With Bonny as Guide
Glory was truthful and loving, and her grandfather had taught her to be
clean, honest, and industrious, but, beyond this, she had had little
training. She knew that Meg-Laundress and Posy Jane both firmly believed
in "Guardian Angels" who hovered about human beings to protect and
prosper them. She had inferred that these "Angels" were very beautiful
but had never asked if they were ever visible or, if so, what form they
took.
Glory felt now that she would never need to ask about the "Angels" for
the small creature before her answered all these unspoken inquiries; a
mite of a thing, in silken white, with glistening golden curls and the
roundest, loveliest of big blue eyes, who sat on the floor smiling and
gurgling in an unknown language, yet gravely regarding Bo'sn who, firm
upon his haunches, as gravely regarded this astonishing intruder. The
tiny visitor was so unlike any crony captain or ragged newsboy that the
dog was perplexed, yet as evidently pleased, for his eyes were shining,
his mouth "laughing" and his stump of a tail doing its utmost to wag. As
Glory appeared in the doorway, he cast one welcoming glance over his
shoulder, then with the same intensity, returned to his contemplation of
the child.
After all, it was not an "Angel" from a spiritual world, but a
wonderfully fair and winning little human being. From whence she had
come and why, she was too young to explain and Glory was too delighted
to care. Here she was, gay, shining, and wholly undisturbed, and, as the
little goober girl appeared, the baby lifted her face, laughing, and
lisping: "Bonny come!"
"Angels" could use human speech then; and now her awe of the visitant
vanished and down went Take-a-Stitch beside Bo'sn and clasped the little
one close and kissed and caressed it to her heart's content, which meant
much to Glory, because even grandpa had objected to overmuch caressing,
though this newcomer appeared to take kissing as a matter of course and
to like it.
"Oh! you darlin', darlin', sweetest 'Angel'! Have you truly come to live
with me?"
"Bonny come!" answered the other, thrusting her tiny hands into Glory's
own curls and pressing her dewy lips to Glory's cheek.
"Oh, you precious, precious, sweetest, darlin'est one. Oh, won't grandpa
be pleased! An' you'll help--that's what you come for, ain't it?--you'll
help to find him. Why, if you're a truly 'Angel,' you know this minute
't ever is just where to search, an' so 'twon't be more'n a bit of a
while 'fore me an' you an' him is all back here together in this
splendid littlest house, a 'livin' in peace an' dyin' in grease an'
bein' buried under a pot o' taller,' like Nick's stories end; only I
guess we'll do without the grease an' taller, 'cause I hate dirt an'
'Angels' do, 'course. Oh, let's start right away! Why--why--we might be
home again, lickety-cut, if we did. Shall we go to find grandpa,
'Angel'?"
The stranger toddled to her feet, Bo'sn watching the operation with
keenest interest, but once upon them, there ensued delay, for, whoever
this unknown might be, Glory herself was a very human little girl. She
could not keep her fingers from feeling and examining the exquisite
garments which clothed her visitor's form, and at each fresh discovery
of daintiness, from the silken coat to the snowy shoes, her exclamations
of wonder and admiration grew more intense. Before she had finished, she
felt a reflex grandeur from her richly attired guest and unconsciously
gave her own scanty skirt an airy flirt, as if it had suddenly become of
proper length and color.
Giving the "Angel" a fresh embrace, she clasped its pink fingers and
started to follow wherever it might lead, with Bo'sn close behind.
So intent was she upon her small "Guardian," that she did not observe a
man entering the lane from the further end, else she would have
recognized him for the owner of the littlest house, come in person to
inspect his property and to learn if his rent would be forthcoming when
due; also, to prepare the captain for possible removal, in case a
certain deal, then in progress, should transfer the three-cornered
building to other hands and purposes.
But the gentleman saw Glory and wondered how she had come to have in
charge, in such a neighborhood, a little child so unsuited to it. By
just the one minute's time which would have brought him to the littlest
house ere Glory left it, she missed some further enlightenment on the
subject of "Guardian Angels," and the sad news that she had not only
lost grandparent but home as well; for, seeing the place open, at the
mercy of any Elbow tramp who might enter and despoil it, the landlord at
once decided that, sale or no sale, he would get rid of so careless a
tenant. Crossing to the basement of Meg-Laundress, he made some
inquiries concerning the Becks and was told all which that talkative
woman knew or suspected.
"An' none of us in the Lane ever looks to see him back, sir, an' that's
the fact. But whatever's to become o' his little girl, when she finds
out, land knows," she concluded.
"Oh, plenty of institutions to take in just such as she and she'd be a
deal better off than living from hand to mouth as she has always done.
The captain must have been a fine man once and so far--so far--has had
his rent money ready when it was due; but I made it too small, a great
deal too small. I was a fool for sympathy and let my heart run away with
my head.
