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diff --git a/old/14202-8.txt b/old/14202-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..20577ac --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14202-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3544 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Little Prudy's Sister Susy, by Sophie May + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Little Prudy's Sister Susy + +Author: Sophie May + +Release Date: November 29, 2004 [eBook #14202] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE PRUDY'S SISTER SUSY*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Melissa Er-Raqabi, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + +LITTLE PRUDY'S SISTER SUSY + +by + +SOPHIE MAY + +New York +Hurst & Company +Publishers + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +TO MY LITTLE NIECE Katie Clarke +THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU, KATIE, WITH THE LOVE OF YOUR AUNTIE. + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + CHAPTER + + I. KEEPING SECRETS + II. BEFORE DAYLIGHT + III. SUSY'S CHRISTMAS + IV. SUSY'S WINGS + V. PRUDY'S TROUBLE + VI. ROSY FRANCES EASTMAN MARY + VII. LITTLE TROUBLES + VIII. ANNIE LOVEJOY + IX. MORAL COURAGE + X. RUTHIE TURNER + XI. SUSY'S BIRTHDAY + XII. FAREWELL + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Here is a story about the oldest of the three little Parlin girls, +"sister Susy;" though so many things are always happening to Prudy that +it is not possible to keep her out of the book. + +I hope my dear little friends will see how kind it was in God to send +the "slow winter" and the long nights of pain to little Prudy. + +If trouble should come to us, let us grow gentle, and patient, and +lovely. + +Little friends, be sure of one thing--our dear Father in heaven sends us +something hard to bear only because he loves us. + + + + +SISTER SUSY. + +CHAPTER I. + +KEEPING SECRETS. + + +We might begin this story of Susy Parlin on a New Year's day, only it is +so hard to skip over Christmas. There is such a charm about Christmas! +It makes you think at once of a fir tree shining with little candles and +sparkling with toys, or of a droll Santa Claus with a pack full of +presents, or of a waxen angel called the Christ-child. + +And it is just as well to date from the twenty-fifth of December, +because, as "Christ was born on Christmas day," that is really the +"Happy New Year." + +For a long while the three little Parlin girls had been thinking and +dreaming of presents. Susy's wise head was like a beehive, full of +little plans and little fancies, which were flying about like bees, and +buzzing in everybody's ears. + +But it may be as well to give you a short description of the Parlin +family. + +Susy's eyes were of an "evening blue," the very color of the sky in a +summer night; good eyes, for they were as clear as a well which has the +"truth" lying at the bottom of it. She was almost as nimble as a +squirrel, and could face a northern snow storm like an engineer. Her +hair was dark brown, and as smooth and straight as pine-needles; while +Prudy's fair hair rippled like a brook running over pebbles. Prudy's +face was sunny, and her mouth not much larger than a button-hole. + +The youngest sister was named Alice, but the family usually called her +Dotty, or Dotty Dimple, for she was about as round as a period, and had +a cunning little dimple in each cheek. She had bright eyes, long curls, +and a very short tongue; that is, she did not talk much. She was two +years and a half old before she could be prevailed upon to say anything +at all. Her father declared that Dotty thought there were people enough +in the world to do the talking, and she would keep still; or perhaps +she was tired of hearing Prudy say so much. + +However, she had a way of nodding her curly head, and shaking her plump +little forefinger; so everybody knew very well what she meant. She had +learned the use of signs from a little deaf and dumb boy of whom we +shall hear more by and by; but all at once, when she was ready she began +to talk with all her might, and soon made up for lost time. + +The other members of the family were only grown people: Mr. and Mrs. +Parlin, the children's excellent parents; Mrs. Read, their kind Quaker +grandmother; and the Irish servant girl, Norah. + +Just now Mrs. Margaret Parlin, their "aunt Madge," was visiting them, +and the little girls felt quite easy about Christmas, for they gave it +all up to her; and when they wanted to know how to spend their small +stock of money, or how much this or that pretty toy would cost, Prudy +always settled it by saying, "Let's go ask auntie: _she'll_ know, for +she's been through the Rithmetic." + +Prudy spoke these words with awe. She thought "going through the +Rithmetic" was next thing to going round the world. + +"O Auntie, I'm so glad you came," said Susy, "for I didn't see how I was +ever going to finish my Christmas presents: I go to school, you know, +and it takes me all the rest of the time to slide!" + +The children were busy making wonderful things "all secret;" or they +would have been secret if Prudy hadn't told. + +For one thing, she wondered very much what Susy could be doing with four +pins stuck in a spool. She watched the nimble fingers as they passed the +worsted thread over the pin-heads, making stitches as fast as Susy could +wink. + +"It looks like a tiny snake all sticked through the hole in the spool," +said Prudy, eager with curiosity. "If you ain't a-goin' to speak, I +don't know what I _shall_ do, Susy Parlin!" + +When poor Susy could not pretend any longer not to hear, she answered +Prudy, half vexed, half laughing, "O, dear, I s'pose you'll tease and +tease till you find out. Won't you never say a word to anybody, +_never_?" + +"Never in my world," replied the little one, with a solemn shake of her +head. + +"Well, it's a lamp-mat for auntie. It's going to be blue, and red, and +all colors; and when it's done, mother'll sew it into a round, and put +fringe on: won't it be splendid? But remember, you promised not to +tell!" + +Now, the very next time Prudy sat in her auntie's lap she whispered in +her ear,-- + +"You don't know what _we're_ making for you, _all secret_, out of +worsted, and _I_ shan't tell!" + +"Mittens?" said aunt Madge, kissing Prudy's lips, which were pressed +together over her sweet little secret like a pair of sugar-tongs +clinching a lump of sugar. + +"Mittens? No, indeed! Better'n that! There'll be fringe all over it; +it's in a round; it's to put something on,--to put the _lamp_ on!" + +"Not a lamp-mat, of course?" + +"Why, yes it is! O, there, now you've been and guessed all in a minute! +Susy's gone an' told! I didn't s'pose she'd tell. I wouldn't for nothin' +in my world!" + +Was it strange that Susy felt vexed when she found that her nice little +surprise was all spoiled? + +"Try to be patient," said Mrs. Parlin, gently. "Remember how young and +thoughtless your sister is. She never means any harm." + +"O, but, mamma," replied Susy, "she _keeps_ me being patient all the +whole time, and it's hard work." + +So Susy, in her vexation, said to Prudy, rather sternly, "You little +naughty thing, to go and tell when you promised not to! You're almost as +bad as Dotty. What makes you act so?" + +"Why, Susy," said the child, looking up through her tears, "have I +_acted_? I didn't know I'd acted! If you loved me, you wouldn't look +that way to me. You wrinkle up your face just like Nanny when she says +she'll shake the naughty out of me, Miss Prudy." + +Then what could Susy do but forgive the sweet sister, who kissed her so +coaxingly, and looked as innocent as a poor little kitty that has been +stealing cream without knowing it is a sin? + +It was plain that it would not do to trust Prudy with secrets. Her brain +could not hold them, any more than a sieve can hold water. So Mrs. +Parlin took pity upon Susy, and allowed her and her cousin Florence +Eastman to lock themselves into her chamber at certain hours, and work +at their presents without interruption. + +While the little girls sat together busily employed with book-marks and +pin-cushions, the time flew very swiftly, and they were as happy as bees +in a honeysuckle. + +Mrs. Parlin said she believed nothing less than Christmas presents would +ever make Susy willing to use a needle and thread; for she disliked +sewing, and declared she wished the man who made the needles had to +swallow them all. + +The family were to celebrate Christmas evening; for Mr. Parlin was away, +and might not reach home in season for Christmas eve. + +For a wonder they were not to have a Tree, but a Santa Claus, "just for +a change." + +"Not a truly Santa Claus, that comes puffin' down the chimney," +explained Prudy, who knew very well it would be only cousin Percy under +a mask and white wig. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +BEFORE DAYLIGHT. + + +On Christmas morning, at three o'clock, there was a great bustle and +pattering of little feet, and buzzing of little voices trying to speak +in whispers. Susy and Prudy were awake and astir. + +"Where _do_ you s'pose the stockings are?" buzzed Prudy, in a very loud +whisper. + +"Right by the bed-post, Prudy Parlin; and if you don't take care we'll +wake everybody up.--'Sh! 'Sh!" + +"Mine's pinned on," said Prudy; "and I've pricked my fingers. O deary +me!" + +"Well, of course you've waked 'em all now," exclaimed Susy, +indignantly: "I might have pricked my fingers to pieces, but I wouldn't +have said a word." + +Mr. and Mrs. Parlin, who were in the next room, were wide awake by this +time; but they said nothing, only listened to the whispers of the +children, which grew fainter, being smothered and kept down by mouthfuls +of candy, lozenges, and peanuts. + +The little girls longed for daybreak. The sun, however, seemed to be in +no haste, and it was a long while before there was a peep of light. Susy +and Prudy waited, wondering whether the sun would really forget to show +his face; but all the while they waited they were eating candy; so it +was neither dull nor lonely. As for closing their eyes again, they would +have scorned the idea. It would be a pity indeed to fall asleep, and +lose the pleasure of saying "Merry Christmas" to everybody. Norah, the +Irish servant, had said she should be up very early to attend High Mass: +they must certainly waylay her on the stairs. How astonished she would +be, when she supposed they were both soundly asleep! + +"Let me do it myself," said Susy: "you stay here, Prudy, for you'll be +sure to make a noise." + +"I'll go on my tippy toes," pleaded Prudy, her mouth half filled with +chocolate drops. + +So through their mother's room they stole softly, only throwing over +one chair, and hitting Dotty's crib a little in their haste. Dotty made +a sleepy sound of alarm, and Prudy could not help laughing, but only "in +her sleeve," that is, in her "nightie" sleeve, which she put up to her +mouth to smother the noise. + +When they had reached the back-stairs Susy whispered, "O, Norah is up +and gone down. I hear her in the kitchen. 'Sh! 'Sh!" + +Susy thought there was no time to be lost, and she would have rushed +down stairs, two steps at a time, but her little sister was exactly in +the way. + +"Somebody has been and tugged my little chair up here," said Prudy, +"and I must tug it back again." + +So in the dim light the two children groped their way down stairs, Prudy +going first with the chair. + +"O, what a little snail! Hurry--can't you?" said Susy, impatiently; +"Norah'll be gone! What's the use of our waking up in the night if we +can't say Merry Christmas to anybody?" + +"Well, _ain't_ I a-hurryin' now?" exclaimed Prudy, plunging forward and +falling, chair and all, the whole length of the stairs. + +All the house was awake now, for Prudy screamed lustily. Grandma Read +called out from the passage-way,-- + +"O, little Prudence, has thee broken thy neck?" + +Mrs. Parlin rushed out, too frightened to speak, and Mr. Parlin ran down +stairs, and took Prudy up in his arms. + +"It was--you--did it--Susy Parlin," sobbed the child. "I +shouldn't--have--fell, if you--hadn't--have--screamed." + +The poor little girl spoke slowly and with difficulty, as if she dropped +a bucket into her full heart, and drew up the words one at a time. + +"O, mother, I know it was me," said Susy meekly; "and I was careless, +and it was all in the dark. I'm sure I hope Prudy'll forgive me." + +"No, it wasn't you, neither," said Prudy, whose good humor was restored +the moment Susy had made what she considered due confession. "You never +touched me, Susy! It was the _chair_; and I love you just as dearly as +ever I did." + +Prudy lay on the sofa for some time, looking quite pale by the +gas-light, while her mother rubbed her side, and the rest of the family +stood looking at her with anxious faces. + +It was quite an important occasion for Prudy, who always liked to be the +centre of attraction. + +"O, mamma," said she, closing her eyes languidly, "when the room makes +believe whirl round, does it _truly_ whirl round?" + +The truth was, she felt faint and dizzy, though only for a short time. + +"I wish," said she, "it had been somebody else that fell down stairs, +and not me, for I didn't go down easy! The _prongs_ of the chair pushed +right into my side." + +But it did not appear that Prudy was much injured, after all. In a few +minutes she was skipping about the room almost as nimbly as ever, only +stopping to groan every now and then, when she happened to think of it. + +"It is a wonder," said Mr. Parlin, "that more children are not lamed for +life by such accidents." + +"I have often thought of it," said aunt Madge. "Some little ones seem to +be making hair-breadth escapes almost every day of their lives. I +believe Prudy would have been in her grave long ago, if it had not been +for her guardian angel." + +The long-expected Christmas had come at last, and Prudy had stumbled +into it, as she stumbled into everything else. But it is an ill wind +which blows no good to anybody; and it so happened that in all this +confusion Susy was able to "wish a Merry Christmas" to Norah, and to the +whole family besides. + +When Mrs. Parlin found that the children were too thoroughly awake to go +to sleep again that morning, she told them they might dress themselves +in the parlor if they would keep as quiet as possible, and let the rest +of the household take another nap. + +It all seemed very strange and delightful to the little girls. It was +like another sort of life, this new arrangement of stealing about the +house in the silent hours before daybreak. Susy thought she should like +to sit up all night, and sleep all day, if the mayor would only hush the +streets; it would be so odd! + +"O, how dark the clouds are!" said Prudy, peeping out of the window; "it +_fogs_ so I can't see a single thing. Susy, I'm going to keep _at watch_ +of the sky. Don't you s'pose, though, 'twill be Christmas all the same, +if there's a snow storm?" + +"There's been snow," said Susy, "all in the night. Look down at the +pavement. Don't you wish that was frosted cake?" + +"O, the snow came in the night, so not to wake us up," cried Prudy, +clapping her hands; "but it wouldn't have waked us, you know, even in +the night, for it came so still." + +"But why don't the clouds go off?" she added, sadly. + +"I don't know," replied Susy; "perhaps they are waiting till the sun +comes and smiles them away." + +Such happy children as these were, as they sat peeping out of the window +at the dull gray sky! + +They did not know that a great mischief was begun that morning--a +mischief which was no larger yet than "a midge's wing." They were +watching the clouds for a snow storm; but they never dreamed of such +things as clouds of _trouble_, which grow darker and darker, and which +even the beautiful Christmas sun cannot "smile away." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +SUSY'S CHRISTMAS. + + +It was bright and beautiful all day, and then, when no one could +possibly wait any longer, it was Christmas evening. The coal glowed in +the grate with a splendid blaze: all the gas-burners were lighted, and +so were everybody's eyes. If one had listened, one might have heard, +from out of doors, a joyful tinkling of sleigh-bells; yet I fancy nobody +could have told whether the streets were still or noisy, or whether the +sky had a moon in it or not; for nobody was quiet long enough to notice. + +But by and by, when the right time had come, the folding-doors were +opened, just like the two covers to a Christmas fairy book. Then, in a +second, it was so still you might have heard a pin drop. + +Such a funny little old gentleman had arrived: his face alive with +dimples, and smiles, and wrinkles. His cheeks were as red and round as +winter apples, and where there wasn't a wrinkle there was a dimple; and +no doubt there was a dimple in his chin, and his chin maybe was double, +only you couldn't tell, for it was hidden ever so deep under a beard as +white as a snow-drift. + +He walked along, tottering under the weight of a huge pack full of +presents. He extended his small arms towards the audience most +affectionately, and you could see that his antiquated coat-sleeves were +bristling with toys and glistening with ornaments. His eyes twinkled +with fun, and his mouth, which seemed nearly worn out with laughing, +grew bigger every minute. + +It took the dear old gentleman some time to clear his throat; but when +he had found his voice, which at first was as fine as a knitting-needle, +and all of a tremble, he made + +THE SPEECH OF SANTA CLAUS. + +"How do, my darlings? How do, all round? Bless your little hearts, how +do you all do? Did they tell ye Santa wasn't a-comin', my dears? Did +your grandpas and grandmas say, 'Humph! there isn't any such a person.' +My love to the good old people. I know they mean all right; but tell +them they'll have to give it up now!" + +(Here Santa Claus made a low bow. Everybody laughed and clapped; but +Prudy whispered, "O, don't he look old all over? What has he done with +his _teeth_? O, dear, has anybody pulled 'em out?") + +"Yes, my dears," continued the old gentleman, encouraged by the +applause,--"yes, my dears, here I am, as jolly as ever! But bless your +sweet little hearts, I've had a terrible time getting here! The wind has +been blowin' me up as fierce as you please, and I've been shook round +as if I wasn't of more account than a kernel of corn in a popper! + +"O, O, I've been ducked up to the chin in some awful deep snow-drifts, +up there by the North Pole! This is the very first time the storms have +come so heavy as to cover over the end of the North Pole! But this year +they had to dig three days before they could find it. O, ho! + +"I was a-wanderin' round all last night; a real shivery night, too! Got +so _broke up_, there's nothing left of me but small pieces. O, hum! + +"Such a time as I had in some of those chimneys, you haven't any idee! +Why, if you'll believe me, over there in Iceland somebody forgot to +clear out the chimney, and there I stuck fast, like a fish-bone in your +throat; couldn't be picked out, couldn't be swallowed! + +"The funniest time that was! How I laughed! And then the children's +mother woke up, and, 'O, dear,' said she; 'hear the wind sigh down the +chimney!' 'Only me,' says I; 'and I've caught you napping this time!' +She helped me out, and when I had caught my breath, I climbed out the +window; but, deary me, I shouldn't wonder if that very woman went to +sleep again, and thought it was all a dream! Heigh-ho! that's the way +they always treat poor Santa Claus nowadays." + +(Here the children laughed, and Susy said, "I guess he must have bumped +his nose against that chimney: see what a hump!") + +"O, O, don't you make sport of me, children! My nose is big, to be sure, +but I'm going to keep it and make the best of it! If you love Santa as +he loves you, you wouldn't mind the looks. I _was_ going to change my +coat and dickey; but then, thinks I, I'll come just as I am! I patted +myself on the shoulder, and says I, 'Santa Claus, don't you fret if you +_are_ growin' old! You may look a little dried up, but your heart isn't +wrinkled; O no!' You see father Adam and me was very near of an age, but +somehow I never growed up! I always thought big folks did very well in +their place; but for my part, give me the children. Hurrah for the +children!" + +(Great clapping and laughing.) + +"I tell you, darlings, I haven't forgot a single one of you. My pockets +are running over. I've been preparing presents for you ever since last +fall, when the birds broke up housekeeping. + +"Here's a tippet for the Prudy girl, and she may have it for nothing; +and they are cheaper 'n that, if you take 'em by the quantity. + +"I'm a walkin' book-case. Why, I've brought stories and histories enough +to set up a store! I've got more nuts than you can shake a hammer at; +but I think there's more bark to 'em than there is bite. O, O, I find I +can't crack 'em with my teeth, as I used to a hundred years ago! + +"But my dear, sweet, cunning little hearers, I must be a-goin'. Queen +Victoria, said she to me, said she, 'Now, Santa, my love, do you hurry +back to fill my children's stockings before the clock strikes twelve.' +Queen Vic is an excellent woman, and is left a poor widow; so I can't +disappoint her, poor soul! + +"I must be a-goin'! Would like to hug and kiss you all round, but can't +stop. (Kisses his hand and bows.) A Merry Christmas to you all, and a +Happy New Year." + +So saying, Santa Claus suddenly disappeared at the hall door, dropping +his heavy pack upon the table. + +In another minute the lively old gentleman was in the front parlor +without any mask, and of course it was nobody but cousin Percy "with his +face off." + +Then they all fell to work sorting out presents. Prudy seized her fur +tippet, and put it on at once. + +"O, how pretty I look," said she; "just like a little cat! _Ain't_ I +cunning?" + +But nobody could pause to attend to Prudy, though she chatted very fast, +without commas or periods, and held up to view a large wax doll which +"would be alive if it could talk." They all had gifts as well as Prudy, +and wished to talk rather than to listen. They asked questions without +waiting for answers, and did not mind interrupting one another, and +talking all at once, like a party of school children. + +All this was hardly polite, it is true; but people are sometimes +surprised out of their good manners on Christmas evenings, and must be +forgiven for it, as such a good time happens but once a year. + +Percy broke in with an old song, and went through with a whole stanza of +it, although no one listened to a word:-- + + "Good luck unto old Christmas, + And long life let us sing, + For he doeth more good unto the poor + Than many a crownéd king." + +"My beautiful books!" cried aunt Madge; "Russia morocco." + +"My writing-desk,--has any one looked at it?" said Mrs. Parlin; +"rose-wood, inlaid with brass." + +"My skates!" broke in Susy, at the top of her voice. + +"Hush!" screamed cousin Percy; "won't anybody please notice my drum? If +you won't look, then look out for a drum in each ear!" + +And as nobody would look or pay the slightest attention, they all had to +hear "Dixie" pounded out in true martial style, till they held on to +their ears. + +"Rattlety bang!" went the drum. "Tweet, tweet," whistled the little +musical instruments which the children were blowing. + +"Have pity on us!" cried aunt Madge; "I am bewildered; my head is +floating like a Chinese garden." + +"Order!" shouted Mr. Parlin, laughing. + +"O, yes, sir," said Percy, seizing Susy and whirling her round. +"Children, why don't you try to preserve order? My nerves are strung up +like violin-strings! I've got a pound of headache to every ounce of +brains. Susy Parlin, do try to keep still!" + +"Thee needn't pretend it is all Susan," said grandma Read, smiling. +"Thee and little Prudence are the noisiest of the whole!" + +In fact, they raised such a din, that after a while poor grandma Read +smoothed the Quaker cap over her smiling face, and stole off into her +own chamber, where she could "settle down into quietness." Much noise +always confused grandma Read. + +But in a very few moments, when the excitement began to die out, there +was a season of overwhelming gratitude. Everybody had to thank everybody +else; and Mr. Parlin, who had a beautiful dressing-gown to be grateful +for, nevertheless found time to tell Susy, over and over again, how +delighted he was with her book-mark, made, by her own fingers, of three +wide strips of velvet ribbon; on the ends of which were fastened a +cross, a star, and an anchor, of card-board. + +"Papa, one ribbon is to keep your place in the Old Testament," said +Susy; "one is to stay in the middle, at the births and marriages; and +the other one is for our chapter in the New Testament, you know." + +"I think my lamp-mat is very pretty," said aunt Madge, kissing Susy; +"every bit as pretty as if Prudy hadn't 'been and told.'" + +Prudy had bought a shawl-pin for her mother, a fierce little wooden +soldier for aunt Madge, and something for everybody else but Susy. Not +that she forgot Susy. O, no! but one's money does not always hold out, +even at Christmas time. + +"Why," said Mr. Parlin, "what is this sticking fast to the sole of my +new slipper? Molasses candy, I do believe." + +"Yes sir; that's for Susy," cried Prudy, suddenly remembering how she +had tucked it in at the last moment, when she could not stop to find any +wrapping-paper. "It isn't so big as it was, but it's the biggest piece I +had in this world. I saved it last night. Susy likes 'lasses candy, and +I couldn't think of nothin' else." + +It was a wonder that Prudy's candy had not spoiled some of the nice +presents. + +Susy received several pretty things; and though she did not talk quite +so much as Prudy, she was just as happy. For one thing, she had what she +had not dreamed was possible for a little girl--a bottle of otto of +rose; "just like a young lady." + +This was a real delight to Susy: but Prudy, sniffing at it, said, +coolly, "O, ho! it smells 's if it didn't cost more'n a cent! 'Tisn't +half so sweet as pep'mint!" + +Before Dotty could be put to bed, she had contrived to break several +toys, all of which happened to be Susy's--a sugar temple, a glass +pitcher, and a small vase. + +This was an evening long to be remembered; but the most remarkable event +of all was to come. + +"Susy, my daughter," said Mr. Parlin, "have you been wondering why you +don't see a present from me?" + +Susy blushed. She had certainly expected something handsome this year +from her father. + +"I haven't forgotten you, my dear; but the present I have chosen +wouldn't sit very well on the shoulders of such a little fellow as Santa +Claus." + +Percy laughed. "Wouldn't it have been a load, uncle?" + +"Hush!" whispered aunt Madge; "she isn't to know till morning." + +"But, papa," said Susy, her eyes shining with excitement, "why couldn't +you bring it in here now?" + +"It is better off out of doors. Indeed, to tell the truth, my child, it +is hardly suitable for the parlor." + +"Now, Miss Susy," said Percy, measuring off his words on the tips of his +fingers, "I'm authorized to tell you it's something you mustn't take in +your lap, mustn't hang on a nail; if you do, you'll lose it. I'm sure +'twill please you, Susy, because it's a mute, and can't speak. You--" + +"O, hush talking about dumb people! I shouldn't think you'd make sport +of Freddy Jackson! If _you_ was a little _deaf-and-dumber_ than you are +now, I'd like you better! + +"O, dear, dear!" cried she, dancing about the room; "what can it be? I +can't wait!" + +"Only think; all night before I'll know," thought she, as she touched +her pillow. "O, Prudy, to-morrow morning! Only think of to-morrow +morning I All my other presents are just nothing at all. Anything is +_so_ much nicer when you don't know what it is!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +SUSY'S WINGS. + + +Susy awoke next morning very much surprised to find the sun so high. +Prudy was lying beside her, talking to herself. + +"I don't feel very well," said the child; "but I'm pleasant; I mean to +be good all day." + +"Why didn't you speak to me?" cried Susy, springing out of bed, "when +you knew how I couldn't wait to see my present?" + +"I would have woke you up, Susy, but I ain't well; I'm sick in my +knees." + +And Prudy limped about the room to show her sister how lame she was. +But Susy was in too great a hurry to pay much attention to her, or to +help her dress. + +"Good morning, papa!" she exclaimed, the moment she entered the parlor; +"now may I see the present?" + +"Do you suppose you could wait till after breakfast, Susy?" + +Aunt Madge smiled as she looked at the little eager face. + +"I see you are going on with your lessons," said she. + +"What lessons, auntie? Why, it is the holidays!" + +"Lessons in patience, my dear. Isn't something always happening which +you have to be patient about?" + +Susy thought of Prudy's habit of disclosing secrets, Dotty's trying way +of destroying playthings; and now this long delay about her present. She +began to think there were a great many vexations in the world, and that +she bore them remarkably well for such a little girl. + +"Yes, thee must let patience have her perfect work, Susan," said grandma +Read, after the "silent blessing" had been asked at the table. + +"Mayn't I go, too?" said Prudy, when she saw her father, her auntie, and +Susy leaving the house just after breakfast. + +And she went, as a matter of course; but the pavements were a little +slippery from sleet; and Prudy, who was never a famous walker, had as +much as she could do, even with the help of her father's hand, to keep +from falling. + +"Why, Prudy," said Mr. Parlin, "what ails you this morning? You limp so +much that I believe you need crutches." + +"I'm sick in my knee," replied Prudy, delighted to see that her lameness +was observed. "If _you_ had my knee, and it hurt, you'd know how it +feels!" + +By this time they had reached a livery stable; and, to Susy's surprise, +her father stopped short, and said to a man who stood by the door, "Mr. +Hill, my daughter has come to look at her pony." + +Prudy was in a great fright at sight of so many horses, and needed all +her auntie's attention; but Susy had no fear, and Mr. Parlin led her +along to a stall where stood a beautiful black pony, as gentle-looking +as a Newfoundland dog. + +"How do you like him, Susy? Stroke his face, and talk to him." + +"But, O, papa, you don't mean, you can't mean, he's my very own! A whole +pony all to myself!" + +"See what you think of his saddle, miss," said Mr. Hill, laughing at +Susy's eagerness; and he led pony out, and threw over his back a +handsome side-saddle. + +"Why, it seems as if I could just jump on without anybody touching me," +cried Susy. + +"Not afraid a bit?" said Mr. Hill, as Mr. Parlin seated Susy in the +saddle, and gave her the reins. "Ponies throw people, sometimes." + +"O, but my papa would never give me a bad pony," answered Susy, with +perfect confidence. + +Mr. Hill laughed again. He was a rough man; but he thought a child's +faith in a parent was a beautiful thing. + +He did not know many passages of Scripture, but thought he had read +somewhere, "And if he ask bread, will he give him a stone?" No; fathers +are glad to give their "best gifts," and the little ones trust them. + +"It's like sailing in a boat," cried Susy, riding back and forth about +the yard in great excitement; "why, it's just as easy as the swing in +the oilnut-tree at grandma Parlin's! O, papa, to think I should forget +to thank you!" + +But perhaps Mr. Parlin regarded glowing cheeks and shining eyes as the +very best of thanks. + +Prudy thought the pony a beautiful "baby horse;" wanted to ride, and +didn't want to; was afraid, and wasn't afraid, and, as her father said, +"had as many minds as some politicians who are said to 'stand on the +fence.'" By and by, after some coaxing, the timid little thing consented +to sit behind Susy, and cling round her waist, if her father would walk +beside her to make sure she didn't fall off. In this way they went +home. + +"I like to sit so I can hug my sister, while she drives the horse," said +Prudy; "besides, it hurts me to walk." + +Mr. Parlin and aunt Madge smiled at the child's speeches, but gave no +more heed to this lameness of which she complained, than they did to any +of the rest of her little freaks. + +Prudy liked to be pitied for every small hurt; and when Susy had a sore +throat, and wore a compress, she looked upon her with envy, and felt it +almost as a personal slight that _her_ throat could not be wrapped in a +compress too. + +On their way they met "lame Jessie," a little girl with crooked spine +and very high shoulders, who hobbled along on crutches. + +"She's lamer than me," said Prudy. "Good morning, Jessie." + +"I know what I've thought of," said Susy, who could talk of nothing +which was not in some way connected with her pony. "I'm going to give +that girl some rides. How happy she will be, poor little Jessie!" + +"When you get your sleigh," said Mr. Parlin. + +"My sleigh, papa? How many more presents are coming?" + +"It is hard to tell, Susy; one gift makes way for another, you see. +First comes the pony; but how can he live without a stable, and a groom +to feed him? Then what is a pony worth without a saddle? And, as one +does not wish always to ride pony-back, a sleigh is the next thing." + +"But, papa, you know in the summer!" + +"Yes, my dear, in the summer, if we all live, there must be a light +carriage made on purpose for you." + +"There is one thing more that pony needs," said aunt Madge, stroking his +eyebrows, "and that is, a name." + +"O, I never thought of that," said Susy; "help me find a name, auntie." + +"Let me think. I should call him something good and pleasant. Think of +something good and pleasant Think of something you like very much." + +"O, Frosted Cake," cried Prudy: "wouldn't that be pleasant? Susy loves +that." + +"I should like to name him for the American Eagle," said Susy, who had +heard some patriotic speeches from her cousin Percy; "only you couldn't +pet that name, could you?" + +"You might call him Don Carlos, or Don Pedro," suggested Mr. Parlin. + +"No, papa; only think of Donny: that is like Donkey! You haven't any +long ears, _have_ you, pony? If you had, I'd call you Little Pitcher, +for 'little pitchers have great ears.' That makes me think of Mr. Allen, +auntie. How big his ears are, you know? _Is_ it because his teacher +pulled them so?" + +"O, call him 'Gustus,'" cried Prudy. + +"But that would soon be Gusty," said aunt Madge, "and would sound too +much like the east wind." + +"Dear me," sighed Susy; "who'd ever think it was such hard work to find +names?" + +"O, look," said Prudy, as they passed a jaded old horse; "there is a +pony just exactly like this! Only it's twice as big, you know, and not a +_bit_ such a color!" + +"Well, there, Prudy," said Susy, disdainfully, "I thought, when you +began to speak, you was going to tell something! Why don't you wait till +you have something to say? Please give me a list of names, papa." + +"There's Speedwell, Lightfoot, Zephyr, Prince, Will-o'-the-wisp--" + +"I might call him Wispy," broke in Susy. "Zephyr is good, only it makes +you think of worsteds." + +"Now, listen," said aunt Madge; "you might call him Elephant, just for +sport, because he is in reality so very little. Or, on the other hand, +you might find the least speck of a name, like Firefly, or Midge." + +"I don't like any of those," replied Susy, still dissatisfied. + +"I see," said aunt Madge, laughing, "nothing will please you but a great +name. What say to Pegasus, a flying horse, which poets are said to ride? +It might be shortened to Peggy." + +"Now, auntie, you wouldn't have this beautiful pony called Peggy; you +know you wouldn't! the one my father bought on purpose for me! But was +there such a horse, truly?" + +"O, no; there is an old fable, which, as we say, is 'as true now as it +ever was,' of a glorious creature with wings, and whoever mounts him +gets a flying ride into the clouds. But the trouble is to catch him!" + +"O, I wish my pony could fly," said Susy, gazing dreamily at his black +mane and sleek sides. "The first place I'd go to would be the moon; and +there I'd stay till I built a castle as big as a city. I'd come home +every night, so mother wouldn't be frightened, and fly up in the +morning, and--and--" + +"See here," said Prudy, who had for some time been trying to speak; +"call him _Wings_!" + +"So I will," answered Susy, quickly, "and I'll make believe he flies in +the air like a bird. Now, auntie, what do you think of Wings?" + +"Odd enough, I'm sure, my dear." + +"Well, _I_ like it," returned Susy, with a positive shake of the head. +"It's of no use to keep fussing so long over a name, and I feel a great +deal easier, now I've made up my mind! Dear little Wings, you prick up +your ears, and I know you like it, too. I wish you had a soul, so you +could be taken to church, and christened like a baby." + +Just here Susy was startled by a sudden laugh from cousin Percy, who +had for some moments been walking behind the pony unobserved. + +"You're enough to frighten any one to death," she screamed, "creeping +about like a cat." + +Susy had a foolish dread of being laughed at. + +"Creeping like a cat," echoed Percy, "while you creep like a snail! What +will you take for your pony, that can fly in the air like a bird, but +can't walk on the ground any better than a goose?" + +"I don't know what you're talking about," said Susy, quite excited: "if +you want to see anybody ride fast, just look here." And she started the +pony at full speed, regardless of Prudy, who was so frightened, that she +seized poor Wings by his flowing mane, and called out for her sister to +stop. But Susy dashed on at a flying pace, and Percy cried after her, +"O, Susy, cousin Susy, what think of your Christmas present? Will you +remember not to eat it, and not to hang it on a nail? Susy, Susy?" + +There was hardly a happier child living than Susy, during those +delightful holidays. She said to herself, sometimes, that this was such +a beautiful world, she couldn't think of a single thing that wasn't as +splendid as it could be. