Carl will be dreadfully disappointed,
but as for not meeting again, California is not so far away as that,
and it is not likely your father will be there for the rest of his
life." She spoke with great cheerfulness, not daring to be too
sympathetic.
"I'll try not to hate it so," Ikey said, bracing up a little.
Mrs. Howard insisted on taking him home to dinner, and when Carl came
in he found him holding a skein of wool for Bess while Louise read
aloud, and if not quite his usual gay self he was at least more
cheerful than he had been for days.
The storm which arose when his friends heard of the change in his
plans was most comforting. Carl declared he didn't half care about
going to college himself if Ikey couldn't go, and Bess remarked
sorrowfully that everything would be different next winter, with
Cousin Helen married and the boys all away.
"Why, Ikey and Cousin Helen are going to the same place!" exclaimed
Louise, "and we are going to see her, so we'll see him too." Here was
a gleam of brightness, and Carl added, "And of course when you get to
be a doctor you will come back to practise in Bess's hospital."
When letters came from his mother and father, telling more fully their
plans, and overflowing with the pleasure of being all together again,
Ikey would not have been his warm-hearted self if he had not been
glad.
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