"That's right, Mr. Green. You are perfectly right, sir ..."
Mr. Green put his hand in a pocket of the overcoat and held out a plentiful purse for Harp.
"I know I can't reward the work you carried out in twenty years with these ...little devils. Consider it a small payment from Miss Elizabeth Edwards. From the work she will do, dear Mr. Harp. I'll get my money back from her work.
Mr. Harp was the happiest man on Earth at that time.
"I apologize, Mr. Green for having the courage to believe that the little miss's life will not be as it should be with you. If I think better, you are more than adequate to correct and guide her in life. It is clear that you know very well that work ennobles man.
"The harder it is, the more it ennobles us," Mr. Green added sniggering.
"That's right, but you must also consider that these children must be educated as well through ..."
Yet, Mr. Harp failed to finish the sentence. The boy Johnny got too close to the bookshelf and reached for a vase. It fell down breaking into thousands of pieces lying scattered on the carpet in the office, like the stars over the night sky.
"My vase from mom!" screamed Mr. Harp getting close to the shards, gathering them as if he wanted to recreate the vase."
He stood up angrily and looked at the boy with hatred. Then, furious, shaking like crazy, to Mr. Green, apparently looking for empathy from him:
"It was from my mom ..."
Mr. Green got close to Johnny and said calmly:
"Johnny tell Mr. Harp you're sorry for breaking the vase from his mom."
"I'm sorry, sir," the little boy could hardly say with fear in his eyes, as if he were a lamb in front of a hungry wolf.
Harp was visibly vexed about what happened. He would do more than that in Mr. Green's shoes, but he could not get over the latter's decisions. The purse in his hand was the setback. Still, he plucked up his courage, searched the bottom of his well hidden heart and said:
"Excuses are never enough, Mr. Green. These kids don't learn ..."
However Harp was at a loss for words, dumbfounded by what happened.
Mr. Green hit the boy with such force over his face, hitting his nose and mouth at the same time that the boy collapsed facedown against the floor darkened over the years.
Mr. Harp was on top of the world at such attitude even flashing a wide grin. For him this is true education. He was willing to kiss Mr. Green for the most correct way to educate a child, from his point of view. Nor could he have done better.
"Mr. Harp, let me pay at least the value of the vase to you. I know it doesn't compensate the loss, but ..." Mr. Green said as he prepared to get some money out of his pocket.
"Stay calm, Mr. Green. Anyway I didn't like this vase so much. And anyway ... I'm most pleased to see Miss Elizabeth Edwards in good hands..."
"Thank you and we apologize for the inconvenience."
"Never mind," said Mr. Harp, smiling.
And when he saw Mr. Green picking up little Johnny off the floor and his face splashed with blood flowing from his nose, Mr. Harp happily handed his handkerchief to the boy, which was out of his character.
The boy, scared, looked at Mr. Green, but as he nodded he could take it, he grabbed it and wiped his nose.
"What do you say!?" Mr. Green's resonant voice echoed.
"Thank you Mr. Harp for being so kind with me, even though I broke your vase ..."
Mr. Harp just smiled like a lunatic to Mr. Green. He hastily wrote something in a register. He quickly wrote a few words on that letter from the Social Assistance Organization, then he smiled happily.
"That's it, the papers are done. Elizabeth Catherine Edwards take your luggage and follow your father," Mr. Harp smiled, more than satisfied.
The girl, scared, took her small luggage and went out the door with Mr. Green and Johnny. Mr. Harp showed them out, following Mr. Green like a puppy in the vicinity of a big dog.
Eventually the three of them got on a carriage, and Mr. Harp had two reasons to be happy. He got rid of Elizabeth, who would now have a worse and worse, awful life than at the orphanage, which fully pleased him and he also made some money.
He happily went back to the orphanage and closed the door after him quickly, so that no one would follow him and take his gain.
"We're going to Elmbridge Old Park," Mr. Green ordered.
Then he looked at the two children and yelled at them in the same resounding voice to let it be heard:
"I don't want to hear any noise and don't even look at me!"
The carriage started off speedily, while Miss Edwards was so frightened and sad that she barely had the courage from time to time to look out the window, without even being able to enjoy the pleasure of traveling by carriage for the first time in her life.
The beauty of the place, which any other child in any other situation would admire without a doubt, could not even make the poor girl smile.