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +PRUDY'S TROUBLE. + + +The happy days flew by. The Old Year was worn out, and the New Year +stepped in fresh and youthful. Susy found her little sleigh a very +comfortable affair; and so, I think, did "lame Jessie." When her father +found that Susy had really chosen for her pony the name of Wings, he +ordered a beautiful picture of the Flying Horse to be painted on the +dashboard of the sleigh. + +Susy was delighted with this, and her vivid fancy took wings at once, +and flew away to the other end of the world, where her aunt Madge told +her the fountain of Pirene was said to gush out of a hill-side. + +"Only think," said she to Flossy; "it was a woman once, that fountain +was; but she poured her life all out into tears, crying because her son +was killed. So the fountain is made of tears!" + +"Bitter and salt, then," said Florence, threading her needle. + +"No, indeed; just as sweet and nice as any water. Pegasus loved it; and +there was a beautiful young man, his name was Bel--Bel--well, I declare, +I've forgotten,--no, 'twas Bellerophon; and he had a bridle, and wanted +a horse. O, do you know this horse was white, with silvery wings, wild +as a hawk; and, once in a while, he would fold up his wings, and trot +round on the mountain!" + +Florence yawned, and waxed her thread. + +"O, it was a splendid bridle, this man had, made of gold; and I +forgot--the mountain the horse trotted round on was called Helicon. And +the man mounted him, and went up, up, till they were nothing but specks +in the sky." + +"A likely story," said Florence; "there, you've told enough! I don't +want to hear any more such nonsense." + +"Well, if you don't want to hear about the monster they killed, you +needn't; that's all I can say; but the young man loved that horse; and +he kissed him, too, he was so splendid!" + +"Kiss a horse!" Flossy looked very, much disgusted. + +"Why, I've kissed my pony a great many times," said Susy, bravely, +"right between his eyes; and he almost kisses me. He wants to say, 'I +love you.' I can see it in his eyes." + +By this time Flossy had finished her doll's garment, and, putting it on +the little thing's shoulders, held up the doll to be admired. + +"I think her opera cloak is very 'bewitching,' don't you, Susy? It is +trimmed with ermine, because she is a queen, and is going to the opera." + +"It looks well enough," said Susy, indifferently, "but it isn't ermine; +it's only white cat's fur, with black spots sewed on," + +"Of course it isn't real ermine!" replied Florence; "but I play that it +is, and it's just as well." + +"But you know all the while it's a make-believe. She hasn't any more +sense than a stick of wood, either; and I don't see any sport in playing +with dolls." + +"And I don't see any sense in fairy stories," retorted Flossy. "Do you +know what Percy says about you? He says your head is as full of airy +notions as a dandelion top. I love Queen Mab as if she was my own +sister," continued Flossy, in a pettish tone. "You know I do, Susy. I +always thought, if anything should happen to Queen Mab, and I lost her, +I should certainly dress in mourning; now you needn't laugh." + +"O, I can't help laughing, when anybody makes such a fuss over a doll," +replied Susy, with a curl of the lip. "Anything that isn't alive, and +hasn't any sense, and don't care for you! I like canary birds, and +babies, and ponies, and that's enough to like." + +"Well, now, that's so funny!" said Florence, twitching the folds of +Queen Mab's dress into place; "for the very reason I like my doll, is +because she _isn't_ alive. I wouldn't have been you, Susy Parlin, when +you had your last canary bird, and let him choke to death." + +"O, no, Flossy, I didn't let him choke: I forgot to put any seed in the +bottle, and he stuck his head in so deep, that he smothered to death." + +"I don't know but smothering is as bad as choking," said Florence; "and +now your new bird will be sure to come to some bad end." + +"You're always saying hateful things," exclaimed Susy, a good deal +vexed. "I like Grace Clifford ten times as well, for she's a great deal +more lady-like." + +"Well, I suppose I can go home," said Florence, with a rising color; +"you're such a perfect lady that I can't get along with you." + +"O, dear," thought poor Susy, "what does ail my tongue? Here this very +morning I said in my prayer, that I meant to be good and patient." + +Florence began to put on her cloak. + +"Cousin Flossy," said Susy, in a hesitating voice, "I wish you wouldn't +go. I didn't mean to tell that I liked Gracie best; but it's the real +honest truth, and if I should take it back, 'twould be a lie." + +This was not making matters much better. Florence put on her hood, and +tied it with a twitch. + +"But I like _you_ ever so much, Flossy; now, you know I do. You're +hateful sometimes; but so am I; and I can't tell which is the +hatefulest." + +Here Flossy, who was as fickle as the wind, laughed merrily, took off +her hood and cloak, and danced about the room in high spirits. + +"Yes," said she, "I'll stay just on purpose to plague you!" + +But good humor had been restored on both sides, and the little girls +were soon talking together, as freely as if nothing had happened. + +"Just come out in the kitchen," said Susy, "and you shall see me wash my +bird." + +"Why, I thought birds washed themselves," replied Florence, following +her cousin with some surprise. + +"They do, but Dandy won't; it's all in the world I have against Dandy; +he isn't a cold-water bird." + +Grandma Read stood by the kitchen table, clear-starching one of her +caps--a piece of work which she always performed with her own hands. +She moved one side to make room for Susy's bird-cage, but said she did +not approve of washing canaries; she thought it must be a dangerous +experiment. + +"If he needed a bath, he would take it himself, Susan. Little birds know +what is best for them by instinct, thee may depend upon it." + +"But my birdie gay ought to be clean," persisted Susy, who was often +very positive. "Mrs. Mason says so--the lady that gave him to me. I told +her he wouldn't bathe, and she said then I must bathe him." + +Susy went to the range, and, dipping some hot water from the boiler, +cooled it with fresh water, till she found, by putting in her fingers, +that it was of a proper temperature, according to her own judgment. Then +she plunged the timid little canary into the bowl, in spite of his +fluttering. Such a wee young thing as he was too! He seemed to be afraid +of the water, and struggled against it with all his small strength. + +"O, Dandy, darling," said Susy, in a cooing voice, as if she were +talking to a baby; "be a little man, Dandy; hold up his head, and let +Susy wash it all cleany! O, he's Susie's birdie gay!--What makes him +roll up his eyes?" + +"Take him out quick, Susan," said grandma Read; "he will strangle." + +A few seconds more and all would have been over with birdie gay. He +curled down very languidly on the floor of the cage, and seemed to wish +to be let alone. + +"He acts so every morning when I bathe him," said Susy, who would not +give up the point; "but Mrs. Mason told me to do it! Dotty always cried +when she was washed, till she was ever so old." + +"I think," said Mrs. Parlin, who had just entered the kitchen, "I must +ask Mrs. Mason if she is very sure it is proper to treat little birds in +that way." + +"But look, mamma; here he is, shaking out his feathers, all bright and +happy again. O, you cunning little Dandy, now we'll hang you up in the +sun to dry. See him hop on one foot; that is just to make me laugh." + +"But _I_ hop on one foot, too," said little Prudy, "and you don't laugh +at me." + +"This is a droll little head for fancies," said Mrs. Parlin, patting +Prudy's curls, and looking at grandma Read. "Do you know, mother, that +for several days she has made believe she was lame Jessie, and has +hobbled about whenever she could think of it." + +"Now you mustn't laugh," said Prudy, looking up with a grieved face; I +can't never help hopping; I _have_ to hop. My knee was so sick, I cried +last night, and I was just as _wide-awakeful_!" + +"Ain't thee afraid the child has been hurt in some way, my daughter?" +said grandma Read. + +"O, no, mother," said Mrs. Parlin, smiling, as Prudy limped out of the +room. "I have examined her knee, and there is nothing the matter with +it. She is only imitating that lame child. You know Prudy has all sorts +of whims. Don't you know how she has wanted us to call her Jessie +sometimes?" + +"Why, no, indeed, grandma, she isn't lame," said Susy, laughing. +"Sometimes she will run about the room as well as I do, and then, in a +few minutes, when she thinks of it, she will limp and take hold of +chairs. Mother, isn't it just the same as a wrong story for Prudy to act +that way? If I did so, you'd punish me; now, wouldn't you?" + +"I don't know what to think about it," said Mrs. Parlin, gravely. +"Sometimes I am afraid Prudy is really becoming naughty and deceitful. I +thought once it was only her funny way of playing; but she is getting +old enough now to know the difference between truth and falsehood." + +There was an anxious look on Mrs. Parlin's face. She was a faithful +mother, and watched her children's conduct with the tenderest care. + +But this lameness of which little Prudy complained, was something more +than play; it was a sad truth, as the family learned very soon. Instead +of walking properly when her mother bade her do so, the poor child cried +bitterly, said it hurt her, and she was so tired she wished they would +let her lie on the sofa, and never get up. At times she seemed better; +and when everybody thought she was quite well, suddenly the pain and +weakness would come again, and she could only limp, or walk by catching +hold of chairs. + +At last her father called in a physician. + +"How long has this child been lame?" said he. + +"A month or more." + +The doctor looked grave. "Has she ever had an injury, Mr. Parlin, such +as slipping on the ice, or falling down stairs?" + +"No, sir," replied Mr. Parlin, "I believe not." + +"Not a serious injury that I know of," said Mrs. Parlin, passing her +hand across her forehead, and trying to remember. "No, I think Prudy has +never had a _bad_ fall, though she is always meeting with slight +accidents." + +"O, mamma," said Susy, who had begged to stay in the room, "she did have +a fall: don't you know, Christmas day, ever so long ago, how she went +rolling down stairs with her little chair in her arms, and woke +everybody up?" + +The doctor caught at Susy's words. + +"With her little chair in her arms, my dear? And did she cry as if she +was hurt?" + +"Yes, sir; she said the _prongs_ of the chair stuck into her side." + +"It hurt me dreffully," said Prudy, who had until now forgotten all +about it. "Susy spoke so quick, and said I was a little snail; and then +I rolled over and over, and down I went." + +The doctor almost smiled at these words, lisped out in such a plaintive +voice, as if Prudy could not think of that fall even now, without +pitying herself very much. + +"Just let me see you stand up, little daughter," said he; for Prudy was +lying on the sofa. + +But it hurt her to bear her weight on her feet. + +She said, "One foot, the '_lame-knee-foot_,' came down so long, it +_more_ than touched the floor." + +The doctor looked sober. The foot did drag indeed. The trouble was not +in her knee, but in her hip, which had really been injured when she fell +down stairs, and the "prongs" of the chair were forced against it. + +It seemed to Mrs. Parlin strange that Prudy had never complained of any +pain in her side; but the doctor said it was very common for people to +suffer from hip-disease, and seem to have only a lame knee. + +"Hip-disease!" When Mrs. Parlin heard these words, she grew so dizzy, +that it was all she could do to keep from fainting. It came over her in +a moment, the thought of what her little daughter would have to +suffer--days and nights of pain, and perhaps a whole lifetime of +lameness. She had often heard of hip-disease, and was aware that it is a +very serious thing. + +Do you know, she would gladly have changed places with Prudy, would +gladly have borne all the child must suffer, if by that means she could +have saved her? This is the feeling which mothers have when any trouble +comes upon their children; but the little ones, with their simple minds, +cannot understand it. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ROSY FRANCES EASTMAN MARY. + + +Prudy had enjoyed a great many rides in Susy's beautiful sleigh; but now +the doctor forbade her going out, except for very short distances, and +even then, he said, she must sit in her mother's lap. He wanted her to +lie down nearly all the time, and keep very quiet. + +At first, Mrs. Parlin wondered how it would be possible to keep such a +restless child quiet; but she found, as time passed, and the disease +made progress, that poor little Prudy was only too glad to lie still. +Every motion seemed to hurt her, and sometimes she cried if any one +even jarred the sofa suddenly. + +These were dark days for everybody in the house. Susy, who was +thoughtful beyond her years, suffered terribly from anxiety about her +little sister. More than that, she suffered from remorse. + +"O, grandma Read," said she one evening, as she sat looking up at the +solemn, shining stars, with overflowing eyes--"O, grandma!" The words +came from the depths of a troubled heart. "I may live to be real old; +but I never shall be happy again! I can't, for, if it hadn't been for +me? Prudy would be running round the house as well as ever!" + +Mrs. Read had a gentle, soothing voice. She could comfort Susy when +anybody could. Now she tried to set her heart at rest by saying that the +doctor gave a great deal of hope. He could not promise a certain cure, +but he felt great faith in a new kind of splint which he was using for +Prudy's hip. + +"O, grandma, it may be, and then, again, it may not be," sobbed poor +Susy; "we can't tell what God will think best; but anyhow, it was I that +did it." + +"But, Susan, thee must think how innocent thee was of any wrong motive. +Thee did not get angry, and push thy little sister, thee knows thee +didn't, Susan! Thee was only in a hurry, and rather thoughtless. The +best of us often do very foolish things, and cause much mischief; but +thee'll find it isn't best to grieve over these mistakes. Why, my dear +little Susan, I have lived eight years to thy one, and if I should sit +down now and drop a tear for every blunder I have made, I don't know but +I could almost make a fountain of myself, like that woman thee tells +about in the fairy story." + +"The fountain of Pirene that Pegasus loved," said Susy; "that was the +name of it. Why, grandma, I never should have thought of your saying +such a queer thing as that! Why, it seems as if you always did just +right, and thought it all over before you did it. Do _you_ ever do +wrong? How funny!" + +Mrs. Read smiled sadly. She was not an angel yet; so I suppose she did +wrong once in a while. + +"Now, grandma, I want to ask you one question, real sober and honest. +You know it was so dark that morning in the middle of the night, when we +were going down the back stairs? Now, if I'd made a great deal worse +mistake than calling Prudy a snail,--if I'd pushed her real hard, and +she had fallen faster,--O, I can't bear to think! I mean, if the +chair-prongs had hit her head, grandma--and--killed her! What would they +have done to _me_? I thought about it last night, so I couldn't go to +sleep for the longest while! I heard the clock _strike_ once while I was +awake there in bed! Would they have put me in the lock-up, grandma, and +then hung me for murder?" + +"My dear child, no, indeed! How came such horrible ideas in thy tender +little brain? It is too dreadful to think about; but, even if thy little +sister _had_ died, Susan, thee would have been no more to blame than +thee is now, and a great, great deal more to be pitied." + +Susy sat for a long while gazing out of the window; but the stars did +not wink so solemnly; the moon looked friendly once more. Susy was +drinking in her grandmother's words of comfort. The look of sadness was +disappearing from the young face, and smiles began to play about the +corners of her mouth. + +"Well," said she, starting up briskly, "I'm glad I wasn't so very +terribly wicked! I wish I'd been somewhere else, when I stood on those +back-stairs, in the middle of the night; but what's the use? I'm not +going to think any more about it, grandma; for if I should think till my +head was all twisted up in a knot, what good would it do? It wouldn't +help Prudy any; would it, grandma?" + +"No, dear," said the mild, soothing voice again; "don't think, I beg of +thee; but if thee wants to know what would do Prudence good, I will tell +thee: try thy best to amuse her. She has to lie day after day and +suffer. It is very hard for a little girl that loves to play, and can't +read, and doesn't know how to pass the time; don't thee think so, +Susan?" + +It was certainly hard. Prudy's round rosy face began to grow pale; and, +instead of laughing and singing half the time, she would now lie and cry +from pain, or because she really did not know what else to do with +herself. + +It was worst at night. Hour after hour, she would lie awake, and listen +to the ticking of the clock. Susy thought it a pitiable case, when +_she_, heard the clock strike _once_; but little Prudy heard it strike +again and again. How strangely it pounded out the strokes in the night! +What a dreary sound it was, pealing through the silence! The echoes +answered with a shudder. Then, when Prudy had counted one, two, three, +four, and the clock had no more to say at that time, it began to tick +again: "Prudy's sick! Prudy's sick! O, dear me! O, dear me!" + +Prudy could hardly believe it was the same clock she saw in the daytime. +She wondered if it felt lonesome in the night, and had the blues; or +what _could_ ail it! The poor little girl wanted somebody to speak to in +these long, long hours. She did not sleep with Susy, but in a new +cot-bed of her own, in aunt Madge's room; for, dearly as she loved to +lie close to any one she loved, she begged now to sleep alone, "so +nobody could hit her, or move her, or joggle her." + +It was a great comfort to have aunt Madge so near. If it had been Susy +instead, Prudy would have had no company but the sound of her breathing. +It was of no use to try to wake Susy in the dead of night. Pricking her +with pins would startle her, but she never knew anything even after she +was startled. All she could do was to stare about her, cry, and act very +cross, and then--go to sleep again. + +But with aunt Madge it was quite different. She slept like a cat, with +one eye open. Perhaps the reason she did not sleep more soundly, was, +that she felt a care of little Prudy. No matter when Prudy spoke to her, +aunt Madge always answered. She did not say, "O, dear, you've startled +me out of a delicious nap!" She said, "Well, darling, what do you want?" +Prudy generally wanted to know when it would be morning? When would the +steamboat whistle? What made it stay dark so long? She wanted a drink of +water, and _always_ wanted a story. + +If aunt Madge had forgotten to provide a glass of water, she put on her +slippers, lighted the little handled lamp, and stole softly down stairs +to the pail, which Norah always pumped full of well-water the last thing +in the evening. + +Or, if Prudy fancied it would console her to have a peep at her +beautiful doll which "would be alive if it could speak," why, down +stairs went auntie again to search out the spot where Susy had probably +left it when "she took it to show to some children." + +The many, many times that kind young lady crept shivering down stairs to +humor Prudy's whims! Prudy could not have counted the times; and you may +be sure aunt Madge never _would_. + +Then the stories, both sensible and silly, which Prudy teased for, and +always got! Aunt Madge poured them forth like water into the _sieve_ of +Prudy's mind, which could not hold stories any better than secrets. No +matter how many she told, Prudy insisted that she wanted "one more," and +the "same one over again." + +It touched Susy to the heart to see how much her little sister +suffered, and she spent a great deal of time at first in trying to amuse +her. Aunt Madge told stories in the night; but Susy told them in the +daytime, till, as she expressed it, her "tongue ached." She cut out +paper dolls when she wanted to read, and played go visiting, or dressed +rag babies, when she longed to be out of doors. But while the novelty +lasted, she was quite a Florence Nightingale. + +Her Wednesday and Saturday after-noons were no longer her own. Before +Prudy's lameness, Susy had used her new skates a great deal, and could +now skim over the ice quite gracefully, for a little girl of her age. +The reason she learned to skate so well, was because she was fearless. +Most children tremble when they try to stand on the ice, and for that +very reason are nearly sure to fall; but Susy did not tremble in the +face of danger: she had a strong will of her own, and never expected to +fail in anything she undertook. + +She had spent half of her short life out of doors, and almost considered +it lost time when she was obliged to stay in the house for the rain. + +Mrs. Parlin kept saying it was high time for her eldest daughter to +begin to be womanly, and do long stints with her needle: she could not +sew as well now as she sewed two years ago. + +But Mr. Parlin laughed at his wife's anxiety, and said he loved Susy's +red cheeks; he didn't care if she grew as brown as an Indian. She was +never rude or coarse, he thought; and she would be womanly enough one of +these days, he was quite sure. + +"Anything," said Mr. Parlin, "but these _womanly_ little girls, such as +I have seen sitting in a row, sewing seams, without animation enough to +tear rents in their own dresses! If Susy loves birds, and flowers, and +snowbanks, I am thankful, and perfectly willing she should have plenty +of them for playthings." + +Then, when Mrs. Parlin smiled mischievously, and said, "I should like to +know what sort of a wild Arab you would make out of a little girl," Mr. +Parlin answered triumphantly,--"Look at my sister Margaret! I brought +her up my own self! I always took her out in the woods with me, gunning +and trouting. I taught her how to skate when she was a mere baby. I +often said she was all the brother I had in the world! She can remember +now how I used to wrap her in shawls, and prop her up on the woodpile, +while I chopped wood." + +"And how you hired her to drop ears of corn for you into the +corn-sheller; and how, one day, her fingers were so benumbed, that one +of them was clipped off before she knew it!" + +"Well, so it was, that is true; but only the tip of it. Active children +will meet with accidents. She was a regular little fly-away, and would +sooner climb a tree or a ladder any time, than walk on solid ground. +_Now_ look at her!" + +And Mr. Parlin repeated the words, "Now look at her," as if he was sure +his wife must confess that she was a remarkable person. + +Mrs. Parlin said, if Susy should ever become half as excellent and +charming as Miss Margaret Parlin, she should be perfectly satisfied, for +her part. + +Thus Susy was allowed to romp to her heart's content; "fairly ran wild," +as aunt Eastman declared, with a frown of disapproval. She gathered wild +roses, and wore them in her cheeks, the very best place in the world +for roses. She drank in sunshine with the fresh air of heaven, just as +the flowers do, and thrived on it. + +But there was one objection to this out-of-doors life: Susy did not love +to stay in the house. Ainu days and evenings, to be sure, she made +herself very happy with reading, for she loved to read, particularly +fairy books, and Rollo's Travels. + +But now, just as she had learned to skate on the basin with other little +girls and young ladies, and could drive Wings anywhere and everywhere +she pleased, it was a sore trial to give up these amusements for the +sake of spending more hours with poor little Prudy. She was very +self-denying at first, but it grew to be an "old story." She found it +was not only pony and skates she must give up, but even her precious +reading, for Prudy was jealous of books, and did not like to have Susy +touch them. She thought Susy was lost to her when she opened a book, and +might as well not be in the house, for she never heard a word that +anybody said. + +Now I know just what you will think: "O, I would have given up a great +deal more than ponies and books for _my_ dear little sister! I would +have told her stories, and never have complained that my 'tongue ached.' +It would not have wearied me to do anything and everything for such a +patient sufferer as little Prudy!" + +But now I shall be obliged to confess one thing, which I would have +gladly concealed. + +Prudy was not always patient. Some sweet little children become almost +like the angels when sickness is laid upon them; but Prudy had been such +a healthy, active child, that the change to perfect quiet was +exceedingly tiresome. She was young, too,--too young to reason about the +uses of suffering. She only knew she was dreadfully afflicted, and +thought everybody ought to amuse her. + +"O, dear me!" said Susy, sometimes, "I just believe the more anybody +does for Prudy, the more she expects." + +Now this was really the case. When Prudy first began to lie upon the +sofa, everybody pitied her, and tried to say and do funny things, in +order to take up her attention. It was not possible to keep on giving so +much time to her; but Prudy expected it. She would lie very pleasant and +happy for hours at a time, counting the things in the room, talking to +herself, or humming little tunes; and then, again, everything would go +wrong. Her playthings would keep falling to the floor, and, as she could +not stoop at all, some one must come and pick them up that very minute, +or they "didn't pity her a bit." + +Every once in a while, she declared her knee was "broken in seven new +places," and the doctor must come and take off the splint. She didn't +want such a hard thing "right on there;" she wanted it "right off." + +Her mother told her she must try to be patient, and be one of God's +little girls. "But, mamma," said Prudy, "does God love me any? I should +think, if he loved me, he'd be sorrier I was sick, and get me well." + +Then, sometimes, when she had been more fretful than usual, she would +close her eyes, and her mother would hear her say, in a low voice,-- + +"O, God, I didn't mean to. It's my _knee_ that's cross!" + +Upon the whole, I think Prudy was as patient as most children of her age +would have been under the same trial. Her father and mother, who had the +most care of her, did not wonder in the least that her poor little +nerves got tired out sometimes. + +While Susy was at school, Prudy had a long time to think what she wanted +her to do when she should come home. She would lie and watch the clock, +for she had learned to tell the time quite well; and when the hour drew +near for Susy to come, she moved her head on the pillow, and twisted her +fingers together nervously. + +If Susy was in good season, Prudy put up her little mouth for a kiss, +and said,-- + +"O, how I do love you, Susy! Ain't I your dear little sister? Well, +won't you make me a lady on the slate?" + +Susy's ladies had no necks, and their heads were driven down on their +shoulders, as if they were going to be packed into their chests; but, +such as they were, Prudy wanted them over and over again. + +But if Susy stopped to slide, or to play by the way, she would find +little Prudy in tears, and hear her say, "O, what made you? Naughty, +naughty old Susy! I'm goin' to die, and go to God's house, and then +you'll be sorry you didn't 'tend to your little sister." + +Susy could never bear to hear Prudy talk about going to God's house. Her +conscience pricked her when she saw that the poor child was grieved; and +she resolved, every time she was late, that she would never be late +again. + +Prudy had a great many odd fancies now: among others, she had a fancy +that she did not like the name of Prudy. + +"Why; only think," said she, "you keep a-calling me Prudy, and Prudy, +and Prudy. It makes my head ache, to have you say Prudy so much." + +"But, my dear child," said Mr. Parlin, smiling, "it happens, +unfortunately, that Prudy is your name; so I think you will have to try +and bear it as well as you can." + +"But I can't bear it any longer," said the child, bursting into tears. +"Prudy is all lame and sick, and I never shall walk any more while you +call me Prudy, papa." + +Mr. Parlin kissed his little daughters's pale cheek, and said, "Then we +will call you pet names; will that do?" + +Prudy smiled with delight. + +"I've thought of a real beautiful, splendid name," said she. "It is Rosy +Frances Eastman Mary; ain't it splendid?" + +After this announcement, Prudy expected the family would be sure to call +her Rosy Frances Eastman Mary; and, indeed, they were quite willing to +please her, whenever they could remember the name. They all supposed it +was a fancy she would forget in a day or two; but, instead of that, she +clung to it more and more fondly. If any one offered her an orange, or +roasted apple, and said, "Look, Prudy; here is something nice for you," +she would turn her face over to one side on the pillow, and make no +reply. If she wanted a thing very much, she would never accept it when +she was addressed by the obnoxious name of Prudy. Even when her father +wanted to take her in his arms to rest her, and happened to say, "Prudy, +shall I hold you a little while?" she would say, "Who was you a-talkin' +to, papa? There isn't any Prudy here!" Then her father had to humble +himself, and ask to be forgiven for being so forgetful. + +The child had a delicate appetite, and her mother tried to tempt it with +little niceties; but, no matter what pains she took, Prudy relished +nothing unless it was given to her as Rosy Frances, the little girl who +was _not_ Prudy. + +"O, here is a glass of lemonade for you, Prudy; made on purpose for +you," Susy would say; "do drink it!" + +"O, dear me, suz," cried Prudy, with tears falling over her cheeks; "O, +Susy, you plague me, and I never done a thing to you! You called me +Prudy, and I ain't Prudy, never again! Call me Rosy Frances Eastman +Mary, and I'll drink the lemonade." + +"You precious little sister," said Susy, bending over her gently, +"you'll forgive me; won't you, darling?" + +"I'll try to," replied Prudy, with a look of meek forbearance, as she +sipped the lemonade. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +LITTLE TROUBLES. + + +Somebody said once to Susy and Flossy, when they were having a frolic in +"Prudy's sitting-room," up stairs, "What happy little things! You don't +know what trouble is, and never will, till you grow up!" + +The little girls preserved a respectful silence, till the lady was out +of hearing, and then held an indignant discussion as to the truth of +what she had said. It would have been a discussion, I mean, if they had +not both taken the same side of the question. + +"How she sighed," said Susy, "just as if she was the _melancholiest_ +person that ever was!" Susy was famous for the use she made of +adjectives, forming the superlatives just as it happened. + +"Yes, just the way," responded Flossy. "I'd like to know what ever +happened to _her_? Pshaw! She laughed this afternoon, and ate apples +fast enough!" + +"O, she thinks she must make believe have a dreadful time, because she +is grown up," said Susy, scornfully. "She's forgot she was ever a little +girl! I've had troubles; I guess I have! And I know one thing, I shall +remember 'em when I grow up, and not say, 'What happy little things!' +to children. It's real hateful!" + +Little folks have trouble, to be sure. Their hearts are full of it, and +running over, sometimes; and how can the largest heart that ever beat be +_more_ than full, and running over? + +Susy had daily trials. They were sent to her because they were good for +her. Shadows and night-dews are good for flowers. If the sun had shone +on Susy always, and she had never had any shadows and night dews, she +would have _scorched up_ into a selfish girl. + +One of her trials was Miss Dotty Dimple. Now, she loved Dotty dearly, +and considered her funny all over, from the crown of her head to the +soles of her little twinkling feet, which were squeezed into a pair of +gaiters. Dotty loved those gaiters as if they were alive. She had a +great contempt for the slippers she wore in the morning, but it was her +"darlin' gaiters," which she put on in the afternoon, and loved next to +father and mother, and all her best friends. + +When ladies called, she stepped very briskly across the floor, looking +down at her feet, and tiptoeing about, till the ladies smiled, and said, +"O, what sweet little boots!" and then she was perfectly happy. + +Susy was not very wide awake in the morning; but Dotty was stirring as +soon as there was a peep of light, and usually stole into Susy's bed to +have a frolic. Nothing but a story would keep her still, and poor Susy +often wondered which was harder, to be used as a football by Dotty, or +to tell stories with her eyes shut. + +"O, Dotty Dimple, keep still; can't you? There's a darling," she would +plead, longing for another nap; "_don't_ kill me." + +"No, no; me won't kill," the little one would reply; "'tisn't _pooty_ to +kill!" + +"O, dear, you little, cunning, darling plague, now hush, and let me go +to sleep!" + +Then Dotty would plant both feet firmly on Susy's chest, and say, in her +teasing little voice, as troublesome as the hum of a mosquito,-- + +"Won't you tell me 'tory--tell me a 'tory--tell me a 'tory, Susy." + +"Well, what do you want to hear?" + +Now, it was natural for Susy to feel cross when she was sleepy. It cost +her a hard struggle to speak pleasantly, and when she succeeded in doing +so, I set it down as one of her greatest victories over herself. The +Quaker motto of her grandmother, "Let patience have her perfect work," +helped her sometimes, when she could wake up enough to remember it. + +"Tell 'bout little yellow gell," said the voice of the mosquito, over +and over again. + +Susy roused herself after the third request, and sleepily asked if +something else wouldn't do? + +"I had a little nobby-colt." + +"No, no, you _di'n't_, you _di'n't_; grandma had the nobby! Tell yellow +gell." + +"O," sighed Susy, "how can you want to hear that so many, many times? +Well, once when I was a little bit of a girl--" + +"'Bout's big as me, you _said_," put in Dotty. + +"O, yes, I did say so once, and I suppose I must tell it so every time, +or you'll fuss! Well, I had a yellow dress all striped off in checks--" + +"Di'n't it go this way?" said Dotty, smoothing the sheet with her little +hand, "and this way?" + +"What? What?" Susy roused herself and rubbed her eyes. "O, yes, it went +in checks; and I was at grandma Parlin's, and Grace--Grace--O, Grace and +I went into the pasture where there were a couple of cows, a gray cow +and a red cow." + +"Now you must say what _is_ couple," says Dotty. + +"Then what is couple?" + +"Gray cow," answers Dotty, very gravely. + +"So when the cows saw us coming, they--they--O, they threw up their +heads, and stopped eating grass--in the air. I mean--threw--up--their +heads." Susy was nearly asleep. + +"Up in the air?" + +"Yes, of course, up in the air. (There, I _will_ wake up!) And the gray +cow began to run towards us, and Grace says to me, 'O, my, she thinks +you're a pumpkin!'" + +"You?" + +"Yes, me, because my dress was so yellow. I was just as afraid of the +cow as I could be." + +"Good cow! _He_ wouldn't hurt!" + +"No, the cow was good, and didn't think I was a pumpkin, not the least +speck. But I was so afraid, that I crept under the bars, and ran home." + +"To grandma's house?" + +"Yes; and grandma laughed." + +"Well, where was me?" was the next question, after a pause. + +Then, when the duty of story-telling was performed, Susy would gladly +have gone back to "climbing the dream-tree;" but no, she must still +listen to Dotty, though she answered her questions in an absent-minded +way, like a person "hunting for a forgotten dream." + +One morning she was going to ride with her cousin Percy. It had been +some time since she had seen Wings, except in the stable, where she +visited him every day. + +But Dotty had set her heart on a rag-baby which Susy had promised to +dress, and Prudy was anxious that Susy should play several games of +checkers with her. + +"O, dear," said the eldest sister, with the perplexed air of a mother +who has disobedient little ones to manage. "I think I have about as much +as I can bear. The _children_ always make a fuss, just as sure as I +want to go out." + +The old, impatient spirit was rising; that spirit which it was one of +the duties of Susy's life to keep under control. + +She went into the bathing-room, and drank off a glass of cold water, and +talked to herself a while, for she considered that the safest way. + +"Have I any right to be cross? Yes, I think I have. Here Dotty woke me +up, right in the middle of a dream, and I'm sleepy this minute. Then +Prudy is a little babyish thing, and always was--making a fuss if I +forget to call her Rosy Frances! Yes, I'll be cross, and act just as I +want to. It's too hard work to keep pleasant; I won't try." + +She walked along to the door, but, by that time, the better spirit was +struggling to be heard. + +"Now, Susy Parlin," it said, "you little girl with a pony, and a pair of +skates, and feet to walk on, and everything you want, ain't you ashamed, +when you think of that dear little sister you pushed down stairs--no, +didn't push--that poor little lame sister!--O, hark! there is your +mother winding up that hard splint! How would you feel with such a thing +on your hip? Go, this minute, and comfort Prudy!" + +The impatient feelings were gone for that time; Susy had swallowed +them, or they had flown out of the window. + +"Now Rosy Frances Eastman Mary," said she, "if your splint is all fixed, +I'll comb your hair." + +The splint was made of hard, polished wood and brass. Under it were +strips of plaster an inch wide, which wound round and round the poor +wounded limb. These strips of plaster became loose, and there was a +little key-hole in the splint, into which Mrs. Parlin put a key, and +wound up and tightened the plaster every morning. This operation did not +hurt Prudy at all. + +"Now," said Susy, after she had combed Prudy's hair carefully, and put a +net over it, until her mother should be ready to curl it, "now we will +have a game of checkers." + +Prudy played in high glee, for Susy allowed her to jump all her men, and +march triumphantly into the king-row, at the head of a victorious army. + +"There, now, Rosy," said Susy, gently, "are you willing to let me go out +riding? I can't play any more if I ride, for I must dress Dotty's doll, +and feed my canary." + +"O, well," said Prudy, considering the matter, "I'm sick; I tell you how +it is, I'm sick, you know; but--well, you may go, Susy, if you'll make +up a story as long as a mile." + +Susy really felt grateful to Prudy, but it was her own gentle manner +which had charmed the sick child into giving her consent. + +Then Susy proceeded to dress Dotty's doll in a very simple fashion, with +two holes for short sleeves, and a skirt with a raw edge; but she looked +kind and pleasant while she was at work, and Dotty was just as well +pleased as if it had been an elegant costume she was preparing. And it +was really good enough for a poor deformed rag-baby, with a head shaped +like a stove-pipe. + +Susy was delighted to find how well a little patience served her in +amusing "the children." Next, she went to give Dandy his morning bath. +Mrs. Parlin still thought it a dangerous practice, but had not seen Mrs. +Mason, to question her about it, and Susy was too obstinate in her +opinion to listen to her mother. + +"I must do it," said Susy; "it has been ever so long since Dandy was +bathed, and I shouldn't take any comfort riding, mamma, if I didn't +leave him clean." + +Susy plunged the trembling canary into his little bathing-bowl, in some +haste. He struggled as usual, and begged, with his weak, piping voice, +to be spared such an infliction. But Susy was resolute. + +"It'll do you good, Ducky Daddles; we mustn't have any lazy, dirty +birdies in this house." + +Ducky Daddies rolled up his little eyes, and gasped for breath. + +"O, look, mother!" cried Susy, laughing; "how funny Dandy acts! Do you +suppose it's to make me laugh? O, is he fainting away?" + +"Fainting away! My dear child, he is dying!" + +This was the sad truth. Mrs. Parlin fanned him, hoping to call back the +lingering breath. But it was too late. One or two more throbs, and his +frightened little heart had ceased to beat; his frail life had gone out +as suddenly as a spark of fire. + +Susy was too much shocked to speak. She stood holding the stiffening +bird in her hands, and gazing at it. + +Mrs. Parlin was very sorry for Susy, and had too much kindness of +feeling to add to her distress by saying,-- + +"You know how I warned you, Susy." + +Susy was already suffering for her obstinacy and disregard of her +mother's advice; and Mrs. Parlin believed she would lay the lesson to +heart quite as well without more words. It was a bitter lesson. Susy +loved dumb creatures dearly, and was just becoming very fond of Dandy. + +In the midst of her trouble, and while her eyes were swollen with tears, +her cousin Percy came with Wings and the sleigh to give her the promised +ride. Susy no longer cared for going out: it seemed to her that her +heart was almost broken. + +"Well, cousin Indigo, what is the matter?" said Percy; "you look as if +this world was a howling wilderness, and you wanted to howl too. What, +crying over that bird? Poh! I can buy you a screech-owl any time, that +will make twice the noise he could in his best days. Come, hurry, and +put your things on!" + +Susy buried her face in her apron. + +"I'll compose a dirge for him," said Percy. + + "My bird is dead, said Susy P., + My bird is dead; O, deary me! + He sang so sweet, te whee, te whee; + He sings no more; O, deary me! + Go hang his cage up in the tree, + That cage I care no more to see. + My bird is dead, cried Susy P." + +These provoking words Percy drawled out in a sing-song voice. It was +too much. Susy's eyes flashed through her tears. + +"You've always laughed at me, Percy Eastman, and plagued me about Freddy +Jackson, and everything, and I've borne it like a--like a lady. But when +you go to laughing at my poor little Dandy that's dead, and can't +speak--" + +Susy was about to say, "Can't speak for himself," but saw in time how +absurdly she was talking, and stopped short. + +Percy laughed. + +"Where are you going with that cage?" + +"Going to put it away, where I'll never see it again," sobbed poor Susy. + +"Give it to me," said Percy: "I'll take care of it for you." + +If Susy's eyes had not been blinded by tears, she would have been +surprised to see the real pity in Percy's face. + +He was a rollicking boy, full of merriment and bluster, and what tender +feelings he possessed, he took such a wonderful amount of pains to +conceal, that Susy never suspected he had any. She would have enjoyed +her ride if she had not felt so full of grief. The day was beautiful. +There had been a storm, and the trees looked as if they had been +snowballing one another; but Susy had no eye for trees, and just then +hardly cared for her pony. + +Percy put the cage in the sleigh, under the buffalo robes; and when +they reached his own door, he carried the cage into the house, while +Susy drew a sigh of relief. He offered to stuff Dandy, or have him +stuffed; but Susy rejected the idea with horror. + +"No, if Dandy was dead, he was all dead; she didn't want to see him +sitting up stiff and cold, when he couldn't sing a speck." