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14 - The Box Car Children - Gertrude Warner · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

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  Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen. Cought, they never will go with you in
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  Speaker 1: this world, declared missus mc allister finally to the distracted grandfather,
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  Speaker 1: unless you give us time to break the news gradually,
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  Speaker 1: and above all, when Violet is so ill, couldn't I
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  Speaker 1: see them, begged the man, Almost like a boy. I
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  Speaker 1: could pretend I was a friend of yours visiting you
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  Speaker 1: who liked children. I would promise not to tell them
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  Speaker 1: until you consented. That might do, said doctor mc allister.
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  Speaker 1: If they grew to like you before they knew who
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  Speaker 1: you were, it would make things easier, certainly so. James
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  Speaker 1: Henry Cordyce's chauffeur was sent for a gold monogrammed suit
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  Speaker 1: case and his young man to wait upon him. And
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  Speaker 1: Irish Mary held up her hands in despair when she
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  Speaker 1: learned for whom she must cook. Don't you worry, Mary
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  Speaker 1: bridget Flynn, said doctor mc allister with emphasis. You could
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  Speaker 1: cook for the King of Ingland. Just make one of
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  Speaker 1: your peach shortcakes for lunch and broil a chicken, and
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  Speaker 1: I'll answer for him. When lunch time came, J H.
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  Speaker 1: Cordyce saw all his grandchildren except Violet. He smiled with
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  Speaker 1: delight when he saw Jess coming down the stairs in
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  Speaker 1: her womanly fashion. Henry shook hands with him before he
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  Speaker 1: sat down, but he kept glancing at the stranger all
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  Speaker 1: through the meal. Where have I seen that man before?
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  Speaker 1: He thought. Missus mc allister had given the children's names
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  Speaker 1: clearly when she introduced them, Jess, Benny and Henry Henry
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  Speaker 1: James she had added, but she had not added the
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  Speaker 1: man's name. She forgot, thought Jess, because she knows him
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  Speaker 1: so well, she thinks we do. But although nameless, the
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  Speaker 1: stranger caught their attention. He told them wonderful stories about
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  Speaker 1: a steel rail which held up an entire bridge until
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  Speaker 1: the people had time to get off. About his call
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  Speaker 1: about a cucumber in his garden growing inside of a
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  Speaker 1: glass bottle. Henry was interested, Benny was fascinated. I'd like
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  Speaker 1: to see the cucumber, said Benny, pausing in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of his short cake. Would you, indeed, said mister Cordyce, delighted.
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  Speaker 1: Some day, if missus mc allister is willing, you and
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  Speaker 1: I will ride over to my garden and pick it,
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  Speaker 1: and we'll bring it to Violet, asked Benny, waiting breathlessly
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  Speaker 1: for an answer. We'll bring it to Violet, agreed mister cordyce,
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  Speaker 1: resuming his short cake. After lunch, he went to sleep
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  Speaker 1: in the easy chair in the doctor's big office. That is,
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  Speaker 1: he threw his head back and shut his eyes and
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  Speaker 1: breathed very heavily. Jess went through the room once with
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  Speaker 1: ice water, humming for a Violet was better, But the
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  Speaker 1: moment she saw the stranger asleep, she stopped her singing
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  Speaker 1: abruptly and tiptoed the rest of the way. Then as
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  Speaker 1: suddenly she turned round and came back and very carefully
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  Speaker 1: shoved a cushion under the man's feet. It was so
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  Speaker 1: gently done that even if he had been really asleep,
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  Speaker 1: he would never have wakened. As it was, he could
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  Speaker 1: not resist opening one eye the slightest crack, to see
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  Speaker 1: the bright chestnut hair as it passed out of sight. No,
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  Speaker 1: he thought to himself, if she really hated me, she
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  Speaker 1: would never have done that. But the children were very
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  Speaker 1: far from hating him. They liked him immensely, And when
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  Speaker 1: at last one day he was allowed to see Violet
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  Speaker 1: and came softly into her room with a nosegay of
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  Speaker 1: fragrant English double violets for her, they loved him He
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  Speaker 1: won all their hearts when he patted her dark head
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  Speaker 1: and told her very simply that he was sorry she
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  Speaker 1: had been sick. It would be hard to say that J. H.
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  Speaker 1: Cordyce ever had a favorite grandchild, but certainly his manner
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  Speaker 1: with Violet was very gentle. It was clear to every one,
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  Speaker 1: even to the anxious nurse, that the stranger was not
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  Speaker 1: tiring the sick child. He told her, in a pleasant,
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  Speaker 1: everyday voice, about his garden and his greenhouses where the
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  Speaker 1: violets came from, about the old swede garden who always
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  Speaker 1: said he must walter the violets. I'd love to see him,
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  Speaker 1: said Violet earnestly. How long are you going to stay here?
