ose followed meekly. "It's a lucky thing, Jenny Lind, that you
were not on his dumbwaiter. He's not what I call a very friendly man,"
she murmured.
She told Mr. Jerry all about it that afternoon when she ran over to see
how George Washington was doing as a boarder. Mr. Jerry watched her
curiously.
"Poor little kid," he thought. "She's up against it for fair with a
cold-blooded bunch like that." He was very sympathetic and kind and
quite enthusiastic over his new boarder. He cheered Mary Rose
amazingly and lifted her to the seventh heaven of delight when he
suggested that she should ride downtown with him in the automobile when
he went for his Aunt Mary.
"You may take Jenny Lind and George Washington with you," he was good
enough to say.
Mary Rose's dancing feet moved in a more sedate measure. "I think
Jenny Lind has had ride enough for one day. And George Washington
likes his four feet better than he does an automobile. He won't mind
if we leave him behind."
"Then you may sit on the front seat with me," Mr. Jerry promised.
"It's very exciting living in the city," sighed Mary Rose, when she was
on the front seat beside him. "I've been here only three days and see
all that's happened. Oh, there's the lady who found Jenny Lind--and
the enchanted princess, too!" she cried as they passed Miss Thorley and
Miss Carter. "Isn't that the enchanted princess, Mr. Jerry?" She
twisted around so that she could look into his face. He colored and
his eyes seemed to darken as he spoke to the two girls. Miss Thorley
nodded curtly, but Miss Carter waved a friendly hand. "My," sighed
Mary Rose, "if I were a prince I wouldn't let any old witch
Independence keep her enchanted."
"I wonder how you would prevent it," muttered Mr. Jerry under his
breath. "Saying and doing, Mary Rose, are two very separate and
distinct things."
"I know." Mary Rose felt quite capable of discussing the subject.
"Mr. Mann, the Presbyterian minister in Mifflin, preached a whole
sermon about that. He said the Lord didn't ever give you what you want
right off quick. You had to work for it, and the more precious it was
the harder you had to work. I should think that a beautiful princess
would be the most precious thing a prince could work for, shouldn't
you?"
Mr. Jerry took his hand from the wheel to squeeze Mary Rose's brown
fingers. "I should!" he said solemnly. "I do, Mary Rose, I do!"
CHAPTER VII
Strange as the
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