The Argosy — page 317: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

296 A Little Maid, an Old Matd and the Major. Efhe was seated on a low stool, with her elbows on her knees, and her pretty pointed chin on her hands. Paul’s speech was of a nature to plunge her into meditation for some seconds. ‘‘ Have you brains?” she inquired at last with great earnestness and sincerity. ‘‘Oh, yes. I’m going to be a literary man.” ‘*What’s that P” ‘* A fellow who writes books. What a goosey you are not to know that!” “T’m only a little girl I can’t know everything,” said Effie. ‘When I grow up I shall paint ike Maudie.” ‘Oh, that’s stupid. It’s much better to write books. I mean to make thousands and ¢housands of pounds.” ‘What for?” ‘To give papa.” “Ts he poor, then—your papa P” ‘Yes, very. And he has to spend so much for me, and for some- thing else.” ‘What else ?” “TIT don’t know. He says he'll tell me some day when I’m big.” “That won’t be for months and months.” *‘Why, of course not. Not for three or four years even.” ‘Tl tell Maudie that he’s poor. She makes money sometimes. She could give him some.” | IT don’t think he would like that,” said Paul, doubtfully. ‘* Some- body sent him ten pounds ‘anonymously’ the other day, and it vexed him so! He would have sent the money back, but there wasn’t any address, and he had thrown the envelope into the fire when he tore it off, and so he couldn’t even find out the post mark. The people would have been finely punished if he had discovered them—I can tell you,” the boy concluded grandly. That night when Maud was putting Effie to bed she was much startled to hear her announce that she intended, the next time she saw him, to give Major Murdoch the two half-crowns out of her savings-box, but that she must be careful not to do it “anoner- mously ” as that would vex him. “Why?” said Maud, flushing uncomfortably in an agony o apprehension. | Thereupon Efhe proceeded to repeat Paul’s story almost word for word, but when she reached the episode of the burnt envelope and its consequences, she suddenly broke off with a little silvery laugh, for Maud gave her such a sudden, fervent hug that she took it for the beginning of a game at kisses: and it was some time afterwards before she could be persuaded to go to sleep. The knowledge that her impulsive, and as she now was fain to admit unwise, act of generosity had not been found out, lifted a weight from Maud’s spirit, and made her manner towards the Major ECORNIELIOOKS .E© m