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ANNIE LOVEJOY. + + +But the day was not over yet. The bright sun and blue sky were doing +what they could to make a cheerful time of it, but it seemed as if Susy +fell more deeply into trouble, as the hours passed on. + +There are such days in everybody's life, when it rains small vexations +from morning till night, and when all we can do is to hope for better +things to-morrow. + +It was Wednesday; and in the afternoon, Flossy Eastman came over with a +new game, and while the little girls, Flossy, Susy and Prudy were +playing it, and trying their best to keep Dotty Dimple's prying fingers +and long curls out of the way, in came Miss Annie Lovejoy. + +This was a little neighbor, who, as the children sometimes privately +declared, was "always 'round." Mrs. Parlin had her own private doubts +about the advantages to be derived from her friendship, and had +sometimes gone so far as to send her home, when she seemed more than +usually in the way. + +Annie's mother lived next door, but all Mrs. Parlin knew of her, was +what she could see and hear from her own windows; and that little was +not very agreeable. She saw that Mrs. Love joy dressed in gaudy colors, +and loaded herself with jewelry; and she could hear her scold her +servants and children with a loud, shrill voice. + +The two ladies had never exchanged calls; but Annie, it seemed, had few +playmates, and she clung to Susy with such a show of affection, that Mrs. +Parlin could not forbid her visits, although she watched her closely; +anxious, as a careful mother should be, to make sure she was a proper +companion for her little daughter. So far she had never known her to say +or do anything morally wrong, though her manners were not exactly those +of a well-bred little girl. + +This afternoon, when the new game was broken up by the entrance of +Annie, the children began the play of housekeeping, because Prudy could +join in it. Susy found she enjoyed any amusement much more when it +pleased the little invalid. + +"I will be the lady of the house," said Annie, promptly, "because I have +rings on my fingers, and a coral necklace. My name is Mrs. Piper. +Prudy,--no, Rosy,--you shall be Mrs. Shotwell, come a-visiting me; +because you can't do anything else. We'll make believe you've lost your +husband in the wars. I know a Mrs. Shotwell, and she is always +_taking-on_, and saying, 'My poor dear husband,' under her handkerchief; +just this way." + +The children laughed at the nasal twang which Annie gave to the words, +and Prudy imitated it to perfection, not knowing it was wrong. + +"Well, what shall I be?" said Susy, not very well pleased that the first +characters had been taken already. + +"O, you shall be a hired girl, and wear a handkerchief on your head, +just as our girl does; and you must be a little deaf, and keep saying, +'What, ma'am?' when I speak to you." + +"And I," said Florence, "will be Mr. Peter Piper, the head of the +family." + +"Yes," returned Annie, "you can put on a waterproof cloak, and you will +make quite a good-looking husband; but I shall be the head of the family +myself, and have things about as I please!" + +"Well, there," cried Flossy, slipping her arms into the sleeves of her +cloak, "I don't know about that; I don't think it's very polite for you +to treat your husband in that way." + +Flossy wanted to have the control of family matters herself. + +"But I believe in 'Woman's Rights,'" said Annie, with a toss of the +head, "and if there's anything I despise, it is a _man_ meddling about +the house." + +Here little Dotty began to cause a disturbance, by sticking a +fruit-knife into the edges of the "what-not," and making a whirring +noise. + +"I wouldn't do so, Dotty," said Susy, going up to her; "it troubles us; +and, besides, I'm afraid it will break the knife." + +"I don't allow my hired girl to interfere with my children," said +Annie, speaking up in the character of Mrs. Piper; "I am mistress of the +house, I'd have you to know! There, little daughter, they shan't plague +her; she shall keep on doing mischief; so she shall!" + +Dotty needed no coaxing to keep on doing mischief, but hit the musical +knife harder than ever, giving it a dizzy motion, like the clapper in a +mill. + +Prudy was quite annoyed by the sound, but did not really know whether to +be nervous or not, and concluded to express her vexation in groans: the +groans she was giving in memory of the departed Mr. Shotwell, who had +died of a "cannon bullet." + +"My good Mrs. Shotwell," said Mrs. Piper, trying to "make +conversation," "I think I have got something in my eye: will you please +tell me how it looks?" + +"O," said Prudy, peeping into it, "your eye looks very well, ma'am; +don't you '_xcuse_ it; it looks well enough for _me_." + +"Ahem!" said Mrs. Piper, laughing, and settling her head-dress, which +was Susy's red scarf: "are your feet warm, Mrs. Shotwell?" + +"Thank you, ma'am," replied Prudy, "I don't feel 'em cold. O, dear, if +your husband was all deaded up, I guess you'd cry, Mrs. Piper." + +Susy and Flossy looked at each other, and smiled. They thought Prudy +seemed more like herself than they had known her for a long time. + +"You must go right out of the parlor, Betsey," said Mrs. Piper, +flourishing the poker; "I mean you, Susy--the parlor isn't any place for +hired girls." + +"Ma'am?" said Susy, inclining her head to one side, in order to hear +better. + +"O, dear! the plague of having a deaf girl!" moaned Mrs. Piper. "You +don't know how trying it is, Mrs. Shotwell! That hired girl, Betsey, +hears with her elbows, Mrs. Shotwell; I verily believe she does!" + +"O, no, ma'am," replied Prudy; "I guess she doesn't hear with her +elbows, does she? If she _heard_ with her elbows, she wouldn't have to +ask you over again!" + +This queer little speech set Mr. Piper and his wife, and their servant, +all to laughing, and Betsey looked at her elbows, to see if they were in +the right place. + +"Will you please, ma'am," said Prudy, "ask Betsey to _hot_ a flatiron? +I've cried my handkerchief all up!" + +"Yes; go right out, Betsey, and _hot_ a flatiron," said Mrs. Piper, very +hospitably. "Go out, this instant, and build a fire, Betsey." + +"Yes, go right out, Betsey," echoed Mr. Piper, who could find nothing +better to do than to repeat his wife's words; for, in spite of himself, +she did appear to be the "head of the family." + +"It was my darlin' husband's handkerchief," sobbed Prudy. + +"Rather a small one for a man," said Mr. Piper, laughing. + +"Well," replied Prudy, rather quick for a thought, "my husband had a +very small nose!" + +Mrs. Piper tried to make more "conversation." + +"O, Mrs. Shotwell, you ought to be exceeding thankful you're a widow, +and don't keep house! I think my hired girls will carry down my gray +hairs to the grave! The last one I had was Irish, and very Catholic." + +Prudy groaned for sympathy, and wiped her eyes on that corner of her +handkerchief which was supposed to be not quite "cried up." + +"Yes, indeed, it was awful," continued Mrs. Piper; "for she was always +going to masses and mass-meetings; and there couldn't anybody die but +they must be 'waked,' you know." + +"Why, I didn't know they could be waked up when they was dead," said +Prudy, opening her eyes. + +"O, but they only _make believe_ you can wake 'em," said Mrs. Piper; "of +course it isn't true! For my part, I don't believe a word an Irish girl +says, any way." + +"Hush, my child," she continued, turning to Dotty, who was now +sharpening the silver knife on the edges of the iron grate. "Betsey, why +in the world don't you see to that baby? I believe you are losing your +mind!" + +"That makes me think," said Prudy, suddenly breaking in with a new +idea; "what do you s'pose the reason is folks can't be waked up? What +makes 'em stay in heaven all the days, and nights, and years, and never +come down here to see anybody, not a minute?" + +"What an idea!" said Annie. "I'm sure I don't know." + +"Well, I've been a thinkin'," said Prudy, answering her own question, +"that when God has sended 'em up to the sky, they like to stay up there +the best. It's a nicer place, a great deal nicer place, up to God's +house." + +"O, yes, of course," replied Annie, "but our play--" + +"I've been a thinkin'," continued Prudy, "that when I go up to God's +house, I shan't wear the splint. I can run all over the house, and he'll +be willing I should go up stairs, and down cellar, you know." + +Prudy sighed. Sometimes she almost longed for "God's house." + +"Well, let's go on with our play," said Annie, impatiently. "It's most +supper-time, Mrs. Shotwell. Come in, Betsey." + +"Ma'am?" said Betsey, appearing at the door, and turning up one ear, +very much as if it were a dipper, in which she expected to catch the +words which dropped from the lips of her mistress. "Betsey, have you +attended to your sister--to my little child, I mean? Then go out and +make some sassafras cakes, and some eel-pie, and some squirrel-soup; +and set the table in five minutes: do you hear?" + +"Ma'am?" said the deaf servant; "what did you say about ginger-bread?" + +Susy did not like her part of the game; but she played it as well as she +could, and let Annie manage everything, because that was what pleased +Annie. + +"O, how stupid Betsey is!" said Mr. Piper, coming to the aid of his +wife. "Mrs. Piper says eel-jumbles, and sassafras-pie, and pound-cake; +all made in five minutes!" + +Here everybody laughed, and Prudy, suddenly remembering her part, +sighed, and said,-- + +"O, my darlin' husband used to like jumble-pie! I've forgot to cry for +ever so long!" + +Susy began to set the table, and went into the nursery for some cake and +cookies, which were kept in an old tin chest, on purpose for this play +of housekeeping, which had now been carried on regularly every Wednesday +and Saturday afternoon, for some time. + +Susy opened the cake-chest, and found nothing in it but a few dry +cookies: the fruit-cake was all gone. Who could have eaten it? Not +Flossy, for she had a singular dislike for raisins and currants, and +never so much as tasted fruit-cake. Not Prudy, for the poor little thing +had grown so lame by this time, that she was unable to bear her weight +on her feet, much less to walk into the nursery. Dotty could not be the +thief. Her baby-conscience was rather tough and elastic, and I suppose +she would have felt no more scruples about nibbling nice things, than an +unprincipled little mouse. + +But, then Dotty couldn't reach the cake-chest; so she was certainly +innocent. + +Then Susy remembered in a moment that it was Annie: Annie had run into +the house morning and night, and had often said, "I'm right hungry. I'm +going to steal a piece of our cake!" + +So it seemed that Annie had eaten it _all_. Susy ran back to Prudy's +sitting-room, where her little guests were seated, and said, trying not +to laugh,-- + +"Please, ma'am, I just made some eel-jumbles and things, and a dog came +in and stole them." + +"Very well, Betsey," said Mrs. Piper, serenely; "make some more." + +"Yes, make some more," echoed Mr. Piper; and added, "chain up that dog." + +"But real honest true," said Susy, "the fruit-cake _is_ all gone out of +the chest. You ate it up, you know, Annie; but it's no matter: we'll cut +up some cookies, or, may be, mother'll let us have some +oyster-crackers." + +"_I_ ate up the cake!" cried Annie; "It's no such a thing; I never +touched it!" Her face flushed as she spoke. + +"O, but you did," persisted Susy; "I suppose you've forgotten! You went +to the cake-chest this morning, and last night, and yesterday noon, and +ever so many more times." + +Annie was too angry to speak. + +"But it's just as well," added Susy, politely; "you could have it as +well as not, and perfectly welcome!" + +"What are you talking about?" cried Annie, indignantly; for she thought +she saw a look of surprise and contempt on Flossy's face, and fancied +that Flossy despised her because she had a weakness for fruit-cake. + +"I wonder if you take me for a pig, Susy Parlin! I heard what your +mother said about that cake! She said it was too dry for her company, +but it was too rich for little girls, and we must only eat a _teeny_ +speck at a time. I told my mamma, and she laughed, to think such mean +dried-up cake was too rich for little girls!" + +Susy felt her temper rising, but her desire to be polite did not desert +her. + +"It _was_ rich, nice cake, Annie; but mother said the slices had been +cut a great while, and it was drying up. Let's not talk any more about +it." + +"O, but I _shall_ talk more about it," cried Annie, still more +irritated; "you keep hinting that I tell wrong stories and steal cake; +yes, you do! and then you ain't willing to let me speak!" + +All this sounded like righteous indignation, but was only anger. Annie +was entirely in the wrong, and knew it; therefore she lost her temper. + +Susy had an unusual amount of self-control at this time, merely because +she had the truth on her side. But her dignified composure only vexed +Annie the more. + +"I won't stay here to be imposed upon, and told that I'm a liar and a +thief; so I won't! I'll go right home this very minute, and tell my +mother just how you treat your company!" + +And, in spite of all Susy could say, Annie threw on her hood and cloak, +and flounced out of the room; forgetting, in her wrath, to take off +Susy's red scarf, which was still festooned about her head. + +"Well, I'm glad she's gone," said Flossy, coolly, as the door closed +with a slam. "She's a bold thing, and my mother wouldn't like me to play +with her, if she knew how she acts! She said 'victuals' for food, and +that isn't _elegant_, mother says. What right had she to set up and say +she'd be Mrs. Piper? So forward!" + +After all, this was the grievous part of the whole to Flossy,--that she +had to take an inferior part in the play. + +"But I'm _sorry_ she's gone," said Susy, uneasily. "I don't like to have +her go and tell that I wasn't polite." + +"You _was_ polite," chimed in little Prudy, from the sofa; "a great deal +politer'n she was! I wouldn't care, if I would be you, Susy. I don't +wish Annie was dead, but I wish she was a duck a-sailin' on the water!" + +The children went back to the game they had been playing before Annie +came; but the interest was quite gone. Their quick-tempered little +guest had been a "_kill-joy_" in spite of her name. + +But the afternoon was not over yet. What happened next, I will tell you +in another chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +MORAL COURAGE. + + +Annie Lovejoy had not been gone fifteen minutes, when there was a sharp +ringing of Mrs. Parlin's doorbell, and a little boy gave Norah the red +scarf of Susy's, and a note for Mrs. Parlin. + +Norah suspected they both came from Mrs. Lovejoy, and she could see that +lady from the opposite window, looking toward the house with a very +defiant expression. + +Mrs. Parlin opened the note with some surprise, for she had been +engaged with visitors in the parlor, and did not know what had been +going on up stairs. + +Whatever Mrs. Lovejoy's other accomplishments might be, she could not +write very elegantly. The ink was hardly dry, and the words were badly +blotted, as well as incorrectly spelled. + + "Mrs. Parlin. + + "Madam: If my own _doughter_ is a _theif_ and a _lier_, I beg to be + informed. She has no _knowlidg_ of the cake, _whitch_ was so + _dryed_ up, a _begar woold_ not touch it. Will Miss Susan Parlin + come over here, and take back her words? + + "SERENA LOVEJOY." + +Mrs. Parlin was at a loss to understand this, for she had quite +forgotten the fact, that the children had any cake to use at their play +of housekeeping. She supposed that Susy must have accused Annie of +prying into the china-closet, where the cakes and jellies were kept. She +sent for Susy at once. + +"My daughter," said she, in her usual quiet tones, "did you ever have +any reason to suppose that Annie Lovejoy went about meddling with our +things, and peeping into the closets?" + +"Why, no, mother," replied Susy, much surprised; "she never saw the +closets, that I know of. Why, mother, what do you mean?" + +"Never ate cake, did she, without leave?" + +"O, now I know what you mean, mother! Yes'm, she ate some of that +fruit-cake you gave us to play with; and when I told her of it, she got +angry, and said she was going right home, and would tell her mother how +I treated my company; but I don't see how you found that out!" + +"Never mind yet how I found it out, my dear. I want to know if you are +sure that Annie ate the cake?" + +"Yes, mother: just as certain sure as I can be! You know Dotty can't +reach that high shelf in the nursery-closet, and I can't, without +getting into a chair; and Prudy can't walk a step; and Flossy despises +cake." + +"But," said Mrs. Parlin, smiling, "I don't see that you have proved +Annie to be the guilty one." + +"Guilty? O, I don't know as she is _guilty_, mamma; but she ate the +cake! She ate it right before my face and eyes; but I told her it was +just as well, she was perfectly welcome, and tried to be as polite as if +she was a grown-up lady, mother. But, O, dear, it didn't make a speck of +difference how much I said; for the more I said, the more angry she +grew, and I couldn't make her believe I didn't think she was a thief and +a liar! Only think, a thief and a liar! But I never said those words at +all, mother!" + +"Very well, my dear; I am sure you did not. It is a great comfort to +me, Susy, that I can always rely on your word. You have done nothing +wrong, and need not be unhappy; but Mrs. Lovejoy sends for you to go +over and tell her just what you mean about the cake; are you willing to +go?" + +Susy was not willing; indeed, she was very much frightened, and begged +her mother to excuse her in some way to Mrs. Lovejoy, or, if that would +not do, to go herself and explain the matter for her. + +But, as it was Susy's own affair, Mrs. Parlin wished to have as little +to do with it as possible. Besides, she considered it a good opportunity +to teach Susy a lesson in moral courage. + +Susy started very reluctantly. + +"I'm afraid Mrs. Lovejoy will scold real sharp," said she. "What shall I +do? O, mother, I didn't see Annie eat _all_ the cake; I didn't watch. +How do I know but she gave some crumbs to the cat? Can't I--can't I say, +I _guess_ the cat ate it?" + +"Susy!" said Mrs. Parlin, sternly, "are you more afraid of displeasing +Mrs. Lovejoy than you are of displeasing God? All that is required of +you is the simple truth. Merely say to Annie's mother just what you have +said to me; that you saw Annie eating cake several times, though there +was no harm in it, and you did _not_ call her either a thief or a liar. +Speak respectfully, but decidedly; and when you have said all that is +necessary, leave her politely, and come home." + +Susy called up all her courage when she entered Mrs. Lovejoy's house, +and saw that lady sitting very erect on a sofa, with a bleak face, which +looked somehow as if a north-east wind had blown over it, and frozen it. + +"Well, little girl," said she, without waiting for ceremony, "so you +call my Annie all the bad names you can think of, it seems. Is that the +way you are brought up?" + +"I didn't call her names, ma'am; she ate the cake, but I was willing," +replied Susy, calmly and respectfully, though she trembled from head to +foot. There was one thought which sustained Susy; she was telling the +truth, and that was just what God wanted her to do. + +"Well," said Mrs. Lovejoy, "I must say you're a dignified little piece! +Do you know you've done the same thing as to tell me I lie?" + +This was just the way _Annie_ had spoken; warping innocent words, and +making them the occasion of a quarrel. + +Susy could think of nothing which seemed exactly right to say to Mrs. +Lovejoy in reply; so she wisely held her peace. + +"Yes, miss, you've insulted my child, and, as if that were not enough, +you come over here, deliberately, and insult _me_, in my own house!" + +Tears sprang to Susy's eyes, but she resolutely crushed them back. +There was, in her childish mind, a certain sense of self-respect, which +made her unwilling to cry in the presence of such a person as Mrs. +Lovejoy. She felt instinctively that the woman was not a lady. Susy was +too young to reason about the matter; but she was quite sure her own +mother was a model of good manners; and never, never had she known her +mother to raise her voice to such a high key, or speak such angry words! + +Mrs. Lovejoy said a great many things which were both severe and unjust; +but Susy managed to keep up a respectful manner, as her mother had +directed. Mrs. Lovejoy was disappointed. She had expected Susy would +quail before her presence and make the most humble confessions. + +"I always knew," cried Mrs. Lovejoy, becoming more and more +exasperated,--"I always knew Mrs. Parlin held her head pretty high! She +is a proud, stuck-up woman, your mother is; she has taught you to look +down on my little girl! O, yes, I understand the whole story! You're a +beautiful family for neighbors!" + +Poor Susy was fairly bewildered. + +"Now you may go home as straight as you can go! But remember one thing: +never, while we live in this city, shall my daughter Annie darken your +doors again!" + +Susy walked home with downcast head and overflowing eyes. Her heart was +very heavy, for she felt she had been disgraced for life, and could +never be respected any more. Here was a trial so terrible that it caused +the death of little Dandy to seem almost a trifle by comparison. + +It was strange, Susy thought, how people could live through such severe +troubles as had fallen to her lot to-day. She was a little girl of quick +and sensitive feelings, and a sharp word always wounded her more than a +blow. How that angry woman had talked about her mother! + +Susy decided, upon the whole, that this was the sting--this was the "pin +in the lash," which had hurt her more than the lash. How _dared_ Mrs. +Lovejoy say a word about her own mother, who was certainly the best +woman that ever lived, always excepting the good people in the Bible! + +By the time she entered the house, her indignation had risen like a +blaze, and burned away all her tears. But should she tell her mother +what Mrs. Lovejoy had said about her ownself, about her being "stuck +up," and holding her head pretty high? Susy could not decide whether she +ought to tell her, and risk the danger of almost breaking her heart! But +before she had time to decide, she had poured out the whole story in a +torrent. + +Strange to say, Mrs. Parlin listened with perfect calmness, and even +said, when Susy had finished,-- + +"Very well, my dear; now you may go and hang up your hood and cloak." + +"But, mother," said Susy, rushing up stairs again, quite out of breath, +"now I've taken care of my things; but did you understand what I said, +mother? Annie will never come into this house, never again! Her mother +forbids it!" + +"That is quite fortunate for me, Susy, as it saves me the trouble of +forbidding it myself!" + +"Why, mother, you wouldn't do such a thing as that! Why, mother, I never +heard of your doing such a thing in my life!" + +"I should regret the necessity very much, my child; but wouldn't it be +better, on the whole, to have a little moral courage, and put an end to +all intercourse between the two families, than to live in a constant +broil?" + +"Why, yes, mother, I suppose so." + +Susy was beginning to feel more composed. She saw that her mother +understood the whole story, yet her heart was far from being broken! + +"What is moral courage, mother?" + +"The courage to do right." + +"Did I have moral courage when I told Mrs. Lovejoy the truth?" + +"Yes, dear. It was hard for you, wasn't it? If it had been easy, there +would have been no moral courage about it." + +"I am glad I had moral courage!" said Susy with animation. "I knew I did +something _right_, but I didn't know what you called it." + +"Now," continued Mrs. Parlin, "I have this very day been talking with a +lady, who once lived next door to Mrs. Lovejoy; and she tells me enough +about her to convince me that she is not a person I wish for a neighbor. +And I have heard enough about Annie, too, to feel very sure she is not a +safe companion for my little daughter." + +"But, mother," said Susy, "you are not--you don't feel 'stuck up' above +Mrs. Lovejoy?" + +Mrs. Parlin smiled. + +"That is not a very proper expression, Susy; but I think I do not feel +_stuck-up_ above her in the least. I am only anxious that my little +daughter may not be injured by bad examples. I don't know what sort of a +little girl Annie might be with proper influences, but--" + +"Now, mamma, I don't want to say anything improper," said Susy, +earnestly; "but wouldn't it be the _piousest_ for me to play with Annie, +and try to make her go to Sabbath school, and be better?" + +Mrs. Parlin did not answer at once. She was thinking of what she had +said to Susy about people who are "home missionaries," and do a great +deal of good by a beautiful example. + +"If you were older, dear, it would be quite different. But, instead of +improving Annie, who is a self-willed child, I fear you would only grow +worse yourself. She is bold, and you are rather timid. She wants to +lead, and not to follow. I fear she will set you bad examples." + +"I didn't know, mamma; but I thought I was almost old enough to set my +_own_ examples! I'm the oldest of the family." + +Susy said no more about becoming a home-missionary to Annie; for, +although she could not quite see the force of her mother's reasoning, +she believed her mother was always right. + +"But what does she mean by calling me _timid_? She has blamed me a great +deal for being _bold_." + +Yes, bold Susy certainly was, when there was a fence to climb, a pony to +ride, or a storm to be faced; but she was, nevertheless, a little +faint-hearted when people laughed at her. But Susy was learning every +day, and this time it had been a lesson in moral courage. She did not +fully understand her mother, however, as you will see by and by. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +RUTHIE TURNER. + + "The darkest day, + Wait till to-morrow, will have passed away." + + +The next morning, Susy woke with a faint recollection that something +unpleasant had occurred, though she could not at first remember what it +was. + +"But I didn't do anything wrong," was her second thought. "Now, after I +say my prayers, the next thing I'll feed--O, Dandy is dead!" + +"See here, Susy," said Percy, coming into the dining-room, just after +breakfast; "did you ever see this cage before?" + +"Now, Percy! When you know I want it out of my sight!" + +Then, in the next breath, "Why, Percy Eastman, if here isn't your +beautiful mocking-bird in the cage!" + +"Yes, Susy; and if you'll keep him, and be good to him, you'll do me a +great favor." + +It was a long while before Susy could be persuaded that this rare bird +was to be her "ownest own." It was a wonderfully gifted little creature. +Susy could but own that he was just as good as a canary, only a great +deal better. "The greater included the less." He had as sweet a voice, +and a vast deal more compass. His powers of mimicry were very amusing to +poor little Prudy, who was never tired of hearing him mew like a kitten, +quack like a duck, or whistle like a schoolboy. + +Susy was still more delighted than Prudy. It was so comforting, too, to +know that she was doing Percy "a great favor," by accepting his +beautiful present. She wondered in her own mind how he _could_ be tired +of such an interesting pet, and asked her to take it, just to get rid of +it! + +About this time, Mr. Parlin bought for Prudy a little armed-chair, which +rolled about the floor on wheels. This Prudy herself could propel with +only the outlay of a very little strength; but there were days when she +did not care to sit in it at all. Prudy seemed to grow worse. The doctor +was hopeful, very hopeful; but Mrs. Parlin was not. + +Prudy's dimpled hands had grown so thin, that you could trace the +winding path of every blue vein quite distinctly. Her eyes were large +and mournful, and seemed to be always asking for pity. She grew quiet +and patient--"painfully patient," her father said. Indeed, Mr. Parlin, +as well as his wife, feared the little sufferer was ripening for heaven. + +"Mamma," said she, one day, "mamma, you never snip my fingers any +nowadays do you? When I'm just as naughty, you never snip my fingers!" + +Mrs. Parlin turned her face away. There were tears in her eyes, and she +did not like to look at those little white fingers, which she was almost +afraid would never have the natural, childish naughtiness in them any +more. + +"I think sick and patient little girls don't need punishing," said she, +after a while. "Do you remember how you used to think I snipped your +hands to 'get the naughty out?' You thought the naughty was all in your +little hands!" + +"But it wasn't, mamma," said Prudy, slowly and solemnly. "I know where +it was: it was in my _heart_." + +"Who can take the naughty out of our hearts, dear? Do you ever think?" + +"Our Father in heaven. No one else can. _He_ knows how to snip our +hearts, and get the naughty out. Sometimes he sends the earache and the +toothache to Susy, and the--the--lameness to me. O, he has a great many +ways of snipping!" + +Prudy was showing the angel-side of her nature now. Suffering was +"making her perfect." She had a firm belief that God knew all about it, +and that somehow or other it was "all right." Her mother took a great +deal of pains to teach her this. She knew that no one can bear +affliction with real cheerfulness who does not trust in God. + +But there was now and then a bright day when Prudy felt quite buoyant, +and wanted to play. Susy left everything then, and tried to amuse her. +If this lameness was refining little Prudy, it was also making Susy more +patient. She could not look at her little sister's pale face, and not be +touched with pity. + +One afternoon, Flossy Eastman and Ruthie Turner came to see Susy; and, +as it was one of Prudy's best days, Mrs. Parlin said they might play in +Prudy's sitting-room. Ruthie was what Susy called an "old-fashioned +little girl." She lived with a widowed mother, and had no brothers and +sisters, so that she appeared much older than she really was. She liked +to talk with grown people upon wise subjects, as if she were at least +twenty-five years old. Susy knew that this was not good manners, and she +longed to say so to Ruthie. + +Aunt Madge was in Prudy's sitting-room when Ruthie entered. Ruthie went +up to her and shook hands at once. + +"I suppose it is Susy's aunt Madge," said she. "I am delighted to see +you, for Susy says you love little girls, and know lots of games." + +There was such a quiet composure in Ruth's manner, and she seemed to +feel so perfectly at home in addressing a young lady she had never seen +before, that Miss Parlin was quite astonished, as well as a little +inclined to smile. + +Then Ruthie went on to talk about the war. Susy listened in mute +despair, for she did not know anything about politics. Aunt Madge looked +at Susy's face, and felt amused, for _Ruthie_ knew nothing about +politics either: she was as ignorant as Susy. She had only heard her +mother and other ladies talking together. Ruthie answered all the +purpose of a parrot hung up in a cage, for she caught and echoed +everything that was said, not having much idea what it meant. + +When aunt Madge heard Ruth laboring away at long sentences, with hard +words in them, she thought of little Dotty, as she had seen her, that +morning, trying to tug Percy's huge dog up stairs in her arms. + +"It is too much for her," thought aunt Madge: "the dog got the +upper-hand of Dotty, and I think the big words are more than a match for +Ruth." + +But Ruth did not seem to know it, for she persevered. She gravely asked +aunt Madge if she approved of the "_Mancimation_ of _Proclapation_." +Then she said she and her mamma were very much "_perplexed"_ when news +came of the last defeat. She would have said "_surprised_" only +_surprised_ was an every-day word, and not up to standard of elegant +English. + +Ruth was not so very silly, after all. It was only when she tried to +talk of matters too old for her that she made herself ridiculous. She +was very quiet and industrious, and had knit several pairs of socks for +the soldiers. + +As soon as Miss Parlin could disentangle herself from her conversation +with Ruthie, she left the children to themselves. + +"Let's keep school," said Prudy. "I'll be teacher, if you want me to." + +"Very well," replied Susy, "we'll let her; won't we, girls? she is such +a darling." + +"Well," said Prudy, with a look of immense satisfaction, "please go, +Susy, and ask grandma if I may have one of those shiny, white +handkerchiefs she wears on her neck, and a cap, and play Quaker." + +Grandma was very glad that Prudy felt well enough to play Quaker, and +lent her as much "costume" as she needed, as well as a pair of +spectacles without eyes, which the children often borrowed for their +plays, fancying that they added to the dignity of the wearer. + +When Prudy was fairly equipped, she was a droll little Quakeress, +surely, and grandma had to be called up from the kitchen to behold her +with her own eyes. The little soft face, almost lost in the folds of the +expansive cap, was every bit as solemn as if she had been, as aunt Madge +said, "a hundred years old, and very old for her age." + +She was really a sweet little likeness of grandma Read in miniature. + +"And their names are alike, too," said Susy: "grandma's name is +Prudence, and so is Prudy's." + +"Used to be," said Prudy, gravely. + +"Rosy Frances" was now lifted most carefully into her little wheeled +chair and no queen ever held a court with more dignity than she assumed +as she smoothed into place the folds of her grandma's snowy kerchief, +which she wore about her neck. + +"What shall we do first?" said Flossy and Susy. + +"Thee? thee?" Prudy considered "thee" the most important word of all. +"Why, _thee_ may behave; I mean, behave _thyselves_." + +The new teacher had not collected her ideas yet. + +"Let's get our books together," said Susy, "and then we'll all sit on +the sofa and study." + +"Me, me," chimed in Dotty Dimple, dropping the little carriage in which +she was wheeling her kitty; "me, too!" + +"Well, if you must, you must; snuggle in here between Flossy and me," +said Susy, who was determined that to-day everything should go on +pleasantly. + +"Sixteenth class in joggerphy," said Miss Rosy Frances, peeping severely +over her spectacles. "Be spry quick!" + +The three pupils stood up in a row, holding their books close to their +faces. + +"Thee may hold out your hands now, and I shall ferule thee--the whole +school," was the stern remark of the young teacher, as she took off her +spectacles to wipe the holes. + +"Why, we haven't been doing anything," said Ruthie, affecting to cry. + +"No, I know it; but thee'd _ought_ to have been doing something; thee'd +ought to have studied thy lessons." + +"But, teacher, we didn't have time," pleaded Flossy; "you called us out +so quick! Won't you forgive us!" + +"Yes, I will," said Rosy Frances, gently; "I will, if thee'll speak up +_'xtremely_ loud, and fix _thine_ eyes on thy teacher." + +The pupils replied, "Yes, ma'am," at the top of their voices. + +"Now," said Rosy Frances, appearing to read from the book, "where is the +Isthmus of _Susy?_" + +The scholars all laughed, and answered at random. They did not know that +their teacher was trying to say the "Isthmus of Suez." + +The next question took them by surprise:-- + +"Is there any man in the moon?" + +"What a queer idea, Rosy," said Susy; "what made you ask that?" + +"'Cause I wanted to know," replied the Quaker damsel. "They said he +came down when the other man was eatin' porridge. I should think, if he +went back up there, and didn't have any wife and children, he'd be real +lonesome!" + +This idea of Prudy's set the whole school to romancing, although it was +in the midst of a recitation. Flossy said if there was a man in the +moon, he must be a giant, or he never could get round over the +mountains, which she had heard were very steep. + +Ruthie asked if there was anything said about his wife! Susy, who had +read considerable poetry was sure she had heard something of a woman up +there, named "Cynthia;" but she supposed it was all "moonshine," or +"made up," as she expressed it. She said she meant to ask her aunt +Madge to write a fairy story about it. + +Here their progress in useful knowledge was cut short by the +disappearance of Dotty. Looking out of the window, they saw the little +rogue driving ducks with a broomstick. These ducks had a home not far +from Mrs. Parlin's, and if Dotty Dimple had one temptation stronger than +all others, it was the sight of those waddling fowls, with their velvet +heads, beads of eyes, and spotted feathers. When she saw them "marshin' +along," she was instantly seized with a desire either to head the +company or to march in the rear, and set them to quacking. She was +bareheaded, and Susy ran down stairs to bring her into the house; and +that was an end of the school for that day. Dotty Dimple was something +like the kettle of molasses which Norah was boiling, very sweet, but +very apt to _boil over_: she needed watching. + +When Norah's candy was brought up stairs, the little girls pronounced it +excellent. + +"O, dear," said Flossy, "I wish our girl was half as good as Norah! I +don't see why Electa and Norah ain't more alike when they are own +sisters!" + +"What dreadful girls your mother always has!" said Susy; "it's too bad?" + +"I know of a girl," said Prudy, "one you'd like ever'n, ever so much, +Flossy; only you can't have her." + +"Why not?" said Flossy; "my mother would go hundreds of leagues to get a +good girl. Why can't she have her?" + +"O, 'cause, she's _dead!