Family Affairs

: Jewel

He continued to watch the child furtively, while she made her

arrangements for writing. Finding that no chair in the room would bring

her to a proper height for the table, she looked all about, and finally

skipped over to the morocco lounge and tugged from it a pillow almost

too heavy for her to carry; but she arrived with it at the chair,

much to the amusement of Mr. Evringham, who affected absorption in

his papers, w ile he enjoyed the exhibition of the child's energy and

independence.



"She's the kind that 'makes old shears cut,' as my mother used to say,"

he mused, and turning, the better to view the situation, he found Jewel

mounted on her perch and watching him fixedly.



She looked relieved. "I didn't want to disturb you, grandpa, but may I

ask one question?"



"Yes."



"Did I consult Dr. Ballard this afternoon?"



"Not that I noticed," returned Mr. Evringham; and Jewel suspected from

his expression that she had said something amusing.



"Well, it was a word that sounded like consult that Mrs. Forbes said I

did."



"Insult, perhaps," suggested Mr. Evringham.



"Oh yes. How do you spell it, grandpa?"



Mr. Evringham told her, and added dryly, "That was rather too strong

language for Mrs. Forbes to apply to the fact."



"Yes," replied the child. "I knew it was a hating word." Then without

further parley she squared her elbows on the table and bent over her

sheet of paper.



"I wonder what version of it she'll give her mother," thought the

broker, rummaging vaguely in the pigeon holes of his desk. His labors

finally sifted down to the unearthing of a late novel from a drawer at

his right hand, and lowering a convenient, green-shaded electric light,

he lit his cigar, and was soon lost in the pages of the story.



At last he became conscious that the pencil at the table had ceased to

move, and lowering his book he looked up. His granddaughter had been

watching for this happy event, and she no sooner met his eyes than, with

a smile of satisfaction, she jumped from her morocco perch and brought

him a sheet of paper well and laboriously covered.



"I suppose it isn't all spelled right," she said. "I didn't want to

disturb you to ask; but will you please direct this to Dr. Ballard?"



"To Dr. Ballard!" repeated Mr. Evringham. His curiosity impelled him.

"Shall I see if it is spelled right?"



Jewel assenting, he read the following in a large and waving hand.



DEAR DOCTOR BALUD--Mrs. Forbs felt bad because I did not take your

Medsin. She said it was an insult. I want to tell you I did not meen an

Insult. We can't help loving God beter than any body, but I love you and

if I took any medsin I would rather take yours than any boddy's. Mrs.

Forbs says you will send a big Bill to Grandpa and that it was error to

waist it. Please send the Bill to me because I have Plenty of munny, and

I shall love to pay you. You were very kind and did not put any thing on

my Tung.



Your loving JEWEL.





Mr. Evringham continued to look at the signature for a minute before he

spoke. Jewel was leaning against his arm and reading with him. The last

lines slanted deeply, there being barely room in the lower corner for

the writer's name.



"I can't write very straight without lines," she said.



"You do very well indeed," he returned. "About that bill, Jewel," he

added after a moment. "Perhaps you would better let me pay it. I believe

you said you had three dollars, but even that won't last forever, you

know. You've spent some of it, too. How much, now?"



"I've spent fifty cents." Jewel cast a furtive look around at the

chicken, "And, oh yes, fifty cents more for the telegram. How much do

you think Dr. Ballard's bill will be?"



"I think it will take every cent you have left," returned Mr. Evringham,

gravely, curious to hear what his granddaughter would say in this

dilemma.



Her reply came promptly and even eagerly. "Well, that's all right,

because Divine Love will send me more if I need it."



"Indeed? How can you be sure?"



Jewel smiled at him affectionately. "Do you mean it grandpa?"



"Why yes. I really want to know."



"Even after God sent you Essex Maid?" she asked incredulously.



"You think the mare is the best thing in my possession, eh?"



"Ye--es! Don't you?"



