was."
"Then Daisy, honestly--I am asking as a philosopher, and that means a
lover of knowledge, you know,--did you choose those articles to-day to
please yourself?"
"In one way, I did," I answered.
"Did they appear to you as they did to Mrs. Sandford,--at the time?"
"Yes, Dr. Sandford."
"So I thought. Then, Daisy, will you make me understand it? For I am
puzzled."
I was sorry that he cared about the puzzle, for I did not want to go
into it. I was almost sure he would not make it out if I did.
However, he lay there looking at me and waiting.
"Those other things cost too much, Dr. Sandford--that was all."
"There is the puzzle!" said the doctor. "You had the money in your
bank for them, and money for Margaret's things too, and more if you
wanted it; and no bottom to the bank at all, so far as I could see.
And you like pretty things, Daisy, and you did not choose them?"
"No, sir."
I hesitated, and he waited. How was I to tell him? He would simply
find it ridiculous. And then I thought--"If any of you suffer as a
Christian, let him not be ashamed."
"I thought I should be comfortable in these things, Dr. Sandford," I
then said, glancing at the little chinchilla cap which lay on the
table;--"and respectable. And there were other people who needed all
the money the other things would have cost."
"What other people?" said the doctor. "As I am your guardian, Daisy,
it is proper for me to ask, and not impertinent."
I hesitated again. "I was thinking," I said, "of some of the people I
left at Magnolia."
"Do you mean the servants?"
"Yes, sir."
"Daisy, they are cared for."
I was silent.
"What do you think they want?"
"Some that are sick want comfort," I said, "and others who are not
sick want help; and others, I think, want a little pleasure." I would
fain not have spoken, but how could I help it? The doctor took his
feet off the sofa and sat up and confronted me.
"In the meantime," he said, "you are to be 'comfortable and
respectable.' But, Daisy, do you think your father and mother would be
satisfied with such a statement of your condition?"
"I suppose not," I was obliged to say.
"Then do you think it proper for me to allow such to be the fact?"
I looked at him. What there was in my look it is impossible for me to
say; but he laughed a little.
"Yes," he said,--"I know--you have conquered me to-day. I own myself
conquered--but the question I ask you is whether I am justifiable."
"I think that depends," I answered, "on whether _I_ am justifiable."
"Can you justify yourself, Daisy?" he said, bringing his hand down
gently over my smooth hair and touching my cheek. It would have vexed
me from anybody else; it did not vex me from him. "Can you justify
yourself?" he repeated.
"Yes, sir," I said; but I felt troubled.
"Then do it."
"Dr. Sandford, the Bible says, 'Whatsoever ye would that men should do
to you, do ye even so to them.'"
"Well," said he, refusing to draw any conclusions for me.
"I have more than I want, and they have not enough. I don't think I
ought to keep _more_ than I want."
"But then arises the question," said he, "how much do you want? Where
is the line, beyond which you, or I, for instance, have too much?"
"I was not speaking of anybody but myself," I said.
"But a rule of action which is the right one for you, would be right
for everybody."
"Yes, but everybody must apply it for himself," I said. "I was only
applying it for myself."
"And applying it for yourself, Daisy, is it to cut off for the
future--or ought it--all elegance and beauty? Must you restrict
yourself to mere 'comfort and respectability'? Are furs and feathers,
for instance, wicked things?"
He did not speak it mockingly; Dr. Sandford never could do an
ungentlemanly thing; he spoke kindly and with a little rallying smile
on his face. But I knew what he thought.
"Dr. Sandford," said I, "suppose I was a fairy, and that I stripped
the gown off a poor woman's back to change it into a feather, and
stole away her blankets to make them into fur; what would you think of
fur and feathers then?"
There came a curious lightning through the doctor's blue eyes. I did
not know in the least what it meant.
"Do you mean to say, Daisy, that the poor people down yonder at
Magnolia want such things as gowns and blankets?"
"Some do," I said. "You know, nobody is there, Dr. Sandford, to look
after them; and the overseer does not care. It would be different if
papa was at home."
"I will never interfere with you any more, Daisy," said the
doctor,--"any further than by a little very judicious interference;
and you shall find in me the best helper I can be to all your plans.
You may use me--you have conquered me,"--said he, smiling, and laying
himself back on his cushions again. I was very glad it had ended so,
for I could hardly have withstood Dr. Sandford if he had taken a
different view of the matter. And his help, I knew, might be very good
in getting things sent to Magnolia.