it—it’s the one I read myself when I was little, you know—and then—” she colored swiftly before the uncomprehending eyes of the child—“I was busy this morning—I mean, something happened to make me forget——” “Oh, hit’s all right!” Gloriana-Virginia reassured her. “Don’t yo’ go to frettin’ yo’sef, Glen! Jes’ any time’ll do. But I sho’ do crave story-readin’, an’ M’liss’, she reckons hit’s jes’ plumb foolishness.” She was a tiny, wizened creature, with curiously[78] shaped hands which did not seem quite human, and her face, with its gentle dark eyes, always made Glen think of the wise and patient countenance of a little monkey. She was her especial favorite of all the mill children and she gave her a repentant hug now, and promised the book without fail for the morning. [78] The superintendent came hurriedly through the spinning room with an open letter in his hand. His face was red and his mild eyes were round with excitement. He waved an excited greeting to Glen as he went past her. “Say, my ship’s come in, Miss Glen! It sho’ has! Lawdy, Lawdy, I never suspicioned sech a thing could happen outside the movies!” He hurried into Mr. ’Gene Carey’s private office and shut the door behind him, just as Luke Manders came in from the door which led into the lane. Gloriana-Virginia bent over her frame in earnest absorption as he came nearer them but Glen turned swiftly to greet him. “Glen!” It was the simplest of salutations; nothing but her name, yet it restored instantly the sense of impending climax. It was in his voice and in his eyes, and she answered with his name, softly, on a caught breath. “Will you wait? I will walk home with you.” “I will wait.” [79]“I won’t be a minute—just to report to Mr. Carey on the Beulah-land cotton—” He went into the owner’s office as swiftly as old Ben Birdsall had done, and the long and disappointing day was redeemed. [79] “Luke Manders, he skeers me,” Gloriana-Virginia whispered, peering round her frame. “Oh, Glory, dear, you mustn’t say that! Why, Luke is your best friend! He’s trying all the time to make things better and easier for you—for you and all the children, and all the hands—and he has such fine plans for a rest house and playroom and shorter hours—only, of course, that’s a secret, and you mustn’t tell any one, not even M’Liss’ or grand-pap.”
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