_ It's Norah's cousin over to Ireland." + +They next played the little game of guessing "something in this room," +that begins with a certain letter. Ruthie puzzled them a long while on +the initial S. At last she said she meant "scrutau" (escritoire or +scrutoire), pointing towards the article with her finger. + +"Why, that's a _writing-desk_," said Susy. "I don't see where you learn +so many big worns, Ruthie." + +"O, I take notice, and remember them," replied Ruthie, looking quite +pleased. She thought Susy was praising her. + +"Now let _me_ tell some letters," said Prudy. + +"L.R. She lives at your house, Flossy." + +Nobody could guess. + +"Why, I should think _that_ was easy enough," said Prudy: "it's that +girl that lives there; she takes off the covers of your stove with a +clothes-pin: it's 'Lecta Rosbornd.'" + +The little girls explained to Prudy that the true initials of Electa +Osborne would be E.O., instead of L.R. But Prudy did not know much about +spelling. She _had_ known most of her letters; but it was some time ago, +and they had nearly all slipped out of her head. + +She said, often, she wished she could "only, only read;" and Susy +offered to teach her, but Mrs. Parlin said it would never do till Prudy +felt stronger. + +I will tell you now why I think Susy did not understand her mother when +she said Annie was not a suitable playmate. In the evening, after Ruthie +and Flossy were gone, Susy said to her mother,-- + +"I feel real cross with Ruthie, mamma: I think she puts herself forward. +She goes into a room, and no matter how old the people are that are +talking, she speaks up, and says, 'O, yes, I know all about it.' I never +saw such an old-fashioned little girl." + +"Very well," said Mrs. Parlin; "if _she_ is rude, take care that the +same fault does not appear in yourself, Susy." + +"But, mother," said Susy, suddenly veering about and speaking in Ruth's +favor, "I don't know but it's proper to do as Ruthy does. If you know +something, and other people don't, ain't it right to speak up and say +it?" + +"It is never right for little girls to _monopolize_ conversation, Susy; +that is, to take the lead in it, and so prevent older people from +talking. Neither is it proper to pretend to know more than we do, and +talk of things beyond our knowledge." + +"I knew you would say so, mother. I just asked to hear what you would +say. I know Ruthie is ill-mannered: do you think I ought to play with +her any more?" + +Mrs. Parlin looked at Susy in surprise. + +"Why, you know, mother, you wouldn't let me play with Annie Lovejoy. You +said, 'evil communications corrupted good manners.'" + +"But can't you see any difference in the cases, Susy? What a muddy +little head you must wear on your shoulders!" + +"Not much of any," said Susy, trying to think; "they're both _bold_; +that's what you don't like." + +"Anything else, Susy?" + +"O, yes, mother; Ruthie's good, and Annie isn't. It was queer for me to +forget that!" + +"I should think it was, Susy, since it is the only thing of much +importance, after all. Now, it seems to me you are very ready to cast +off your friends when their manners offend you. How would you like it to +be treated in the same way? Suppose Mrs. Turner and Ruthie should be +talking together this very minute. Ruthie says, 'That Susy Parlin keeps +her drawers in a perfect tumble; she isn't orderly a bit. Susy Parlin +never knit a stitch for the soldiers in her life. Mother, mayn't I stop +playing with Susy Parlin?'" + +Susy laughed, and looked a little ashamed. + +"Well, mother," said she, twisting the corner of her handkerchief, "I +guess I can't say anything about Ruthie Turner; she's a great deal +better girl than I am, any way." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SUSY'S BIRTHDAY. + + +Days and weeks passed. The snowflakes, which had fallen from time to +time, and kept themselves busy making a patchwork quilt for mother +Earth, now melted away, and the white quilt was torn into shreds. The +bare ground was all there was to be seen, except now and then a dot of +the white coverlet. It was Spring, and everything began to wake up. The +sun wasn't half so sleepy, and didn't walk off over the western hills in +the middle of the afternoon to take a nap. + +The sleighing was gone long ago. The roads were dismal swamps. "Wings" +would have a rest till "settled going." Susy's skates were hung up in a +green baize bag, to dream away the summer. + +The mocking-bird performed his daily duties of entertaining the family, +besides learning a great many new songs. Susy said she tried not to set +her heart on that bird. + +"I'll not give him a name," she added, "for then he'll be sure to die! +My first canary was Bertie, and I named the others Berties, as fast as +they died off. The last one was so yellow that I couldn't help calling +him Dandelion; but I wish I hadn't, for then, perhaps, he'd have lived." + +Susy had caught some whimsical notions about "signs and wonders." It is +strange how some intelligent children will believe in superstitious +stories! But as soon as Susy's parents discovered that her young head +had been stored with such worse than foolish ideas, they were not slow +to teach her better. + +She had a great fright, about this time, concerning Freddy Jackson. He +was one of the few children who were allowed to play in "Prudy's +sitting-room." He did not distract the tired nerves of "Rosy Frances," +as her cousin Percy and other boys did, by sudden shouts and loud +laughing. Prudy had a vague feeling that he was one of the little ones +that God thought best to punish by "snipping his heart." She knew what +it was to have _her_ heart snipped, and had a sympathy with little +Freddy. + +Susy loved Freddy, too. Perhaps Percy was right, when he said that Susy +loved everything that was dumb; and I am not sure but her tender heart +would have warmed to him all the more if he had been stone-blind, as +well as deaf. + +Freddy had a drunken father, and a sad home; but, for all that, he was +not entirely miserable. It is only the wicked who are miserable. The +kind Father in heaven has so planned it that there is something pleasant +in everybody's life. + +Freddy had no more idea what _sound_ is than we have of the angels in +heaven; but he could see, and there is so much to be seen! Here is a +great, round world, full of beauty and wonder. It stands ready to be +looked at. Freddy's ears must be forever shut out from pleasant sound; +but his bright eyes were wide open, seeing all that was made to be +seen. + +He loved to go to Mrs. Parlin's, for there he was sure to be greeted +pleasantly; and he understood the language of smiles as well as anybody. + +When grandma Read saw him coming she would say,-- + +"Now, Susan, thee'd better lay aside thy book, for most likely the poor +little fellow will want to _talk_." + +And Susy did lay aside her book. She had learned so many lessons this +winter in self-denial! + +These "silent talks" were quite droll. Little Dotty almost understood +something about them; that is, when they used the signs: the alphabet +was more than she could manage. When Freddy wanted to talk about Dotty, +he made a sign for a dimple in each cheek. He smoothed his hair when he +meant Susy, and made a waving motion over his head for Prudy, whose hair +was full of ripples. + +Prudy said she had wrinkled hair, and she knew it; but the wrinkles +"wouldn't come out." + +Grandma Read sat one evening by the coal-grate, holding a letter in her +hand, and looking into the glowing fire with a thoughtful expression. +Susy came and sat near her, resting one arm on her grandma's lap, and +trying in various ways to attract her attention. + +"Why, grandma," said she, "I've spoken to you three times; but I can't +get you to answer or look at me." + +"What does thee want, my dear? I will try to attend to thee." + +"O, grandma, there are ever so many things I want to say, now mother is +out of the room, and father hasn't got home. I must tell somebody, or my +heart will break; and you know, grandma dear, I can talk to you so +easy." + +"Can thee? Then go on, Susy; what would thee like to say?" + +"O, two or three things. Have you noticed, grandma, that I've been just +as sober as can be?" + +"For how long, Susan?" + +"O, all day; I've felt as if I couldn't but just live!" + +Grandma Read did not smile at this. She knew very well that such a child +as Susy is capable of intense suffering. + +"Well, Susan, is it about thy sister Prudence?" + +"O, no, grandma! she's getting; better; isn't she?" + +"Are thy lessons at school too hard for thee, Susan?" + +Mrs. Read saw that Susy was very reluctant about opening her heart, +although she had said she could talk to her grandmother "so easy." + +"No, indeed, grandma; my lessons are not too hard. I'm a real good +scholar--one of the best in school for my age." + +This was a fact. Some people would have chidden Susy for it; but Mrs. +Read reflected that the child was only telling the simple truth, and had +no idea of boasting. She was not a little girl who would intrude such +remarks about herself upon strangers. But when she and her grandma were +talking together confidentially, she thought it made all the difference +in the world; as indeed it did. + +"I have a great deal to trouble me," said Susy, and the "evening-blue" +of her eyes clouded over, till there were signs of a shower. "I thought +my pony would make me happy as long as I lived; but it hasn't. One thing +that I feel bad about is--well, it's turning over a new leaf. When New +Year's comes, I'm going to do it, and don't; so I wait till my birthday, +and then I don't. It seems as if I'd tried about a thousand New Years +and birthdays to turn over that leaf." + +Grandma smiled, but did not interrupt Susy. + +"I think I should be real good," continued the child, "if it wasn't such +hard work. I can't be orderly, grandma--not much; and then Dotty upsets +everything. Sometimes I have to hold my breath to keep patient. + +"Well, grandma, my birthday comes to-morrow, the 8th of April. I like +it well enough; only there's one reason why I don't like it at all, and +that is a Bible reason. It's so dreadful that I can't bear to say it to +you," said Susy, shuddering, and lowering her voice to a whisper; "I +don't want to grow up, for I shall have to marry Freddy Jackson." + +Grandma tried to look serious. + +"Who put such a foolish idea into thy head, child?" + +"Cousin Percy told me last night," answered Susy, solemnly. "How can you +laugh when it's all in the Bible, grandma? I never told anybody before. +Wait; I'll show you the verse. I've put a mark at the place." + +Susy brought her Bible to her grandmother, and, opening it at the +thirty-first chapter of Proverbs, pointed, with a trembling finger, to +the eighth verse, which Mrs. Read read aloud,-- + +"Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed +to destruction." + +"Now Percy says that's a sure sign! I told him, O, dear! Freddy ought to +marry a dumb woman; that would be _properest_; but Percy says +no--anything has got to 'come to pass' when it's _foreordinationed_!" + +"And could thee really believe such foolishness, my sensible little +Susan? Does thee suppose the good Lord ever meant that we should read +his Bible as if it were a wicked dream-book?" + +"Then you don't think I shall have to marry Freddy Jackson," cried Susy, +immensely relieved. "I'm so glad I told you! I felt so sober all day, +only nobody noticed it, and I was ashamed to tell!" + +"It is a good thing for thee to tell thy little troubles to thy older +friends, Susan: thee'll almost always find it so," said grandma Read, +stroking Susy's hair. + +"Now, my child, I have a piece of news for thee, if thee is ready to +hear it: thy cousin, Grace Clifford, has a little sister." + +"A baby sister? A real sister? Does mother know it?" + +"Yes, thy mother knows it." + +"But how _could_ you keep it to yourself so long?" + +"Thee thinks good news is hard to keep, does thee? Well, thee shall be +the first to tell thy father when he comes home." + +Susy heard steps on the door-stone, and rushed out, with the joyful +story on her lips. It proved to be not her father, but callers, who were +just ringing the bell; and they heard Susy's exclamation,-- + +"O, have you heard? Grace has a new sister, a baby sister, as true as +you live!" with the most provoking coolness. + +But when Mr. Parlin came, he was sufficiently interested in the news to +satisfy even Susy. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +FAREWELL. + + +Prudy was really getting better. Mrs. Parlin said she should trust a +physician more next time. The doctor declared that all the severe pain +Prudy had suffered was really necessary. + +"Believe me, my dear madam," said he, "when the poor child has +complained most, she has in fact been making most progress towards +health. When the sinews are 'knitting together,' as we call it, then the +agony is greatest." + +This was very comforting to Mrs. Parlin, who thought she would not be +discouraged so easily again; she would always believe that it is +"darkest just before day." + +There was really everything to hope for Prudy. The doctor thought that +by the end of three months she would walk as well as ever. He said she +might make the effort now, every day, to bear her weight on her feet. +She tried this experiment first with her father and mother on each side +to support her; but it was not many days before she could stand firmly +on her right foot, and bear a little weight on her left one, which did +not now, as formerly, drag, or, as she had said, "_more_ than touch the +floor." By and by she began to scramble about on the carpet on all +fours, partly creeping, partly pushing herself along. + +It was surprising how much pleasure Prudy took in going back to these +ways of babyhood. + +Faint blush roses began to bloom in her cheeks as soon as she could take +a little exercise and go out of doors. Her father bought a little +carriage just suitable for the pony, and in this she rode every morning, +her mother or Percy driving; for Mrs. Parlin thought it hardly safe to +trust Susy with such a precious encumbrance as this dear little sister. + +She had been willing that Susy should manage Wings in a sleigh, but in a +carriage the case was quite different; for, though in a sleigh there +might be even more danger of overturning, there was not as much danger +of getting hurt. Indeed, Susy's sleigh had tipped over once or twice in +turning too sharp a corner, and Susy had fallen out, but had instantly +jumped up again, laughing. + +She would have driven in her new carriage to Yarmouth and back again, or +perhaps to Bath, if she had been permitted. She was a reckless little +horsewoman, afraid of nothing, and for that very reason could not be +trusted alone. + +But there was no difficulty in finding companions. Percy pretended to +study book-keeping, but was always ready for a ride. Flossy was not +steady enough to be trusted with the reins, but Ruth Turner was as +careful a driver as need be; though Susy laughed because she held the +reins in both hands, and looked so terrified. + +She said it did no good to talk with Ruth when she was driving; she +never heard a word, for she was always watching to see if a carriage +was coming, and talking to herself, to make sure she remembered which +was her right hand, so she could "turn to the right, as the law +directs." + +Prudy enjoyed the out-of-doors world once more, and felt like a bird let +out of a cage. And so did Susy, for she thought she had had a dull +season of it, and fully agreed with Prudy, who spoke of it as the "slow +winter." + +But now it was the quick spring, the live spring. The brooks began to +gossip; the birds poured out their hearts in song, and the dumb trees +expressed their joy in leaves. + + "The bobolink, on the mullein-stalk, + Would rattle away like a sweet girl's talk." + +The frogs took severe colds, but gave concerts a little way out of the +city every evening. The little flowers peeped up from their beds, as +Norah said, "like babies asking to be took;" and Susy took them; +whenever she could find them, you may be sure, and looked joyfully into +their faces. She could almost say,-- + + "And 'tis my faith that every flower + Enjoys the air it breathes." + +She said, "I don't suppose they know much, but _perhaps_ they know +enough to have a good time: who knows?" + +Susy took long walks to Westbrook, and farther, coming home tired out, +but loaded with precious flowers. There were plenty of friends to give +them to her from their early gardens: broad-faced crocuses, jonquils, +and lilies of the valley, and by and by lilacs, with "purple spikes." + +She gathered snowdrops, "the first pale blossoms of the unripened +year," and May-flowers, pink and white, like sea-shells, or like +"cream-candy," as Prudy said. These soft little blossoms blushed so +sweetly on the same leaf with such old experienced leaves! Susy said, +"it made her think of little bits of children who hadn't any mother, and +lived with their grandparents." + +Dotty was almost crazy with delight when she had a "new pair o' boots, +and a pair o' shaker," and was allowed to toddle about on the pavement +in the sunshine. She had a green twig or a switch to flourish, and could +now cry, "Hullelo!" to those waddling ducks, and hear them reply, +"Quack! quack!" without having such a trembling fear that some stern +Norah, or firm mamma, would rush out bareheaded, and drag her into the +house, like a little culprit. + +It was good times for Dotty Dimple, and good times for the whole family. +Spring had come, and Prudy was getting well. There was a great deal to +thank God for! + +It is an evening in the last of May. A bit of a moon, called "the new +moon," is peeping in at the window. It shines over Susy's right +shoulder, she says. Susy is reading, Prudy is walking slowly across the +floor, and Dotty Dimple is whispering to her kitty, telling her to go +down cellar, and catch the naughty rats while they are asleep. When +kitty winks, Dotty thinks it the same as if she said,-- + +"I hear you, little Miss Dotty: I'm going." + +I think perhaps this is a good time to bid the three little girls +good-by, or, as dear grandma Read would say, "Farewell!" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE PRUDY'S SISTER SUSY*** + + +******* This file should be named 14202-8.txt or 14202-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/2/0/14202 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Little Prudy's Sister Susy</p> +<p>Author: Sophie May</p> +<p>Release Date: November 29, 2004 [eBook #14202]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE PRUDY'S SISTER SUSY***</p> +<br><br><h3>E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Melissa Er-Raqabi,<br> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br> + at <a href="https://www.pgdp.net" target="_blank">https://www.pgdp.net</a> + </h3><br><br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<br> +<p class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover Illustration" title="Cover Illustration" /></p> + +<h1>LITTLE PRUDY'S</h1> +<h1>SISTER SUSY</h1> + +<h3><i>By</i></h3> +<h2>SOPHIE MAY</h2> + +<br /> + +<h6>New York<br> +Hurst & Company<br> +Publishers</h6> + + + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>TO MY<br /> +LITTLE NIECE<br /> +<i>Katie Clarke</i><br /> +THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU, KATIE,<br /> +WITH THE LOVE OF YOUR AUNTIE.</h3> + + + + +<p class="figcenter"><img src="images/front.png" alt="Illustration"> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<h4>CONTENTS.</h4> + +<center> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr><td align='right'> </td><td align='left'><a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE</a></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>I.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_I">KEEPING SECRETS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>II.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_II">BEFORE DAYLIGHT</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_III">SUSY'S CHRISTMAS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">SUSY'S WINGS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_V">PRUDY'S TROUBLE</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">ROSY FRANCES EASTMAN MARY</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">LITTLE TROUBLES</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">ANNIE LOVEJOY</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">MORAL COURAGE</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_X">RUTHIE TURNER</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">SUSY'S BIRTHDAY</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">FAREWELL</a></td></tr></table> +</center> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="PREFACE"></a><h2>PREFACE.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Here is a story about the oldest of +the three little Parlin girls, "sister +Susy;" though so many things are +always happening to Prudy that it is +not possible to keep her out of the +book.</p> + +<p>I hope my dear little friends will +see how kind it was in God to send the +"slow winter" and the long nights of +pain to little Prudy.</p> + +<p>If trouble should come to us, let us +grow gentle, and patient, and lovely.</p> + +<p>Little friends, be sure of one thing—our +dear Father in heaven sends us +something hard to bear only because +he loves us.</p> + + + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a><h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>KEEPING SECRETS.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>We might begin this story of Susy +Parlin on a New Year's day, only it is +so hard to skip over Christmas. There +is such a charm about Christmas! It +makes you think at once of a fir tree +shining with little candles and sparkling +with toys, or of a droll Santa Claus +with a pack full of presents, or of a +waxen angel called the Christ-child.</p> + +<p>And it is just as well to date from +the twenty-fifth of December, because, +as "Christ was born on Christmas +day," that is really the "Happy New +Year."</p> + +<p>For a long while the three little +Parlin girls had been thinking and +dreaming of presents. Susy's wise +head was like a beehive, full of little +plans and little fancies, which were +flying about like bees, and buzzing in +everybody's ears.</p> + +<p>But it may be as well to give you a +short description of the Parlin family.</p> + +<p>Susy's eyes were of an "evening +blue," the very color of the sky in a +summer night; good eyes, for they +were as clear as a well which has the +"truth" lying at the bottom of it. She +was almost as nimble as a squirrel, and +could face a northern snow storm +like an engineer. Her hair was dark +brown, and as smooth and straight +as pine-needles; while Prudy's fair hair +rippled like a brook running over +pebbles. Prudy's face was sunny, and +her mouth not much larger than a +button-hole.</p> + +<p>The youngest sister was named +Alice, but the family usually called +her Dotty, or Dotty Dimple, for she +was about as round as a period, and +had a cunning little dimple in each +cheek. She had bright eyes, long +curls, and a very short tongue; that +is, she did not talk much. She was +two years and a half old before she +could be prevailed upon to say anything +at all. Her father declared that +Dotty thought there were people +enough in the world to do the talking, +and she would keep still; or perhaps +she was tired of hearing Prudy say so +much.</p> + +<p>However, she had a way of nodding +her curly head, and shaking her plump +little forefinger; so everybody knew +very well what she meant. She had +learned the use of signs from a little +deaf and dumb boy of whom we shall +hear more by and by; but all at once, +when she was ready she began to talk +with all her might, and soon made up +for lost time.</p> + +<p>The other members of the family +were only grown people: Mr. and +Mrs. Parlin, the children's excellent +parents; Mrs. Read, their kind Quaker +grandmother; and the Irish servant +girl, Norah.</p> + +<p>Just now Mrs. Margaret Parlin, +their "aunt Madge," was visiting them, +and the little girls felt quite easy +about Christmas, for they gave it all +up to her; and when they wanted to +know how to spend their small stock +of money, or how much this or that +pretty toy would cost, Prudy always +settled it by saying, "Let's go ask +auntie: <i>she'll</i> know, for she's been +through the Rithmetic."</p> + +<p>Prudy spoke these words with awe. +She thought "going through the +Rithmetic" was next thing to going +round the world.</p> + +<p>"O Auntie, I'm so glad you came," +said Susy, "for I didn't see how I was +ever going to finish my Christmas +presents: I go to school, you know, +and it takes me all the rest of the time +to slide!"</p> + +<p>The children were busy making +wonderful things "all secret;" or they +would have been secret if Prudy hadn't +told.</p> + +<p>For one thing, she wondered very +much what Susy could be doing with +four pins stuck in a spool. She +watched the nimble fingers as they +passed the worsted thread over the +pin-heads, making stitches as fast as +Susy could wink.</p> + +<p>"It looks like a tiny snake all +sticked through the hole in the spool," +said Prudy, eager with curiosity. +"If you ain't a-goin' to speak, I +don't know what I <i>shall</i> do, Susy +Parlin!"</p> + +<p>When poor Susy could not pretend +any longer not to hear, she answered +Prudy, half vexed, half laughing, "O, +dear, I s'pose you'll tease and tease till +you find out. Won't you never say a +word to anybody, <i>never</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Never in my world," replied the +little one, with a solemn shake of her +head.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's a lamp-mat for auntie. +It's going to be blue, and red, and all +colors; and when it's done, mother'll +sew it into a round, and put fringe +on: won't it be splendid? But +remember, you promised not to +tell!"</p> + +<p>Now, the very next time Prudy sat +in her auntie's lap she whispered in +her ear,—</p> + +<p>"You don't know what <i>we're</i> making +for you, <i>all secret</i>, out of worsted, +and <i>I</i> shan't tell!"</p> + +<p>"Mittens?" said aunt Madge, kissing +Prudy's lips, which were pressed together +over her sweet little secret like +a pair of sugar-tongs clinching a lump +of sugar.</p> + +<p>"Mittens? No, indeed! Better'n +that! There'll be fringe all over it; +it's in a round; it's to put something +on,—to put the <i>lamp</i> on!"</p> + +<p>"Not a lamp-mat, of course?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes it is! O, there, now +you've been and guessed all in a +minute! Susy's gone an' told! I +didn't s'pose she'd tell. I wouldn't +for nothin' in my world!"</p> + +<p>Was it strange that Susy felt vexed +when she found that her nice little +surprise was all spoiled?</p> + +<p>"Try to be patient," said Mrs. Parlin, +gently. "Remember how young and +thoughtless your sister is. She never +means any harm."</p> + +<p>"O, but, mamma," replied Susy, +"she <i>keeps</i> me being patient all the +whole time, and it's hard work."</p> + +<p>So Susy, in her vexation, said to +Prudy, rather sternly, "You little +naughty thing, to go and tell when +you promised not to! You're almost +as bad as Dotty. "What makes you +act so?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Susy," said the child, looking +up through her tears, "have I <i>acted</i>? +I didn't know I'd acted! If you loved +me, you wouldn't look that way to me. +You wrinkle up your face just like +Nanny when she says she'll shake the +naughty out of me, Miss Prudy."</p> + +<p>Then what could Susy do but forgive +the sweet sister, who kissed her +so coaxingly, and looked as innocent +as a poor little kitty that has been +stealing cream without knowing it +is a sin?</p> + +<p>It was plain that it would not do to +trust Prudy with secrets. Her brain +could not hold them, any more than +a sieve can hold water. So Mrs. Parlin +took pity upon Susy, and allowed her +and her cousin Florence Eastman to +lock themselves into her chamber at +certain hours, and work at their presents +without interruption.</p> + +<p>While the little girls sat together +busily employed with book-marks and +pin-cushions, the time flew very +swiftly, and they were as happy as +bees in a honeysuckle.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Parlin said she believed nothing +less than Christmas presents would +ever make Susy willing to use a needle +and thread; for she disliked sewing, +and declared she wished the man who +made the needles had to swallow them +all.</p> + +<p>The family were to celebrate Christmas +evening; for Mr. Parlin was away, +and might not reach home in season +for Christmas eve.</p> + +<p>For a wonder they were not to have +a Tree, but a Santa Claus, "just for a +change."</p> + +<p>"Not a truly Santa Claus, that +comes puffin' down the chimney," +explained Prudy, who knew very well +it would be only cousin Percy under +a mask and white wig.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a><h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>BEFORE DAYLIGHT.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>On Christmas morning, at three +o'clock, there was a great bustle and +pattering of little feet, and buzzing of +little voices trying to speak in whispers. +Susy and Prudy were awake +and astir.</p> + +<p>"Where <i>do</i> you s'pose the stockings +are?" buzzed Prudy, in a very loud +whisper.</p> + +<p>"Right by the bed-post, Prudy Parlin; +and if you don't take care we'll +wake everybody up.—'Sh! 'Sh!"</p> + +<p>"Mine's pinned on," said Prudy; +"and I've pricked my fingers. O +deary me!"</p> + +<p>"Well, of course you've waked 'em +all now," exclaimed Susy, indignantly: +"I might have pricked my fingers to +pieces, but I wouldn't have said a +word."</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Parlin, who were in +the next room, were wide awake by +this time; but they said nothing, only +listened to the whispers of the children, +which grew fainter, being smothered +and kept down by mouthfuls of candy, +lozenges, and peanuts.</p> + +<p>The little girls longed for daybreak. +The sun, however, seemed to be in no +haste, and it was a long while before +there was a peep of light. Susy and +Prudy waited, wondering whether the +sun would really forget to show his +face; but all the while they waited +they were eating candy; so it was +neither dull nor lonely. As for closing +their eyes again, they would have +scorned the idea. It would be a pity +indeed to fall asleep, and lose the pleasure +of saying "Merry Christmas" to +everybody. Norah, the Irish servant, +had said she should be up very early +to attend High Mass: they must +certainly waylay her on the stairs. +How astonished she would be, when +she supposed they were both soundly +asleep!</p> + +<p>"Let me do it myself," said Susy: +"you stay here, Prudy, for you'll be +sure to make a noise."</p> + +<p>"I'll go on my tippy toes," pleaded +Prudy, her mouth half filled with +chocolate drops.</p> + +<p>So through their mother's room they +stole softly, only throwing over one +chair, and hitting Dotty's crib a little +in their haste. Dotty made a sleepy +sound of alarm, and Prudy could not +help laughing, but only "in her sleeve," +that is, in her "nightie" sleeve, which +she put up to her mouth to smother +the noise.</p> + +<p>When they had reached the back-stairs +Susy whispered, "O, Norah is +up and gone down. I hear her in the +kitchen. 'Sh! 'Sh!"</p> + +<p>Susy thought there was no time to +be lost, and she would have rushed +down stairs, two steps at a time, but +her little sister was exactly in the +way.</p> + +<p>"Somebody has been and tugged +my little chair up here," said Prudy, +"and I must tug it back again."</p> + +<p>So in the dim light the two children +groped their way down stairs, Prudy +going first with the chair.</p> + +<p>"O, what a little snail! Hurry—can't +you?" said Susy, impatiently; +"Norah'll be gone! What's the use +of our waking up in the night if we +can't say Merry Christmas to anybody?"</p> + +<p>"Well, <i>ain't</i> I a-hurryin' now?" exclaimed +Prudy, plunging forward and +falling, chair and all, the whole length +of the stairs.</p> + +<p>All the house was awake now, for +Prudy screamed lustily. Grandma +Read called out from the passage-way,—</p> + +<p>"O, little Prudence, has thee broken +thy neck?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Parlin rushed out, too frightened +to speak, and Mr. Parlin ran +down stairs, and took Prudy up in his +arms.</p> + +<p>"It was—you—did it—Susy +Parlin," sobbed the child. "I shouldn't—have—fell, +if you—hadn't—have—screamed."</p> + +<p>The poor little girl spoke slowly and +with difficulty, as if she dropped a +bucket into her full heart, and drew +up the words one at a time.</p> + +<p>"O, mother, I know it was me," +said Susy meekly; "and I was careless, +and it was all in the dark. I'm sure +I hope Prudy'll forgive me."</p> + +<p>"No, it wasn't you, neither," said +Prudy, whose good humor was restored +the moment Susy had made what she +considered due confession. "You +never touched me, Susy! It was the +<i>chair</i>; and I love you just as dearly as +ever I did."</p> + +<p>Prudy lay on the sofa for some +time, looking quite pale by the gas-light, +while her mother rubbed her +side, and the rest of the family +stood looking at her with anxious +faces.</p> + +<p>It was quite an important occasion +for Prudy, who always liked to be the +centre of attraction.</p> + +<p>"O, mamma," said she, closing her +eyes languidly, "when the room makes +believe whirl round, does it <i>truly</i> whirl +round?"</p> + +<p>The truth was, she felt faint and +dizzy, though only for a short time.</p> + +<p>"I wish," said she, "it had been +somebody else that fell down stairs, +and not me, for I didn't go down easy! +The <i>prongs</i> of the chair pushed right +into my side."</p> + +<p>But it did not appear that Prudy +was much injured, after all. In a few +minutes she was skipping about the +room almost as nimbly as ever, only +stopping to groan every now and then, +when she happened to think of it.</p> + +<p>"It is a wonder," said Mr. Parlin, +"that more children are not lamed for +life by such accidents."</p> + +<p>"I have often thought of it," said +aunt Madge. "Some little ones seem +to be making hair-breadth escapes +almost every day of their lives. I believe +Prudy would have been in her +grave long ago, if it had not been for +her guardian angel."</p> + +<p>The long-expected Christmas had +come at last, and Prudy had stumbled +into it, as she stumbled into everything +else. But it is an ill wind which +blows no good to anybody; and it so +happened that in all this confusion +Susy was able to "wish a Merry Christmas" +to Norah, and to the whole +family besides.</p> + +<p>When Mrs. Parlin found that the +children were too thoroughly awake to +go to sleep again that morning, she +told them they might dress themselves +in the parlor if they would +keep as quiet as possible, and let the +rest of the household take another +nap.</p> + +<p>It all seemed very strange and +delightful to the little girls. It was +like another sort of life, this new +arrangement of stealing about the +house in the silent hours before daybreak. +Susy thought she should like +to sit up all night, and sleep all day, +if the mayor would only hush the +streets; it would be so odd!</p> + +<p>"O, how dark the clouds are!" +said Prudy, peeping out of the window; +"it <i>fogs</i> so I can't see a single thing. +Susy, I'm going to keep <i>at watch</i> of +the sky. Don't you s'pose, though, +'twill be Christmas all the same, if +there's a snow storm?"</p> + +<p>"There's been snow," said Susy, +"all in the night. Look down at the +pavement. Don't you wish that was +frosted cake?"</p> + +<p>"O, the snow came in the night, so +not to wake us up," cried Prudy, clapping +her hands; "but it wouldn't +have waked us, you know, even in the +night, for it came so still."</p> + +<p>"But why don't the clouds go off?" +she added, sadly.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," replied Susy; "perhaps +they are waiting till the sun +comes and smiles them away."</p> + +<p>Such happy children as these were, +as they sat peeping out of the window +at the dull gray sky!</p> + +<p>They did not know that a great +mischief was begun that morning—a +mischief which was no larger yet +than "a midge's wing." They were +watching the clouds for a snow storm; +but they never dreamed of such things +as clouds of <i>trouble</i>, which grow +darker and darker, and which even +the beautiful Christmas sun cannot +"smile away."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a><h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>SUSY'S CHRISTMAS.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>It was bright and beautiful all day, +and then, when no one could possibly +wait any longer, it was Christmas +evening. The coal glowed in the +grate with a splendid blaze: all the +gas-burners were lighted, and so were +everybody's eyes. If one had listened, +one might have heard, from out of +doors, a joyful tinkling of sleigh-bells; +yet I fancy nobody could have told +whether the streets were still or noisy, +or whether the sky had a moon in it +or not; for nobody was quiet long +enough to notice.</p> + +<p>But by and by, when the right time +had come, the folding-doors were +opened, just like the two covers to a +Christmas fairy book. Then, in a +second, it was so still you might have +heard a pin drop.</p> + +<p>Such a funny little old gentleman +had arrived: his face alive with dimples, +and smiles, and wrinkles. His +cheeks were as red and round as winter +apples, and where there wasn't a +wrinkle there was a dimple; and no +doubt there was a dimple in his chin, +and his chin maybe was double, only +you couldn't tell, for it was hidden +ever so deep under a beard as white +as a snow-drift.</p> + +<p>He walked along, tottering under +the weight of a huge pack full of +presents. He extended his small arms +towards the audience most affectionately, +and you could see that his antiquated +coat-sleeves were bristling with +toys and glistening with ornaments. +His eyes twinkled with fun, and his +mouth, which seemed nearly worn +out with laughing, grew bigger every +minute.</p> + +<p>It took the dear old gentleman some +time to clear his throat; but when he +had found his voice, which at first was +as fine as a knitting-needle, and all of +a tremble, he made</p> + +<p>THE SPEECH OF SANTA CLAUS.</p> + +<p>"How do, my darlings? How do, +all round? Bless your little hearts, +how do you all do? Did they tell ye +Santa wasn't a-comin', my dears? Did +your grandpas and grandmas say, +'Humph! there isn't any such a person.' +My love to the good old people. +I know they mean all right; but tell +them they'll have to give it up now!"</p> + +<p>(Here Santa Claus made a low bow. +Everybody laughed and clapped; but +Prudy whispered, "O, don't he look +old all over? What has he done with +his <i>teeth</i>? O, dear, has anybody pulled +'em out?")</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dears," continued the old +gentleman, encouraged by the applause,—"yes, +my dears, here I am, as +jolly as ever! But bless your sweet +little hearts, I've had a terrible time +getting here! The wind has been +blowin' me up as fierce as you please, +and I've been shook round as if I +wasn't of more account than a kernel +of corn in a popper!</p> + +<p>"O, O, I've been ducked up to the +chin in some awful deep snow-drifts, +up there by the North Pole! This is +the very first time the storms have +come so heavy as to cover over the +end of the North Pole! But this year +they had to dig three days before they +could find it. O, ho!