STONE GATE , WORCESTER , MASSACHUSETTS , December 27 .
Dear Judy : Your letter is here .
I have read it twice , and with amazement .
Do I understand that Jervis has given you , for a Christmas present , the making over of the John Grier Home into a model institution , and that you have chosen me to disburse the money ?
Me -- I , Sallie McBride , the head of an orphan asylum !
My poor people , have you lost your senses , or have you become addicted to the use of opium , and is this the raving of two fevered imaginations ?
I am exactly as well fitted to take care of one hundred children as to become the curator of a zoo .
And you offer as bait an interesting Scotch doctor ?
My dear Judy , -- likewise my dear Jervis , -- I see through you !
I know exactly the kind of family conference that has been held about the Pendleton fireside .
" Is n't it a pity that Sallie has n't amounted to more since she left college ?
She ought to be doing something useful instead of frittering her time away in the petty social life of Worcester .
Also [ Jervis speaks ] she is getting interested in that confounded young Hallock , too good-looking and fascinating and erratic ; I never did like politicians .
We must deflect her mind with some uplifting and absorbing occupation until the danger is past .
Ha !
I have it !
We will put her in charge of the John Grier Home . "
Oh , I can hear him as clearly as if I were there !
On the occasion of my last visit in your delectable household Jervis and I had a very solemn conversation in regard to ( 1 ) marriage , ( 2 ) the low ideals of politicians , ( 3 ) the frivolous , useless lives that society women lead .
Please tell your moral husband that I took his words deeply to heart , and that ever since my return to Worcester I have been spending one afternoon a week reading poetry with the inmates of the Female Inebriate Asylum .
My life is not so purposeless as it appears .
Also let me assure you that the politician is not dangerously imminent ; and that , anyway , he is a very desirable politician , even though his views on tariff and single tax and trade-unionism do not exactly coincide with Jervis 's .
Your desire to dedicate my life to the public good is very sweet , but you should look at it from the asylum 's point of view .
Have you no pity for those poor defenseless little orphan children ?
I have , if you have n't , and I respectfully decline the position which you offer .
I shall be charmed , however , to accept your invitation to visit you in New York , though I must acknowledge that I am not very excited over the list of gaieties you have planned .
Please substitute for the New York Orphanage and the Foundling Hospital a few theaters and operas and a dinner or so .
I have two new evening gowns and a blue and gold coat with a white fur collar .
I dash to pack them ; so telegraph fast if you do n't wish to see me for myself alone , but only as a successor to Mrs. Lippett .
Yours as ever , Entirely frivolous , And intending to remain so , SALLIE McBRIDE .
P.S. Your invitation is especially seasonable .
A charming young politician named Gordon Hallock is to be in New York next week .
I am sure you will like him when you know him better .
P.S. 2 .
Sallie taking her afternoon walk as Judy would like to see her : I ask you again , have you both gone mad ?
THE JOHN GRIER HOME , February 15 .
Dear Judy : We arrived in a snowstorm at eleven last night , Singapore and Jane and I .
It does not appear to be customary for superintendents of orphan asylums to bring with them personal maids and Chinese chows .
The night watchman and housekeeper , who had waited up to receive me , were thrown into an awful flutter .
They had never seen the like of Sing , and thought that I was introducing a wolf into the fold .
I reassured them as to his dogginess , and the watchman , after studying his black tongue , ventured a witticism .
He wanted to know if I fed him on huckleberry pie .
It was difficult to find accommodations for my family .
Poor Sing was dragged off whimpering to a strange woodshed , and given a piece of burlap .
Jane did not fare much better .
There was not an extra bed in the building , barring a five-foot crib in the hospital room .
She , as you know , approaches six .
We tucked her in , and she spent the night folded up like a jackknife .
She has limped about today , looking like a decrepit letter S , openly deploring this latest escapade on the part of her flighty mistress , and longing for the time when we shall come to our senses , and return to the parental fireside in Worcester .
I know that she is going to spoil all my chances of being popular with the rest of the staff .
Having her here is the silliest idea that was ever conceived , but you know my family .
I fought their objections step by step , but they made their last stand on Jane .
If I brought her along to see that I ate nourishing food and did n't stay up all night , I might come -- temporarily ; but if I refused to bring her -- oh , dear me , I am not sure that I was ever again to cross the threshold of Stone Gate !
