Marilyn smiled pathetically, and dropped back to the edge of her bed: "Pardon me," she said, "I was just in one of my tempers again. I get
them a lot but I'm trying to control them. I happened to think of the
little babies I saw in the tenement districts when I was in New York
last. Did you ever go there? They wear one little garment, and totter
around in the cold street trying to play, with no stockings, and shoes
out at the toes. Sometimes they haven't enough to eat, and their
mothers are so wretchedly poor and sorrowful--!"
"Mercy!" shuddered Opal, "How morbid you are! What ever did you go to a
place like that for? I always keep as far away from unpleasant things
as I can. I cross the street if I see a blind beggar ahead. I just
loathe misery! But however did you happen to think of them when I was
telling you about my beautiful ball room decorations?"
Lynn twinkled: "I guess you wouldn't understand me," she said slowly, "but I was
thinking of all the good those thousands of dollars would have done if
they had been spent on babies and not on flowers."
"Gracious!" said Opal. "I hate babies! Ed is crazy about them,
and would like to have the house full, but I gave him to understand
what I thought about that before we were married."
"I love babies," said Marilyn. "They want me to go this Fall and
do some work in that settlement, and I'm considering it. If it only
weren't for leaving father and mother again--but I do love the babies
and the little children. I want to gather them all and do so many
things for them. You know they are all God's babies, and it seems
pitiful for them to have to be in such a dreadful world as some of them
have!"
"Oh, God!" shuddered Opal quite openly now, "Don't talk about
God! I hate God! He's just killed one of my best men friends! I
wish you wouldn't talk about God!"
Marilyn looked at her sadly, contemplatively, and then twitched her
mouth into a little smile: "We're not getting on very well, are we? I don't like your costly
entertainments, and you don't like my best Friend! I'm sorry. I must
seem a little prude to you I'm afraid, but really, God is not what you
think. You wouldn't hate Him, you would love Him,--if you knew
Him."