A Mother's Spirit Read Online Free PDF

he added, turning back to Joe.
    ‘Not because of the incident earlier, sir?’ Joe asked.
    ‘No,’ Brian said. ‘That really wasn’t the pony’s fault, but Gloria has nearly outgrown him now anyway, and then after Christmas she is off to a convent school in Madison. If she wants to ride when she comes home in the holidays then I will hire from the local riding school. So whoever is taken on in the stables will have to see to the car too, of course.’
    ‘Tim won’t do that,’ Norah said. ‘You know he won’t.’
    ‘Well, you can’t teach old dogs new tricks, I suppose,’ Brian said. ‘In fact, I have been thinking that it was about time Tim was pensioned off. If he pulls through from this then I will talk it over with him. I’ve no idea how old he is, but he is no spring chicken and I’ll see to it that he is all right.’
    Norah laughed. ‘I wish you well of it,’ she said, ‘because he won’t take kindly to that.’
    ‘Then that will be an obstacle to overcome in the future,’ Brian said. ‘What I want to know, Joe, is what do you think of me getting a car?’
    Joe didn’t know how to answer this because he was farmore nervous of dealing with a car than horses of any description. At least they were familiar. In the end he said, ‘I … I don’t really know what to think, sir.’
    ‘Think you could drive a car, Joe?’
    ‘Oh, I really don’t know about that, sir,’ Joe said agitatedly. ‘I have never had anything to do with cars.’
    ‘Not many have,’ Brian said. ‘Let’s just say that you are not opposed to the motor car, which will soon be the only way to travel around this city and any other too?’
    ‘No, sir,’ Joe said. ‘It’s progress, I suppose, like the steam ships taking over from the old sailing ships.’
    ‘That’s true enough,’ Brian said. ‘What I am asking you, Joe Sullivan, is when the car I have ordered is delivered, are you prepared to learn to drive it so that you can take me to the factory each day and bring me home each evening?’
    Joe thought about it, but not for very long, because in his heart of hearts he thought he would probably settle to it better than factory work. He knew too that Brian wanted him to do this for him and he was a man used to getting his own way. If he refused he’d get someone else who was willing to do it and that would be an opportunity lost to Joe, and he sensed that Brian would be disappointed in him. So he said, ‘This seems to be a country where life refuses to stand still so I am willing to learn to drive a car if you want me to.’
    ‘Can’t say fairer than that,’ Brian said in approval, and he clapped Joe on the shoulder.

THREE
    After dinner that first evening, Planchard introduced Joe to the rest of the staff. They had heard how he had rescued Miss Gloria, and at great risk to his own life, and so he was welcomed as something of a hero. Joe hadn’t grown up in a home where praise was customary and so he was embarrassed at the fuss made. He was also very tired, and was pleasantly surprised to be shown to the room in the basement that, Planchard told him, Mr Brannigan senior had specially built to house the servants.
    He didn’t notice that it was basic and spartan, for he’d never had a bed, never mind a whole room, to himself before. And it had everything he needed. It housed an iron bedstead, a chest of drawers and a hanging rail, and to him it was like a little palace. He lay in that comfortable bed that first night amongst crisp clean sheets, under plenty of warm blankets covered with a bedspread, and was so happy that he had taken the plunge and come to America. He had the feeling that this was the sort of country where anything could happen, a true land of opportunity.
    The following morning, Brian ordered a taxi for himself and Joe, using a telephone that he had had fitted in the house. Joe was astounded when he told him this.
    ‘You mean, sir, that you can just pick up a machine and talk to people miles