Mostly Mary Read online

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  Mostly Mary

  _by_ "CLEMENTIA"

  Author of Uncle Frank's Mary The Quest of Mary Selwyn Bird-a-Lea, Etc.

  Published by MATRE & COMPANY CHICAGO

  Copyright 1921 by MATRE & COMPANY

  All Rights Reserved

  To four little rancheros, Patricia, George, Edward, and Eleanor, this story of other little people is lovingly dedicated.

  When at last she entered the sitting-room--with her petwhite kitten, a rubber doll in a gay worsted suit, a big brightlycolored rubber ball and a teddy bear almost as large as herself claspedin her arms.]

  CONTENTS

  Chapter Page

  I. The S'prise 9

  II. A Busy Morning 21

  III. A Visit to Maryvale 27

  IV. Mary's Plan 38

  V. The First Friday 53

  VI. A Little Cross 63

  VII. The Shadow Falls 73

  VIII. The Rustle of Angels' Wings 83

  IX. A Grave Question 94

  X. A Severe Test 101

  XI. Welcome Visitors 109

  XII. Those Precious Last Hours 117

  XIII. Sister Julia 124

  XIV. The Real Mary 134

  XV. In the Firelight 146

  MOSTLY MARY

  CHAPTER I.

  THE S'PRISE.

  "Dickie-Bird, have you seen our Goldilocks?" asked a deep voice at thedoor of the playroom.

  "Here I am, Father!" and a dear little girl, half hidden by the windowcurtains, dropped the doll which she had been hugging and ran into Mr.Selwyn's arms. "I'm _so_ glad you are here! Everything has been so--sodifferent this morning. Liza came, instead of Aunt Mandy, to call me andhelp me to dress and then she told me to wait here for you,and----and----"

  "And you thought Father had forgotten his little lass, eh?"

  "I didn't quite think that, Father; but I was beginning to feel lonely,because I had to stay here instead of running right down to havebreakfast with you and Mother and Uncle Frank."

  "I see. Are you often lonely, pet?" asked her father, stroking thebright hair which fell in a mass of ringlets on her shoulders.

  "Not _very_ often, Father,--just sometimes, when you and Mother andUncle Frank all go out to dinner or to a concert or something like that.Then--then I can't help wishing that God hadn't taken my little brothersto heaven. Of course, it's lovely for them to be there; but it would beso nice to have someone to play with _all_ the time--not just sometimes,the way it is when Evelyn and Hazel and Rosemary come to see me. Mothersays that Robert would be five years old, and Francis, three; and oh! wewould have the best times! I wouldn't mind if they broke my dolls oncein a while. Hazel won't let her little brother _touch_ one of hers. ButI think a really, truly, live brother is better to play with than allthe dolls in the world. I would never be lonely if I had one."

  "Well, pet, I think I can truly say that you will never be lonelyagain," and taking Mary's frail little hand, Mr. Selwyn led her out intothe hall.

  She thought they were going to breakfast, and looked up in surprise whenthey passed the head of the stairs. Her father smiled in a knowingfashion, and paused before the closed door of a sitting-room next to hermother's bedroom.

  "Oh, have you a s'prise for me, Father?" whispered the little girl,clasping his hand with both of hers.

  "A most beautiful surprise, dear. Perhaps you would like to guess whatit is."

  Mary looked very thoughtful for some moments; then, "It can't be a newdoll, because Uncle Frank brought me one yesterday; and it can't be aletter from Aunt Mary, because that would be under my plate at thetable. Besides, those things wouldn't make this morning so differentfrom every other morning, and I can't think of a single thing thatwould."

  "Then we had better waste no more time."

  Her father opened the door, and Mary looked eagerly about the room, butcould see nothing that had not been there the night before. Mr. Selwynwhispered quickly, "Sit in that big chair, and I shall bring thesurprise to you."

  He tiptoed into her mother's room, and a moment later, Aunt Mandy, hercolored nurse, came out, carefully carrying a white bundle. Mr. Selwynfollowed with one just like it.

  "Dah yo' is, honey! But yo' ole mammy is 'fraid it am too hebby fo'yo'," chuckled Aunt Mandy, placing her bundle on Mary's lap.

