SURPRISES
During the next few days tidings of the Melton disaster proved the
truth of Mr. Hazen's charitable suppositions, for it was definitely
learned that the calamity which befell the village came entirely
without warning, and as the main part of the town was wiped out almost
completely and the river front destroyed, all communication between the
unfortunate settlement and the outside world had been cut off so that
to send warnings to the communities below had been impossible.
Considering the enormity of the catastrophe, it was miraculous that
there had not been greater loss of life and wider spread devastation.
A week of demoralization all along the river followed the tragedy; but
after the bulk of wreckage was cleared away and the stream had dropped
to normal, the Fernalds actually began to congratulate themselves on
the direful event.
"Well, the thing has not been all to the bad, by any means," commented
Grandfather Fernald. "We have at least got rid of those unsightly
tenements bordering the water which were such a blot on Freeman's
Falls; and once gone, I do not mean to allow them ever to be put back
again. I have bought up the land and shall use it as the site of the
new granite bridge I intend to build across the stream. And in case I
have more land than is needed for this purpose, the extra area can be
used for a park which will be an ornament to the spot rather than an
eyesore. Therefore, take it altogether, I consider that freshet a
capital thing."
He glanced at Ted who chanced to be standing near by.
"I suppose you, my lad, do not entirely agree with me," added he, a
twinkle gleaming beneath his shaggy brows. "You are thinking of that
playhouse of yours and Laurie's that was carried off by the deluge."
"I am afraid I was, sir."
"Pooh! Nonsense!" blustered the old gentleman. "What's a thing like
that? Besides, Laurie's father proposes to rebuild it for you. Hasn't
he told you?" questioned the man, noticing the surprise in the boy's
face. "Oh, yes, indeed! He is going to put up another house for you;
and judging from his plans, you will find yourself far better off than
you were in the first place for this time he is to give you a real
cottage, not simply a made-over boathouse. Yes, there is to be running
water; a bedroom, study, and kitchenette; to say nothing of a bath and
steam heat. He plans to connect it by piping with the central heating
plant. So you see you will have a regular housekeeping bungalow instead
of a camp."
Ted gasped.
"But--but--I can't let Mr. Fernald do all this for me," he protested.
"It's--it's--too much."
"I shouldn't worry about him, if I were you," smiled the elder man. "It
won't scrimp him, I imagine. Furthermore, it will be an excellent
investment, for should the time ever come when you did not need the
house it could be rented to one of our tenants. He is to put a
foundation under it this time and build it more solidly; and possibly
he may decide to set it a trifle farther back from the water. In any
case, he will see that it is right; you can trust him for that. It will
not be carried away a second time."
"I certainly hope not," Ted agreed. "What a pity it was they did not
have some way of notifying us from Melton! If they had only had a
wireless apparatus----" he broke off thoughtfully.
"I doubt if all the wireless in the world could have saved your little
hut," answered Mr. Fernald kindly. "It was nothing but a pasteboard
house and wireless or no wireless it would have gone anyway. I often
speculate as to how ships ever dared to go to sea before they had the
protection of wireless communication. Ignorance was bliss, I suppose.
They knew nothing about it and therefore did not miss it. When we can
boast no better way we are satisfied with the old. But think of the
shipwrecks and accidents that might have been averted! You will be
studying about all this some day when you go to Technology or college."
Ted's face lighted at the words.
"You have all been so kind to me, Mr. Fernald," he murmured. "When I
think of your sending me to college it almost bowls me over."
"You must never look upon it as an obligation, my boy," the old
gentleman declared. "If there is any obligation at all (and there is a
very real one) it is ours. The only obligation you have will be to do
well at your studies and make us proud of you, and that you are doing
all the time. Mr. Hazen tells me you are showing splendid progress. I
hope by another week Laurie will be out of the woods, Pine Lea will be
fumigated, and you can resume your former way of living there without
further interruptions from floods and illness. Still, I shall be sorry
to have your little visit at Aldercliffe come to an end. You seem to
have grown into the ways of the whole family and to fit in wherever you
find yourself."
