Dr. MacRae has another doctor visiting him, a very melancholy gentleman

who is at the head of a private psychopathic institution, and thinks

there's no good in life. But I suppose this pessimistic view is natural

if you eat three meals a day with a tableful of melancholics. He goes

up and down the world looking for signs of degeneracy, and finds them

everywhere. I expected, after half an hour's conversation, that he would

ask to look down my throat to see if I had a cleft palate. Sandy's taste

in friends seems to resemble his taste in literature. Gracious! this is

a letter!

Good-by.

SALLIE.

Thursday, May 2.

Dear Judy:

Such a bewildering whirl of events! The J. G. H. is breathless.

Incidentally, I am on the way toward solving my problem of what to do

with the children while the carpenters and plumbers and masons are here.

Or, rather, my precious brother has solved it for me.

This afternoon I went over my linen supply, and made the shocking

discovery that we have only sheets enough to change the children's beds

every two weeks, which, it appears, is our shiftless custom. While I

was still in the midst of my household gear, with a bunch of keys at my

girdle, looking like the chatelaine of a medieval chateau, who should be

ushered in but Jimmie?

Being extremely occupied, I dropped a slanting kiss on his nose, and

sent him off to look over the place in charge of my two oldest urchins.

They collected six friends and organized a baseball game. Jimmie came

back blown, but enthusiastic, and consented to prolong his visit over

the week end, though after the dinner I gave him he has decided to take

his future meals at the hotel. As we sat with our coffee before the

fire, I confided to him my anxiety as to what should be done with the

chicks while their new brooder is building. You know Jimmie. In one half

a minute his plan was formulated.

"Build an Adirondack camp on that little plateau up by the wood lot.

You can make three open shacks, each holding eight bunks, and move the

twenty-four oldest boys out there for the summer. It won't cost two

cents."

"Yes," I objected, "but it will cost more than two cents to engage a man

to look after them."

"Perfectly easy," said Jimmie, grandly. "I'll find you a college fellow

who'll be glad to come during the vacation for his board and a mere

pittance, only you'll have to set up more filling board than you gave me

tonight."

Dr. MacRae dropped in about nine o'clock, after visiting the hospital

ward. We've got three cases of whooping cough, but all isolated, and no

more coming. How those three got in is a mystery. It seems there is a

little bird that brings whooping cough to orphan asylums.




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