XVII
THE ROSAS AT HOME
In a few moments Miss South returned.
"I do not think," she said, "that there would be the least harm in yourgoing with me to the house. I know, Nora, that your mother would notobject, and Julia, you can use your own judgment. I am sure that thereis no contagious disease in the neighborhood, and----"
"Oh," interrupted Julia, "do let me go back with you. I have never beenin a tenement house and I am so anxious to see one. My aunt would nothave the least objection, and you know that Brenda has been there."
So in less time than it takes me to tell of it they were actually at thedoor of the house where the Rosas lived. Fortunately their rooms werenow on the first floor, and as the door was open as well as the window,there was good ventilation. Had this not been the case they must havebeen half suffocated by the heat from the stove which was glowing hot.Mrs. Rosa was seated in a high backed wooden rocking-chair, but she roseto her feet as she saw Miss South and the two girls approaching. To dothis was evidently a great effort for her, and after she had said a wordor two of welcome in broken English, she sank back half exhausted.
She had strength, however, to speak to her elder daughter, who had notturned when they entered, and at her bidding Angelina had looked up fromthe depths of the mysterious mixture which she was stirring in an ironkettle, and coming forward offered her hand to the three newcomers. Twoyounger girls in rather untidy dresses, with half the buttons off theirshoes looked on a little timidly, and no one but Manuel seemed perfectlyat ease.
"It's rather hard, isn't it," said Miss South pleasantly, "to take careof so many children, Mrs. Rosa?"
"Oh, yes, Miss South," she replied, "they gets hungry every day, andalways wants so much to eat." Even the lively Nora did not smile atthis, although she afterwards said that she wondered if their motherexpected the children to want only one meal a week.
"But you're not able to work now; you can't go out to your fruit stand,can you?" continued Miss South.
"Oh, no indeed, no indeed," shaking her head. "I'm awful weak."
"Then how have you been paying your rent?"
"Well, the good minister, he help me; he pay it just now, and John hehave a license for papers, and he sell quite a good many every day afterschool--and, oh well, we get along." Mrs. Rosa had a very pleasantexpression, and as she talked she looked almost handsome. Her blackstuff dress, worn without a collar, made her pale face seem more haggardthan usual, yet it beamed with gratitude as she told how kind one andanother had been since her illness had become so serious.
"Where does she sleep?" asked Julia in a half whisper to Nora.
"Why, in that little room where you see the door open. I remember theytold us when we were here before, that she and the girls sleep there,while the boys have a mattress to themselves on the kitchen floor. Theybring it out every night."
"How dreadful!" was all that Julia had time to say, for she sawAngelina's sharp eyes turned towards her, and feared that already shehad been impolite in talking thus in an aside to Nora.
The latter, while Miss South was talking with Mrs. Rosa about her recentsymptoms, tried to draw Manuel into conversation, but, as before, only aword or two at a time could be drawn from him, although his expressionwas still as seraphic as ever, even when Nora was half teasing him.
Yet, after all, they had been in the dingy room but a very short timewhen Miss South reminded them that it was growing dark, and that Mrs.Gostar and Mrs. Barlow would both disapprove their being out much later.As they rode up Hanover street in the car both girls noticed that MissSouth was unusually quiet. At last Julia broke the silence.
"I'm sure that you are thinking about Mrs. Rosa," she said softly.
"Yes," answered Miss South, "I see that something must be done to helpher, but I am not sure just what it should be. Possibly she cannotrecover, or perhaps if she had a good doctor he might advise--but still,she is almost too poor to take advantage of any advice."
"Yes," said Nora, "suppose a doctor should advise her to go to Colorado,or California; why he might as well talk about the moon."
"I know it," murmured Julia, "and yet people are sometimes very kind tothe poor."
"Yes, at Christmas especially," rejoined Nora with a laugh. "Did youhear one of the little girls when I asked her what she had Thanksgivingsay, 'Two turkeys, one Baptist and one 'Piscopal.'"
Julia looked a little shocked at this, but Miss South only smiled. "I amafraid that loaves and fishes count for a great deal with these peoplewhen they come to select a church. They have discovered that they canget more from the Protestants than from their own church, and if theyhave some little disagreement with a priest, they take advantage of thisto put themselves under the wing of the Bethel, or of Christ Church.Both have a great many Portuguese in attendance, and I ought not to betoo censorious, for some of them undoubtedly are perfectly sincere."
"How does it happen, Miss South, that you know so much about these poorNorth End people?" asked Julia. "There, I did not mean to beinquisitive, but it seems wonderful that you should understand them sowell."
"To tell you the reason fully," replied she, "would be a long story, butjust now it may be enough to say that I have had a little mission classdown there but a block or two from Mrs. Rosa's for several years. Inthis way, spending one evening among them, as well as Sunday afternoon,I have come to understand the characteristics of these foreigners."
"Have you known Mrs. Rosa all this time?" asked Nora.