</p> + +<p>"I was a-wanderin' round all last +night; a real shivery night, too! Got +so <i>broke up</i>, there's nothing left of me +but small pieces. O, hum!</p> + +<p>"Such a time as I had in some of +those chimneys, you haven't any idee! +Why, if you'll believe me, over there +in Iceland somebody forgot to clear +out the chimney, and there I stuck +fast, like a fish-bone in your throat; +couldn't be picked out, couldn't be +swallowed!</p> + +<p>"The funniest time that was! How +I laughed! And then the children's +mother woke up, and, 'O, dear,' said +she; 'hear the wind sigh down the +chimney!' 'Only me,' says I; 'and +I've caught you napping this time!' +She helped me out, and when I had +caught my breath, I climbed out the +window; but, deary me, I shouldn't +wonder if that very woman went to +sleep again, and thought it was all a +dream! Heigh-ho! that's the way +they always treat poor Santa Claus +nowadays."</p> + +<p>(Here the children laughed, and +Susy said, "I guess he must have +bumped his nose against that chimney: +see what a hump!")</p> + +<p>"O, O, don't you make sport of me, +children! My nose is big, to be sure, +but I'm going to keep it and make the +best of it! If you love Santa as he +loves you, you wouldn't mind the +looks. I <i>was</i> going to change my +coat and dickey; but then, thinks I, +I'll come just as I am! I patted myself +on the shoulder, and says I, 'Santa +Claus, don't you fret if you <i>are</i> growin' +old! You may look a little dried up, +but your heart isn't wrinkled; O no!' +You see father Adam and me was very +near of an age, but somehow I never +growed up! I always thought big +folks did very well in their place; but +for my part, give me the children. +Hurrah for the children!"</p> + +<p>(Great clapping and laughing.)</p> + +<p>"I tell you, darlings, I haven't forgot +a single one of you. My pockets +are running over. I've been preparing +presents for you ever since last fall, +when the birds broke up housekeeping.</p> + +<p>"Here's a tippet for the Prudy girl, +and she may have it for nothing; and +they are cheaper 'n that, if you take +'em by the quantity.</p> + +<p>"I'm a walkin' book-case. Why, +I've brought stories and histories +enough to set up a store! I've got +more nuts than you can shake a hammer +at; but I think there's more bark +to 'em than there is bite. O, O, I find +I can't crack 'em with my teeth, as I +used to a hundred years ago!</p> + +<p>"But my dear, sweet, cunning little +hearers, I must be a-goin'. Queen Victoria, +said she to me, said she, 'Now, +Santa, my love, do you hurry back to +fill my children's stockings before the +clock strikes twelve.' Queen Vic is an +excellent woman, and is left a poor +widow; so I can't disappoint her, poor +soul!</p> + +<p>"I must be a-goin'! Would like to +hug and kiss you all round, but can't +stop. (Kisses his hand and bows.) A +Merry Christmas to you all, and a +Happy New Year."</p> + +<p>So saying, Santa Claus suddenly +disappeared at the hall door, dropping +his heavy pack upon the table.</p> + +<p>In another minute the lively old +gentleman was in the front parlor +without any mask, and of course it +was nobody but cousin Percy "with +his face off."</p> + +<p>Then they all fell to work sorting +out presents. Prudy seized her fur +tippet, and put it on at once.</p> + +<p>"O, how pretty I look," said she; +"just like a little cat! <i>Ain't</i> I cunning?"</p> + +<p>But nobody could pause to attend +to Prudy, though she chatted very +fast, without commas or periods, and +held up to view a large wax doll which +"would be alive if it could talk." +They all had gifts as well as Prudy, +and wished to talk rather than to +listen. They asked questions without +waiting for answers, and did not mind +interrupting one another, and talking +all at once, like a party of school children.</p> + +<p>All this was hardly polite, it is true; +but people are sometimes surprised +out of their good manners on Christmas +evenings, and must be forgiven +for it, as such a good time happens +but once a year.</p> + +<p>Percy broke in with an old song, and +went through with a whole stanza of it, +although no one listened to a word:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Good luck unto old Christmas,<br /></span> +<span>And long life let us sing,<br /></span> +<span>For he doeth more good unto the poor<br /></span> +<span>Than many a crownéd king."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"My beautiful books!" cried aunt +Madge; "Russia morocco."</p> + +<p>"My writing-desk,—has any one +looked at it?" said Mrs. Parlin; "rose-wood, +inlaid with brass."</p> + +<p>"My skates!" broke in Susy, at the +top of her voice.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" screamed cousin Percy; +"won't anybody please notice my +drum? If you won't look, then look +out for a drum in each ear!"</p> + +<p>And as nobody would look or pay +the slightest attention, they all had to +hear "Dixie" pounded out in true +martial style, till they held on to their +ears.</p> + +<p>"Rattlety bang!" went the drum. +"Tweet, tweet," whistled the little +musical instruments which the children +were blowing.</p> + +<p>"Have pity on us!" cried aunt +Madge; "I am bewildered; my head +is floating like a Chinese garden."</p> + +<p>"Order!" shouted Mr. Parlin, laughing.</p> + +<p>"O, yes, sir," said Percy, seizing +Susy and whirling her round. "Children, +why don't you try to preserve +order? My nerves are strung up like +violin-strings! I've got a pound of +headache to every ounce of brains. +Susy Parlin, do try to keep still!"</p> + +<p>"Thee needn't pretend it is all Susan," +said grandma Read, smiling. +"Thee and little Prudence are the +noisiest of the whole!"</p> + +<p>In fact, they raised such a din, that +after a while poor grandma Read +smoothed the Quaker cap over her +smiling face, and stole off into her +own chamber, where she could "settle +down into quietness." Much noise +always confused grandma Read.</p> + +<p>But in a very few moments, when +the excitement began to die out, there +was a season of overwhelming gratitude. +Everybody had to thank everybody +else; and Mr. Parlin, who had a +beautiful dressing-gown to be grateful +for, nevertheless found time to tell +Susy, over and over again, how delighted +he was with her book-mark, +made, by her own fingers, of three +wide strips of velvet ribbon; on the +ends of which were fastened a cross, +a star, and an anchor, of card-board.</p> + +<p>"Papa, one ribbon is to keep your +place in the Old Testament," said +Susy; "one is to stay in the middle, +at the births and marriages; and the +other one is for our chapter in the +New Testament, you know."</p> + +<p>"I think my lamp-mat is very pretty," +said aunt Madge, kissing Susy; +"every bit as pretty as if Prudy hadn't +'been and told.'"</p> + +<p>Prudy had bought a shawl-pin for +her mother, a fierce little wooden soldier +for aunt Madge, and something +for everybody else but Susy. Not that +she forgot Susy. O, no! but one's +money does not always hold out, even +at Christmas time.</p> + +<p>"Why," said Mr. Parlin, "what is +this sticking fast to the sole of my +new slipper? Molasses candy, I do +believe."</p> + +<p>"Yes sir; that's for Susy," cried +Prudy, suddenly remembering how she +had tucked it in at the last moment, +when she could not stop to find any +wrapping-paper. "It isn't so big as it +was, but it's the biggest piece I had in +this world. I saved it last night. +Susy likes 'lasses candy, and I couldn't +think of nothin' else."</p> + +<p>It was a wonder that Prudy's candy +had not spoiled some of the nice presents.</p> + +<p>Susy received several pretty things; +and though she did not talk quite so +much as Prudy, she was just as happy. +For one thing, she had what she had +not dreamed was possible for a little +girl—a bottle of otto of rose; "just +like a young lady."</p> + +<p>This was a real delight to Susy: but +Prudy, sniffing at it, said, coolly, "O, +ho! it smells 's if it didn't cost more'n +a cent! 'Tisn't half so sweet as pep'mint!"</p> + +<p>Before Dotty could be put to bed, +she had contrived to break several +toys, all of which happened to be +Susy's—a sugar temple, a glass pitcher, +and a small vase.</p> + +<p>This was an evening long to be remembered; +but the most remarkable +event of all was to come.</p> + +<p>"Susy, my daughter," said Mr. Parlin, +"have you been wondering why +you don't see a present from me?"</p> + +<p>Susy blushed. She had certainly +expected something handsome this +year from her father.</p> + +<p>"I haven't forgotten you, my dear; +but the present I have chosen wouldn't +sit very well on the shoulders of such +a little fellow as Santa Claus."</p> + +<p>Percy laughed. "Wouldn't it have +been a load, uncle?"</p> + +<p>"Hush!" whispered aunt Madge; +"she isn't to know till morning."</p> + +<p>"But, papa," said Susy, her eyes +shining with excitement, "why couldn't +you bring it in here now?"</p> + +<p>"It is better off out of doors. Indeed, +to tell the truth, my child, it is +hardly suitable for the parlor."</p> + +<p>"Now, Miss Susy," said Percy, measuring +off his words on the tips of his +fingers, "I'm authorized to tell you +it's something you mustn't take in +your lap, mustn't hang on a nail; if +you do, you'll lose it. I'm sure 'twill +please you, Susy, because it's a mute, +and can't speak. You—"</p> + +<p>"O, hush talking about dumb people! +I shouldn't think you'd make +sport of Freddy Jackson! If <i>you</i> was +a little <i>deaf-and-dumber</i> than you are +now, I'd like you better!</p> + +<p>"O, dear, dear!" cried she, dancing +about the room; "what can it be? I +can't wait!"</p> + +<p>"Only think; all night before I'll +know," thought she, as she touched +her pillow. "O, Prudy, to-morrow +morning! Only think of to-morrow +morning I All my other presents are +just nothing at all. Anything is <i>so</i> +much nicer when you don't know +what it is!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a><h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>SUSY'S WINGS.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Susy awoke next morning very +much surprised to find the sun so +high. Prudy was lying beside her, +talking to herself.</p> + +<p>"I don't feel very well," said the +child; "but I'm pleasant; I mean to +be good all day."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you speak to me?" +cried Susy, springing out of bed, +"when you knew how I couldn't wait +to see my present?"</p> + +<p>"I would have woke you up, Susy, +but I ain't well; I'm sick in my +knees."</p> + +<p>And Prudy limped about the room +to show her sister how lame she was. +But Susy was in too great a hurry to +pay much attention to her, or to help +her dress.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, papa!" she exclaimed, +the moment she entered the +parlor; "now may I see the present?"</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose you could wait till +after breakfast, Susy?"</p> + +<p>Aunt Madge smiled as she looked +at the little eager face.</p> + +<p>"I see you are going on with your +lessons," said she.</p> + +<p>"What lessons, auntie? Why, it is +the holidays!"</p> + +<p>"Lessons in patience, my dear. +Isn't something always happening +which you have to be patient about?"</p> + +<p>Susy thought of Prudy's habit of +disclosing secrets, Dotty's trying way +of destroying playthings; and now +this long delay about her present. +She began to think there were a great +many vexations in the world, and that +she bore them remarkably well for +such a little girl.</p> + +<p>"Yes, thee must let patience have +her perfect work, Susan," said grandma +Read, after the "silent blessing" +had been asked at the table.</p> + +<p>"Mayn't I go, too?" said Prudy, +when she saw her father, her auntie, +and Susy leaving the house just after +breakfast.</p> + +<p>And she went, as a matter of course; +but the pavements were a little slippery +from sleet; and Prudy, who was +never a famous walker, had as much +as she could do, even with the help of +her father's hand, to keep from falling.</p> + +<p>"Why, Prudy," said Mr. Parlin, +"what ails you this morning? You +limp so much that I believe you need +crutches."</p> + +<p>"I'm sick in my knee," replied +Prudy, delighted to see that her lameness +was observed. "If <i>you</i> had my +knee, and it hurt, you'd know how it +feels!"</p> + +<p>By this time they had reached a +livery stable; and, to Susy's surprise, +her father stopped short, and said to +a man who stood by the door, "Mr. +Hill, my daughter has come to look +at her pony."</p> + +<p>Prudy was in a great fright at sight +of so many horses, and needed all her +auntie's attention; but Susy had no +fear, and Mr. Parlin led her along to +a stall where stood a beautiful black +pony, as gentle-looking as a Newfoundland +dog.</p> + +<p>"How do you like him, Susy? Stroke +his face, and talk to him."</p> + +<p>"But, O, papa, you don't mean, you +can't mean, he's my very own! A +whole pony all to myself!"</p> + +<p>"See what you think of his saddle, +miss," said Mr. Hill, laughing at Susy's +eagerness; and he led pony out, and +threw over his back a handsome side-saddle.</p> + +<p>"Why, it seems as if I could just +jump on without anybody touching +me," cried Susy.</p> + +<p>"Not afraid a bit?" said Mr. Hill, as +Mr. Parlin seated Susy in the saddle, +and gave her the reins. "Ponies +throw people, sometimes."</p> + +<p>"O, but my papa would never give +me a bad pony," answered Susy, with +perfect confidence.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hill laughed again. He was a +rough man; but he thought a child's +faith in a parent was a beautiful +thing.</p> + +<p>He did not know many passages +of Scripture, but thought he had +read somewhere, "And if he ask +bread, will he give him a stone?" +No; fathers are glad to give their +"best gifts," and the little ones trust +them.</p> + +<p>"It's like sailing in a boat," cried +Susy, riding back and forth about the +yard in great excitement; "why, it's +just as easy as the swing in the oilnut-tree +at grandma Parlin's! O, papa, +to think I should forget to thank +you!"</p> + +<p>But perhaps Mr. Parlin regarded +glowing cheeks and shining eyes as +the very best of thanks.</p> + +<p>Prudy thought the pony a beautiful +"baby horse;" wanted to ride, and +didn't want to; was afraid, and wasn't +afraid, and, as her father said, "had +as many minds as some politicians +who are said to 'stand on the fence.'" +By and by, after some coaxing, the +timid little thing consented to sit behind +Susy, and cling round her waist, +if her father would walk beside her to +make sure she didn't fall off. In this +way they went home.</p> + +<p>"I like to sit so I can hug my sister, +while she drives the horse," said +Prudy; "besides, it hurts me to +walk."</p> + +<p>Mr. Parlin and aunt Madge smiled +at the child's speeches, but gave no +more heed to this lameness of which +she complained, than they did to any +of the rest of her little freaks.</p> + +<p>Prudy liked to be pitied for every +small hurt; and when Susy had a +sore throat, and wore a compress, she +looked upon her with envy, and felt it +almost as a personal slight that <i>her</i> +throat could not be wrapped in a compress +too.</p> + +<p>On their way they met "lame +Jessie," a little girl with crooked spine +and very high shoulders, who hobbled +along on crutches.</p> + +<p>"She's lamer than me," said Prudy. +"Good morning, Jessie."</p> + +<p>"I know what I've thought of," said +Susy, who could talk of nothing which +was not in some way connected with +her pony. "I'm going to give that +girl some rides. How happy she will +be, poor little Jessie!"</p> + +<p>"When you get your sleigh," said +Mr. Parlin.</p> + +<p>"My sleigh, papa? How many +more presents are coming?"</p> + +<p>"It is hard to tell, Susy; one gift +makes way for another, you see. +First comes the pony; but how can +he live without a stable, and a groom +to feed him? Then what is a pony +worth without a saddle? And, as one +does not wish always to ride pony-back, +a sleigh is the next thing."</p> + +<p>"But, papa, you know in the +summer!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear, in the summer, if +we all live, there must be a light carriage +made on purpose for you."</p> + +<p>"There is one thing more that pony +needs," said aunt Madge, stroking his +eyebrows, "and that is, a name."</p> + +<p>"O, I never thought of that," said +Susy; "help me find a name, auntie."</p> + +<p>"Let me think. I should call him +something good and pleasant. Think +of something good and pleasant +Think of something you like very +much."</p> + +<p>"O, Frosted Cake," cried Prudy: +"wouldn't that be pleasant? Susy +loves that."</p> + +<p>"I should like to name him for the +American Eagle," said Susy, who had +heard some patriotic speeches from +her cousin Percy; "only you couldn't +pet that name, could you?"</p> + +<p>"You might call him Don Carlos, or +Don Pedro," suggested Mr. Parlin.</p> + +<p>"No, papa; only think of Donny: +that is like Donkey! You haven't any +long ears, <i>have</i> you, pony? If you had, +I'd call you Little Pitcher, for 'little +pitchers have great ears.' That makes +me think of Mr. Allen, auntie. How +big his ears are, you know? <i>Is</i> it because +his teacher pulled them so?"</p> + +<p>"O, call him 'Gustus,'" cried Prudy.</p> + +<p>"But that would soon be Gusty," +said aunt Madge, "and would sound +too much like the east wind."</p> + +<p>"Dear me," sighed Susy; "who'd +ever think it was such hard work to +find names?"</p> + +<p>"O, look," said Prudy, as they passed +a jaded old horse; "there is a pony +just exactly like this! Only it's twice +as big, you know, and not a <i>bit</i> such a +color!"</p> + +<p>"Well, there, Prudy," said Susy, +disdainfully, "I thought, when you +began to speak, you was going to tell +something! Why don't you wait till +you have something to say? Please +give me a list of names, papa."</p> + +<p>"There's Speedwell, Lightfoot, Zephyr, +Prince, Will-o'-the-wisp—"</p> + +<p>"I might call him Wispy," broke in +Susy. "Zephyr is good, only it makes +you think of worsteds."</p> + +<p>"Now, listen," said aunt Madge; +"you might call him Elephant, just +for sport, because he is in reality so +very little. Or, on the other hand, +you might find the least speck of a +name, like Firefly, or Midge."</p> + +<p>"I don't like any of those," replied +Susy, still dissatisfied.</p> + +<p>"I see," said aunt Madge, laughing, +"nothing will please you but a great +name. What say to Pegasus, a flying +horse, which poets are said to ride? +It might be shortened to Peggy."</p> + +<p>"Now, auntie, you wouldn't have +this beautiful pony called Peggy; +you know you wouldn't! the one +my father bought on purpose for +me! But was there such a horse, +truly?"</p> + +<p>"O, no; there is an old fable, which, +as we say, is 'as true now as it ever +was,' of a glorious creature with wings, +and whoever mounts him gets a flying +ride into the clouds. But the trouble +is to catch him!"</p> + +<p>"O, I wish my pony could fly," said +Susy, gazing dreamily at his black +mane and sleek sides. "The first +place I'd go to would be the moon; +and there I'd stay till I built a castle +as big as a city. I'd come home every +night, so mother wouldn't be frightened, +and fly up in the morning, and—and—"</p> + +<p>"See here," said Prudy, who had +for some time been trying to speak; +"call him <i>Wings</i>!"</p> + +<p>"So I will," answered Susy, quickly, +"and I'll make believe he flies in the +air like a bird. Now, auntie, what do +you think of Wings?"</p> + +<p>"Odd enough, I'm sure, my dear."</p> + +<p>"Well, <i>I</i> like it," returned Susy, +with a positive shake of the head. +"It's of no use to keep fussing so long +over a name, and I feel a great deal +easier, now I've made up my mind! +Dear little Wings, you prick up your +ears, and I know you like it, too. I +wish you had a soul, so you could be +taken to church, and christened like +a baby."</p> + +<p>Just here Susy was startled by a +sudden laugh from cousin Percy, who +had for some moments been walking +behind the pony unobserved.</p> + +<p>"You're enough to frighten any one +to death," she screamed, "creeping +about like a cat."</p> + +<p>Susy had a foolish dread of being +laughed at.</p> + +<p>"Creeping like a cat," echoed Percy, +"while you creep like a snail! What +will you take for your pony, that can +fly in the air like a bird, but can't +walk on the ground any better than +a goose?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you're talking +about," said Susy, quite excited: "if +you want to see anybody ride fast, just +look here." And she started the pony +at full speed, regardless of Prudy, who +was so frightened, that she seized poor +Wings by his flowing mane, and +called out for her sister to stop. But +Susy dashed on at a flying pace, and +Percy cried after her, "O, Susy, cousin +Susy, what think of your Christmas +present? Will you remember not to +eat it, and not to hang it on a nail? +Susy, Susy?"</p> + +<p>There was hardly a happier child +living than Susy, during those delightful +holidays. She said to herself, +sometimes, that this was such a +beautiful world, she couldn't think of +a single thing that wasn't as splendid +as it could be.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a><h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>PRUDY'S TROUBLE.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The happy days flew by. The Old +Year was worn out, and the New Year +stepped in fresh and youthful. Susy +found her little sleigh a very comfortable +affair; and so, I think, did "lame +Jessie." When her father found that +Susy had really chosen for her pony +the name of Wings, he ordered a beautiful +picture of the Flying Horse to +be painted on the dashboard of the +sleigh.</p> + +<p>Susy was delighted with this, and +her vivid fancy took wings at once, +and flew away to the other end of the +world, where her aunt Madge told her +the fountain of Pirene was said to +gush out of a hill-side.</p> + +<p>"Only think," said she to Flossy; +"it was a woman once, that fountain +was; but she poured her life all out +into tears, crying because her son was +killed. So the fountain is made of +tears!"</p> + +<p>"Bitter and salt, then," said Florence, +threading her needle.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed; just as sweet and nice +as any water. Pegasus loved it; and +there was a beautiful young man, his +name was Bel—Bel—well, I declare, +I've forgotten,—no, 'twas Bellerophon; +and he had a bridle, and wanted a +horse. O, do you know this horse was +white, with silvery wings, wild as a +hawk; and, once in a while, he would +fold up his wings, and trot round on +the mountain!"</p> + +<p>Florence yawned, and waxed her +thread.</p> + +<p>"O, it was a splendid bridle, this +man had, made of gold; and I forgot—the +mountain the horse trotted +round on was called Helicon. And +the man mounted him, and went up, +up, till they were nothing but specks +in the sky."</p> + +<p>"A likely story," said Florence; +"there, you've told enough! I don't +want to hear any more such nonsense."</p> + +<p>"Well, if you don't want to hear +about the monster they killed, you +needn't; that's all I can say; but the +young man loved that horse; and he +kissed him, too, he was so splendid!"</p> + +<p>"Kiss a horse!" Flossy looked very, +much disgusted.</p> + +<p>"Why, I've kissed my pony a great +many times," said Susy, bravely, +"right between his eyes; and he almost +kisses me. He wants to say, 'I +love you.' I can see it in his eyes."</p> + +<p>By this time Flossy had finished her +doll's garment, and, putting it on the +little thing's shoulders, held up the +doll to be admired.</p> + +<p>"I think her opera cloak is very +'bewitching,' don't you, Susy? It is +trimmed with ermine, because she is +a queen, and is going to the opera."</p> + +<p>"It looks well enough," said Susy, +indifferently, "but it isn't ermine; it's +only white cat's fur, with black spots +sewed on,"</p> + +<p>"Of course it isn't real ermine!" +replied Florence; "but I play that it +is, and it's just as well."</p> + +<p>"But you know all the while it's a +make-believe. She hasn't any more +sense than a stick of wood, either; +and I don't see any sport in playing +with dolls."</p> + +<p>"And I don't see any sense in fairy +stories," retorted Flossy. "Do you +know what Percy says about you? +He says your head is as full of airy +notions as a dandelion top. I love +Queen Mab as if she was my own sister," +continued Flossy, in a pettish +tone. "You know I do, Susy. I always +thought, if anything should +happen to Queen Mab, and I lost her, +I should certainly dress in mourning; +now you needn't laugh."</p> + +<p>"O, I can't help laughing, when +anybody makes such a fuss over a +doll," replied Susy, with a curl of the +lip. "Anything that isn't alive, and +hasn't any sense, and don't care for +you! I like canary birds, and babies, +and ponies, and that's enough to +like."</p> + +<p>"Well, now, that's so funny!" said +Florence, twitching the folds of Queen +Mab's dress into place; "for the very +reason I like my doll, is because she +<i>isn't</i> alive. I wouldn't have been you, +Susy Parlin, when you had your last +canary bird, and let him choke to +death."</p> + +<p>"O, no, Flossy, I didn't let him +choke: I forgot to put any seed in +the bottle, and he stuck his head +in so deep, that he smothered to +death."</p> + +<p>"I don't know but smothering is as +bad as choking," said Florence; "and +now your new bird will be sure to +come to some bad end."</p> + +<p>"You're always saying hateful +things," exclaimed Susy, a good deal +vexed. "I like Grace Clifford ten +times as well, for she's a great deal +more lady-like."</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose I can go home," +said Florence, with a rising color; +"you're such a perfect lady that I +can't get along with you."</p> + +<p>"O, dear," thought poor Susy, "what +does ail my tongue? Here this very +morning I said in my prayer, that I +meant to be good and patient."</p> + +<p>Florence began to put on her cloak.</p> + +<p>"Cousin Flossy," said Susy, in a +hesitating voice, "I wish you wouldn't +go. I didn't mean to tell that I liked +Gracie best; but it's the real honest +truth, and if I should take it back, +'twould be a lie."</p> + +<p>This was not making matters much +better. Florence put on her hood, +and tied it with a twitch.</p> + +<p>"But I like <i>you</i> ever so much, +Flossy; now, you know I do. You're +hateful sometimes; but so am I; and +I can't tell which is the hatefulest."</p> + +<p>Here Flossy, who was as fickle as +the wind, laughed merrily, took off +her hood and cloak, and danced about +the room in high spirits.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said she, "I'll stay just on +purpose to plague you!"</p> + +<p>But good humor had been restored +on both sides, and the little girls were +soon talking together, as freely as if +nothing had happened.</p> + +<p>"Just come out in the kitchen," +said Susy, "and you shall see me +wash my bird."</p> + +<p>"Why, I thought birds washed +themselves," replied Florence, following +her cousin with some surprise.</p> + +<p>"They do, but Dandy won't; it's all +in the world I have against Dandy; +he isn't a cold-water bird."</p> + +<p>Grandma Read stood by the kitchen +table, clear-starching one of her caps—a +piece of work which she always +performed with her own hands. She +moved one side to make room for +Susy's bird-cage, but said she did not +approve of washing canaries; she +thought it must be a dangerous experiment.</p> + +<p>"If he needed a bath, he would take +it himself, Susan. Little birds know +what is best for them by instinct, thee +may depend upon it."</p> + +<p>"But my birdie gay ought to be +clean," persisted Susy, who was often +very positive. "Mrs. Mason says so—the +lady that gave him to me. I told +her he wouldn't bathe, and she said +then I must bathe him."</p> + +<p>Susy went to the range, and, dipping +some hot water from the boiler, +cooled it with fresh water, till she +found, by putting in her fingers, that +it was of a proper temperature, according +to her own judgment. Then +she plunged the timid little canary +into the bowl, in spite of his fluttering. +Such a wee young thing as he +was too! He seemed to be afraid of +the water, and struggled against it +with all his small strength.</p> + +<p>"O, Dandy, darling," said Susy, in +a cooing voice, as if she were talking +to a baby; "be a little man, Dandy; +hold up his head, and let Susy wash +it all cleany! O, he's Susie's birdie +gay!—What makes him roll up his +eyes?"</p> + +<p>"Take him out quick, Susan," said +grandma Read; "he will strangle."</p> + +<p>A few seconds more and all would +have been over with birdie gay. He +curled down very languidly on the +floor of the cage, and seemed to wish +to be let alone.</p> + +<p>"He acts so every morning when I +bathe him," said Susy, who would not +give up the point; "but Mrs. Mason +told me to do it! Dotty always cried +when she was washed, till she was +ever so old."</p> + +<p>"I think," said Mrs. Parlin, who +had just entered the kitchen, "I must +ask Mrs. Mason if she is very sure it +is proper to treat little birds in that +way."</p> + +<p>"But look, mamma; here he is, +shaking out his feathers, all bright +and happy again. O, you cunning +little Dandy, now we'll hang you up +in the sun to dry. See him hop on +one foot; that is just to make me +laugh."</p> + +<p>"But <i>I</i> hop on one foot, too," said +little Prudy, "and you don't laugh at +me."</p> + +<p>"This is a droll little head for fancies," +said Mrs. Parlin, patting Prudy's +curls, and looking at grandma Read. +"Do you know, mother, that for +several days she has made believe she +was lame Jessie, and has hobbled +about whenever she could think of +it."</p> + +<p>"Now you mustn't laugh," said +Prudy, looking up with a grieved +face; I can't never help hopping; I +<i>have</i> to hop. My knee was so sick, I +cried last night, and I was just as +<i>wide-awakeful</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Ain't thee afraid the child has been +hurt in some way, my daughter?" +said grandma Read.</p> + +<p>"O, no, mother," said Mrs. Parlin, +smiling, as Prudy limped out of the +room. "I have examined her knee, +and there is nothing the matter with +it. She is only imitating that lame +child. You know Prudy has all sorts +of whims. Don't you know how she +has wanted us to call her Jessie sometimes?"</p> + +<p>"Why, no, indeed, grandma, she +isn't lame," said Susy, laughing. +"Sometimes she will run about the +room as well as I do, and then, in a +few minutes, when she thinks of it, +she will limp and take hold of chairs. +Mother, isn't it just the same as a +wrong story for Prudy to act that +way? If I did so, you'd punish me; +now, wouldn't you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what to think about +it," said Mrs. Parlin, gravely. "Sometimes +I am afraid Prudy is really +becoming naughty and deceitful. I +thought once it was only her funny +way of playing; but she is getting +old enough now to know the difference +between truth and falsehood."</p> + +<p>There was an anxious look on Mrs. +Parlin's face. She was a faithful +mother, and watched her children's +conduct with the tenderest care.</p> + +<p>But this lameness of which little +Prudy complained, was something +more than play; it was a sad truth, +as the family learned very soon. Instead +of walking properly when her +mother bade her do so, the poor child +cried bitterly, said it hurt her, and she +was so tired she wished they would +let her lie on the sofa, and never get +up. At times she seemed better; and +when everybody thought she was quite +well, suddenly the pain and weakness +would come again, and she could only +limp, or walk by catching hold of +chairs</p> + +<p>At last her father called in a physician.</p> + +<p>"How long has this child been +lame?" said he.</p> + +<p>"A month or more."</p> + +<p>The doctor looked grave. "Has she +ever had an injury, Mr. Parlin, such +as slipping on the ice, or falling down +stairs?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir," replied Mr. Parlin, "I believe +not."</p> + +<p>"Not a serious injury that I know +of," said Mrs. Parlin, passing her hand +across her forehead, and trying to remember. +"No, I think Prudy has +never had a <i>bad</i> fall, though she is always +meeting with slight accidents."</p> + +<p>"O, mamma," said Susy, who had +begged to stay in the room, "she did +have a fall: don't you know, Christmas +day, ever so long ago, how she +went rolling down stairs with her little +chair in her arms, and woke everybody +up?"</p> + +<p>The doctor caught at Susy's words.</p> + +<p>"With her little chair in her arms, +my dear? And did she cry as if she +was hurt?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; she said the <i>prongs</i> of +the chair stuck into her side."</p> + +<p>"It hurt me dreffully," said Prudy, +who had until now forgotten all +about it. "Susy spoke so quick, and +said I was a little snail; and then +I rolled over and over, and down I +went."</p> + +<p>The doctor almost smiled at these +words, lisped out in such a plaintive +voice, as if Prudy could not think of +that fall even now, without pitying +herself very much.</p> + +<p>"Just let me see you stand up, little +daughter," said he; for Prudy was +lying on the sofa.</p> + +<p>But it hurt her to bear her weight +on her feet.</p> + +<p>She said, "One foot, the '<i>lame-knee-foot</i>,' +came down so long, it <i>more</i> than +touched the floor."</p> + +<p>The doctor looked sober. The foot +did drag indeed. The trouble was not +in her knee, but in her hip, which had +really been injured when she fell +down stairs, and the "prongs" of the +chair were forced against it.</p> + +<p>It seemed to Mrs. Parlin strange +that Prudy had never complained of +any pain in her side; but the doctor +said it was very common for people to +suffer from hip-disease, and seem to +have only a lame knee.</p> + +<p>"Hip-disease!" When Mrs. Parlin +heard these words, she grew so dizzy, +that it was all she could do to keep +from fainting. It came over her in a +moment, the thought of what her little +daughter would have to suffer—days +and nights of pain, and perhaps +a whole lifetime of lameness. She +had often heard of hip-disease, and +was aware that it is a very serious +thing.</p> + +<p>Do you know, she would gladly have +changed places with Prudy, would +gladly have borne all the child must +suffer, if by that means she could +have saved her? This is the feeling +which mothers have when any trouble +comes upon their children; but +the little ones, with their simple minds, +cannot understand it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a><h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>ROSY FRANCES EASTMAN MARY.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Prudy had enjoyed a great many +rides in Susy's beautiful sleigh; but +now the doctor forbade her going out, +except for very short distances, and +even then, he said, she must sit in her +mother's lap. He wanted her to lie +down nearly all the time, and keep +very quiet.</p> + +<p>At first, Mrs. Parlin wondered how +it would be possible to keep such a +restless child quiet; but she found, as +time passed, and the disease made +progress, that poor little Prudy was +only too glad to lie still. Every motion +seemed to hurt her, and sometimes +she cried if any one even jarred the +sofa suddenly.</p> + +<p>These were dark days for everybody +in the house. Susy, who was thoughtful +beyond her years, suffered terribly +from anxiety about her little sister. +More than that, she suffered from +remorse.</p> + +<p>"O, grandma Read," said she one +evening, as she sat looking up at the +solemn, shining stars, with overflowing +eyes—"O, grandma!" The words +came from the depths of a troubled +heart. "I may live to be real old; +but I never shall be happy again! I +can't, for, if it hadn't been for me? +Prudy would be running round the +house as well as ever!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Read had a gentle, soothing +voice. She could comfort Susy when +anybody could. Now she tried to set +her heart at rest by saying that the +doctor gave a great deal of hope. He +could not promise a certain cure, but he +felt great faith in a new kind of splint +which he was using for Prudy's hip.</p> + +<p>"O, grandma, it may be, and then, +again, it may not be," sobbed poor +Susy; "we can't tell what God will +think best; but anyhow, it was I that +did it."</p> + +<p>"But, Susan, thee must think how +innocent thee was of any wrong +motive. Thee did not get angry, and +push thy little sister, thee knows thee +didn't, Susan! Thee was only in a +hurry, and rather thoughtless. The +best of us often do very foolish things, +and cause much mischief; but thee'll +find it isn't best to grieve over these +mistakes. Why, my dear little Susan, +I have lived eight years to thy one, +and if I should sit down now and drop +a tear for every blunder I have made, +I don't know but I could almost make +a fountain of myself, like that woman +thee tells about in the fairy story."</p> + +<p>"The fountain of Pirene that Pegasus +loved," said Susy; "that was +the name of it. Why, grandma, I +never should have thought of your +saying such a queer thing as that! +Why, it seems as if you always did +just right, and thought it all over before +you did it. Do <i>you</i> ever do wrong? +How funny!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Read smiled sadly. She was +not an angel yet; so I suppose she did +wrong once in a while.</p> + +<p>"Now, grandma, I want to ask you +one question, real sober and honest. +You know it was so dark that morning +in the middle of the night, when +we were going down the back stairs? +Now, if I'd made a great deal worse +mistake than calling Prudy a snail,—if +I'd pushed her real hard, and she +had fallen faster,—O, I can't bear to +think! I mean, if the chair-prongs +had hit her head, grandma—and—killed +her! What would they have +done to <i>me</i>? I thought about it last +night, so I couldn't go to sleep for the +longest while! I heard the clock <i>strike</i> +once while I was awake there in bed! +Would they have put me in the lock-up, +grandma, and then hung me for +murder?"</p> + +<p>"My dear child, no, indeed! How +came such horrible ideas in thy tender +little brain? It is too dreadful to think +about; but, even if thy little sister <i>had</i> +died, Susan, thee would have been no +more to blame than thee is now, and +a great, great deal more to be pitied."</p> + +<p>Susy sat for a long while gazing out +of the window; but the stars did not +wink so solemnly; the moon looked +friendly once more. Susy was drinking +in her grandmother's words of +comfort. The look of sadness was +disappearing from the young face, and +smiles began to play about the corners +of her mouth.</p> + +<p>"Well," said she, starting up briskly, +"I'm glad I wasn't so very terribly +wicked! I wish I'd been somewhere +else, when I stood on those back-stairs, +in the middle of the night; but what's +the use? I'm not going to think any +more about it, grandma; for if I should +think till my head was all twisted up +in a knot, what good would it do? +It wouldn't help Prudy any; would it, +grandma?"</p> + +<p>"No, dear," said the mild, soothing +voice again; "don't think, I beg of +thee; but if thee wants to know what +would do Prudence good, I will tell +thee: try thy best to amuse her. She +has to lie day after day and suffer. +It is very hard for a little girl that +loves to play, and can't read, and +doesn't know how to pass the time; +don't thee think so, Susan?"</p> + +<p>It was certainly hard. Prudy's +round rosy face began to grow pale; +and, instead of laughing and singing +half the time, she would now lie and +cry from pain, or because she really +did not know what else to do with +herself.