I suppose you think that's funny? It's true. Judy and Jervis know it,
and that's why they asked me to come. So you see, when they have
shown so much confidence in me, I can't throw them over in quite the
unceremonious fashion you suggest. So long as I am here, I am going to
accomplish just as much as it is given one person to accomplish every
twenty-four hours. I am going to turn the place over to my successor
with things moving fast in the right direction.
But in the meantime please don't wash your hands of me under the belief
that I'm too busy to be homesick; for I'm not. I wake up every morning
and stare at Mrs. Lippett's wallpaper in a sort of daze, feeling as
though it's some bad dream, and I'm not really here. What on earth was I
thinking of to turn my back upon my nice cheerful own home and the good
times that by rights are mine? I frequently agree with your opinion of
my sanity.
But why, may I ask, should you be making such a fuss? You wouldn't be
seeing me in any case. Worcester is quite as far from Washington as the
John Grier Home. And I will add, for your further comfort, that whereas
there is no man in the neighborhood of this asylum who admires red hair,
in Worcester there are several. Therefore, most difficult of men, please
be appeased. I didn't come entirely to spite you. I wanted an adventure
in life, and, oh dear! oh dear! I'm having it! PLEASE write soon, and
cheer me up. Yours in sackcloth,
SALLIE.
THE JOHN GRIER HOME,
February 24. Dear Judy:
You tell Jervis that I am not hasty at forming judgments. I have a
sweet, sunny, unsuspicious nature, and I like everybody, almost. But no
one could like that Scotch doctor. He NEVER smiles.
He paid me another visit this afternoon. I invited him to accommodate
himself in one of Mrs. Lippett's electric-blue chairs, and then sat
down opposite to enjoy the harmony. He was dressed in a mustard-colored
homespun, with a dash of green and a glint of yellow in the weave, a
"heather mixture" calculated to add life to a dull Scotch moor. Purple
socks and a red tie, with an amethyst pin, completed the picture.
Clearly, your paragon of a doctor is not going to be of much assistance
in pulling up the esthetic tone of this establishment.
During the fifteen minutes of his call he succinctly outlined all the
changes he wishes to see accomplished in this institution. HE forsooth!
And what, may I ask, are the duties of a superintendent? Is she merely a
figurehead to take orders from the visiting physician?