"I believe I do." As Mr. Evringham spoke, this kinship of taste induced

him to turn his face toward the one beside him. Instantly he found

himself kissed full on the lips, and while he was recovering from the

shock, Jewel proceeded:--



"God has given you so many things, grandpa, that's why it surprised me

to have you look so sorry when I first came." The child examined his

countenance critically. "I don't think you look so sorry as you used to.

I know you must have lots of error to meet, and perhaps," lowering her

voice to an extra gentleness, "perhaps you don't know how to remember

every minute that God is a very present help in trouble. Mother says

that even grown-up people are just finding out about it."



As she paused Mr. Evringham hesitated, somewhat embarrassed under

the blue eyes. "We all have plenty to learn, I dare say," he returned

vaguely.



He had more than once wished that he had taken more notice of Harry's

wife during his opportunity at the hotel. He had looked upon the

interview as a distasteful necessity to be disposed of as cursorily as

possible.



His son had married beneath him, some working girl probably, whose

ability to support herself had turned out to be a deliverance for

her father-in-law when the ne'er-do-well husband shirked his

responsibilities; and Mr. Evringham had gone to the hotel that evening

intending to make it clear that although he performed a favor for his

son, there were no results to follow.



His granddaughter's fearlessness, courtesy, and affection had forced

him to wonder as to the mother who had fostered these qualities. He

remembered the eloquence of his son's face when Harry expressed the wish

that he might know Julia, and a vague admiration and respect were being

born in the broker's heart for the deserted woman who had worked with

hand and brain for her child--his grandchild was the way he put it--with

such results as he saw.



Some perception of what Harry's sensations must have been during the

last six months came to him as he sat there with the little girl's arm

about him. Harry had come home and discovered his child, his Jewel. A

frown gathered on the broker's brow as he realized the hours of vain

regret his son must have suffered for those lost years of the child's

life.



"Served him right, served him perfectly right!"



"What grandpa?"



The question made Mr. Evringham aware that the indignant words had been

muttered above his breath.



"I was thinking of your father," he replied. "Has he learned these

things that your mother has taught you?"



"Oh yes," with soft eagerness; "father is learning everything." Jewel

saw her grandfather's frown and she lowered her voice almost to a

whisper. "Don't feel sorry about father, grandpa. He says he's the

happiest man in the world. Mother didn't find out about God till after

father had gone to California, or he wouldn't have gone; and for a long

time she didn't know where he was, and I was only beginning to walk

around, so I couldn't help her; but when I got bigger I had father's

picture, and we used to talk to it every day, and at last mother knew

that Divine Love would bring father back; and pretty soon he began

to write to her, and he said he couldn't come home because he felt so

sorry, and he was going to the war. So then mother and I prayed a great

deal every day, and we knew father would be taken care of. And then

mother kept writing to him not to be sorry, because error was nothing

and the child of God could always have his right place, and everything

like that, and at last the war was over and he came home." Jewel paused.



Mr. Evringham wondered what she was seeing with that far-away look.



Presently she turned to him with the smile of irresistible

sweetness--Harry's smile--and a surprising fullness came in the broker's

throat. "Father's just splendid," she finished.



Her grandfather was not wholly pleased with the verdict. He had gained a

taste for incense himself.



"He has been at home over six months, I believe," he returned.



"Yes, all winter; and we have more fun!"



"Your father is not a Christian Scientist, I presume," remarked Mr.

Evringham.



"Oh yes, he's learning to be. Of course he goes to church--"



"He does, eh?" put in the broker, surprised.



"Of course; and he studies the lesson with us every day. He had been

sorry so much and so long, you know, mother said he was all ready; and

beside--beside"--Jewel hesitated and became silent.



"Beside what?"



She began very softly and half reluctantly. "Father had a sickness two

or three times when he first came home, and he was healed, and so he was

very grateful and wanted to know about God."



"H'm. I'm glad he was. I hope he will make your mother very happy after

this."