</p> + +<p>It was worst at night. Hour after +hour, she would lie awake, and listen +to the ticking of the clock. Susy +thought it a pitiable case, when <i>she</i>, +heard the clock strike <i>once</i>; but little +Prudy heard it strike again and again. +How strangely it pounded out the +strokes in the night! What a dreary +sound it was, pealing through the +silence! The echoes answered with +a shudder. Then, when Prudy had +counted one, two, three, four, and the +clock had no more to say at that time, +it began to tick again: "Prudy's sick! +Prudy's sick! O, dear me! O, dear +me!"</p> + +<p>Prudy could hardly believe it was +the same clock she saw in the daytime. +She wondered if it felt lonesome +in the night, and had the blues; +or what <i>could</i> ail it! The poor little +girl wanted somebody to speak to in +these long, long hours. She did not +sleep with Susy, but in a new cot-bed +of her own, in aunt Madge's room; for, +dearly as she loved to lie close to any +one she loved, she begged now to sleep +alone, "so nobody could hit her, or +move her, or joggle her."</p> + +<p>It was a great comfort to have aunt +Madge so near. If it had been Susy +instead, Prudy would have had no +company but the sound of her breathing. +It was of no use to try to wake +Susy in the dead of night. Pricking +her with pins would startle her, but +she never knew anything even after +she was startled. All she could do +was to stare about her, cry, and act +very cross, and then—go to sleep +again.</p> + +<p>But with aunt Madge it was quite +different. She slept like a cat, with +one eye open. Perhaps the reason she +did not sleep more soundly, was, that +she felt a care of little Prudy. No +matter when Prudy spoke to her, +aunt Madge always answered. She +did not say, "O, dear, you've startled +me out of a delicious nap!" She said, +"Well, darling, what do you want?" +Prudy generally wanted to know +when it would be morning? When +would the steamboat whistle? What +made it stay dark so long? She +wanted a drink of water, and <i>always</i> +wanted a story.</p> + +<p>If aunt Madge had forgotten to provide +a glass of water, she put on her +slippers, lighted the little handled lamp, +and stole softly down stairs to the +pail, which Norah always pumped +full of well-water the last thing in +the evening.</p> + +<p>Or, if Prudy fancied it would console +her to have a peep at her beautiful +doll which "would be alive if it could +speak," why, down stairs went auntie +again to search out the spot where +Susy had probably left it when "she +took it to show to some children."</p> + +<p>The many, many times that kind +young lady crept shivering down stairs +to humor Prudy's whims! Prudy +could not have counted the times; and +you may be sure aunt Madge never +<i>would</i>.</p> + +<p>Then the stories, both sensible and +silly, which Prudy teased for, and always +got! Aunt Madge poured them +forth like water into the <i>sieve</i> of +Prudy's mind, which could not hold +stories any better than secrets. No +matter how many she told, Prudy insisted +that she wanted "one more," +and the "same one over again."</p> + +<p>It touched Susy to the heart to see +how much her little sister suffered, +and she spent a great deal of time at +first in trying to amuse her. Aunt +Madge told stories in the night; but +Susy told them in the daytime, till, +as she expressed it, her "tongue +ached." She cut out paper dolls when +she wanted to read, and played go +visiting, or dressed rag babies, when +she longed to be out of doors. But +while the novelty lasted, she was quite +a Florence Nightingale.</p> + +<p>Her Wednesday and Saturday after-noons +were no longer her own. Before +Prudy's lameness, Susy had used her +new skates a great deal, and could +now skim over the ice quite gracefully, +for a little girl of her age. The +reason she learned to skate so well, +was because she was fearless. Most +children tremble when they try to +stand on the ice, and for that very +reason are nearly sure to fall; but Susy +did not tremble in the face of danger: +she had a strong will of her own, and +never expected to fail in anything she +undertook.</p> + +<p>She had spent half of her short life +out of doors, and almost considered it +lost time when she was obliged to stay +in the house for the rain.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Parlin kept saying it was high +time for her eldest daughter to begin +to be womanly, and do long stints +with her needle: she could not sew +as well now as she sewed two years +ago.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Parlin laughed at his wife's +anxiety, and said he loved Susy's red +cheeks; he didn't care if she grew as +brown as an Indian. She was never +rude or coarse, he thought; and she +would be womanly enough one of +these days, he was quite sure.</p> + +<p>"Anything," said Mr. Parlin, "but +these <i>womanly</i> little girls, such as I +have seen sitting in a row, sewing +seams, without animation enough to +tear rents in their own dresses! If +Susy loves birds, and flowers, and +snowbanks, I am thankful, and perfectly +willing she should have plenty +of them for playthings."</p> + +<p>Then, when Mrs. Parlin smiled mischievously, +and said, "I should like to +know what sort of a wild Arab you +would make out of a little girl," Mr. +Parlin answered triumphantly,— +"Look at my sister Margaret! I +brought her up my own self! I always +took her out in the woods with +me, gunning and trouting. I taught +her how to skate when she was a mere +baby. I often said she was all the +brother I had in the world! She can +remember now how I used to wrap +her in shawls, and prop her up on the +woodpile, while I chopped wood."</p> + +<p>"And how you hired her to drop +ears of corn for you into the corn-sheller; +and how, one day, her fingers +were so benumbed, that one of them +was clipped off before she knew it!"</p> + +<p>"Well, so it was, that is true; but +only the tip of it. Active children +will meet with accidents. She was a +regular little fly-away, and would +sooner climb a tree or a ladder any +time, than walk on solid ground. <i>Now</i> +look at her!"</p> + +<p>And Mr. Parlin repeated the words, +"Now look at her," as if he was sure +his wife must confess that she was a +remarkable person.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Parlin said, if Susy should ever +become half as excellent and charming +as Miss Margaret Parlin, she should +be perfectly satisfied, for her part.</p> + +<p>Thus Susy was allowed to romp to +her heart's content; "fairly ran wild," +as aunt Eastman declared, with a +frown of disapproval. She gathered +wild roses, and wore them in her +cheeks, the very best place in the +world for roses. She drank in sunshine +with the fresh air of heaven, +just as the flowers do, and thrived +on it.</p> + +<p>But there was one objection to this +out-of-doors life: Susy did not love to +stay in the house. Eainy days and +evenings, to be sure, she made herself +very happy with reading, for she loved +to read, particularly fairy books, and +Rollo's Travels.</p> + +<p>But now, just as she had learned to +skate on the basin with other little +girls and young ladies, and could drive +Wings anywhere and everywhere she +pleased, it was a sore trial to give up +these amusements for the sake of +spending more hours with poor little +Prudy. She was very self-denying at +first, but it grew to be an "old story." +She found it was not only pony and +skates she must give up, but even her +precious reading, for Prudy was jealous +of books, and did not like to have +Susy touch them. She thought Susy +was lost to her when she opened a +book, and might as well not be in the +house, for she never heard a word that +anybody said.</p> + +<p>Now I know just what you will +think: "O, I would have given up a +great deal more than ponies and books +for <i>my</i> dear little sister! I would have +told her stories, and never have complained +that my 'tongue ached.' It +would not have wearied me to do anything +and everything for such a patient +sufferer as little Prudy!"</p> + +<p>But now I shall be obliged to confess +one thing, which I would have gladly +concealed.</p> + +<p>Prudy was not always patient. +Some sweet little children become +almost like the angels when sickness +is laid upon them; but Prudy had +been such a healthy, active child, that +the change to perfect quiet was exceedingly +tiresome. She was young, +too,—too young to reason about the +uses of suffering. She only knew she +was dreadfully afflicted, and thought +everybody ought to amuse her.</p> + +<p>"O, dear me!" said Susy, sometimes, +"I just believe the more anybody +does for Prudy, the more she +expects."</p> + +<p>Now this was really the case. When +Prudy first began to lie upon the sofa, +everybody pitied her, and tried to say +and do funny things, in order to take +up her attention. It was not possible +to keep on giving so much time to +her; but Prudy expected it. She +would lie very pleasant and happy for +hours at a time, counting the things +in the room, talking to herself, or +humming little tunes; and then, +again, everything would go wrong. +Her playthings would keep falling to +the floor, and, as she could not stoop +at all, some one must come and pick +them up that very minute, or they +"didn't pity her a bit."</p> + +<p>Every once in a while, she declared +her knee was "broken in seven new +places," and the doctor must come and +take off the splint. She didn't want +such a hard thing "right on there;" +she wanted it "right off."</p> + +<p>Her mother told her she must try +to be patient, and be one of God's little +girls. "But, mamma," said Prudy, +"does God love me any? I should +think, if he loved me, he'd be sorrier +I was sick, and get me well."</p> + +<p>Then, sometimes, when she had +been more fretful than usual, she +would close her eyes, and her mother +would hear her say, in a low voice,—</p> + +<p>"O, God, I didn't mean to. It's my +<i>knee</i> that's cross!"</p> + +<p>Upon the whole, I think Prudy was +as patient as most children of her age +would have been under the same trial. +Her father and mother, who had the +most care of her, did not wonder in the +least that her poor little nerves got +tired out sometimes.</p> + +<p>While Susy was at school, Prudy +had a long time to think what she +wanted her to do when she should +come home. She would lie and watch +the clock, for she had learned to tell +the time quite well; and when the +hour drew near for Susy to come, she +moved her head on the pillow, and +twisted her fingers together nervously.</p> + +<p>If Susy was in good season, Prudy +put up her little mouth for a kiss, and +said,—</p> + +<p>"O, how I do love you, Susy! Ain't +I your dear little sister? Well, won't +you make me a lady on the slate?"</p> + +<p>Susy's ladies had no necks, and +their heads were driven down on their +shoulders, as if they were going to be +packed into their chests; but, such as +they were, Prudy wanted them over +and over again.</p> + +<p>But if Susy stopped to slide, or to +play by the way, she would find little +Prudy in tears, and hear her say, "O, +what made you? Naughty, naughty +old Susy! I'm goin' to die, and go to +God's house, and then you'll be sorry +you didn't 'tend to your little sister."</p> + +<p>Susy could never bear to hear Prudy +talk about going to God's house. Her +conscience pricked her when she saw +that the poor child was grieved; and +she resolved, every time she was late, +that she would never be late again.</p> + +<p>Prudy had a great many odd fancies +now: among others, she had a +fancy that she did not like the name +of Prudy.</p> + +<p>"Why; only think," said she, "you +keep a-calling me Prudy, and Prudy, +and Prudy. It makes my head ache, +to have you say Prudy so much."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear child," said Mr. +Parlin, smiling, "it happens, unfortunately, +that Prudy is your name; +so I think you will have to try and +bear it as well as you can."</p> + +<p>"But I can't bear it any longer," +said the child, bursting into tears. +"Prudy is all lame and sick, and I +never shall walk any more while you +call me Prudy, papa."</p> + +<p>Mr. Parlin kissed his little daughters's +pale cheek, and said, "Then we +will call you pet names; will that +do?"</p> + +<p>Prudy smiled with delight.</p> + +<p>"I've thought of a real beautiful, +splendid name," said she. "It is +Rosy Frances Eastman Mary; ain't it +splendid?"</p> + +<p>After this announcement, Prudy +expected the family would be sure to +call her Rosy Frances Eastman Mary; +and, indeed, they were quite willing +to please her, whenever they could +remember the name. They all supposed +it was a fancy she would forget +in a day or two; but, instead of that, +she clung to it more and more fondly. +If any one offered her an orange, or +roasted apple, and said, "Look, Prudy; +here is something nice for you," she +would turn her face over to one side +on the pillow, and make no reply. If +she wanted a thing very much, she +would never accept it when she was +addressed by the obnoxious name of +Prudy. Even when her father wanted +to take her in his arms to rest her, +and happened to say, "Prudy, shall I +hold you a little while?" she would +say, "Who was you a-talkin' to, papa? +There isn't any Prudy here!" Then +her father had to humble himself, +and ask to be forgiven for being so +forgetful.</p> + +<p>The child had a delicate appetite, +and her mother tried to tempt it with +little niceties; but, no matter what +pains she took, Prudy relished nothing +unless it was given to her as Rosy +Frances, the little girl who was <i>not</i> +Prudy.</p> + +<p>"O, here is a glass of lemonade for +you, Prudy; made on purpose for +you," Susy would say; "do drink it!"</p> + +<p>"O, dear me, suz," cried Prudy, with +tears falling over her cheeks; "O, +Susy, you plague me, and I never +done a thing to you! You called me +Prudy, and I ain't Prudy, never again! +Call me Rosy Frances Eastman Mary, +and I'll drink the lemonade."</p> + +<p>"You precious little sister," said +Susy, bending over her gently, "you'll +forgive me; won't you, darling?"</p> + +<p>"I'll try to," replied Prudy, with a +look of meek forbearance, as she sipped +the lemonade.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>LITTLE TROUBLES.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Somebody said once to Susy and +Flossy, when they were having a frolic +in "Prudy's sitting-room," up stairs, +"What happy little things! You +don't know what trouble is, and never +will, till you grow up!"</p> + +<p>The little girls preserved a respectful +silence, till the lady was out of +hearing, and then held an indignant +discussion as to the truth of what she +had said. It would have been a discussion, +I mean, if they had not both +taken the same side of the question.</p> + +<p>"How she sighed," said Susy, "just +as if she was the <i>melancholiest</i> person +that ever was!" Susy was famous +for the use she made of adjectives, +forming the superlatives just as it +happened.</p> + +<p>"Yes, just the way," responded +Flossy. "I'd like to know what ever +happened to <i>her</i>? Pshaw! She +laughed this afternoon, and ate apples +fast enough!"</p> + +<p>"O, she thinks she must make believe +have a dreadful time, because +she is grown up," said Susy, scornfully. +"She's forgot she was ever a +little girl! I've had troubles; I guess +I have! And I know one thing, I +shall remember 'em when I grow up, +and not say, 'What happy little +things!' to children. It's real hateful!"</p> + +<p>Little folks have trouble, to be sure. +Their hearts are full of it, and running +over, sometimes; and how can the +largest heart that ever beat be <i>more</i> +than full, and running over?</p> + +<p>Susy had daily trials. They were +sent to her because they were good +for her. Shadows and night-dews are +good for flowers. If the sun had +shone on Susy always, and she had +never had any shadows and night +dews, she would have <i>scorched up</i> into +a selfish girl.</p> + +<p>One of her trials was Miss Dotty +Dimple. Now, she loved Dotty dearly, +and considered her funny all over, +from the crown of her head to the +soles of her little twinkling feet, which +were squeezed into a pair of gaiters. +Dotty loved those gaiters as if they +were alive. She had a great contempt +for the slippers she wore in the morning, +but it was her "darlin' gaiters," +which she put on in the afternoon, +and loved next to father and mother, +and all her best friends.</p> + +<p>When ladies called, she stepped very +briskly across the floor, looking down +at her feet, and tiptoeing about, till +the ladies smiled, and said, "O, what +sweet little boots!" and then she was +perfectly happy.</p> + +<p>Susy was not very wide awake in +the morning; but Dotty was stirring +as soon as there was a peep of light, +and usually stole into Susy's bed to +have a frolic. Nothing but a story +would keep her still, and poor Susy +often wondered which was harder, to +be used as a football by Dotty, or to +tell stories with her eyes shut.</p> + +<p>"O, Dotty Dimple, keep still; can't +you? There's a darling," she would +plead, longing for another nap; "<i>don't</i> +kill me."</p> + +<p>"No, no; me won't kill," the little +one would reply; "'tisn't <i>pooty</i> to +kill!"</p> + +<p>"O, dear, you little, cunning, darling +plague, now hush, and let me go +to sleep!"</p> + +<p>Then Dotty would plant both feet +firmly on Susy's chest, and say, in her +teasing little voice, as troublesome as +the hum of a mosquito,—</p> + +<p>"Won't you tell me 'tory—tell me a +'tory—tell me a 'tory, Susy."</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you want to hear?"</p> + +<p>Now, it was natural for Susy to feel +cross when she was sleepy. It cost +her a hard struggle to speak pleasantly, +and when she succeeded in doing +so, I set it down as one of her greatest +victories over herself. The Quaker +motto of her grandmother, "Let patience +have her perfect work," helped +her sometimes, when she could wake +up enough to remember it.</p> + +<p>"Tell 'bout little yellow gell," said +the voice of the mosquito, over and +over again.</p> + +<p>Susy roused herself after the third +request, and sleepily asked if something +else wouldn't do?</p> + +<p>"I had a little nobby-colt."</p> + +<p>"No, no, you <i>di'n't</i>, you <i>di'n't</i>; +grandma had the nobby! Tell yellow +gell."</p> + +<p>"O," sighed Susy, "how can you +want to hear that so many, many +times? Well, once when I was a +little bit of a girl—"</p> + +<p>"'Bout's big as me, you <i>said</i>," put in +Dotty.</p> + +<p>"O, yes, I did say so once, and I +suppose I must tell it so every time, or +you'll fuss! Well, I had a yellow +dress all striped off in checks—"</p> + +<p>"Di'n't it go this way?" said Dotty, +smoothing the sheet with her little +hand, "and this way?"</p> + +<p>"What? What?" Susy roused herself +and rubbed her eyes. "O, yes, it +went in checks; and I was at grandma +Parlin's, and Grace—Grace—O, +Grace and I went into the pasture +where there were a couple of cows, a +gray cow and a red cow."</p> + +<p>"Now you must say what <i>is</i> couple," +says Dotty.</p> + +<p>"Then what is couple?"</p> + +<p>"Gray cow," answers Dotty, very +gravely.</p> + +<p>"So when the cows saw us coming, +they—they—O, they threw up their +heads, and stopped eating grass—in +the air. I mean—threw—up—their +heads." Susy was nearly asleep.</p> + +<p>"Up in the air?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course, up in the air. +(There, I <i>will</i> wake up!) And the +gray cow began to run towards us, +and Grace says to me, 'O, my, she +thinks you're a pumpkin!'"</p> + +<p>"You?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, me, because my dress was so +yellow. I was just as afraid of the +cow as I could be."</p> + +<p>"Good cow! <i>He</i> wouldn't hurt!"</p> + +<p>"No, the cow was good, and didn't +think I was a pumpkin, not the least +speck. But I was so afraid, that +I crept under the bars, and ran +home."</p> + +<p>"To grandma's house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and grandma laughed."</p> + +<p>"Well, where was me?" was the +next question, after a pause.</p> + +<p>Then, when the duty of story-telling +was performed, Susy would gladly +have gone back to "climbing the +dream-tree;" but no, she must still +listen to Dotty, though she answered +her questions in an absent-minded +way, like a person "hunting for a forgotten +dream."</p> + +<p>One morning she was going to ride +with her cousin Percy. It had been +some time since she had seen Wings, +except in the stable, where she visited +him every day.</p> + +<p>But Dotty had set her heart on a +rag-baby which Susy had promised to +dress, and Prudy was anxious that +Susy should play several games of +checkers with her.</p> + +<p>"O, dear," said the eldest sister, with +the perplexed air of a mother who has +disobedient little ones to manage. +"I think I have about as much as I +can bear. The <i>children</i> always make +a fuss, just as sure as I want to go +out."</p> + +<p>The old, impatient spirit was rising; +that spirit which it was one of the +duties of Susy's life to keep under +control.</p> + +<p>She went into the bathing-room, and +drank off a glass of cold water, and +talked to herself a while, for she considered +that the safest way.</p> + +<p>"Have I any right to be cross? Yes, +I think I have. Here Dotty woke me +up, right in the middle of a dream, and +I'm sleepy this minute. Then Prudy +is a little babyish thing, and always +was—making a fuss if I forget to +call her Rosy Frances! Yes, I'll be +cross, and act just as I want to. It's +too hard work to keep pleasant; I +won't try."</p> + +<p>She walked along to the door, but, +by that time, the better spirit was +struggling to be heard.</p> + +<p>"Now, Susy Parlin," it said, "you +little girl with a pony, and a pair of +skates, and feet to walk on, and everything +you want, ain't you ashamed, +when you think of that dear little +sister you pushed down stairs—no, +didn't push—that poor little lame +sister!—O, hark! there is your mother +winding up that hard splint! How +would you feel with such a thing on +your hip? Go, this minute, and comfort +Prudy!"</p> + +<p>The impatient feelings were gone +for that time; Susy had swallowed +them, or they had flown out of the +window.</p> + +<p>"Now Rosy Frances Eastman +Mary," said she, "if your splint is all +fixed, I'll comb your hair."</p> + +<p>The splint was made of hard, +polished wood and brass. Under it +were strips of plaster an inch wide, +which wound round and round the +poor wounded limb. These strips of +plaster became loose, and there was +a little key-hole in the splint, into +which Mrs. Parlin put a key, and +wound up and tightened the plaster +every morning. This operation did +not hurt Prudy at all.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Susy, after she had +combed Prudy's hair carefully, and +put a net over it, until her mother +should be ready to curl it, "now we +will have a game of checkers."</p> + +<p>Prudy played in high glee, for Susy +allowed her to jump all her men, and +march triumphantly into the king-row, +at the head of a victorious +army.</p> + +<p>"There, now, Rosy," said Susy, gently, +"are you willing to let me go out +riding? I can't play any more if I +ride, for I must dress Dotty's doll, and +feed my canary."</p> + +<p>"O, well," said Prudy, considering +the matter, "I'm sick; I tell you how +it is, I'm sick, you know; but—well, +you may go, Susy, if you'll make up a +story as long as a mile."</p> + +<p>Susy really felt grateful to Prudy, +but it was her own gentle manner +which had charmed the sick child into +giving her consent.</p> + +<p>Then Susy proceeded to dress Dotty's +doll in a very simple fashion, with two +holes for short sleeves, and a skirt +with a raw edge; but she looked kind +and pleasant while she was at work, +and Dotty was just as well pleased as +if it had been an elegant costume she +was preparing. And it was really +good enough for a poor deformed rag-baby, +with a head shaped like a stove-pipe.</p> + +<p>Susy was delighted to find how well +a little patience served her in amusing +"the children." Next, she went to +give Dandy his morning bath. Mrs. +Parlin still thought it a dangerous +practice, but had not seen Mrs. Mason, +to question her about it, and Susy was +too obstinate in her opinion to listen +to her mother.</p> + +<p>"I must do it," said Susy; "it has +been ever so long since Dandy was +bathed, and I shouldn't take any comfort +riding, mamma, if I didn't leave +him clean."</p> + +<p>Susy plunged the trembling canary +into his little bathing-bowl, in some +haste. He struggled as usual, and +begged, with his weak, piping voice, +to be spared such an infliction. But +Susy was resolute.</p> + +<p>"It'll do you good, Ducky Daddles; +we mustn't have any lazy, dirty birdies +in this house."</p> + +<p>Ducky Daddies rolled up his little +eyes, and gasped for breath.</p> + +<p>"O, look, mother!" cried Susy, +laughing; "how funny Dandy acts! +Do you suppose it's to make me laugh? +O, is he fainting away?"</p> + +<p>"Fainting away! My dear child, +he is dying!"</p> + +<p>This was the sad truth. Mrs. Parlin +fanned him, hoping to call back +the lingering breath. But it was too +late. One or two more throbs, and his +frightened little heart had ceased to +beat; his frail life had gone out as +suddenly as a spark of fire.</p> + +<p>Susy was too much shocked to speak. +She stood holding the stiffening bird +in her hands, and gazing at it.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Parlin was very sorry for Susy, +and had too much kindness of feeling +to add to her distress by saying,—</p> + +<p>"You know how I warned you, +Susy."</p> + +<p>Susy was already suffering for her +obstinacy and disregard of her mother's +advice; and Mrs. Parlin believed +she would lay the lesson to heart quite +as well without more words. It was +a bitter lesson. Susy loved dumb +creatures dearly, and was just becoming +very fond of Dandy.</p> + +<p>In the midst of her trouble, and +while her eyes were swollen with tears, +her cousin Percy came with Wings +and the sleigh to give her the promised +ride. Susy no longer cared for going +out: it seemed to her that her heart +was almost broken.</p> + +<p>"Well, cousin Indigo, what is the +matter?" said Percy; "you look as if +this world was a howling wilderness, +and you wanted to howl too. What, +crying over that bird? Poh! I can +buy you a screech-owl any time, that +will make twice the noise he could in +his best days. Come, hurry, and put +your things on!"</p> + +<p>Susy buried her face in her apron.</p> + +<p>"I'll compose a dirge for him," said +Percy.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"My bird is dead, said Susy P.,<br /></span> +<span>My bird is dead; O, deary me!<br /></span> +<span>He sang so sweet, te whee, te whee;<br /></span> +<span>He sings no more; O, deary me!<br /></span> +<span>Go hang his cage up in the tree,<br /></span> +<span>That cage I care no more to see.<br /></span> +<span>My bird is dead, cried Susy P."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>These provoking words Percy +drawled out in a sing-song voice. It +was too much. Susy's eyes flashed +through her tears.</p> + +<p>"You've always laughed at me, +Percy Eastman, and plagued me about +Freddy Jackson, and everything, and +I've borne it like a—like a lady. But +when you go to laughing at my poor +little Dandy that's dead, and can't +speak—"</p> + +<p>Susy was about to say, "Can't speak +for himself," but saw in time how +absurdly she was talking, and stopped +short.</p> + +<p>Percy laughed.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going with that +cage?"</p> + +<p>"Going to put it away, where I'll +never see it again," sobbed poor +Susy.</p> + +<p>"Give it to me," said Percy: "I'll +take care of it for you."</p> + +<p>If Susy's eyes had not been blinded +by tears, she would have been surprised +to see the real pity in Percy's +face.</p> + +<p>He was a rollicking boy, full of +merriment and bluster, and what +tender feelings he possessed, he took +such a wonderful amount of pains to +conceal, that Susy never suspected he +had any. She would have enjoyed +her ride if she had not felt so full of +grief. The day was beautiful. There +had been a storm, and the trees looked +as if they had been snowballing one +another; but Susy had no eye for +trees, and just then hardly cared for +her pony.</p> + +<p>Percy put the cage in the sleigh, +under the buffalo robes; and when +they reached his own door, he carried +the cage into the house, while Susy +drew a sigh of relief. He offered to +stuff Dandy, or have him stuffed; but +Susy rejected the idea with horror.</p> + +<p>"No, if Dandy was dead, he was all +dead; she didn't want to see him +sitting up stiff and cold, when he +couldn't sing a speck."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>ANNIE LOVEJOY.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>But the day was not over yet. The +bright sun and blue sky were doing +what they could to make a cheerful +time of it, but it seemed as if Susy +fell more deeply into trouble, as the +hours passed on.</p> + +<p>There are such days in everybody's +life, when it rains small vexations +from morning till night, and when all +we can do is to hope for better things +to-morrow.</p> + +<p>It was Wednesday; and in the +afternoon, Flossy Eastman came over +with a new game, and while the little +girls, Flossy, Susy and Prudy were +playing it, and trying their best to +keep Dotty Dimple's prying fingers +and long curls out of the way, in came +Miss Annie Lovejoy.</p> + +<p>This was a little neighbor, who, as +the children sometimes privately declared, +was "always 'round." Mrs. +Parlin had her own private doubts +about the advantages to be derived +from her friendship, and had sometimes +gone so far as to send her home, +when she seemed more than usually +in the way.</p> + +<p>Annie's mother lived next door, but +all Mrs. Parlin knew of her, was what +she could see and hear from her own +windows; and that little was not very +agreeable. She saw that Mrs. Love +joy dressed in gaudy colors, and loaded +herself with jewelry; and she could +hear her scold her servants and children +with a loud, shrill voice.</p> + +<p>The two ladies had never exchanged +calls; but Annie, it seemed, had few +playmates, and she clung to Susy +with such a show of affection, that +Mrs. Parlin could not forbid her visits, +although she watched her closely; +anxious, as a careful mother should +be, to make sure she was a proper +companion for her little daughter. +So far she had never known her to +say or do anything morally wrong, +though her manners were not exactly +those of a well-bred little girl.</p> + +<p>This afternoon, when the new game +was broken up by the entrance of +Annie, the children began the play of +housekeeping, because Prudy could +join in it. Susy found she enjoyed +any amusement much more when it +pleased the little invalid.</p> + +<p>"I will be the lady of the house," +said Annie, promptly, "because I have +rings on my fingers, and a coral necklace. +My name is Mrs. Piper. Prudy,—no, +Rosy,—you shall be Mrs. Shotwell, +come a-visiting me; because you +can't do anything else. We'll make +believe you've lost your husband in +the wars. I know a Mrs. Shotwell, +and she is always <i>taking-on</i>, and saying, +'My poor dear husband,' under +her handkerchief; just this way."</p> + +<p>The children laughed at the nasal +twang which Annie gave to the words, +and Prudy imitated it to perfection, +not knowing it was wrong.</p> + +<p>"Well, what shall I be?" said Susy, +not very well pleased that the first +characters had been taken already.</p> + +<p>"O, you shall be a hired girl, and +wear a handkerchief on your head, +just as our girl does; and you must +be a little deaf, and keep saying, +'What, ma'am?' when I speak to you."</p> + +<p>"And I," said Florence, "will be Mr. +Peter Piper, the head of the family."</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned Annie, "you can +put on a waterproof cloak, and you +will make quite a good-looking husband; +but I shall be the head of the +family myself, and have things about +as I please!"</p> + +<p>"Well, there," cried Flossy, slipping +her arms into the sleeves of her cloak, +"I don't know about that; I don't +think it's very polite for you to treat +your husband in that way."</p> + +<p>Flossy wanted to have the control +of family matters herself.</p> + +<p>"But I believe in 'Woman's Rights,'" +said Annie, with a toss of the head, +"and if there's anything I despise, it +is a <i>man</i> meddling about the house."</p> + +<p>Here little Dotty began to cause a +disturbance, by sticking a fruit-knife +into the edges of the "what-not," and +making a whirring noise.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't do so, Dotty," said Susy, +going up to her; "it troubles us; and, +besides, I'm afraid it will break the +knife."</p> + +<p>"I don't allow my hired girl to interfere +with my children," said Annie, +speaking up in the character of Mrs. +Piper; "I am mistress of the house, +I'd have you to know! There, little +daughter, they shan't plague her; she +shall keep on doing mischief; so she +shall!"</p> + +<p>Dotty needed no coaxing to keep on +doing mischief, but hit the musical +knife harder than ever, giving it a +dizzy motion, like the clapper in a +mill.</p> + +<p>Prudy was quite annoyed by the +sound, but did not really know whether +to be nervous or not, and concluded to +express her vexation in groans: the +groans she was giving in memory of +the departed Mr. Shotwell, who had +died of a "cannon bullet."</p> + +<p>"My good Mrs. Shotwell," said Mrs. +Piper, trying to "make conversation," +"I think I have got something in my +eye: will you please tell me how it +looks?"</p> + +<p>"O," said Prudy, peeping into it, +"your eye looks very well, ma'am; +don't you '<i>xcuse</i> it; it looks well enough +for <i>me</i>."</p> + +<p>"Ahem!" said Mrs. Piper, laughing, +and settling her head-dress, which +was Susy's red scarf: "are your feet +warm, Mrs. Shotwell?"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, ma'am," replied Prudy, +"I don't feel 'em cold. O, dear, if your +husband was all deaded up, I guess +you'd cry, Mrs. Piper."</p> + +<p>Susy and Flossy looked at each other, +and smiled. They thought Prudy +seemed more like herself than they +had known her for a long time.</p> + +<p>"You must go right out of the parlor, +Betsey," said Mrs. Piper, flourishing +the poker; "I mean you, Susy—the +parlor isn't any place for hired girls."</p> + +<p>"Ma'am?" said Susy, inclining her +head to one side, in order to hear better.</p> + +<p>"O, dear! the plague of having a +deaf girl!" moaned Mrs. Piper. "You +don't know how trying it is, Mrs. Shotwell! +That hired girl, Betsey, hears +with her elbows, Mrs. Shotwell; I verily +believe she does!"</p> + +<p>"O, no, ma'am," replied Prudy; "I +guess she doesn't hear with her elbows, +does she? If she <i>heard</i> with her elbows, +she wouldn't have to ask you +over again!"</p> + +<p>This queer little speech set Mr. Piper +and his wife, and their servant, all to +laughing, and Betsey looked at her +elbows, to see if they were in the right +place.</p> + +<p>"Will you please, ma'am," said +Prudy, "ask Betsey to <i>hot</i> a flatiron? +I've cried my handkerchief all up!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; go right out, Betsey, and <i>hot</i> +a flatiron," said Mrs. Piper, very hospitably. +"Go out, this instant, and +build a fire, Betsey."</p> + +<p>"Yes, go right out, Betsey," echoed +Mr. Piper, who could find nothing better +to do than to repeat his wife's +words; for, in spite of himself, she did +appear to be the "head of the family."</p> + +<p>"It was my darlin' husband's handkerchief," +sobbed Prudy.</p> + +<p>"Rather a small one for a man," +said Mr. Piper, laughing.</p> + +<p>"Well," replied Prudy, rather quick +for a thought, "my husband had a +very small nose!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Piper tried to make more +"conversation."</p> + +<p>"O, Mrs. Shotwell, you ought to be +exceeding thankful you're a widow, +and don't keep house! I think my +hired girls will carry down my gray +hairs to the grave! The last one I had +was Irish, and very Catholic."</p> + +<p>Prudy groaned for sympathy, and +wiped her eyes on that corner of her +handkerchief which was supposed to +be not quite "cried up."</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed, it was awful," continued +Mrs. Piper; "for she wasalways going to masses and mass-meetings; +and there couldn't anybody +die but they must be 'waked,' you +know."</p> + +<p>"Why, I didn't know they could be +waked up when they was dead," said +Prudy, opening her eyes.</p> + +<p>"O, but they only <i>make believe</i> you +can wake 'em," said Mrs. Piper; "of +course it isn't true! For my part, I +don't believe a word an Irish girl says, +any way."</p> + +<p>"Hush, my child," she continued, +turning to Dotty, who was now +sharpening the silver knife on the +edges of the iron grate. "Betsey, why +in the world don't you see to that +baby? I believe you are losing your +mind!"</p> + +<p>"That makes me think," said Prudy, +suddenly breaking in with a new idea; +"what do you s'pose the reason is +folks can't be waked up? What makes +'em stay in heaven all the days, and +nights, and years, and never come +down here to see anybody, not a +minute?"</p> + +<p>"What an idea!" said Annie. "I'm +sure I don't know."</p> + +<p>"Well, I've been a thinkin'," said +Prudy, answering her own question, +"that when God has sended 'em up to +the sky, they like to stay up there the +best. It's a nicer place, a great deal +nicer place, up to God's house."</p> + +<p>"O, yes, of course," replied Annie, +"but our play—"</p> + +<p>"I've been a thinkin'," continued +Prudy, "that when I go up to God's +house, I shan't wear the splint. I can +run all over the house, and he'll be +willing I should go up stairs, and down +cellar, you know."</p> + +<p>Prudy sighed. Sometimes she +almost longed for "God's house."</p> + +<p>"Well, let's go on with our play," +said Annie, impatiently. "It's most +supper-time, Mrs. Shotwell. Come in, +Betsey."</p> + +<p>"Ma'am?" said Betsey, appearing at +the door, and turning up one ear, very +much as if it were a dipper, in which +she expected to catch the words which +dropped from the lips of her mistress. +"Betsey, have you attended to your +sister—to my little child, I mean? +Then go out and make some sassafras +cakes, and some eel-pie, and some +squirrel-soup; and set the table in five +minutes: do you hear?"</p> + +<p>"Ma'am?" said the deaf servant; +'what did you say about ginger-bread?"</p> + +<p>Susy did not like her part of the +game; but she played it as well as she +could, and let Annie manage everything, +because that was what pleased +Annie.</p> + +<p>"O, how stupid Betsey is!" said Mr. +Piper, coming to the aid of his wife. +"Mrs. Piper says eel-jumbles, and sassafras-pie, +and pound-cake; all made +in five minutes!"</p> + +<p>Here everybody laughed, and Prudy, +suddenly remembering her part, +sighed, and said,—</p> + +<p>"O, my darlin' husband used to like +jumble-pie! I've forgot to cry for +ever so long!"</p> + +<p>Susy began to set the table, and +went into the nursery for some cake +and cookies, which were kept in an +old tin chest, on purpose for this play +of housekeeping, which had now been +carried on regularly every Wednesday +and Saturday afternoon, for some time.</p> + +<p>Susy opened the cake-chest, and +found nothing in it but a few dry +cookies: the fruit-cake was all gone. +Who could have eaten it? Not Flossy, +for she had a singular dislike for raisins +and currants, and never so much +as tasted fruit-cake. Not Prudy, for +the poor little thing had grown so lame +by this time, that she was unable to +bear her weight on her feet, much less +to walk into the nursery. Dotty could +not be the thief. Her baby-conscience +was rather tough and elastic, and I +suppose she would have felt no more +scruples about nibbling nice things, +than an unprincipled little mouse.