第14章 The old gentleman(5)

Mother is ill and the doctor says to give her the things at the end of the letter, but she says she can't aford it, and to get mutton for us and she will have the broth.We do not know anybody here but you, because Father is away and we do not know the address.Father will pay you, or if he has lost all his money, or anything, Peter will pay you when he is a man.We promise it on our honer.I.O.U.

for all the things Mother wants.

"sined Peter.

"Will you give the parsel to the Station Master, because of us not knowing what train you come down by? Say it is for Peter that was sorry about the coals and he will know all right.

"Roberta.

"Phyllis.

"Peter."

Then came the list of things the Doctor had ordered.

The old gentleman read it through once, and his eyebrows went up.

He read it twice and smiled a little.When he had read it thrice, he put it in his pocket and went on reading The Times.

At about six that evening there was a knock at the back door.The three children rushed to open it, and there stood the friendly Porter, who had told them so many interesting things about railways.

He dumped down a big hamper on the kitchen flags.

"Old gent," he said; "he asked me to fetch it up straight away.""Thank you very much," said Peter, and then, as the Porter lingered, he added:--"I'm most awfully sorry I haven't got twopence to give you like Father does, but--""You drop it if you please," said the Porter, indignantly."Iwasn't thinking about no tuppences.I only wanted to say I was sorry your Mamma wasn't so well, and to ask how she finds herself this evening--and I've fetched her along a bit of sweetbrier, very sweet to smell it is.Twopence indeed," said he, and produced a bunch of sweetbrier from his hat, "just like a conjurer," as Phyllis remarked afterwards.

"Thank you very much," said Peter, "and I beg your pardon about the twopence.""No offence," said the Porter, untruly but politely, and went.

Then the children undid the hamper.First there was straw, and then there were fine shavings, and then came all the things they had asked for, and plenty of them, and then a good many things they had not asked for; among others peaches and port wine and two chickens, a cardboard box of big red roses with long stalks, and a tall thin green bottle of lavender water, and three smaller fatter bottles of eau-de-Cologne.There was a letter, too.

"Dear Roberta and Phyllis and Peter," it said; "here are the things you want.Your mother will want to know where they came from.Tell her they were sent by a friend who heard she was ill.When she is well again you must tell her all about it, of course.And if she says you ought not to have asked for the things, tell her that I say you were quite right, and that I hope she will forgive me for taking the liberty of allowing myself a very great pleasure."The letter was signed G.P.something that the children couldn't read.

"I think we WERE right," said Phyllis.

"Right? Of course we were right," said Bobbie.

"All the same," said Peter, with his hands in his pockets, "I don't exactly look forward to telling Mother the whole truth about it.""We're not to do it till she's well," said Bobbie, "and when she's well we shall be so happy we shan't mind a little fuss like that.

Oh, just look at the roses! I must take them up to her.""And the sweetbrier," said Phyllis, sniffing it loudly; "don't forget the sweetbrier.""As if I should!" said Roberta."Mother told me the other day there was a thick hedge of it at her mother's house when she was a little girl."