"He does." The child lost her seriousness and laughed reminiscently.

"Father and I have the best times. Mothers says he's younger than I

am."



"You miss him, eh?" Mr. Evringham half frowned into the fresh little

face.



"Oh yes, I do," with a sigh, "but it would be error to be sorry when I

could come to see you, grandpa."



Mr. Evringham cogitated a minute on the probable loneliness of the last

three days, and began to wonder what this philosophy could be which

gave practical help to a child of eight years. He was still holding the

letter to Dr. Ballard in his hand.



"I think I'll let you direct this yourself, Jewel," he said. He rose and

brought the morocco cushion to his desk chair. "Sit up here and I will

tell you the address."



She obeyed, and Mr. Evringham watched the little fingers clenched around

the pen as she strove to resist its tendency to write down hill on the

envelope.



"And you're quite sure that more money will be forthcoming when yours is

gone, eh?" he asked when the feat was accomplished.



"Oh yes; if I need it."



"How will it come, for instance?"



She looked up quickly. "I don't need to know that," she replied.



Mr. Evringham bit his lip. "That's unanswerable," he thought, "and

rather neat."



At this moment a knock sounded at the library door, and a moment

afterward Mrs. Forbes presented herself.



"Excuse me, Mr. Evringham. I'm afraid Julia has been in your way,

staying so long."



"No, Mrs. Forbes, thank you," he returned. "She had a letter to write,

and I have been reading."



"Very well. It is her bedtime now." The housekeeper's tone was

inexorable, and Jewel lifted her shoulders as she glanced up at her

grandfather, and again he found himself taken into a confidence which

excluded his excellent housekeeper. "It is better for us to yield," said

Jewel's shoulders and mute lips. Before Mr. Evringham could suspect her

intention, she had jumped up on the cushion nimbly as a squirrel, and

hugging him in a business-like manner, kissed him twice.



"Good-night, grandpa."



"Good-night, Jewel," he returned, going to the length of patting her

shoulder.



She jumped down and ran to Mrs. Forbes. "You needn't come with me, you

know," she said, holding up her face. Mrs. Forbes hesitated a moment.

She had not as yet recovered from this latest liberty taken with the

head of the house.



"Let me feel of your hands, Julia." She took them in hers and touched

the child's cheeks and forehead as well. "You seem to feel all right, do

you?"



"Yes'm."



"No soreness or pain anywhere?"



"No'm. Good-night, Mrs. Forbes."



The housekeeper stooped from her height and accepted the offered kiss.



"Do you prefer to go alone, Jewel? Isn't it lonely for you?" asked Mr.

Evringham.



"No--o, grandpa! Anna Belle is up there."



"You're not afraid of the dark then?"



Jewel looked at the speaker, uncertain of his seriousness. He seemed in

earnest, however. "The dark is easy to drive away in this house," she

replied. "It is so interesting, just like a treatment. The room seems

full of darkness, error, and I just turn the switch," she illustrated

with thumb and finger in the air, "and suddenly--there isn't any

darkness! It's all bright and happy, just like me to-day!"



"Indeed!" returned Mr. Evringham, standing with his feet apart and his

arms folded. "Is that what the lady in Chicago did for you to-day?"



"Yes, grandpa," Jewel nodded eagerly. She was so glad to have him

understand. "She just turned the light, Truth, right into me."



"She prayed to the Creator to cure you, you mean."



Jewel looked off. "No, not that," she answered slowly, searching for

words to make her meaning plain. "God doesn't have to be begged to do

anything, because He can't change, He is always the same, and always

perfect, and always giving us everything good, and it's only for us--not

to believe--in the things that seem to get in the way. I was believing

there was something in the way, and that lady knew there wasn't, and

she knew it so well that the old dark fever couldn't stay. Nothing can

stay that God doesn't make--not any longer than we let it cheat us."



"And she was a thousand miles away," remarked Mr. Evringham.