</p> + +<p>But, then Dotty couldn't reach the +cake-chest; so she was certainly innocent.</p> + +<p>Then Susy remembered in a moment +that it was Annie: Annie had run +into the house morning and night, +and had often said, "I'm right hungry. +I'm going to steal a piece of our cake!"</p> + +<p>So it seemed that Annie had eaten +it <i>all</i>. Susy ran back to Prudy's sitting-room, +where her little guests were +seated, and said, trying not to laugh,—</p> + +<p>"Please, ma'am, I just made some +eel-jumbles and things, and a dog +came in and stole them."</p> + +<p>"Very well, Betsey," said Mrs. Piper, +serenely; "make some more."</p> + +<p>"Yes, make some more," echoed Mr. +Piper; and added, "chain up that +dog."</p> + +<p>"But real honest true," said Susy, +"the fruit-cake <i>is</i> all gone out of the +chest. You ate it up, you know, +Annie; but it's no matter: we'll cut +up some cookies, or, may be, mother'll +let us have some oyster-crackers."</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> ate up the cake!" cried Annie; +"It's no such a thing; I never touched +it!" Her face flushed as she spoke.</p> + +<p>"O, but you did," persisted Susy; +"I suppose you've forgotten! You +went to the cake-chest this morning, +and last night, and yesterday noon, +and ever so many more times."</p> + +<p>Annie was too angry to speak.</p> + +<p>"But it's just as well," added Susy, +politely; "you could have it as well +as not, and perfectly welcome!"</p> + +<p>"What are you talking about?" cried +Annie, indignantly; for she thought +she saw a look of surprise and contempt +on Flossy's face, and fancied +that Flossy despised her because she +had a weakness for fruit-cake.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if you take me for a pig, +Susy Parlin! I heard what your +mother said about that cake! She +said it was too dry for her company, +but it was too rich for little girls, and +we must only eat a <i>teeny</i> speck at a +time. I told my mamma, and she +laughed, to think such mean dried-up +cake was too rich for little girls!"</p> + +<p>Susy felt her temper rising, but her +desire to be polite did not desert her.</p> + +<p>"It <i>was</i> rich, nice cake, Annie; but +mother said the slices had been cut +a great while, and it was drying up. +Let's not talk any more about it."</p> + +<p>"O, but I <i>shall</i> talk more about it," +cried Annie, still more irritated; "you +keep hinting that I tell wrong stories +and steal cake; yes, you do! and then +you ain't willing to let me speak!"</p> + +<p>All this sounded like righteous indignation, +but was only anger. Annie +was entirely in the wrong, and knew +it; therefore she lost her temper.</p> + +<p>Susy had an unusual amount of +self-control at this time, merely because +she had the truth on her side. +But her dignified composure only +vexed Annie the more.</p> + +<p>"I won't stay here to be imposed +upon, and told that I'm a liar and a +thief; so I won't! I'll go right home +this very minute, and tell my mother +just how you treat your company!"</p> + +<p>And, in spite of all Susy could say, +Annie threw on her hood and cloak, +and flounced out of the room; forgetting, +in her wrath, to take off +Susy's red scarf, which was still festooned +about her head.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad she's gone," said +Flossy, coolly, as the door closed with +a slam. "She's a bold thing, and my +mother wouldn't like me to play with +her, if she knew how she acts! She +said 'victuals' for food, and that isn't +<i>elegant</i>, mother says. What right had +she to set up and say she'd be Mrs. +Piper? So forward!"</p> + +<p>After all, this was the grievous part +of the whole to Flossy,—that she had +to take an inferior part in the play.</p> + +<p>"But I'm <i>sorry</i> she's gone," said +Susy, uneasily. "I don't like to have +her go and tell that I wasn't polite."</p> + +<p>"You <i>was</i> polite," chimed in little +Prudy, from the sofa; "a great deal +politer'n she was! I wouldn't care, if +I would be you, Susy. I don't wish +Annie was dead, but I wish she was a +duck a-sailin' on the water!"</p> + +<p>The children went back to the game +they had been playing before Annie +came; but the interest was quite gone. +Their quick-tempered little guest had +been a "<i>kill-joy</i>" in spite of her name.</p> + +<p>But the afternoon was not over yet. +What happened next, I will tell you in +another chapter.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a><h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>MORAL COURAGE.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Annie Lovejoy had not been gone +fifteen minutes, when there was a +sharp ringing of Mrs. Parlin's doorbell, +and a little boy gave Norah the +red scarf of Susy's, and a note for Mrs. +Parlin.</p> + +<p>Norah suspected they both came +from Mrs. Lovejoy, and she could see +that lady from the opposite window, +looking toward the house with a very +defiant expression.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Parlin opened the note with +some surprise, for she had been engaged +with visitors in the parlor, and +did not know what had been going on +up stairs.</p> + +<p>Whatever Mrs. Lovejoy's other +accomplishments might be, she could +not write very elegantly. The ink +was hardly dry, and the words were +badly blotted, as well as incorrectly +spelled.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Mrs. Parlin.</p></blockquote> + +<blockquote><p>"Madam: If my own <i>doughter</i> is a +<i>theif</i> and a <i>lier</i>, I beg to be informed. +She has no <i>knowlidg</i> of the cake, +<i>whitch</i> was so <i>dryed</i> up, a <i>begar woold</i> +not touch it. Will Miss Susan Parlin +come over here, and take back her +words?</p></blockquote> + +<blockquote><p>"SERENA LOVEJOY."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mrs. Parlin was at a loss to understand +this, for she had quite forgotten +the fact, that the children had any +cake to use at their play of housekeeping. +She supposed that Susy must +have accused Annie of prying into the +china-closet, where the cakes and +jellies were kept. She sent for Susy +at once.</p> + +<p>"My daughter," said she, in her +usual quiet tones, "did you ever have +any reason to suppose that Annie +Lovejoy went about meddling with +our things, and peeping into the +closets?"</p> + +<p>"Why, no, mother," replied Susy, +much surprised; "she never saw the +closets, that I know of. Why, mother, +what do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Never ate cake, did she, without +leave?"</p> + +<p>"O, now I know what you mean, +mother! Yes'm, she ate some of that +fruit-cake you gave us to play with; +and when I told her of it, she got +angry, and said she was going right +home, and would tell her mother how +I treated my company; but I don't +see how you found that out!"</p> + +<p>"Never mind yet how I found it +out, my dear. I want to know if you +are sure that Annie ate the cake?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mother: just as certain sure +as I can be! You know Dotty can't +reach that high shelf in the nursery-closet, +and I can't, without getting +into a chair; and Prudy can't walk +a step; and Flossy despises cake."</p> + +<p>"But," said Mrs. Parlin, smiling, "I +don't see that you have proved Annie +to be the guilty one."</p> + +<p>"Guilty? O, I don't know as she is +<i>guilty</i>, mamma; but she ate the cake! +She ate it right before my face and +eyes; but I told her it was just as +well, she was perfectly welcome, and +tried to be as polite as if she was a +grown-up lady, mother. But, O, dear, +it didn't make a speck of difference +how much I said; for the more I said, +the more angry she grew, and I +couldn't make her believe I didn't +think she was a thief and a liar! +Only think, a thief and a liar! But +I never said those words at all, +mother!"</p> + +<p>"Very well, my dear; I am sure +you did not. It is a great comfort to +me, Susy, that I can always rely on +your word. You have done nothing +wrong, and need not be unhappy; +but Mrs. Lovejoy sends for you to go +over and tell her just what you mean +about the cake; are you willing to +go?"</p> + +<p>Susy was not willing; indeed, she +was very much frightened, and begged +her mother to excuse her in some way +to Mrs. Lovejoy, or, if that would not +do, to go herself and explain the matter +for her.</p> + +<p>But, as it was Susy's own affair, +Mrs. Parlin wished to have as little to +do with it as possible. Besides, she +considered it a good opportunity to +teach Susy a lesson in moral courage.</p> + +<p>Susy started very reluctantly.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid Mrs. Lovejoy will scold +real sharp," said she. " What shall I +do? O, mother, I didn't see Annie eat +<i>all</i> the cake; I didn't watch. How do +I know but she gave some crumbs to +the cat? Can't I—can't I say, I <i>guess</i> +the cat ate it?"</p> + +<p>"Susy!" said Mrs. Parlin, sternly, +"are you more afraid of displeasing +Mrs. Lovejoy than you are of displeasing +God? All that is required of you +is the simple truth. Merely say to +Annie's mother just what you have +said to me; that you saw Annie eating +cake several times, though there +was no harm in it, and you did <i>not</i> +call her either a thief or a liar. Speak +respectfully, but decidedly; and when +you have said all that is necessary, +leave her politely, and come home."</p> + +<p>Susy called up all her courage when +she entered Mrs. Lovejoy's house, and +saw that lady sitting very erect on a +sofa, with a bleak face, which looked +somehow as if a north-east wind had +blown over it, and frozen it.</p> + +<p>"Well, little girl," said she, without +waiting for ceremony, "so you call +my Annie all the bad names you can +think of, it seems. Is that the way +you are brought up?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't call her names, ma'am; +she ate the cake, but I was willing," +replied Susy, calmly and respectfully, +though she trembled from head to +foot. There was one thought which +sustained Susy; she was telling the +truth, and that was just what God +wanted her to do.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mrs. Lovejoy, "I must +say you're a dignified little piece! Do +you know you've done the same thing +as to tell me I lie?"</p> + +<p>This was just the way <i>Annie</i> had +spoken; warping innocent words, and +making them the occasion of a quarrel.</p> + +<p>Susy could think of nothing which +seemed exactly right to say to Mrs. +Lovejoy in reply; so she wisely held +her peace.</p> + +<p>"Yes, miss, you've insulted my +child, and, as if that were not enough, +you come over here, deliberately, and +insult <i>me</i>, in my own house!"</p> + +<p>Tears sprang to Susy's eyes, but she +resolutely crushed them back. There +was, in her childish mind, a certain +sense of self-respect, which made her +unwilling to cry in the presence of +such a person as Mrs. Lovejoy. She +felt instinctively that the woman was +not a lady. Susy was too young to +reason about the matter; but she was +quite sure her own mother was a +model of good manners; and never, +never had she known her mother to +raise her voice to such a high key, or +speak such angry words!</p> + +<p>Mrs. Lovejoy said a great many +things which were both severe and +unjust; but Susy managed to keep +up a respectful manner, as her mother +had directed. Mrs. Lovejoy was disappointed. +She had expected Susy +would quail before her presence +and make the most humble confessions.</p> + +<p>"I always knew," cried Mrs. Lovejoy, +becoming more and more exasperated,—"I +always knew Mrs. Parlin +held her head pretty high! She is a +proud, stuck-up woman, your mother +is; she has taught you to look down +on my little girl! O, yes, I understand +the whole story! You're a +beautiful family for neighbors!"</p> + +<p>Poor Susy was fairly bewildered.</p> + +<p>"Now you may go home as straight +as you can go! But remember one +thing: never, while we live in this +city, shall my daughter Annie darken +your doors again!"</p> + +<p>Susy walked home with downcast +head and overflowing eyes. Her heart +was very heavy, for she felt she had +been disgraced for life, and could +never be respected any more. Here +was a trial so terrible that it caused +the death of little Dandy to seem +almost a trifle by comparison.</p> + +<p>It was strange, Susy thought, how +people could live through such severe +troubles as had fallen to her lot to-day. +She was a little girl of quick and +sensitive feelings, and a sharp word +always wounded her more than a +blow. How that angry woman had +talked about her mother!</p> + +<p>Susy decided, upon the whole, that +this was the sting—this was the "pin +in the lash," which had hurt her more +than the lash. How <i>dared</i> Mrs. Lovejoy +say a word about her own mother, +who was certainly the best woman +that ever lived, always excepting the +good people in the Bible!</p> + +<p>By the time she entered the house, +her indignation had risen like a blaze, +and burned away all her tears. But +should she tell her mother what Mrs. +Lovejoy had said about her ownself, +about her being "stuck up," and holding +her head pretty high? Susy could +not decide whether she ought to tell +her, and risk the danger of almost +breaking her heart! But before she +had time to decide, she had poured out +the whole story in a torrent.</p> + +<p>Strange to say, Mrs. Parlin listened +with perfect calmness, and even said, +when Susy had finished,—</p> + +<p>"Very well, my dear; now you +may go and hang up your hood and +cloak."</p> + +<p>"But, mother," said Susy, rushing +up stairs again, quite out of breath, +"now I've taken care of my things; +but did you understand what I said, +mother? Annie will never come into +this house, never again! Her mother +forbids it!"</p> + +<p>"That is quite fortunate for me, +Susy, as it saves me the trouble of forbidding +it myself!"</p> + +<p>"Why, mother, you wouldn't do +such a thing as that! Why, mother, +I never heard of your doing such a +thing in my life!"</p> + +<p>"I should regret the necessity very +much, my child; but wouldn't it be +better, on the whole, to have a little +moral courage, and put an end to all +intercourse between the two families, +than to live in a constant broil?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, mother, I suppose so."</p> + +<p>Susy was beginning to feel more +composed. She saw that her mother +understood the whole story, yet her +heart was far from being broken!</p> + +<p>"What is moral courage, mother?"</p> + +<p>"The courage to do right."</p> + +<p>"Did I have moral courage when I +told Mrs. Lovejoy the truth?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear. It was hard for you, +wasn't it? If it had been easy, there +would have been no moral courage +about it."</p> + +<p>"I am glad I had moral courage!" +said Susy with animation. "I knew I +did something <i>right</i>, but I didn't know +what you called it."</p> + +<p>"Now," continued Mrs. Parlin, "I +have this very day been talking with +a lady, who once lived next door to +Mrs. Lovejoy; and she tells me enough +about her to convince me that she is +not a person I wish for a neighbor. +And I have heard enough about Annie, +too, to feel very sure she is not a safe +companion for my little daughter."</p> + +<p>"But, mother," said Susy, "you are +not—you don't feel 'stuck up' above +Mrs. Lovejoy?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Parlin smiled.</p> + +<p>"That is not a very proper expression, +Susy; but I think I do not feel +<i>stuck-up</i> above her in the least. I am +only anxious that my little daughter +may not be injured by bad examples. +I don't know what sort of a little girl +Annie might be with proper influences, +but—"</p> + +<p>"Now, mamma, I don't want to +say anything improper," said Susy, +earnestly; "but wouldn't it be the +<i>piousest</i> for me to play with Annie, +and try to make her go to Sabbath +school, and be better?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Parlin did not answer at once. +She was thinking of what she had +said to Susy about people who are +"home missionaries," and do a great +deal of good by a beautiful example.</p> + +<p>"If you were older, dear, it would +be quite different. But, instead of +improving Annie, who is a self-willed +child, I fear you would only grow +worse yourself. She is bold, and you +are rather timid. She wants to lead, +and not to follow. I fear she will set +you bad examples."</p> + +<p>"I didn't know, mamma; but I +thought I was almost old enough to +set my <i>own</i> examples! I'm the oldest +of the family."</p> + +<p>Susy said no more about becoming +a home-missionary to Annie; for, +although she could not quite see the +force of her mother's reasoning, she +believed her mother was always right.</p> + +<p>"But what does she mean by calling +me <i>timid</i>? She has blamed me a +great deal for being <i>bold</i>."</p> + +<p>Yes, bold Susy certainly was, when +there was a fence to climb, a pony to +ride, or a storm to be faced; but she +was, nevertheless, a little faint-hearted +when people laughed at her. But +Susy was learning every day, and this +time it had been a lesson in moral +courage. She did not fully understand +her mother, however, as you +will see by and by.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_X"></a><h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>RUTHIE TURNER.</h3> + +<div class="pmidd"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10">"The darkest day,<br /></span> +<span>Wait till to-morrow, will have passed away."<br /></span> +</div></div></div> +<br /> + +<p>The next morning, Susy woke with +a faint recollection that something +unpleasant had occurred, though she +could not at first remember what it +was.</p> + +<p>"But I didn't do anything wrong," +was her second thought. "Now, after +I say my prayers, the next thing I'll +feed—O, Dandy is dead!"</p> + +<p>"See here, Susy," said Percy, coming +into the dining-room, just after breakfast; +"did you ever see this cage before?"</p> + +<p>"Now, Percy! When you know I +want it out of my sight!"</p> + +<p>Then, in the next breath, "Why, +Percy Eastman, if here isn't your +beautiful mocking-bird in the cage!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Susy; and if you'll keep him, +and be good to him, you'll do me a +great favor."</p> + +<p>It was a long while before Susy +could be persuaded that this rare bird +was to be her "ownest own." It was +a wonderfully gifted little creature. +Susy could but own that he was just +as good as a canary, only a great deal +better. "The greater included the +less." He had as sweet a voice, and a +vast deal more compass. His powers +of mimicry were very amusing to poor +little Prudy, who was never tired of +hearing him mew like a kitten, quack +like a duck, or whistle like a schoolboy.</p> + +<p>Susy was still more delighted than +Prudy. It was so comforting, too, +to know that she was doing Percy +"a great favor," by accepting his +beautiful present. She wondered in +her own mind how he <i>could</i> be tired +of such an interesting pet, and asked +her to take it, just to get rid of it!</p> + +<p>About this time, Mr. Parlin bought +for Prudy a little armed-chair, which +rolled about the floor on wheels. This +Prudy herself could propel with only +the outlay of a very little strength; +but there were days when she did not +care to sit in it at all. Prudy seemed to +grow worse. The doctor was hopeful, +very hopeful; but Mrs. Parlin was +not.</p> + +<p>Prudy's dimpled hands had grown +so thin, that you could trace the winding +path of every blue vein quite +distinctly. Her eyes were large and +mournful, and seemed to be always +asking for pity. She grew quiet +and patient—"painfully patient," her +father said. Indeed, Mr. Parlin, as +well as his wife, feared the little +sufferer was ripening for heaven.</p> + +<p>"Mamma," said she, one day, +"mamma, you never snip my fingers +any nowadays do you? When I'm +just as naughty, you never snip my +fingers!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Parlin turned her face away. +There were tears in her eyes, and she +did not like to look at those little +white fingers, which she was almost +afraid would never have the natural, +childish naughtiness in them any +more.</p> + +<p>"I think sick and patient little girls +don't need punishing," said she, after +a while. "Do you remember how +you used to think I snipped your +hands to 'get the naughty out?' You +thought the naughty was all in your +little hands!"</p> + +<p>"But it wasn't, mamma," said +Prudy, slowly and solemnly. "I +know where it was: it was in my +<i>heart</i>."</p> + +<p>"Who can take the naughty out +of our hearts, dear? Do you ever +think?"</p> + +<p>"Our Father in heaven. No one +else can. <i>He</i> knows how to snip our +hearts, and get the naughty out. +Sometimes he sends the earache and +the toothache to Susy, and the—the—lameness +to me. O, he has a great +many ways of snipping!"</p> + +<p>Prudy was showing the angel-side +of her nature now. Suffering was +"making her perfect." She had a +firm belief that God knew all about it, +and that somehow or other it was +"all right." Her mother took a great +deal of pains to teach her this. She +knew that no one can bear affliction +with real cheerfulness who does not +trust in God.</p> + +<p>But there was now and then a +bright day when Prudy felt quite +buoyant, and wanted to play. Susy +left everything then, and tried to +amuse her. If this lameness was +refining little Prudy, it was also making +Susy more patient. She could +not look at her little sister's pale face, +and not be touched with pity.</p> + +<p>One afternoon, Flossy Eastman and +Ruthie Turner came to see Susy; and, +as it was one of Prudy's best days, +Mrs. Parlin said they might play +in Prudy's sitting-room. Ruthie was +what Susy called an "old-fashioned +little girl." She lived with a widowed +mother, and had no brothers and sisters, +so that she appeared much older +than she really was. She liked to +talk with grown people upon wise subjects, +as if she were at least twenty-five +years old. Susy knew that this +was not good manners, and she longed +to say so to Ruthie.</p> + +<p>Aunt Madge was in Prudy's sitting-room +when Ruthie entered. Ruthie +went up to her and shook hands at +once.</p> + +<p>"I suppose it is Susy's aunt Madge," +said she. "I am delighted to see you, +for Susy says you love little girls, and +know lots of games."</p> + +<p>There was such a quiet composure +in Ruth's manner, and she seemed to +feel so perfectly at home in addressing +a young lady she had never seen before, +that Miss Parlin was quite astonished, +as well as a little inclined to +smile.</p> + +<p>Then Ruthie went on to talk about +the war. Susy listened in mute despair, +for she did not know anything +about politics. Aunt Madge looked at +Susy's face, and felt amused, for <i>Ruthie</i> +knew nothing about politics either: +she was as ignorant as Susy. She +had only heard her mother and other +ladies talking together. Ruthie answered +all the purpose of a parrot +hung up in a cage, for she caught and +echoed everything that was said, not +having much idea what it meant.</p> + +<p>When aunt Madge heard Ruth laboring +away at long sentences, with +hard words in them, she thought of +little Dotty, as she had seen her, that +morning, trying to tug Percy's huge +dog up stairs in her arms.</p> + +<p>"It is too much for her," thought +aunt Madge: "the dog got the upper-hand +of Dotty, and I think the big +words are more than a match for +Ruth."</p> + +<p>But Ruth did not seem to know it, +for she persevered. She gravely asked +aunt Madge if she approved of the +"<i>Mancimation</i> of <i>Proclapation</i>." Then +she said she and her mamma were +very much "<i>perplexed"</i> when news +came of the last defeat. She would +have said "<i>surprised</i>" only <i>surprised</i> +was an every-day word, and not up to +standard of elegant English.</p> + +<p>Ruth was not so very silly, after all. +It was only when she tried to talk of +matters too old for her that she made +herself ridiculous. She was very quiet +and industrious, and had knit several +pairs of socks for the soldiers.</p> + +<p>As soon as Miss Parlin could disentangle +herself from her conversation +with Ruthie, she left the children to +themselves.</p> + +<p>"Let's keep school," said Prudy. +"I'll be teacher, if you want me to."</p> + +<p>"Very well," replied Susy, "we'll let +her; won't we, girls? she is such a +darling."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Prudy, with a look of +immense satisfaction, "please go, Susy, +and ask grandma if I may have one +of those shiny, white handkerchiefs +she wears on her neck, and a cap, and +play Quaker."</p> + +<p>Grandma was very glad that Prudy +felt well enough to play Quaker, and +lent her as much "costume" as she +needed, as well as a pair of spectacles +without eyes, which the children often +borrowed for their plays, fancying +that they added to the dignity of the +wearer.</p> + +<p>When Prudy was fairly equipped, +she was a droll little Quakeress, surely, +and grandma had to be called up from +the kitchen to behold her with her +own eyes. The little soft face, almost +lost in the folds of the expansive cap, +was every bit as solemn as if she had +been, as aunt Madge said, "a hundred +years old, and very old for her age."</p> + +<p>She was really a sweet little likeness +of grandma Read in miniature.</p> + +<p>"And their names are alike, too," +said Susy: "grandma's name is Prudence, +and so is Prudy's."</p> + +<p>"Used to be," said Prudy, gravely.</p> + +<p>"Rosy Frances" was now lifted most +carefully into her little wheeled chair +and no queen ever held a court with +more dignity than she assumed as she +smoothed into place the folds of her +grandma's snowy kerchief, which she +wore about her neck.</p> + +<p>"What shall we do first?" said +Flossy and Susy.</p> + +<p>"Thee? thee?" Prudy considered +"thee" the most important word of +all. "Why, <i>thee</i> may behave; I mean, +behave <i>thyselves</i>."</p> + +<p>The new teacher had not collected +her ideas yet.</p> + +<p>"Let's get our books together," said +Susy, "and then we'll all sit on the +sofa and study."</p> + +<p>"Me, me," chimed in Dotty Dimple, +dropping the little carriage in which +she was wheeling her kitty; "me, +too!"</p> + +<p>"Well, if you must, you must; +snuggle in here between Flossy and +me," said Susy, who was determined +that to-day everything should go on +pleasantly.</p> + +<p>"Sixteenth class in joggerphy," said +Miss Rosy Frances, peeping severely +over her spectacles. "Be spry quick!"</p> + +<p>The three pupils stood up in a row, +holding their books close to their +faces.</p> + +<p>"Thee may hold out your hands +now, and I shall ferule thee—the +whole school," was the stern remark +of the young teacher, as she took off +her spectacles to wipe the holes.</p> + +<p>""Why, we haven't been doing anything," +said Ruthie, affecting to cry.</p> + +<p>"No, I know it; but thee'd <i>ought</i> +to have been doing something; thee'd +ought to have studied thy lessons."</p> + +<p>"But, teacher, we didn't have time," +pleaded Flossy; "you called us out so +quick! Won't you forgive us!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I will," said Rosy Frances, +gently; "I will, if thee'll speak up +<i>'xtremely</i> loud, and fix <i>thine</i> eyes on +thy teacher."</p> + +<p>The pupils replied, "Yes, ma'am," at +the top of their voices.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Rosy Frances, appearing +to read from the book, "where is +the Isthmus of <i>Susy?</i>"</p> + +<p>The scholars all laughed, and answered +at random. They did not +know that their teacher was trying to +say the "Isthmus of Suez."</p> + +<p>The next question took them by surprise:—</p> + +<p>"Is there any man in the moon?"</p> + +<p>"What a queer idea, Rosy," said +Susy; "what made you ask that?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause I wanted to know," replied +the Quaker damsel. "They said he +came down when the other man was +eatin' porridge. I should think, if he +went back up there, and didn't have +any wife and children, he'd be real +lonesome!"</p> + +<p>This idea of Prudy's set the whole +school to romancing, although it was +in the midst of a recitation. Flossy +said if there was a man in the moon, +he must be a giant, or he never could +get round over the mountains, which +she had heard were very steep.</p> + +<p>Ruthie asked if there was anything +said about his wife! Susy, who had +read considerable poetry was sure she +had heard something of a woman up +there, named "Cynthia;" but she supposed +it was all "moonshine," or +"made up," as she expressed it. She +said she meant to ask her aunt Madge +to write a fairy story about it.</p> + +<p>Here their progress in useful knowledge +was cut short by the disappearance +of Dotty. Looking out of the +window, they saw the little rogue +driving ducks with a broomstick. +These ducks had a home not far from +Mrs. Parlin's, and if Dotty Dimple +had one temptation stronger than all +others, it was the sight of those waddling +fowls, with their velvet heads, +beads of eyes, and spotted feathers. +When she saw them "marshin' along," +she was instantly seized with a desire +either to head the company or to +march in the rear, and set them to +quacking. She was bareheaded, and +Susy ran down stairs to bring her into +the house; and that was an end of +the school for that day. Dotty Dimple +was something like the kettle of molasses +which Norah was boiling, very +sweet, but very apt to <i>boil over</i>: she +needed watching.</p> + +<p>When Norah's candy was brought up +stairs, the little girls pronounced it +excellent.</p> + +<p>"O, dear," said Flossy, "I wish our +girl was half as good as Norah! I +don't see why Electa and Norah ain't +more alike when they are own sisters!"</p> + +<p>"What dreadful girls your mother +always has!" said Susy; "it's too +bad?"</p> + +<p>"I know of a girl," said Prudy, +"one you'd like ever'n, ever so much, +Flossy; only you can't have her."</p> + +<p>"Why not?" said Flossy; "my +mother would go hundreds of leagues +to get a good girl. Why can't she +have her?"</p> + +<p>"O, 'cause, she's <i>dead!</i> It's Norah's +cousin over to Ireland."</p> + +<p>They next played the little game of +guessing "something in this room," +that begins with a certain letter. +Ruthie puzzled them a long while on +the initial S. At last she said she +meant "scrutau" (escritoire or scrutoire), +pointing towards the article +with her finger.</p> + +<p>"Why, that's a <i>writing-desk</i>," said +Susy. "I don't see where you learn +so many big worns, Ruthie."</p> + +<p>"O, I take notice, and remember +them," replied Ruthie, looking quite +pleased. She thought Susy was praising +her.</p> + +<p>"Now let <i>me</i> tell some letters," said +Prudy.</p> + +<p>"L.R. She lives at your house, +Flossy."</p> + +<p>Nobody could guess.</p> + +<p>"Why, I should think <i>that</i> was +easy enough," said Prudy: "it's that +girl that lives there; she takes off the +covers of your stove with a clothes-pin: +it's 'Lecta Rosbornd.'"</p> + +<p>The little girls explained to Prudy +that the true initials of Electa Osborne +would be E. O., instead of L. R. +But Prudy did not know much about +spelling. She <i>had</i> known most of her +letters; but it was some time ago, +and they had nearly all slipped out of +her head.</p> + +<p>She said, often, she wished she +could "only, only read;" and Susy +offered to teach her, but Mrs. Parlin +said it would never do till Prudy felt +stronger.</p> + +<p>I will tell you now why I think +Susy did not understand her mother +when she said Annie was not a suitable +playmate. In the evening, after +Ruthie and Flossy were gone, Susy +said to her mother,—</p> + +<p>"I feel real cross with Ruthie, +mamma: I think she puts herself forward. +She goes into a room, and no +matter how old the people are that +are talking, she speaks up, and says, +'O, yes, I know all about it.' I +never saw such an old-fashioned little +girl."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Mrs. Parlin; "if +<i>she</i> is rude, take care that the same +fault does not appear in yourself, +Susy."</p> + +<p>"But, mother," said Susy, suddenly +veering about and speaking in Ruth's +favor, "I don't know but it's proper +to do as Ruthy does. If you know +something, and other people don't, +ain't it right to speak up and say +it?"</p> + +<p>"It is never right for little girls to +<i>monopolize</i> conversation, Susy; that +is, to take the lead in it, and so +prevent older people from talking. +Neither is it proper to pretend to +know more than we do, and talk of +things beyond our knowledge."</p> + +<p>"I knew you would say so, mother. +I just asked to hear what you would +say. I know Ruthie is ill-mannered: +do you think I ought to play with her +any more?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Parlin looked at Susy in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Why, you know, mother, you +wouldn't let me play with Annie +Lovejoy. You said, 'evil communications +corrupted good manners.'"</p> + +<p>"But can't you see any difference +in the cases, Susy? What a muddy +little head you must wear on your +shoulders!"</p> + +<p>"Not much of any," said Susy, +trying to think; "they're both <i>bold</i>; +that's what you don't like."</p> + +<p>"Anything else, Susy?"</p> + +<p>"O, yes, mother; Ruthie's good, and +Annie isn't. It was queer for me to +forget that!"</p> + +<p>"I should think it was, Susy, since +it is the only thing of much importance, +after all. Now, it seems to me +you are very ready to cast off your +friends when their manners offend +you. How would you like it to be +treated in the same way? Suppose +Mrs. Turner and Ruthie should be +talking together this very minute. +Ruthie says, 'That Susy Parlin keeps +her drawers in a perfect tumble; she +isn't orderly a bit. Susy Parlin never +knit a stitch for the soldiers in her +life. Mother, mayn't I stop playing +with Susy Parlin?'"</p> + +<p>Susy laughed, and looked a little +ashamed.</p> + +<p>"Well, mother," said she, twisting +the corner of her handkerchief, "I +guess I can't say anything about +Ruthie Turner; she's a great deal +better girl than I am, any way."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>SUSY'S BIRTHDAY.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Days and weeks passed. The snowflakes, +which had fallen from time to +time, and kept themselves busy making +a patchwork quilt for mother +Earth, now melted away, and the +white quilt was torn into shreds. The +bare ground was all there was to be +seen, except now and then a dot of +the white coverlet. It was Spring, +and everything began to wake up. +The sun wasn't half so sleepy, and +didn't walk off over the western hills +in the middle of the afternoon to take +a nap.</p> + +<p>The sleighing was gone long ago. +The roads were dismal swamps. +"Wings" would have a rest till "settled +going." Susy's skates were hung +up in a green baize bag, to dream +away the summer.</p> + +<p>The mocking-bird performed his +daily duties of entertaining the family, +besides learning a great many new +songs. Susy said she tried not to set +her heart on that bird.</p> + +<p>"I'll not give him a name," she +added, "for then he'll be sure to die! +My first canary was Bertie, and I +named the others Berties, as fast as +they died off. The last one was so +yellow that I couldn't help calling him +Dandelion; but I wish I hadn't, for +then, perhaps, he'd have lived."</p> + +<p>Susy had caught some whimsical +notions about "signs and wonders." +It is strange how some intelligent +children will believe in superstitious +stories! But as soon as Susy's parents +discovered that her young head +had been stored with such worse than +foolish ideas, they were not slow to +teach her better.</p> + +<p>She had a great fright, about this +time, concerning Freddy Jackson. He +was one of the few children who were +allowed to play in "Prudy's sitting-room." +He did not distract the tired +nerves of "Rosy Frances," as her cousin +Percy and other boys did, by sudden +shouts and loud laughing. Prudy +had a vague feeling that he was one +of the little ones that God thought +best to punish by "snipping his heart." +She knew what it was to have <i>her</i> +heart snipped, and had a sympathy +with little Freddy.</p> + +<p>Susy loved Freddy, too. Perhaps +Percy was right, when he said that +Susy loved everything that was dumb; +and I am not sure but her tender heart +would have warmed to him all the +more if he had been stone-blind, as +well as deaf.</p> + +<p>Freddy had a drunken father, and a +sad home; but, for all that, he was not +entirely miserable. It is only the +wicked who are miserable. The kind +Father in heaven has so planned it +that there is something pleasant in +everybody's life.</p> + +<p>Freddy had no more idea what <i>sound</i> +is than we have of the angels in +heaven; but he could see, and there +is so much to be seen! Here is a +great, round world, full of beauty and +wonder. It stands ready to be looked +at. Freddy's ears must be forever shut +out from pleasant sound; but his +bright eyes were wide open, seeing all +that was made to be seen.</p> + +<p>He loved to go to Mrs. Parlin's, +for there he was sure to be greeted +pleasantly; and he understood the +language of smiles as well as anybody.</p> + +<p>When grandma Read saw him coming +she would say,—</p> + +<p>"Now, Susan, thee'd better lay aside +thy book, for most likely the poor little +fellow will want to <i>talk</i>."</p> + +<p>And Susy did lay aside her book. +She had learned so many lessons this +winter in self-denial!</p> + +<p>These "silent talks" were quite droll. +Little Dotty almost understood something +about them; that is, when they +used the signs: the alphabet was more +than she could manage. When Freddy +wanted to talk about Dotty, he made +a sign for a dimple in each cheek. He +smoothed his hair when he meant +Susy, and made a waving motion over +his head for Prudy, whose hair was +full of ripples.</p> + +<p>Prudy said she had wrinkled hair, +and she knew it; but the wrinkles +"wouldn't come out."</p> + +<p>Grandma Read sat one evening by +the coal-grate, holding a letter in her +hand, and looking into the glowing +fire with a thoughtful expression. Susy +came and sat near her, resting one arm +on her grandma's lap, and trying in +various ways to attract her attention.</p> + +<p>"Why, grandma," said she, "I've +spoken to you three times; but I can't +get you to answer or look at me."</p> + +<p>"What does thee want, my dear? I +will try to attend to thee."</p> + +<p>"O, grandma, there are ever so +many things I want to say, now +mother is out of the room, and father +hasn't got home. I must tell somebody, +or my heart will break; and you +know, grandma dear, I can talk to you +so easy."</p> + +<p>"Can thee? Then go on, Susy; what +would thee like to say?"</p> + +<p>"O, two or three things. Have you +noticed, grandma, that I've been just +as sober as can be?"</p> + +<p>"For how long, Susan?"</p> + +<p>"O, all day; I've felt as if I couldn't +but just live!"</p> + +<p>Grandma Read did not smile at this. +She knew very well that such a child +as Susy is capable of intense suffering.</p> + +<p>"Well, Susan, is it about thy sister +Prudence?"</p> + +<p>"O, no, grandma! she's getting; +better; isn't she?"</p> + +<p>"Are thy lessons at school too hard +for thee, Susan?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Read saw that Susy was very +reluctant about opening her heart, although +she had said she could talk to +her grandmother "so easy."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, grandma; my lessons +are not too hard. I'm a real good +scholar—one of the best in school for +my age."</p> + +<p>This was a fact. Some people would +have chidden Susy for it; but Mrs. +Read reflected that the child was only +telling the simple truth, and had no +idea of boasting. She was not a little +girl who would intrude such remarks +about herself upon strangers. But +when she and her grandma were talking +together confidentially, she thought +it made all the difference in the world; +as indeed it did.