Suddenly an idea struck me.
"Annex!" I cried,--"capital!"
"My dear sir," said Walkirk, rising in much agitation, "I hope you do
not think that I seriously proposed your building an annex to"--
"Building!" I interrupted. "Nonsense! The annex I am thinking of is
quite different; and yet not altogether so, either. Walkirk, don't you
think that a man in my position could do a great deal to help those
sisters in their good work? Don't you think that he could act as an
outside collaborator? I am sure there are many things he could do which
might not be suitable for them to do, or which they might not want to
do. For instance, this business that has taken Mother Anastasia to
Washington. Perhaps it is something that she hates to do, and I might
have done as well as not. I have a mind to propose to her to go in and
take all this sort of thing off the hands of the sisters. I think that
is a good practical idea, and it is very natural that I should wish to
propose it to her at the very time she is engaged in this outside
business."
"In a word," remarked Walkirk, "you would make yourself a brother of the
House of Martha."
I laughed. "That is not a bad notion," I said; "in fact, it is a very
good one. I do not know that I shall put the matter exactly in that
light, but a brother of the House of Martha is what I should like to be.
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