"Know anybody would take in the old man's few traps and take care of
them till something develops?" continued the landlord. "He is dead, of
course. Must have been him was run over that time; but they might sell
for a trifle for the child's benefit. I wouldn't mind having that
time-keeping arrangement of bells myself. Was really quite ingenious. I
might as well take it, I reckon, on account of loss of occupancy. Yes, I
_will_ take it. And if he should return--but he won't--you tell
him, my good woman, how it was and he can look to me to settle. Know
anybody has room for his things?"
"No, I don't. An' if I did, I wouldn't tell ye," answered Meg, testily,
and as a relief to her indignation cuffed her youngest born in lieu of
him upon whom she wished she dared bestow the correction.
But the corner grocery-man was more obliging and better supplied with
accommodations for Captain Beck's belongings. In truth, seeing that the
landlord was determined, whether or no, to remove them from the littlest
house, he felt that he must take them in and preserve them from harm
against their owner's claiming them. He thought, with Meg, that harm had
certainly befallen the blind seaman and that they would see him no more,
but he also felt that Glory's rights should be protected to the utmost.
With this idea in mind, he stoutly objected to parting with the
bell-timepiece, and even offered to make up any arrears of rent which
the other could rightly claim.
"Oh! that's all right," said the landlord, huffishly. "That can rest,
but I wish you'd call a cart and get the traps out now, while I'm here
to superintend."
"I'm with you!" cried the grocer, with equal spirit; and so fully fell
in with the other's wishes that, before Glory had been an hour absent
from the only home she could remember, it had been emptied of its few,
but well loved, furnishings and the key had been turned upon its
solitude. Thus ended, too, Nick's brief brilliant dream of household
proprietorship.
However, all this fresh trouble was unknown. Whither her "Angel" led,
she was to follow; and this proved to be in wholly a different direction
from that dark end of the Lane toward the bridge.
For a time the small, unconscious guide toddled along, making slow
progress toward the sound of a hand-organ which her ear had caught yet
which was still out of sight. Arrived, they joined the group of children
gathered about the grinder and his monkey, and created a profound
sensation among the gutter audience.
"Where'd you get her? Whose she belongs?" demanded one big girl who knew
Glory and found this white-clad stranger more interesting than even a
monkey.
"Belongs to me. She's mine; she was sent," returned Take-a-Stitch, with
an inimitable gesture of pride.
"Huh! Talk's cheap. Nobody sent silk-dressed young ones to the Lane to
be took care of, Glory Beck. I don't care, though. Keep her, if ye want
to," returned the offended questioner.
"Sure I shall," laughed Glory, gaily. "But needn't get mad, Nancy Smith.
Maybe you can get one, too. She's my 'Guardian Angel' an' her name's
'Bonny'; she said so. She don't talk much, only that 'Bonny come.' Did
you know 'Angels' was so perfeckly lovely, Nancy?"
Clasping her hands, this proud proprietor of an "Angel" smiled
beatifically on all around. Even the organ-grinder came in for a portion
of that smile, though hitherto, Glory had rather disliked him because
she fancied him unkind to Jocko.
This organ-grinder was Luigi Salvatore, brother to Tonio, and as well
known in that locality. His amazement at seeing the child in the goober
seller's care caused him to stop grinding; whereupon the music also
stopped and the monkey left off holding his cap to the children, begging
their pennies, to hop upon his master's shoulder. From thence he grinned
so maliciously that the "Angel" was frightened and hid her face in
Glory's skirt, whereupon that proud girl realized that "Angels," if
young, were exactly like human young things and needed comforting. Many
an Elbow baby had learned to flee for help to Glory's arms, and now this
stranger was lifted in them and clasped closer than any other had ever
been.
"Oh, you sweetest, dearest Bonny Angel! Don't you be afraid. Glory'll
take care of ye. Don't they have monkeys where you lived, honey? S'pose
not, less you'd ha' knowed they wouldn't hurt. Well, now, on we go.
Which way is to grandpa, Bonny Angel?"
The tiny face burrowing under Glory's chin was partially turned and the
babyish hand pointed outward in a very imperative way. Glory construed
that she must travel in the direction indicated and, also, that even
"Angels" liked their commands to be immediately obeyed. For when she
lingered a moment to exchange compliments with Nancy, on the subject of
"stuck-up-ness" and general "top-loftiness," Miss Bonny brought these
amenities to a sudden close by a smart slap on Glory's lips and a lusty
kick in the direction she wished to be carried.
Fortunately, Take-a-Stitch had never thought how "Angels" should behave,
else she might have been disappointed. As it was, the child at once
became dearer and more her girlish proprietor's "very own" because in
just this manner might Meg's youngest have kicked and slapped.
"Huh! Call that a 'Angel' do ye, Glory Beck? 'Tis no such thing. It's
only somebody's baby what's got lost. Angels are folks what live in
heaven, an' they never kick ner scratch ner ask to be carried. They
don't need. All they have to do is to set still an' sing an' flap their
wings. Huh! I know."
Nancy spoke with the conviction of an eyewitness, and for a time her
playmate was silenced. Then, as Bonny had now grown quiet and gave her
an opportunity, Glory demanded:
"How _can_ you know? You hain't never been there. Nobody hasn't.
