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14 - The Box Car Children - Gertrude Warner · Adventure Books Collection

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