Mrs. Donovan cried bitterly as she went down the stairs and Larry put
his arm around her.
"There, there, Kate," he said. "Crying won't help any."
"If we could only do somethin', Larry!" She wrung her hands. "If we
could only do somethin'! It seems awful just to have to wait an' wait.
I--I can't bear it."
"I'll call up the morning paper." Bob Strahan and Miss Carter had
slipped down behind the rest and no one noticed that they came in hand
in hand. "It won't do any harm to run a little story about Mary Rose
and then if she has strayed in anywhere or been found people will know
where to take her."
"The mornin' paper!" cried Mrs. Donovan. "I can't wait for the mornin'
paper. I want her now!"
The three men looked at each other and shook their heads. She might
have to wait longer than for the morning paper to have news of Mary
Rose. They felt so helpless. They had followed every clew, they had
the assistance of the entire police force, but they had discovered
nothing. They knew no more about Mary Rose than they knew when they
had first discovered that she had disappeared.
Miss Thorley put her arms around Mrs. Donovan and tried to sooth her.
All the red "corpuskles" had left her face now and her eyes had a
strained frightened expression. It startled Mr. Jerry to see her show
so much emotion. Usually she let one see very plainly that she was
interested in only her own affairs. Tonight she had forgotten herself
in a sweet sympathy for Mrs. Donovan and in her anxiety for her little
friend. It made Mr. Jerry's heart thump to hear her speak to Mrs.
Donovan so gently and so tenderly. It made him more determined to do
something. He was just about to suggest that he should telephone to
Mifflin although he was positive that Mary Rose had not run away, when
he heard a child's laugh on the street above them.
Kate Donovan heard it, too, and pushed Miss Thorley from her.
"It's Mary Rose!" she cried. "Thank God! It's Mary Rose!"
Before she could reach the door a burly policeman stood on the
threshold. He held a bundle in his arms that struggled to reach the
floor. Jimmie Bronson stumbled wearily behind them.
"Here's a very tired little girl for you," the policeman said, as he
dropped Mary Rose into Mrs. Donovan's hungry arms.
"Mary Rose! Mary Rose!" Mrs. Donovan was so happy that she cried and
cried. The tears fell on Mary Rose's face. "Where have you been?
Where have you been?"
"Yes, Mary Rose, where have you been?" demanded an eager chorus. The
tears had rushed to Miss Thorley's eyes also and when she discovered
that, she discovered also that the hand with which she would have wiped
them away was held fast in the firm grasp of Jerry Longworthy. How it
had found its way there she never knew. She snatched it from him, her
face aflame, and there were no longer tears in her eyes.
Mary Rose hugged her aunt and beamed on her friends. Her eyes were
like stars.
"How glad you'll be to hear what I've found!" she cried jubilantly.
"I've been in the most wonderful place, a big flat building like this,
only not so grand, but it has children! And pets, too! Dogs and cats!
It has, Uncle Larry! I've seen them with my own eyes. Lots and lots
of children! Babies and all kinds!" Her cheeks were scarlet. "I
couldn't believe it myself at first but Anna Paulovitch said it was
true and that it had always been like that. I asked her all about it
so I could tell you, Uncle Larry, and you could tell the owner of the
Washington. He can't know!"
"Never mind that, Mary Rose." Aunt Kate gave her a shake. "I want to
know where you've been. Why didn't you come straight home from school
as I've told you to, time an' again? You've frightened us all to death
stayin' away so long."
Mary Rose looked regretfully at the people she had frightened to death
and then she smiled radiantly.
"Well, you see it was this way. You know there was a story in the
newspaper last night about Anna Paulovitch's bald head and when she
went to school the boys made fun of her and teased her to show them if
she really was bald. It hurt her feelings dreadfully and she was
afraid to go home alone so I said I'd go with her. It's a long way
from here but I'm glad I went because I helped my friend and I found
Jenny Lind."
"You found Jenny Lind!" Everyone was as astonished as Mary Rose could
wish.
Bob Strahan and Miss Carter looked at each other and Bob dropped the
piece of brass wire he had found in Mr. Wells' kitchen.