Mr. Fernald smiled affectionately at the lad.
"There is something that has been on my tongue's end to whisper to you
for some time," he went on, after a brief interval of hesitancy. "I
know you can keep a secret and so I mean to tell you one. In the spring
we are going to take Laurie over to New York to see a very celebrated
surgeon who is coming from Vienna to this country. We hear he has had
great success with cases such as Laurie's and we hope he may be able to
do something for the boy. Of course, no one knows this as yet, not even
Laurie himself."
"Oh, Mr. Fernald! Do you mean there would be a chance that Laurie could
walk sometime?" Ted cried.
The old man looked into the young and shining face and nervously
brushed the back of his hand across his eyes.
"Perhaps; perhaps!" responded he gruffly. "Who can tell? This doctor
has certainly performed some marvelous cures. Who knows but the lad may
some day not only walk about, but leap and run as you do!"
"Oh, sir--!"
"But we must not be too sure or allow ourselves to be swept away by
hope," cautioned Grandfather Fernald. "No one knows what can be done
yet and we might be disappointed--sadly disappointed. Still, there is
no denying that there is a fighting chance. But keep this to yourself,
Ted. I must trust you to do that. If Laurie were to know anything about
it, it would be very unfortunate, for the ordeal will mean both pain
and suffering for him and he must not be worried about it in advance.
He will need all his nerve and courage when the time for action comes.
Moreover, we feel it would be cruel for him to glimpse such a vision
and then find it only a mirage. So we have told him nothing. But I have
told you because you are fond of him and I wanted you to share the
secret."
"It shall remain a secret, Mr. Fernald."
"I feel sure of that," the man replied. "You are a good boy, Ted. It
was a lucky day that brought you to Pine Lea."
"A lucky one for me, sir!"
"For all of us, son! For all of us!" reiterated the old gentleman. "The
year of your coming here will be one we never shall forget. It has been
very eventful."
Certainly the final comment was no idle one. Not only had the year been
a red-letter one but it was destined to prove even more conspicuously
memorable. With the spring the plans for the new village went rapidly
forward and soon pretty little concrete houses with roofs of scarlet
and trimmings of green dotted the slopes on the opposite side of the
river. The laying out and building of this community became Grandfather
Fernald's recreation and delight. Morning, noon, and evening he could
be seen either perusing curling sheets of blue prints, consorting with
his architects, or rolling off in his car to inspect the progress of
the venture. Sometimes he took Ted with him, sometimes his son, and
when Laurie was strong enough, the entire family frequently made the
pilgrimage to the new settlement.
It was very attractive, there was no denying that; and it seemed as if
nothing that could give pleasure to its future residents had been
omitted. The tiny library had been Laurie's pet scheme, and not only
had his grandfather eagerly carried out the boy's own plans but he had
proudly ordered the lad's name to be chiselled across the front of the
building. Ted's plea had been for a playground and this request had
also been granted, since it appeared to be a wise one. It was a
wonderful playground, bordering on the river and having swings and sand
boxes for the children; seats for tired mothers; and a large ball-field
with bleachers for the men and boys. The inhabitants of Freeman's Falls
had never dreamed of such an ideal realm in which to live, and as
tidings of the paradise went forth, strangers began to flock into town
in the hope of securing work in the mills and homes in the new
settlement.
The Fernalds, however, soon made it plain that the preference was to be
given to their old employees who had served them well and faithfully
for so many years. Therefore, as fast as the houses were completed,
they were assigned to those who had been longest in the company's
employ and soon the streets of the new village were no longer silent
but teemed with life and the laughter of a happy people. And among
those for whom a charming little abode was reserved were the Turners,
Ted's family.
