But he put it back into my hand, thanking me with a
faithful grasp of his own; he could not take it from me, he said.
And so we parted. I thought with a pang of remorse, as I stood in
the doorway, of the parting bow I had forgotten, and turned around
to make good the omission. There stood the King in his blue uniform,
nodding so mildly to me, with a smile so full of kindness, that
I--why, I just nodded back and waved my hand. It was very improper,
I dare say; perfectly shocking; but never was heartier greeting to
king. I meant every bit of it.
The next year he sent me his cross of gold for the one of silver
I offered him. I wear it gladly, for the knighthood it confers
pledges to the defence of womanhood and of little children, and
if I cannot wield lance and sword as the king's men of old, I can
wield the pen. It may be that in the providence of God the shedding
of ink in the cause of right shall set the world farther ahead in
our day than the blood-letting of all the ages past.
These I could not forego. Neither, when friends gathered in the
King's Daughters' Settlement on our silver wedding day, and with
loving words gave to the new house my name, could I say them nay.
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