"Why, grandpa," returned Jewel, "there isn't any space in Spirit." She

gave a little sigh. "I'm real sorry you're too big to be let into the

Christian Science Sunday-School."



Mrs. Forbes lips fell apart.



"One moment more, Jewel," said Mr. Evringham. "Mrs. Forbes was telling

me of the gentleman who spoke to you on the trolley car yesterday."



"Oh yes," returned the child, smiling at the pleasing memory. "The

Christian Scientist!"



"What makes you think he is a Christian Scientist?" asked Mr. Evringham.



"I know he was. He had on the pin." Jewel showed the one she wore, and

her grandfather examined the little cross and crown curiously.



"I wonder if it's possible," he soliloquized aloud.



"Oh yes, grandpa, he is one, and if he's a friend of yours he can

explain to you so much better than a little girl can."



After the child had left the room Mr. Evringham and his housekeeper

stood regarding one another. His usually unsmiling countenance was

relaxed. Mrs. Forbes observed his novel expression, but did not suspect

that the light twinkling in his deep-set eyes was partly due to the

sight of her own pent-up emotion.



He hooked one thumb in his vest and balanced his eyeglasses in his other

hand.



"Well, what do you think of her?" he inquired.



"I think, sir," returned the housekeeper emphatically, "that if anybody

bought that child for a fool he wouldn't get his money's worth."



"Even though she is a Scientist?" added Mr. Evringham, his mustache

curving in a smile.



"She's too smart for me. I don't like children to be so smart. The idea

of her setting up to teach you Mr. Evringham!"



"That shouldn't be so surprising. I read a long time ago something about

certain things being concealed from the wise and prudent and revealed

unto babes."



"Babes!" repeated Mrs. Forbes. "We've been the babes. If that young one

can lie in bed with a fever, and wind every one of us around her finger

the way she's done to-day, what can we expect when she's up and around?"



The broker laughed. "She's an Evringham, an Evringham!" he said.



"You may laugh, sir, but what do you think of her wheedling me into

sending Zeke up, and then getting him off on the sly with that telegram?

I faced him down with it to-night, and Zeke isn't any good at fibbing."



"I'll be hanged if I don't think it was a pretty good thing for me,"

rejoined Mr. Evringham, "and money in my pocket. It looked as if I was

in for Ballard for a matter of weeks."



"But the--the--the audacity of it!" protested Mrs. Forbes. "What do you

think she said after you and Dr. Ballard had done downstairs? I tried to

bring her to a sense of what she'd done, and all she answered was that

she had known that God would deliver her out of the snare of the fowler.

Now I should like to ask you, Mr. Evringham," added Mrs. Forbes in an

access of outraged virtue, "which of us three do you think she called

the fowler?"



"Give it up, I'm sure," returned the broker; "but I can imagine that we

seemed three pretty determined giants for one small girl to outwit."



"She'd outwit a regiment, sir; and I don't see how you can permit it."



Mr. Evringham endeavored to compose his countenance. "We must allow her

religious liberty, I suppose, Mrs. Forbes. It's a matter of religion

with her--that is, we must allow it as long as she keeps well. If

Ballard had found her worse to-night, I assure you I should have

consigned all Christian Scientists to the bottom of the sea, and that

little zealot would have taken her medicine from my own hand. All's well

that ends well, eh?"



Mrs. Forbes had caught sight of the incongruous adornment of her

employer's desk.



With majestic strides she advanced upon the yellow chicken and swept it

into her apron. "Julia must be taught not to litter your room, sir."



"I beg your pardon," returned the broker firmly, also advancing and

holding out his hand. "That is my chicken."



Slowly Mrs. Forbes restored the confiscated property, and Mr. Evringham

examined it carefully to see that it was intact, and then set it

carefully on his desk.



Mrs. Forbes recalled the confectioner's window. "She must have bought

that chicken when my back was turned!" she thought. "That young one

could have given points to Napoleon."