The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-03-07
The MacGre9ors Vegetate
By L. C. Howe.


I sides all that, I'd like to know il
/ you we walked three miles cross coun
try in the last half-dozen years, OF
| played golf, and, above all, whether
you ever put Dorothy and Arthur to
| bed2"
"Why no, of course not" she an
swered the last question. "They have
a very faithful nurse. Of course if
am at home / go in and kiss them
goodnight"
DIR. Dale shook his head. "Mabel
| MacGregor," he said. syou are making
| the mistake of your life. You are los
ing the most precious things. Those
babies won be babies much longer,
and you will have missed so much. I
should not think you would want to
leave them a moment. You don t
know them. Do stop before it's too
late and get acquainted with your
children. You may think I am too
serious about it; but as for your very
faithful Jane, have seen her, while
you were wearing yourself out playing
bridge, gossiping on corners with
other nursemaids, while Arthur and
Dorothy were skipping about the mid
die of the street after their balls and
hoops and things, utterly unconscious
of Juggernauts in the shape of auto
mobiles and trolleys. Where are you
going this summer?' he asked abrupt
ly.
"Oh, Narragansett, / Think she
said. Jack, of course, can get away
for more than two or three weeks. I
have several invitations, and I had
thought of leaving the children at the
the Pier in the cottage, with perhaps
trained nurse in charge. /"
DR.. Dale meditatiyely looked into
the fire. Then he shook his head.
Jack ought to be out-nf doors great
deal more than he is. I don t think
he is at all well. and I want YOU to
devote yourself to him this summer.
/ m going to order him to vegetate.
lie must take month s vacation. and
you must take him to the woods
Maine or the Adirondacks. Then Won
can leave the children with one Of their
gfandmothers and a trained nurse if
You like. A course of grandmothering
Wouldn t hurt them a bit But the
rest OF the three or four months of the
summer lwant You to take Jack and
the children to country place know.
1t VIII be near enough to town for
INN to run in every day, and yet it
Will be very different from the subur-
ban whirl of Cornwall. You are to
play farmers wife, and you are to
put the children in jumpers and teach
them to play. Do the things you used
to do up at your grandmother s. Let
them have the fun you used to have.
Do you remember how I ordered Won
up IN the country after you had had
the measles, when you were ten?o
Mrs. MaeGregor's face frightened.
q haven't thought of it in years. y,
she said. "Oh, I do remember that
dueky brook and that old hay barn and
the lovely woods and the daisy fields. -
And yet you want to deprive those
children of yours of all that country
fun that they can never have made
up to them if they don It begin pretty
soon. ] remember how you came back
with rosy cheeks and bright eyes, and
fat-you were fat as butter.''
of course, - she said anxiously, eff
you think Jack needs it, I will go
wherever you say. I hadn' t realized
how tired the poor boy was getting
You re sure it's nothing serious-noth-
ing that country life won't cure?''
If it's taken in time DIR. Dale
put on his most professional air he
will come out all right. I won an
sWer for the consequences otherwise. ;,
In the front hall he ran into Mac
Gregor. ooh, by the way. jack he
said, sFyou re just the man I wanted
to see. That little wife of yours looks
tagged; too much gavety. too many
clubs and committee meetings and gay
doings. | want you to take her and
the children to Wilderness this sum-
mer to vegetate. You can run into
town almost as easily from there as
from here. 1t will do you good, too. -
oh, I'm all right, Doctor said
MaeGregor; Hbut tell me, is this any,
thing serious about Mabel? Are Won
worriedb about hers Tell me the
worst
No, no, my boy the Doctor took
off his glasses and polished them, hid
ing the twinkle in his eve as he look
| ed down. But You all need to vege-
tate, and those chicks of yours would
grow like weeds up there in that good
| country air. | want you to go early
and stay late and take a month off
IN August and go camping somewhere
with Mabel
MacGregor s eyes shone. 'sRut
Mabel, I'm afraid, wouldn t care for
it, he said regretfully. "I'd like it
immensely, but she likes Narragansets
and Mt. Desert. -
ooh, she will go, said the doctor.
"You fix it up between you,' and he
| slipped out of the door before Mac.
Gregor could question him any more.
1t was not until the end of August
that DR.. Dale found time to accept the
MaeGregor's standing invitation to run
up to Wildernesse and spend Sunday
in their cottage on the hilltop. He
had not happened to see MacGregor in
town during the summer, so he was
more than surprised and delighted t.
see the stout, tanned, vigorous looking
man who met him at the station.
"This is treat, Doctor" he called
out. "We've been expecting you III
at Wildernesse all summer It's Satur
s1sday afternoon; that s why | m here t