An' you go ask Meg-Laundress. Good-bye. Don't be mad. I'll be home
bime-by, an' Bonny Angel with me. She's come to stay. She belongs,
same's all of us. She's a reg'lar Elbower, 'now an' forevermore,' like
we say in the ring-game; an' some time, maybe, if she wants, I'll let
her 'Guardian' you somewhere. Now we're off to grandpa, but we'll be
back after a while. Good-bye. Maybe Toni'll let you peddle goobers in my
place the rest the day. Good-bye."
Bonny Angel, as she was from that time to be called by her new friend,
was again gurgling and smiling and gaily radiant; and for some distance
Glory sped along, equally radiant and wholly engrossed in watching the
little face so near her own. It was, indeed, perfect in its infantile
beauty and more than one passer-by paused to take a second glance at
this odd pair, so unlike, and yet so well content.
After a short while, the aching of her arms made Glory realize that even
infant "Angels" may become intolerably heavy, when clothed in healthy
human form and carried indefinitely, so she set the little one down on
its own small feet, though they seemed too dainty to rest upon the
smirched stones of the pavement which just there was even more begrimed
than that of the Lane itself.
Then she saw that they had halted beside a coal-yard in an unfamiliar
part of the city, but there were throngs of people hurrying past them
toward some point beyond, and though many observed, none paused to
address the children. Bonny was now rested and active and merrily
started in the same direction, across the gangplank to the floor of a
crowded ferry-boat. The ferry-men supposed them to belong to some older
passengers and let them pass unchallenged; nor did Bonny Angel cease her
resolute urging forward till they had come to the very edge of the
further deck and stood looking down into the river.
Almost at once, the boat began to move and Glory was as delighted as
Bonny by the rush of the wind on her face and by the novel sights of the
water. After all, this search for grandpa was proving the pleasantest of
outings, for, though the goober-seller had often peddled her nuts at the
landings of other ferries, she had never before crossed any. She gave
the baby a fresh deluge of kisses, exclaiming, "Oh, you dear knowin'
darlin'! He has gone this way an' you're leadin' me!"
"Bonny come!" cried the "Angel," with a seraphic smile.
Glory smiled back, all anxiety at rest. She was going to grandpa, with
this tiny "Guardian" an unerring guide. Why should one fear aught while
the sun shone so brightly, and over on the further shore she could see
trees waving and green terraces rising one above the other? Surely,
grandpa had done well to leave the dingy Lane for such a beautiful
place, and she was glad, yes, certainly she was glad that she had come.
But the boat trip came to an end all too soon, and, because they were so
near the landing side, they were crowded off the broad deck before Glory
was quite ready and, in the onrush of hurrying passengers, Bonny Angel's
hand was wrested from her grasp.
"Oh, take care there, my Angel! I mustn't lose her!" cried
Take-a-Stitch, distraught at seeing her treasure swept off her tiny feet
in the crush.
"In course you mustn't, sissy!" cried a hearty, kindly voice, as a
timely deck-hand caught up the child and restored her to Glory's arms.
"'Course not; though there's many a one would snap at such a beauty, if
you give 'em a chance. Tight-hold her, sissy, for such posies as her
don't grow on every bush!"
With that, the man in blue shirt and overalls not only gave Bonny a
besmirching pat on her snowy shoulder, but safely handed Glory herself
across the swaying plank to the quay beyond.
There Bonny Angel composedly seated herself upon a pile of dirty ropes
and, rather than cross her desires, Glory also sat down. Both were much
interested in the scene about them, though "Angel" soon forgot all else
save Bo'sn who had followed, and who lay at her feet to rest his nose on
his tired paws while he steadfastly gazed at this new charge. Already he
seemed to have decided in his canine mind that she was to be guided and
guarded as he had guided and guarded his lost master, and with an equal
faithfulness.
Soon the rush and bustle of the boat's return trip gave way to a
corresponding quiet, and Goober Glory dreamily watched the wide deck,
where she had stood, slip back and back between the water-worn piles out
upon the murky river. The space between them widened and widened,
continually, till the boat lessened in size to a mere point and,
finally, became lost in the crowding craft of the Hudson's mouth. As she
saw it disappear, a sudden homesickness seized her and, springing to her
feet, she stretched her arms longingly toward that further side which
held all that she had ever known and loved, and cried aloud:
"Oh, I want to go back! It's there I belong, and he isn't here--I know
he isn't here!"
Then she felt a small hand clutch her skirt and turned about to see
Bonny Angel's face clouding with grief and her dainty under lip
beginning to quiver piteously. A world of reproach seemed to dwell in
her pleading, "Bonny come!" and Glory's own cheerfulness instantly
returned. Lifting the child again, she poised her on her own shoulder
and started valiantly forward across the ferry-slip and past the various
stands of the small merchants which lined the waiting-room walls. Thus
elevated, Bonny Angel was just upon a level with one tempting display of
cakes and candies, and the sight of them reminded her that it was time
to eat. She took her arm from Glory's neck, to which she had clung, made
an unexpected dash for a heap of red confections, lost her balance, and
fell head long in the midst.