"Oh, no indeed, I never had seen her until after you rescued Manuel. Butsince then I have called at the house two or three times and I havegrown to like Mrs. Rosa very well. She has more influence over herchildren than many other foreign mothers of my acquaintance. But here weare at Scollay Square, and as it is only five o'clock, would not youenjoy walking down over Beacon Hill instead of taking another car?"
"Yes, indeed," both girls exclaimed, and pleased enough they were withtheir choice. For as they wound in and out through some of thepicturesque streets of the West End, Miss South almost made the oldstreets alive again with the people of the past. As they passed the headof Hancock street back of the State House,
"Down there," she said, "was the Sumner homestead, where Charles Sumnerlived for many years." Then as they continued down Mt. Vernon street,toward Louisbourg Square, she told them that here was once the estate ofRev. William Blackstone.
"Historians," she added, "believe that the spring of fresh water whosediscovery by Blackstone led Winthrop's party to prefer Boston toCharlestown, was probably not far from the centre of the grassplot inthe square. But we must walk quickly," she concluded, as they turned toa side street that led them to the familiar Beacon street.
"I have come over here to call your attention to this curved front ofcream white at the middle of the slope. You have passed it hundreds oftimes, Nora, but I wonder if you have ever realized that it was for manyyears the home of William Hickling Prescott, the historian, and thathere he wrote many of his finest works."
Nora was ashamed to admit that she hardly remembered what Prescott hadwritten. But Julia, whose historical reading had been unusually deep forone of her years, was delighted to see the home of the author of"Ferdinand and Isabella." If there had been no old landmarks to look atthey all would have enjoyed the walk to the utmost. Few streets in theworld are more beautiful than Beacon street, at dusk or after the lampsare lighted. Those who walk westward at this time of day have the Commonand the Garden on one side, the dignified old houses on the other, andwinding far in front of them the long street with its long lines oflamps, while far off in the west the heights of Brookline whose brightlylit houses and twinkling street lamps suggest a huge castle as the endof the journey. Home for Julia and Nora, however, lay far this side ofBrookline, and it was not long before they had to bid Miss Southgood-bye, with many thanks for her kindness.
Nora at dinner that evening was full of the experiences of theafternoon, and her mother and father and the younger boys were not on
lyinterested, but had various suggestions to make as to the most helpfulthings to do for the Rosas. I won't say that the boys were alwayspractical, for with their minds full of the approaching Christmas theycould think of little that was really worth while doing except givingthe family an elaborately decorated Christmas tree.
Dr. Gostar promised to find out whether Mrs. Rosa was having the properkind of medical treatment, and Mrs. Gostar said that she would try totalk with Miss South and learn whether there was any special thing thatshe could do.
"The Christmas tree is not a very bad suggestion," said their motherconsolingly to the boys when she saw that they were disappointed thattheir father treated this as a matter of slight importance.
"Why I think that it would be just lovely to give them a tree," addedNora, "if, if, that is, you know that we must not forget Brenda."
"Of course not," replied her mother, "but Brenda does not own the Rosas,in fact I should be inclined to think that she had forgotten themlately."
"Oh, she has made up her mind that she is going to accomplish somethingwonderful for them by means of the Easter Bazaar, and----"
"In the meantime she would leave them to starve."
"Oh, papa, you are laughing at me; Miss South says that there is nodanger of any one's starving in Boston."
"All the same you cannot expect me to encourage a dog-in-the-mangerdisposition in Brenda, and you have so good an adviser in Miss Souththat I am willing to help you to carry out any plans which she starts."
Dr. Gostar was so far right in his estimate of Brenda that he would havefelt more than justified in what he had said to Nora had he looked in atthe Barlows at dinner-time. For he might then have seen that Brenda wasvery much disturbed, and from her lips he would have heard some verycross words.
"Really, Julia, I think that it was awfully unkind in you and Nora to goto see the Rosas without me; you know that I wanted to see them, and younever gave me the least idea that you were going."
"But I am sure that Miss South invited you to go to the North End withus."
"Well, you never said a word about the Rosas, and you know that I do notcare at all about old streets and houses, and besides, I could not havegone this afternoon, so that you might have waited."
"How unreasonable you are, Brenda, and inconsiderate towards Julia,"interposed her mother. "Really I had begun to hope that you wereimproving, and here you are, crosser than ever."
"Yes, Brenda, don't let me hear you talk in that way again," added herfather.
"Well, I don't think it's fair for Julia and Miss South and Nora to keepmaking plans for the Rosas when I was the one who first wanted to dosomething for them; you remember, papa, that I asked you to buy a carpetfor them, and I have been thinking so much about that Bazaar, but now itwon't be a bit of good if everything is going to be done for them atChristmas."
"Nonsense, Brenda, you can have a share in Julia's Christmas tree, and Icannot feel that your interest in them has continued very strong. Itseems to me that you have been more interested in the Bazaar than in theRosas, and that now you should be willing to let others make plans forthem."
During all the discussion Julia had had little to say, but she resolvedat the earliest opportunity to ask Miss South to tell Brenda the exactcondition of the Rosas.