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  Speaker 1: Benny piped up. It was not altogether a polite question,
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  Speaker 1: but it was clear to them all that Benny wanted
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  Speaker 1: him to stay, so they all laughed. As long as
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  Speaker 1: they'll let me, my boy, answered the stranger quietly. Then
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  Speaker 1: he left the sick room, for he knew he should
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  Speaker 1: not stay long. But something in the man's last sentence
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  Speaker 1: rang in Henry's ears. He repeated it over and over
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  Speaker 1: in his mind, trying to remember where he had heard
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  Speaker 1: that same voice say, my boy. He made an excuse
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  Speaker 1: to work in the flower beds along the Verandah in
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  Speaker 1: order to glance a case aasionally at the man's face
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  Speaker 1: as he sat under a tree reading often. Henry thought
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  Speaker 1: he had caught hold of his truant memory. Then the
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  Speaker 1: man turned his head and he lost it again altogether.
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  Speaker 1: But suddenly it came to him as the man smiled
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  Speaker 1: over his book. It was the man who had shaken
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  Speaker 1: hands with him on the day of the race, and
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  Speaker 1: he had said, I like your spirit, my boy. That
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  Speaker 1: was it. Henry sat down out of sight and weeded
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  Speaker 1: geraniums for a few moments. It is a wonder he
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  Speaker 1: did not pull up geraniums instead of weeds. His mind
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  Speaker 1: was so far away. I didn't remember him at first
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  Speaker 1: because I was so jolly excited when he shook hands
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  Speaker 1: with me, decided Henry. Then he was apparently thunderstruck afresh.
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  Speaker 1: He sat with his weeder on his knee and his
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  Speaker 1: mouth open. He's the man who passed me the cup
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  Speaker 1: with the wings. He stole another look around the corner,
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  Speaker 1: and this satisfied him. Same man exactly, he said. When
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  Speaker 1: he had finished the flower bed, he thought he heard
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  Speaker 1: the young doctor moving in the office. He stuck his
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  Speaker 1: head in the open door. The doctor sat at his desk,
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  Speaker 1: taking notes from a book. Do you know who presented
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  Speaker 1: the prizes? Field Day, asked Henry curiously, know what his
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  Speaker 1: name was? James Cordyce of the steel mills, replied the
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  Speaker 1: doctor carelessly, J H. Cordyce over in Greenfield. Doctor mc allister,
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  Speaker 1: to all appearances, returned to his notes. His eyes were
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  Speaker 1: lowered at any rate. But for Henry the skies were reeling.
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  Speaker 1: He withdrew his head and sat still on the step.
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  Speaker 1: That delightful man his grandfather. It was impossible. He was
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  Speaker 1: too young to begin with. Henry expected a white haired
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  Speaker 1: gentleman with a cane and a terrible voice. But all
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  Speaker 1: the time he knew in his soul that it was
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  Speaker 1: not only possible, but really true. Hu. He recalled the
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  Speaker 1: man's reply to Benny's direct question. He had said he
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  Speaker 1: was going to stay as long as they would let him.
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  Speaker 1: Could it be that the man knew them without introducing himself.
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  Speaker 1: A perfect torrent of thoughts assailed Henry as he crouched
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  Speaker 1: on the office steps. It was clear to him now
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  Speaker 1: that missus mc alster had failed to mention his name
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  Speaker 1: on purpose. It was a wonder Benny hadn't asked what
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  Speaker 1: it was. Long before this, he noticed that the man
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  Speaker 1: was getting out of his chair under the trees. It's
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  Speaker 1: now or never, thought Henry, I've got to know. He
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  Speaker 1: walked eagerly after the man, who was going toward the
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  Speaker 1: garden with his back turned. Henry easily caught up with him,
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  Speaker 1: breathing with difficulty. The man turned around. Are you James,
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  Speaker 1: Henry Cordyce of Greenfield, panted Henry. I am my boy,
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  Speaker 1: returned the man with a long look. Does that question
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  Speaker 1: of yours mean that you know that I know that
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  Speaker 1: you are Henry James Cordyce, Yes, said Henry simply. The
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  Speaker 1: man's eyes filled with tears, and J. H. Cordyce of
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  Speaker 1: the Steel Mills shook hands for the third time with
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  Speaker 1: his grandson H. J. Cordyce of the Home for Tramps.
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  Speaker 1: End of Chapter fourteen.