  "Oh! oh! oh! See, Father, it's a _baby_!" whispered the little girl. "Adear, sweet, darling, really, truly, live _baby_! Oh!"

  "And see what I have," laughed her father, seating himself in a chairbeside her.

  "_Another_ baby! Oh! oh! _oh!_"

  "Twins, ma bressed lamb! Dat's what dey is!" declared old Auntie.

  "Whose are they, Father?"

  "Why, ours, pet,--our very own--your little twin sisters."

  "_My--little--twin--sisters!_ Both of them _mine_! Oh, _isn't_ God good!I have been asking Him for a little sister ever since He sent Rosemaryone; but I never dreamed that He would give me _two--never_! _Isn't_ Hegood!" and Mary lightly kissed the lips, cheeks, forehead, eyes, andeven the nose of the mite she hugged. "Please take this one, Aunt Mandy,and let me love that one a few minutes."

  "You will find this little lady somewhat heavier," warned her father."Better let me help you hold her."

  "There!" said Mary with a happy sigh, "I gave her just as many as thisone," holding up her arms for the baby which Aunt Mandy held; "for, ofcourse, I love them both exactly the same. And, Aunt Mandy, you mustnot bother about me any more. You won't have time, you know. I candress my own self, all except the buttons 'way up between my shoulders;and I can wash my neck and ears clean, too."

  "Bress yo' li'l heart, honey! Does yo' think fo' one instinct dat yo'ole mammy is gwine to let yo' git yo' curls all wet, an' kotch yo' defob cold dat-a-way? An' who's gwine to bresh de tangles out'n dem curls,I lak to know?"

  "But I can wear my rubber cap when I am washing my neck and ears, justas I did when I went in bathing at the seashore. I suppose, though, thatsomeone will have to help me with my hair. Oh, I know just the thing! Ican have it cut off, and then I can fix it my own self."

  "What's dat! what's dat yo's sayin', Miss May-ree! Cut off dem curls?No, _sah_! Dey ain't gwine to be no hair-cuttin' round heah! AuntMandy's gwine to tek de bes' ob care ob all her li'l bressed lambs; shesho' am!"

  "Well, well! what does big sister think about all this?" whisperedDoctor Carlton, Mrs. Selwyn's brother, coming into the room as AuntMandy left it. "Is her nose out of joint, Rob?"

  "My nose, Uncle Frank?" echoed Mary, lifting a happy little face for hisgood-morning kiss. "It doesn't pain at all, so I'm sure it can't be outof joint. When I put my thumb out of joint, it pained dreadfully untilyou fixed it for me."

  "No, Frank, there is no room for anything here but pure joy. She hasbeen asking God to give her one little sister, and He has sent her two;so her cup of happiness is full to the brim."

  "Do you think they will wake soon, Father? I want to see what colortheir eyes are. What are their names?"

  "We think of calling the one you have Elizabeth after
Mother. She hasblue eyes and will probably resemble Mother just as you do."

  "And the little heavy-weight in your father's arms has very dark eyeslike his, so she must be named for him--Roberta. Elizabeth andRoberta--can you improve on those names?"

  "They are just the loveliest ones I know; but--but----"

  "Out with it," insisted the Doctor.

  "Don't you--don't you think they are----well, just a _little_ bit toobig for such teeny, weeny babies?"

  "They are rather imposing names for such mites," agreed Mr. Selwyn, "butthe babies will grow up to fit them, you know."

  "Perhaps we might shorten them to Betty and Bobbie for the present,"proposed the Doctor, with a twinkle in his eye.

  "But Bobbie is a boy's name; and Mother told me a story about a_naughty_ little girl named Betty, so I wouldn't like to call my littlesister by such a name. Let--me--see. E--liz--a--beth.... Oh, I know! Wecan call this one Beth until she is big; and that one--," Mary knit herbrows in deep thought, "how would Berta do?"

  "Berta and Beth--capital!" declared the Doctor; and Mr. Selwyn agreedwith him.

  "When will they be baptized, Father?"

  "Next Sunday, probably."

  "To-day is Tuesday.

  'Monday's child is fair of face, 'Tuesday's child is full of grace,'"

  sang the little girl, softly.

  "Have you decided on the godparents, Rob?"