"Yes, I did. Isn't it just like a fairy story? You see if you do a
kind thing a kind thing's done to you. I've told all of you that and
you wouldn't believe me but now you've got to. Anna Paulovitch lives
in this big friendly house I was telling you about. It isn't splendid
and beautiful like this but it is friendly and there are a lot of
children and pets. The law lets them live there. I didn't suppose
there was a house like that in all Waloo! Anna's mother goes out
washing and her father's dead like mine. She has seven brothers and
sisters that Mrs. Paulovitch has to find clothes and bread for. It's a
good deal for one woman she said and I think it is, too. And right
across the hall from the Paulovitch's, just like across the hall from
Mrs. Bracken's to Mrs. Schuneman's, lives John Kalich. He's a
messenger boy and his sister Becky's been in bed for seven years.
She's nine now and Johnny's crazy about her. He came here with a
message and when he saw Jenny Lind all by herself in the hall he
thought how much Becky would like her. And Becky did like her. She
hadn't ever seen a canary bird before. I told her she could borrow
Jenny Lind for a while longer though I did want to bring her home
tonight. But I thought, Aunt Kate, that since George Washington's
supporting himself and I haven't spent the money I earned washing Mrs.
Bracken's dishes and playing with the squirrels with Grandma Johnson
I'd buy a bird for Becky for her very own. I'm going to let her keep
Jenny Lind until then. It seems as if I was always lending Jenny Lind,
doesn't it? Aunt Kate," she stopped suddenly and looked appealingly at
her aunt. "I'm so hungry! Can't I have some supper?"
"Haven't you had any?" Aunt Kate was horrified.
"I couldn't eat any at Mrs. Paulovitch's because she only had enough to
go around once and anyway I don't think I care for Russian cooking,
bread and lard. I'm an American, you know, and that's why I like
American cooking best."
Miss Thorley leaned over and took Mary Rose as Aunt Kate jumped up
murmuring: "Bread an' lard! My soul an' body!"
"Why didn't you come home before, Mary Rose?" Miss Thorley asked when
she had Mary Rose cuddled in her arms. She couldn't remember when she
had held a child before. It was odd but she had suddenly found that
she wanted to hold Mary Rose.
[Illustration: "'Why didn't you come home before, Mary Rose?' Miss
Thorley asked."]
"I got lost." Mary Rose blushed with shame. "I thought I was so smart
I could come right home but I turned the wrong corner. I was away over
on the other side of Waloo when a kind lady found me and put me on a
street car and gave me a nickel and told the conductor to keep his eye
on me. But I forgot to tell her it was East Twenty-sixth Street and
she sent me west. And then Jimmie found me."
"Good for you, James!" Mr. Jerry reached over to slap Jimmie on the
back. "How did you do that?"
"I was just looking round," Jimmie answered vaguely. "I couldn't sit
down and do nothing with Mary Rose lost. I had to look till she was
found and I was lucky and ran across her. Gee, Mary Rose, but you did
give me a scare! I was afraid you'd been kidnapped!"
"You know, Mary Rose, I told you always to come straight home from
school," called Aunt Kate from the kitchen.
"I know," in a shamed voice. "And I always did until today, and
today--why, I didn't. But I found Jenny Lind and I've made lots of new
friends. Mr. Strahan," she peered around at Bob Strahan, "how did that
story of Anna's curls get into the newspaper? Did you write it?"
Bob Strahan blushed until he was redder than any tomato that ever
ripened. "Yes, Mary Rose, I did," he acknowledged. "I thought it was
a dandy little story of a brave girl and that it would be good for
people to read."
"Of course, you didn't know that it would hurt Anna Paulovitch's
feelings. She says she can't ever hold up her head again but I told
her she hadn't done anything to be ashamed of and I'd stand by her."
"I'll stand by her, too!" Bob Strahan promised quickly. He had never
thought of a story but as a story. The consequences it might have had
not occurred to him. "And a lot of other people will stand by her.
You should see the letters that came to the office to day with offers
of help for Anna and her mother."
"Did they!" Mary Rose was delighted. "Then Mrs. Paulovitch won't have
to work so hard. Oh, Miss Thorley," she drew the red-brown head down
so that she could whisper in a pink ear, "if you could just talk to
Anna's mother for a minute you'd know you wouldn't have to stop work to
make a home for a family. She says it takes more than one pair of
hands no matter how busy you keep them. Will you go with me when I
take the bird to Becky and talk to Mrs. Paulovitch?"
"Perhaps I will," stammered Miss Thorley, as she kissed the eager
little face, feeling that the room was suddenly filled with Jerry
Longworthy's eyes.
"Oh," Mary Rose jumped down and stood looking from one to the other,
"but I am glad to be home again! It does seem a hundred years since I
had my dinner. I don't think any girl ever had such a nice home or
such nice friends as I have and it's just because I have a friendly
heart!"