So here we are , and neither of us very welcome , I am afraid .
I woke by a gong at six this morning , and lay for a time listening to the racket that twenty-five little girls made in the lavatory over my head .
It appears that they do not get baths , -- just face-washes , -- but they make as much splashing as twenty-five puppies in a pool .
I rose and dressed and explored a bit .
You were wise in not having me come to look the place over before I engaged .
While my little charges were at breakfast , it seemed a happy time to introduce myself ; so I sought the dining room .
Horror piled on horror -- those bare drab walls and oil-cloth-covered tables with tin cups and plates and wooden benches , and , by way of decoration , that one illuminated text , " The Lord Will Provide " !
The trustee who added that last touch must possess a grim sense of humor .
Really , Judy , I never knew there was any spot in the world so entirely ugly ; and when I saw those rows and rows of pale , listless , blue-uniformed children , the whole dismal business suddenly struck me with such a shock that I almost collapsed .
It seemed like an unachievable goal for one person to bring sunshine to one hundred little faces when what they need is a mother apiece .
I plunged into this thing lightly enough , partly because you were too persuasive , and mostly , I honestly think , because that scurrilous Gordon Hallock laughed so uproariously at the idea of my being able to manage an asylum .
Between you all you hypnotized me .
And then of course , after I began reading up on the subject and visiting all those seventeen institutions , I got excited over orphans , and wanted to put my own ideas into practice .
But now I 'm aghast at finding myself here ; it 's such a stupendous undertaking .
The future health and happiness of a hundred human beings lie in my hands , to say nothing of their three or four hundred children and thousand grandchildren .
The thing 's geometrically progressive .
It 's awful .
Who am I to undertake this job ?
Look , oh , look for another superintendent !
Jane says dinner 's ready .
Having eaten two of your institution meals , the thought of another does n't excite me .
LATER .
The staff had mutton hash and spinach , with tapioca pudding for dessert .
What the children had I hate to consider .
I started to tell you about my first official speech at breakfast this morning .
It dealt with all the wonderful new changes that are to come to the John Grier Home through the generosity of Mr. Jervis Pendleton , the president of our board of trustees , and of Mrs. Pendleton , the dear " Aunt Judy " of every little boy and girl here .
Please do n't object to my featuring the Pendleton family so prominently .
I did it for political reasons .
As the entire working staff of the institution was present , I thought it a good opportunity to emphasize the fact that all of these upsetting , innovations come straight from headquarters , and not out of my excitable brain .
The children stopped eating and stared .
The conspicuous color of my hair and the frivolous tilt of my nose are evidently new attributes in a superintendent .
My colleagues also showed plainly that they consider me too young and too inexperienced to be set in authority .
I have n't seen Jervis 's wonderful Scotch doctor yet , but I assure you that he will have to be VERY wonderful to make up for the rest of these people , especially the kindergarten teacher .
Miss Snaith and I clashed early on the subject of fresh air ; but I intend to get rid of this dreadful institution smell , if I freeze every child into a little ice statue .
This being a sunny , sparkling , snowy afternoon , I ordered that dungeon of a playroom closed and the children out of doors .
" She 's chasin ' us out , " I heard one small urchin grumbling as he struggled into a two-years-too-small overcoat .
They simply stood about the yard , all humped in their clothes , waiting patiently to be allowed to come back in .
No running or shouting or coasting or snowballs .
Think of it !
These children do n't know how to play .
STILL LATER .
I have already begun the congenial task of spending your money .
I bought eleven hot-water bottles this afternoon ( every one that the village drug store contained ) likewise some woolen blankets and padded quilts .
And the windows are wide open in the babies ' dormitory .
Those poor little tots are going to enjoy the perfectly new sensation of being able to breathe at night .
There are a million things I want to grumble about , but it 's half-past ten , and Jane says I MUST go to bed .
Yours in command , SALLIE McBRIDE .
P.S. Before turning in , I tiptoed through the corridor to make sure that all was right , and what do you think I found ?
Miss Snaith softly closing the windows in the babies ' dormitory !
Just as soon as I can find a suitable position for her in an old ladies ' home , I am going to discharge that woman .