  "We think of asking Phil and Etta Marvin--Wilhelmina's father andmother, Mary. You remember the little girl whose photograph Unclebrought you from Georgia last spring."

  "The one with seven brothers?"

  "Yes, dear, that is Wilhelmina Marvin. Uncle and I went to college withher father, and Aunt Mary and her mother were little girls together."

  "You must meet Wilhelmina one of these days. She is a great girl--climbstrees, rides horseback like a little Indian, and is as much a boy as anyone of her brothers. The next time I go to Sunnymead, I shall take youwith me."

  "Father and Mother and Berta and Beth must come, too, Uncle."

  "That is understood, pet."

  "Will you please take this baby--I mean Beth, for a few minutes?"

  "Certainly, dear. Your poor little arms must be quite tired."

  "Oh, no, Uncle! Why, I am sure that I could hold both babies all daylong without being tired. I shall be back in just a little minute," andMary slipped away, leaving the two men to wonder where she had gone.

  Back to the playroom she flew, caught up her two prettiest dolls, andwas hurrying from the room when she paused.

  "I'm afraid they might hurt themselves with these. I had better takesoft things."

  She walked about among her toys, choosing first one, then another, untilher father began to think that she was not coming back. When at last sheentered the sitting-room, he and the Doctor had quite a time to keepfrom laughing aloud at sight of her with her pet white kitten, a rubberdoll in a gay worsted suit, a big, brightly-colored rubber ball, and aTeddy bear almost as large as herself clasped in her arms.

  "I was afraid they might think we don't want them if there is nothingfor them to play with when they wake," she explained.

  "So you are going to share your toys with them, are you?" and Mr. Selwynput his arm about her, drawing her to his knee.

  "Of course, Father. They can have everything of mine that they want; butmost of my dolls are hard ones that might hurt them. I shall save thoseuntil they are older. Snowball and Teddy and these other things are niceand soft, you see."

  "God bless her!" murmured the Doctor, a mist gathering in his eyes. "Nojealousy here; that is certain."

  "You have made a very wise choice, pet; but see these tiny fingers.Don't you think that they will have to grow stronger before they canhold even such lovely, soft things? These little folks will be so busytaking naps, you know, that they will not have time to play with toysfor some months."

  "Why, I forgot all about that," laughed Mary. "You see, Father, I wassuch a little bit of a thing when Robert was a baby; and Francis stayedwith us only a few days, so that I don't know very much about babies. Ihope Berta and Beth will stay a long, long time," she added wistfully.

  "God grant that they may, darling," said her father, earnestly; for hehad felt keenly the loss of his two infant sons.

  "There is just one thing that would make everything nicer," said Maryafter a long pause.

  "And that is----?" inquired the Doctor.

  "One more baby."

  "But I thought you were more than satisfied with two," laughed herfather.

  "But if there were three, Father, we could name one Francis after UncleFrank. That is a boy's name and a girl's name, too; so it wouldn't makea bit of difference whether the baby was a boy or a girl."

  The Doctor, greatly touched by the child's love for him, drew her tohim, saying, "But one baby was named for me, little one, and I surelycannot expect more than that."

  "Oh, I know the very thing! We can buy a Chinese baby for five dollarsand name it Francis! Sister told us about it in school last spring; andwe gave her all our pennies, and she sent them away to buy a poor littlebaby so it would be baptized; and we named it Mary for our BlessedMother. Of course, we could never see the baby that we buy,but--but--well, when it dies, it will go to heaven--that is, if it keepson being good when it grows up. But I know something else. When Evelyn'sbig sister was confirmed, she took another name. So when I am confirmed,I shall take Frances; and then I shall be your little girl more thanever."

  "All my names could not make you any more my little girl than you arenow, pet. But come; it is time you had some breakfast. These littlefolks intend to take a long sleep this morning."

  "Father! Let us call up Aunt Mary after breakfast and tell her thes'prise. Do you think we could take the babies out to see her thisafternoon?"

  "They are very young for so long a trip, dear. Liza shall take you outto Maryvale, and you may tell Aunt Mary everything that you forget tosay over the telephone."

  "Will Mother be awake after breakfast?" asked the little girl, with alonging look toward the door of the next room.

  "I shall tell Aunt Mandy to send for you the moment she opens hereyes."