Then came the tearing down of the temporary bridge of wood and the
opening of the beautiful stone structure that arched the stream. Ah,
what a holiday that was! The mills were closed, there was a band
concert in the little park, dedication exercises, and fireworks in the
evening. And great was Ted's surprise when he spied cut in the stone
the words "Turner's Bridge!" Near the entrance was a modest bronze
tablet stating that the memorial had been constructed in honor of
Theodore Turner who, by his forethought in giving warning of the
freshet of 1912 had saved the village of Freeman's Falls from
inestimable calamity.
How the boy blushed when Mr. Lawrence Fernald mentioned him by name in
the dedication speech! And yet he was pleased, too. And how the people
cheered; and how proud his father and sisters were! Perhaps, however,
the most delighted person of all was Laurie who had been in the secret
all along and who now smiled radiantly to see his friend so honored.
"The townspeople may not go to my library," he laughed, "but every one
of them will use your bridge. They will have to; they can't help it!"
The thought seemed to amuse him vastly and he always referred to the
exquisite granite structure with its triple arch and richly carved
piers of stone as _Ted's Bridge_.
Thus did the year with its varied experiences slip by and when June
came the Fernalds carried Laurie to New York to consult the much
heralded Viennese surgeon. Ah, those were feverish, anxious days, not
only for the Fernald family but for Ted and Mr. Hazen as well. The boy
and the tutor had remained at Pine Lea there to continue their studies
and await the tidings Laurie's father had promised to send them; and
when the ominous yellow telegrams with their momentous messages began
to arrive, they hardly knew whether to greet them with sorrow or
rejoicing.
They need not, however, have dreaded the news for after careful
examination the eminent specialist had decided to take a single
desperate chance and operate with the hope of success. Laurie, they
were told, was a monument of courage and had the spirit of a Spartan.
Unquestionably he merited the good luck that followed for fortune did
reward his heroism,--smiling fortune. Of course, the miracle of health
could not come all in a moment; months of convalescence must follow
which would be unavoidably tedious with suffering. But beyond this arid
stretch of pain lay the goal of recovery.
No lips could tell what this knowledge meant to those who loved the
boy. In time he was to be as strong as any one! It was unbelievable.
Nevertheless, the roseate promise was no dream. Laurie was brought home
to Pine Lea and immediately the mending process began. Already one
could read in the patient face the transformation hope had wrought.
There was some day to be college, not alone for Ted but for Laurie
himself,--college, and sports, and a career.
In the fullness of time these long-anticipated joys began to arrive.
Health made its appearance and at its heels trouped success and
happiness; and to balance them came gratitude, humility, and service.
In the meantime, with every lengthening year, the friendship between
Laurie and Ted toughened in fiber and became a closer bond. And it was
not engineering or electricity that ultimately claimed the constructive
interest of the two comrades but instead the Fernald mills, which upon
Grandfather Fernald's retirement called for younger men at their helm.
So after going forth into the great world and whetting the weapons of
their intellect they found the dragon they had planned to slay waiting
for them at home in Freeman's Falls. Yet notwithstanding its familiar
environment, it was a very real dragon and resolutely the two young men
attacked it, putting into their management of the extensive industry
all the spirit of brotherhood that burned in their hearts and all the
desire for service which they cherished. With the aim of bringing about
a kindlier cooeperation and fuller sympathy between capital and labor
they toiled, and the world to which they gave their efforts was the
better for it.
Nevertheless, they did not entirely abandon their scientific interests
for on the border of the river stood a tiny shack equipped with a
powerful wireless apparatus. Here on a leisure afternoon Ted Turner and
his comrade could often be found capturing from the atmosphere those
magic sounds that spelled the intercourse of peoples, and the thought
of nations; and often they spoke of Alexander Graham Bell and those
patient pioneers who, together with him, had made it possible for the
speech of man to traverse continents and circle a universe.
FINIS
End of Project Gutenberg's Ted and the Telephone, by Sara Ware Bassett