</p> + +<p>"I have a great deal to trouble me," +said Susy, and the "evening-blue" of +her eyes clouded over, till there were +signs of a shower. "I thought my +pony would make me happy as long +as I lived; but it hasn't. One thing +that I feel bad about is—well, it's +turning over a new leaf. When New +Year's comes, I'm going to do it, and +don't; so I wait till my birthday, and +then I don't. It seems as if I'd tried +about a thousand New Years and +birthdays to turn over that leaf."</p> + +<p>Grandma smiled, but did not interrupt +Susy.</p> + +<p>"I think I should be real good," continued +the child, "if it wasn't such +hard work. I can't be orderly, grandma—not +much; and then Dotty upsets +everything. Sometimes I have to +hold my breath to keep patient.</p> + +<p>"Well, grandma, my birthday comes +to-morrow, the 8th of April. I like it +well enough; only there's one reason +why I don't like it at all, and that is a +Bible reason. It's so dreadful that I +can't bear to say it to you," said Susy, +shuddering, and lowering her voice to +a whisper; "I don't want to grow up, +for I shall have to marry Freddy Jackson."</p> + +<p>Grandma tried to look serious.</p> + +<p>"Who put such a foolish idea into +thy head, child?"</p> + +<p>"Cousin Percy told me last night," +answered Susy, solemnly. "How can +you laugh when it's all in the Bible, +grandma? I never told anybody before. +Wait; I'll show you the verse. +I've put a mark at the place."</p> + +<p>Susy brought her Bible to her grandmother, +and, opening it at the thirty-first +chapter of Proverbs, pointed, with +a trembling finger, to the eighth verse, +which Mrs. Read read aloud,—</p> + +<p>"Open thy mouth for the dumb in +the cause of all such as are appointed +to destruction."</p> + +<p>"Now Percy says that's a sure sign! +I told him, O, dear! Freddy ought to +marry a dumb woman; that would +be <i>properest</i>; but Percy says no—anything +has got to 'come to pass' when +it's <i>foreordinationed</i>!"</p> + +<p>"And could thee really believe such +foolishness, my sensible little Susan? +Does thee suppose the good Lord ever +meant that we should read his Bible +as if it were a wicked dream-book?"</p> + +<p>"Then you don't think I shall have +to marry Freddy Jackson," cried Susy, +immensely relieved. "I'm so glad I +told you! I felt so sober all day, only +nobody noticed it, and I was ashamed +to tell!"</p> + +<p>"It is a good thing for thee to tell +thy little troubles to thy older friends, +Susan: thee'll almost always find it +so," said grandma Read, stroking +Susy's hair.</p> + +<p>"Now, my child, I have a piece of +news for thee, if thee is ready to hear +it: thy cousin, Grace Clifford, has a +little sister."</p> + +<p>"A baby sister? A real sister? +Does mother know it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, thy mother knows it."</p> + +<p>"But how <i>could</i> you keep it to yourself +so long?"</p> + +<p>"Thee thinks good news is hard to +keep, does thee? Well, thee shall be +the first to tell thy father when he +comes home."</p> + +<p>Susy heard steps on the door-stone, +and rushed out, with the joyful story +on her lips. It proved to be not her +father, but callers, who were just ringing +the bell; and they heard Susy's +exclamation,—</p> + +<p>"O, have you heard? Grace has a +new sister, a baby sister, as true as +you live!" with the most provoking +coolness.</p> + +<p>But when Mr. Parlin came, he was +sufficiently interested in the news to +satisfy even Susy.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>FAREWELL.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Prudy was really getting better. +Mrs. Parlin said she should trust a +physician more next time. The doctor +declared that all the severe pain +Prudy had suffered was really necessary.</p> + +<p>"Believe me, my dear madam," said +he, "when the poor child has complained +most, she has in fact been +making most progress towards health. +When the sinews are 'knitting together,' +as we call it, then the agony +is greatest."</p> + +<p>This was very comforting to Mrs. +Parlin, who thought she would not be +discouraged so easily again; she would +always believe that it is "darkest just +before day."</p> + +<p>There was really everything to hope +for Prudy. The doctor thought that +by the end of three months she would +walk as well as ever. He said she +might make the effort now, every day, +to bear her weight on her feet. She +tried this experiment first with her +father and mother on each side to support +her; but it was not many days +before she could stand firmly on her +right foot, and bear a little weight on +her left one, which did not now, as +formerly, drag, or, as she had said, +"<i>more</i> than touch the floor." By and +by she began to scramble about on the +carpet on all fours, partly creeping, +partly pushing herself along.</p> + +<p>It was surprising how much pleasure +Prudy took in going back to these +ways of babyhood.</p> + +<p>Faint blush roses began to bloom in +her cheeks as soon as she could take +a little exercise and go out of doors. +Her father bought a little carriage +just suitable for the pony, and in this +she rode every morning, her mother +or Percy driving; for Mrs. Parlin +thought it hardly safe to trust Susy +with such a precious encumbrance as +this dear little sister.</p> + +<p>She had been willing that Susy +should manage Wings in a sleigh, but +in a carriage the case was quite different; +for, though in a sleigh there +might be even more danger of overturning, +there was not as much danger +of getting hurt. Indeed, Susy's +sleigh had tipped over once or twice +in turning too sharp a corner, and +Susy had fallen out, but had instantly +jumped up again, laughing.</p> + +<p>She would have driven in her new +carriage to Yarmouth and back again, +or perhaps to Bath, if she had been +permitted. She was a reckless little +horsewoman, afraid of nothing, and +for that very reason could not be +trusted alone.</p> + +<p>But there was no difficulty in finding +companions. Percy pretended to +study book-keeping, but was always +ready for a ride. Flossy was not +steady enough to be trusted with the +reins, but Ruth Turner was as careful +a driver as need be; though Susy +laughed because she held the reins in +both hands, and looked so terrified.</p> + +<p>She said it did no good to talk with +Ruth when she was driving; she never +heard a word, for she was always +watching to see if a carriage was coming, +and talking to herself, to make +sure she remembered which was her +right hand, so she could "turn to the +right, as the law directs."</p> + +<p>Prudy enjoyed the out-of-doors world +once more, and felt like a bird let out +of a cage. And so did Susy, for she +thought she had had a dull season of +it, and fully agreed with Prudy, who +spoke of it as the "slow winter."</p> + +<p>But now it was the quick spring, +the live spring. The brooks began to +gossip; the birds poured out their +hearts in song, and the dumb trees +expressed their joy in leaves</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"The bobolink, on the mullein-stalk,<br /></span> +<span>Would rattle away like a sweet girl's talk."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The frogs took severe colds, but gave +concerts a little way out of the city +every evening. The little flowers +peeped up from their beds, as Norah +said, "like babies asking to be took;" +and Susy took them; whenever she +could find them, you may be sure, and +looked joyfully into their faces. She +could almost say,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"And 'tis my faith that every flower<br /></span> +<span>Enjoys the air it breathes."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>She said, "I don't suppose they know +much, but <i>perhaps</i> they know enough +to have a good time: who knows?"</p> + +<p>Susy took long walks to Westbrook, +and farther, coming home tired out, +but loaded with precious flowers. +There were plenty of friends to give +them to her from their early gardens: +broad-faced crocuses, jonquils, and +lilies of the valley, and by and by lilacs, +with "purple spikes."</p> + +<p>She gathered snowdrops, "the first +pale blossoms of the unripened year," +and May-flowers, pink and white, like +sea-shells, or like "cream-candy," as +Prudy said. These soft little blossoms +blushed so sweetly on the same leaf +with such old experienced leaves! +Susy said, "it made her think of little +bits of children who hadn't any mother, +and lived with their grandparents."</p> + +<p>Dotty was almost crazy with delight +when she had a "new pair o' boots, +and a pair o' shaker," and was allowed +to toddle about on the pavement in +the sunshine. She had a green twig +or a switch to flourish, and could now +cry, "Hullelo!" to those waddling +ducks, and hear them reply, "Quack! +quack!" without having such a +trembling fear that some stern Norah, +or firm mamma, would rush out bareheaded, +and drag her into the house, +like a little culprit.</p> + +<p>It was good times for Dotty Dimple, +and good times for the whole family. +Spring had come, and Prudy was getting +well. There was a great deal to +thank God for!</p> + +<p>It is an evening in the last of May. +A bit of a moon, called "the new +moon," is peeping in at the window. +It shines over Susy's right shoulder, +she says. Susy is reading, Prudy is +walking slowly across the floor, and +Dotty Dimple is whispering to her +kitty, telling her to go down cellar, +and catch the naughty rats while +they are asleep. When kitty winks, +Dotty thinks it the same as if she +said,—</p> + +<p>"I hear you, little Miss Dotty: I'm +going."</p> + +<p>I think perhaps this is a good time +to bid the three little girls good-by, or, +as dear grandma Read would say, +"Farewell!"</p> + +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE PRUDY'S SISTER SUSY***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 14202-h.txt or 14202-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/2/0/14202">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/2/0/14202</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/14202-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/14202-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c16d4ba --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14202-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/old/14202-h/images/front.png b/old/14202-h/images/front.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a1310fa --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14202-h/images/front.png diff --git a/old/14202.txt b/old/14202.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..de455b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14202.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3544 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Little Prudy's Sister Susy, by Sophie May + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Little Prudy's Sister Susy + +Author: Sophie May + +Release Date: November 29, 2004 [eBook #14202] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE PRUDY'S SISTER SUSY*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Melissa Er-Raqabi, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + +LITTLE PRUDY'S SISTER SUSY + +by + +SOPHIE MAY + +New York +Hurst & Company +Publishers + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +TO MY LITTLE NIECE Katie Clarke +THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU, KATIE, WITH THE LOVE OF YOUR AUNTIE. + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + CHAPTER + + I. KEEPING SECRETS + II. BEFORE DAYLIGHT + III. SUSY'S CHRISTMAS + IV. SUSY'S WINGS + V. PRUDY'S TROUBLE + VI. ROSY FRANCES EASTMAN MARY + VII. LITTLE TROUBLES + VIII. ANNIE LOVEJOY + IX. MORAL COURAGE + X. RUTHIE TURNER + XI. SUSY'S BIRTHDAY + XII. FAREWELL + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Here is a story about the oldest of the three little Parlin girls, +"sister Susy;" though so many things are always happening to Prudy that +it is not possible to keep her out of the book. + +I hope my dear little friends will see how kind it was in God to send +the "slow winter" and the long nights of pain to little Prudy. + +If trouble should come to us, let us grow gentle, and patient, and +lovely. + +Little friends, be sure of one thing--our dear Father in heaven sends us +something hard to bear only because he loves us. + + + + +SISTER SUSY. + +CHAPTER I. + +KEEPING SECRETS. + + +We might begin this story of Susy Parlin on a New Year's day, only it is +so hard to skip over Christmas. There is such a charm about Christmas! +It makes you think at once of a fir tree shining with little candles and +sparkling with toys, or of a droll Santa Claus with a pack full of +presents, or of a waxen angel called the Christ-child. + +And it is just as well to date from the twenty-fifth of December, +because, as "Christ was born on Christmas day," that is really the +"Happy New Year." + +For a long while the three little Parlin girls had been thinking and +dreaming of presents. Susy's wise head was like a beehive, full of +little plans and little fancies, which were flying about like bees, and +buzzing in everybody's ears. + +But it may be as well to give you a short description of the Parlin +family. + +Susy's eyes were of an "evening blue," the very color of the sky in a +summer night; good eyes, for they were as clear as a well which has the +"truth" lying at the bottom of it. She was almost as nimble as a +squirrel, and could face a northern snow storm like an engineer. Her +hair was dark brown, and as smooth and straight as pine-needles; while +Prudy's fair hair rippled like a brook running over pebbles. Prudy's +face was sunny, and her mouth not much larger than a button-hole. + +The youngest sister was named Alice, but the family usually called her +Dotty, or Dotty Dimple, for she was about as round as a period, and had +a cunning little dimple in each cheek. She had bright eyes, long curls, +and a very short tongue; that is, she did not talk much. She was two +years and a half old before she could be prevailed upon to say anything +at all. Her father declared that Dotty thought there were people enough +in the world to do the talking, and she would keep still; or perhaps +she was tired of hearing Prudy say so much. + +However, she had a way of nodding her curly head, and shaking her plump +little forefinger; so everybody knew very well what she meant. She had +learned the use of signs from a little deaf and dumb boy of whom we +shall hear more by and by; but all at once, when she was ready she began +to talk with all her might, and soon made up for lost time. + +The other members of the family were only grown people: Mr. and Mrs. +Parlin, the children's excellent parents; Mrs. Read, their kind Quaker +grandmother; and the Irish servant girl, Norah. + +Just now Mrs. Margaret Parlin, their "aunt Madge," was visiting them, +and the little girls felt quite easy about Christmas, for they gave it +all up to her; and when they wanted to know how to spend their small +stock of money, or how much this or that pretty toy would cost, Prudy +always settled it by saying, "Let's go ask auntie: _she'll_ know, for +she's been through the Rithmetic." + +Prudy spoke these words with awe. She thought "going through the +Rithmetic" was next thing to going round the world. + +"O Auntie, I'm so glad you came," said Susy, "for I didn't see how I was +ever going to finish my Christmas presents: I go to school, you know, +and it takes me all the rest of the time to slide!" + +The children were busy making wonderful things "all secret;" or they +would have been secret if Prudy hadn't told. + +For one thing, she wondered very much what Susy could be doing with four +pins stuck in a spool. She watched the nimble fingers as they passed the +worsted thread over the pin-heads, making stitches as fast as Susy could +wink. + +"It looks like a tiny snake all sticked through the hole in the spool," +said Prudy, eager with curiosity. "If you ain't a-goin' to speak, I +don't know what I _shall_ do, Susy Parlin!" + +When poor Susy could not pretend any longer not to hear, she answered +Prudy, half vexed, half laughing, "O, dear, I s'pose you'll tease and +tease till you find out. Won't you never say a word to anybody, +_never_?" + +"Never in my world," replied the little one, with a solemn shake of her +head. + +"Well, it's a lamp-mat for auntie. It's going to be blue, and red, and +all colors; and when it's done, mother'll sew it into a round, and put +fringe on: won't it be splendid? But remember, you promised not to +tell!" + +Now, the very next time Prudy sat in her auntie's lap she whispered in +her ear,-- + +"You don't know what _we're_ making for you, _all secret_, out of +worsted, and _I_ shan't tell!" + +"Mittens?" said aunt Madge, kissing Prudy's lips, which were pressed +together over her sweet little secret like a pair of sugar-tongs +clinching a lump of sugar. + +"Mittens? No, indeed! Better'n that! There'll be fringe all over it; +it's in a round; it's to put something on,--to put the _lamp_ on!" + +"Not a lamp-mat, of course?" + +"Why, yes it is! O, there, now you've been and guessed all in a minute! +Susy's gone an' told! I didn't s'pose she'd tell. I wouldn't for nothin' +in my world!" + +Was it strange that Susy felt vexed when she found that her nice little +surprise was all spoiled? + +"Try to be patient," said Mrs. Parlin, gently. "Remember how young and +thoughtless your sister is. She never means any harm." + +"O, but, mamma," replied Susy, "she _keeps_ me being patient all the +whole time, and it's hard work." + +So Susy, in her vexation, said to Prudy, rather sternly, "You little +naughty thing, to go and tell when you promised not to! You're almost as +bad as Dotty. What makes you act so?" + +"Why, Susy," said the child, looking up through her tears, "have I +_acted_? I didn't know I'd acted! If you loved me, you wouldn't look +that way to me. You wrinkle up your face just like Nanny when she says +she'll shake the naughty out of me, Miss Prudy." + +Then what could Susy do but forgive the sweet sister, who kissed her so +coaxingly, and looked as innocent as a poor little kitty that has been +stealing cream without knowing it is a sin? + +It was plain that it would not do to trust Prudy with secrets. Her brain +could not hold them, any more than a sieve can hold water. So Mrs. +Parlin took pity upon Susy, and allowed her and her cousin Florence +Eastman to lock themselves into her chamber at certain hours, and work +at their presents without interruption. + +While the little girls sat together busily employed with book-marks and +pin-cushions, the time flew very swiftly, and they were as happy as bees +in a honeysuckle. + +Mrs. Parlin said she believed nothing less than Christmas presents would +ever make Susy willing to use a needle and thread; for she disliked +sewing, and declared she wished the man who made the needles had to +swallow them all. + +The family were to celebrate Christmas evening; for Mr. Parlin was away, +and might not reach home in season for Christmas eve. + +For a wonder they were not to have a Tree, but a Santa Claus, "just for +a change." + +"Not a truly Santa Claus, that comes puffin' down the chimney," +explained Prudy, who knew very well it would be only cousin Percy under +a mask and white wig. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +BEFORE DAYLIGHT. + + +On Christmas morning, at three o'clock, there was a great bustle and +pattering of little feet, and buzzing of little voices trying to speak +in whispers. Susy and Prudy were awake and astir. + +"Where _do_ you s'pose the stockings are?" buzzed Prudy, in a very loud +whisper. + +"Right by the bed-post, Prudy Parlin; and if you don't take care we'll +wake everybody up.--'Sh! 'Sh!" + +"Mine's pinned on," said Prudy; "and I've pricked my fingers. O deary +me!" + +"Well, of course you've waked 'em all now," exclaimed Susy, +indignantly: "I might have pricked my fingers to pieces, but I wouldn't +have said a word." + +Mr. and Mrs. Parlin, who were in the next room, were wide awake by this +time; but they said nothing, only listened to the whispers of the +children, which grew fainter, being smothered and kept down by mouthfuls +of candy, lozenges, and peanuts. + +The little girls longed for daybreak. The sun, however, seemed to be in +no haste, and it was a long while before there was a peep of light. Susy +and Prudy waited, wondering whether the sun would really forget to show +his face; but all the while they waited they were eating candy; so it +was neither dull nor lonely. As for closing their eyes again, they would +have scorned the idea. It would be a pity indeed to fall asleep, and +lose the pleasure of saying "Merry Christmas" to everybody. Norah, the +Irish servant, had said she should be up very early to attend High Mass: +they must certainly waylay her on the stairs. How astonished she would +be, when she supposed they were both soundly asleep! + +"Let me do it myself," said Susy: "you stay here, Prudy, for you'll be +sure to make a noise." + +"I'll go on my tippy toes," pleaded Prudy, her mouth half filled with +chocolate drops. + +So through their mother's room they stole softly, only throwing over +one chair, and hitting Dotty's crib a little in their haste. Dotty made +a sleepy sound of alarm, and Prudy could not help laughing, but only "in +her sleeve," that is, in her "nightie" sleeve, which she put up to her +mouth to smother the noise. + +When they had reached the back-stairs Susy whispered, "O, Norah is up +and gone down. I hear her in the kitchen. 'Sh! 'Sh!" + +Susy thought there was no time to be lost, and she would have rushed +down stairs, two steps at a time, but her little sister was exactly in +the way. + +"Somebody has been and tugged my little chair up here," said Prudy, +"and I must tug it back again." + +So in the dim light the two children groped their way down stairs, Prudy +going first with the chair. + +"O, what a little snail! Hurry--can't you?" said Susy, impatiently; +"Norah'll be gone! What's the use of our waking up in the night if we +can't say Merry Christmas to anybody?" + +"Well, _ain't_ I a-hurryin' now?" exclaimed Prudy, plunging forward and +falling, chair and all, the whole length of the stairs. + +All the house was awake now, for Prudy screamed lustily. Grandma Read +called out from the passage-way,-- + +"O, little Prudence, has thee broken thy neck?" + +Mrs. Parlin rushed out, too frightened to speak, and Mr. Parlin ran down +stairs, and took Prudy up in his arms. + +"It was--you--did it--Susy Parlin," sobbed the child. "I +shouldn't--have--fell, if you--hadn't--have--screamed." + +The poor little girl spoke slowly and with difficulty, as if she dropped +a bucket into her full heart, and drew up the words one at a time. + +"O, mother, I know it was me," said Susy meekly; "and I was careless, +and it was all in the dark. I'm sure I hope Prudy'll forgive me." + +"No, it wasn't you, neither," said Prudy, whose good humor was restored +the moment Susy had made what she considered due confession. "You never +touched me, Susy! It was the _chair_; and I love you just as dearly as +ever I did." + +Prudy lay on the sofa for some time, looking quite pale by the +gas-light, while her mother rubbed her side, and the rest of the family +stood looking at her with anxious faces. + +It was quite an important occasion for Prudy, who always liked to be the +centre of attraction. + +"O, mamma," said she, closing her eyes languidly, "when the room makes +believe whirl round, does it _truly_ whirl round?" + +The truth was, she felt faint and dizzy, though only for a short time. + +"I wish," said she, "it had been somebody else that fell down stairs, +and not me, for I didn't go down easy! The _prongs_ of the chair pushed +right into my side." + +But it did not appear that Prudy was much injured, after all. In a few +minutes she was skipping about the room almost as nimbly as ever, only +stopping to groan every now and then, when she happened to think of it. + +"It is a wonder," said Mr. Parlin, "that more children are not lamed for +life by such accidents." + +"I have often thought of it," said aunt Madge. "Some little ones seem to +be making hair-breadth escapes almost every day of their lives. I +believe Prudy would have been in her grave long ago, if it had not been +for her guardian angel." + +The long-expected Christmas had come at last, and Prudy had stumbled +into it, as she stumbled into everything else. But it is an ill wind +which blows no good to anybody; and it so happened that in all this +confusion Susy was able to "wish a Merry Christmas" to Norah, and to the +whole family besides. + +When Mrs. Parlin found that the children were too thoroughly awake to go +to sleep again that morning, she told them they might dress themselves +in the parlor if they would keep as quiet as possible, and let the rest +of the household take another nap. + +It all seemed very strange and delightful to the little girls. It was +like another sort of life, this new arrangement of stealing about the +house in the silent hours before daybreak. Susy thought she should like +to sit up all night, and sleep all day, if the mayor would only hush the +streets; it would be so odd! + +"O, how dark the clouds are!" said Prudy, peeping out of the window; "it +_fogs_ so I can't see a single thing. Susy, I'm going to keep _at watch_ +of the sky. Don't you s'pose, though, 'twill be Christmas all the same, +if there's a snow storm?" + +"There's been snow," said Susy, "all in the night. Look down at the +pavement. Don't you wish that was frosted cake?" + +"O, the snow came in the night, so not to wake us up," cried Prudy, +clapping her hands; "but it wouldn't have waked us, you know, even in +the night, for it came so still." + +"But why don't the clouds go off?" she added, sadly. + +"I don't know," replied Susy; "perhaps they are waiting till the sun +comes and smiles them away." + +Such happy children as these were, as they sat peeping out of the window +at the dull gray sky! + +They did not know that a great mischief was begun that morning--a +mischief which was no larger yet than "a midge's wing." They were +watching the clouds for a snow storm; but they never dreamed of such +things as clouds of _trouble_, which grow darker and darker, and which +even the beautiful Christmas sun cannot "smile away." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +SUSY'S CHRISTMAS. + + +It was bright and beautiful all day, and then, when no one could +possibly wait any longer, it was Christmas evening. The coal glowed in +the grate with a splendid blaze: all the gas-burners were lighted, and +so were everybody's eyes. If one had listened, one might have heard, +from out of doors, a joyful tinkling of sleigh-bells; yet I fancy nobody +could have told whether the streets were still or noisy, or whether the +sky had a moon in it or not; for nobody was quiet long enough to notice. + +But by and by, when the right time had come, the folding-doors were +opened, just like the two covers to a Christmas fairy book. Then, in a +second, it was so still you might have heard a pin drop. + +Such a funny little old gentleman had arrived: his face alive with +dimples, and smiles, and wrinkles. His cheeks were as red and round as +winter apples, and where there wasn't a wrinkle there was a dimple; and +no doubt there was a dimple in his chin, and his chin maybe was double, +only you couldn't tell, for it was hidden ever so deep under a beard as +white as a snow-drift. + +He walked along, tottering under the weight of a huge pack full of +presents. He extended his small arms towards the audience most +affectionately, and you could see that his antiquated coat-sleeves were +bristling with toys and glistening with ornaments. His eyes twinkled +with fun, and his mouth, which seemed nearly worn out with laughing, +grew bigger every minute. + +It took the dear old gentleman some time to clear his throat; but when +he had found his voice, which at first was as fine as a knitting-needle, +and all of a tremble, he made + +THE SPEECH OF SANTA CLAUS. + +"How do, my darlings? How do, all round? Bless your little hearts, how +do you all do? Did they tell ye Santa wasn't a-comin', my dears? Did +your grandpas and grandmas say, 'Humph! there isn't any such a person.' +My love to the good old people. I know they mean all right; but tell +them they'll have to give it up now!" + +(Here Santa Claus made a low bow. Everybody laughed and clapped; but +Prudy whispered, "O, don't he look old all over? What has he done with +his _teeth_? O, dear, has anybody pulled 'em out?") + +"Yes, my dears," continued the old gentleman, encouraged by the +applause,--"yes, my dears, here I am, as jolly as ever! But bless your +sweet little hearts, I've had a terrible time getting here! The wind has +been blowin' me up as fierce as you please, and I've been shook round +as if I wasn't of more account than a kernel of corn in a popper! + +"O, O, I've been ducked up to the chin in some awful deep snow-drifts, +up there by the North Pole! This is the very first time the storms have +come so heavy as to cover over the end of the North Pole! But this year +they had to dig three days before they could find it. O, ho! + +"I was a-wanderin' round all last night; a real shivery night, too! Got +so _broke up_, there's nothing left of me but small pieces. O, hum! + +"Such a time as I had in some of those chimneys, you haven't any idee! +Why, if you'll believe me, over there in Iceland somebody forgot to +clear out the chimney, and there I stuck fast, like a fish-bone in your +throat; couldn't be picked out, couldn't be swallowed! + +"The funniest time that was! How I laughed! And then the children's +mother woke up, and, 'O, dear,' said she; 'hear the wind sigh down the +chimney!' 'Only me,' says I; 'and I've caught you napping this time!' +She helped me out, and when I had caught my breath, I climbed out the +window; but, deary me, I shouldn't wonder if that very woman went to +sleep again, and thought it was all a dream! Heigh-ho! that's the way +they always treat poor Santa Claus nowadays." + +(Here the children laughed, and Susy said, "I guess he must have bumped +his nose against that chimney: see what a hump!") + +"O, O, don't you make sport of me, children! My nose is big, to be sure, +but I'm going to keep it and make the best of it! If you love Santa as +he loves you, you wouldn't mind the looks. I _was_ going to change my +coat and dickey; but then, thinks I, I'll come just as I am! I patted +myself on the shoulder, and says I, 'Santa Claus, don't you fret if you +_are_ growin' old! You may look a little dried up, but your heart isn't +wrinkled; O no!' You see father Adam and me was very near of an age, but +somehow I never growed up! I always thought big folks did very well in +their place; but for my part, give me the children. Hurrah for the +children!" + +(Great clapping and laughing.) + +"I tell you, darlings, I haven't forgot a single one of you. My pockets +are running over. I've been preparing presents for you ever since last +fall, when the birds broke up housekeeping. + +"Here's a tippet for the Prudy girl, and she may have it for nothing; +and they are cheaper 'n that, if you take 'em by the quantity. + +"I'm a walkin' book-case. Why, I've brought stories and histories enough +to set up a store! I've got more nuts than you can shake a hammer at; +but I think there's more bark to 'em than there is bite. O, O, I find I +can't crack 'em with my teeth, as I used to a hundred years ago! + +"But my dear, sweet, cunning little hearers, I must be a-goin'. Queen +Victoria, said she to me, said she, 'Now, Santa, my love, do you hurry +back to fill my children's stockings before the clock strikes twelve.' +Queen Vic is an excellent woman, and is left a poor widow; so I can't +disappoint her, poor soul! + +"I must be a-goin'! Would like to hug and kiss you all round, but can't +stop. (Kisses his hand and bows.) A Merry Christmas to you all, and a +Happy New Year." + +So saying, Santa Claus suddenly disappeared at the hall door, dropping +his heavy pack upon the table. + +In another minute the lively old gentleman was in the front parlor +without any mask, and of course it was nobody but cousin Percy "with his +face off." + +Then they all fell to work sorting out presents. Prudy seized her fur +tippet, and put it on at once. + +"O, how pretty I look," said she; "just like a little cat! _Ain't_ I +cunning?" + +But nobody could pause to attend to Prudy, though she chatted very fast, +without commas or periods, and held up to view a large wax doll which +"would be alive if it could talk." They all had gifts as well as Prudy, +and wished to talk rather than to listen. They asked questions without +waiting for answers, and did not mind interrupting one another, and +talking all at once, like a party of school children. + +All this was hardly polite, it is true; but people are sometimes +surprised out of their good manners on Christmas evenings, and must be +forgiven for it, as such a good time happens but once a year. + +Percy broke in with an old song, and went through with a whole stanza of +it, although no one listened to a word:-- + + "Good luck unto old Christmas, + And long life let us sing, + For he doeth more good unto the poor + Than many a crowned king." + +"My beautiful books!" cried aunt Madge; "Russia morocco." + +"My writing-desk,--has any one looked at it?" said Mrs. Parlin; +"rose-wood, inlaid with brass." + +"My skates!" broke in Susy, at the top of her voice. + +"Hush!" screamed cousin Percy; "won't anybody please notice my drum? If +you won't look, then look out for a drum in each ear!" + +And as nobody would look or pay the slightest attention, they all had to +hear "Dixie" pounded out in true martial style, till they held on to +their ears. + +"Rattlety bang!" went the drum. "Tweet, tweet," whistled the little +musical instruments which the children were blowing. + +"Have pity on us!" cried aunt Madge; "I am bewildered; my head is +floating like a Chinese garden." + +"Order!" shouted Mr. Parlin, laughing. + +"O, yes, sir," said Percy, seizing Susy and whirling her round. +"Children, why don't you try to preserve order? My nerves are strung up +like violin-strings! I've got a pound of headache to every ounce of +brains. Susy Parlin, do try to keep still!" + +"Thee needn't pretend it is all Susan," said grandma Read, smiling. +"Thee and little Prudence are the noisiest of the whole!" + +In fact, they raised such a din, that after a while poor grandma Read +smoothed the Quaker cap over her smiling face, and stole off into her +own chamber, where she could "settle down into quietness." Much noise +always confused grandma Read. + +But in a very few moments, when the excitement began to die out, there +was a season of overwhelming gratitude. Everybody had to thank everybody +else; and Mr. Parlin, who had a beautiful dressing-gown to be grateful +for, nevertheless found time to tell Susy, over and over again, how +delighted he was with her book-mark, made, by her own fingers, of three +wide strips of velvet ribbon; on the ends of which were fastened a +cross, a star, and an anchor, of card-board. + +"Papa, one ribbon is to keep your place in the Old Testament," said +Susy; "one is to stay in the middle, at the births and marriages; and +the other one is for our chapter in the New Testament, you know." + +"I think my lamp-mat is very pretty," said aunt Madge, kissing Susy; +"every bit as pretty as if Prudy hadn't 'been and told.'" + +Prudy had bought a shawl-pin for her mother, a fierce little wooden +soldier for aunt Madge, and something for everybody else but Susy. Not +that she forgot Susy. O, no! but one's money does not always hold out, +even at Christmas time. + +"Why," said Mr. Parlin, "what is this sticking fast to the sole of my +new slipper? Molasses candy, I do believe." + +"Yes sir; that's for Susy," cried Prudy, suddenly remembering how she +had tucked it in at the last moment, when she could not stop to find any +wrapping-paper. "It isn't so big as it was, but it's the biggest piece I +had in this world. I saved it last night. Susy likes 'lasses candy, and +I couldn't think of nothin' else." + +It was a wonder that Prudy's candy had not spoiled some of the nice +presents. + +Susy received several pretty things; and though she did not talk quite +so much as Prudy, she was just as happy. For one thing, she had what she +had not dreamed was possible for a little girl--a bottle of otto of +rose; "just like a young lady." + +This was a real delight to Susy: but Prudy, sniffing at it, said, +coolly, "O, ho! it smells 's if it didn't cost more'n a cent! 'Tisn't +half so sweet as pep'mint!" + +Before Dotty could be put to bed, she had contrived to break several +toys, all of which happened to be Susy's--a sugar temple, a glass +pitcher, and a small vase. + +This was an evening long to be remembered; but the most remarkable event +of all was to come. + +"Susy, my daughter," said Mr. Parlin, "have you been wondering why you +don't see a present from me?" + +Susy blushed. She had certainly expected something handsome this year +from her father. + +"I haven't forgotten you, my dear; but the present I have chosen +wouldn't sit very well on the shoulders of such a little fellow as Santa +Claus." + +Percy laughed. "Wouldn't it have been a load, uncle?" + +"Hush!" whispered aunt Madge; "she isn't to know till morning." + +"But, papa," said Susy, her eyes shining with excitement, "why couldn't +you bring it in here now?" + +"It is better off out of doors. Indeed, to tell the truth, my child, it +is hardly suitable for the parlor." + +"Now, Miss Susy," said Percy, measuring off his words on the tips of his +fingers, "I'm authorized to tell you it's something you mustn't take in +your lap, mustn't hang on a nail; if you do, you'll lose it. I'm sure +'twill please you, Susy, because it's a mute, and can't speak. You--" + +"O, hush talking about dumb people! I shouldn't think you'd make sport +of Freddy Jackson! If _you_ was a little _deaf-and-dumber_ than you are +now, I'd like you better! + +"O, dear, dear!" cried she, dancing about the room; "what can it be? I +can't wait!" + +"Only think; all night before I'll know," thought she, as she touched +her pillow. "O, Prudy, to-morrow morning! Only think of to-morrow +morning I All my other presents are just nothing at all. Anything is +_so_ much nicer when you don't know what it is!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +SUSY'S WINGS. + + +Susy awoke next morning very much surprised to find the sun so high. +Prudy was lying beside her, talking to herself. + +"I don't feel very well," said the child; "but I'm pleasant; I mean to +be good all day." + +"Why didn't you speak to me?" cried Susy, springing out of bed, "when +you knew how I couldn't wait to see my present?" + +"I would have woke you up, Susy, but I ain't well; I'm sick in my +knees." + +And Prudy limped about the room to show her sister how lame she was. +But Susy was in too great a hurry to pay much attention to her, or to +help her dress. + +"Good morning, papa!" she exclaimed, the moment she entered the parlor; +"now may I see the present?" + +"Do you suppose you could wait till after breakfast, Susy?" + +Aunt Madge smiled as she looked at the little eager face. + +"I see you are going on with your lessons," said she. + +"What lessons, auntie? Why, it is the holidays!" + +"Lessons in patience, my dear. Isn't something always happening which +you have to be patient about?" + +Susy thought of Prudy's habit of disclosing secrets, Dotty's trying way +of destroying playthings; and now this long delay about her present. She +began to think there were a great many vexations in the world, and that +she bore them remarkably well for such a little girl. + +"Yes, thee must let patience have her perfect work, Susan," said grandma +Read, after the "silent blessing" had been asked at the table. + +"Mayn't I go, too?" said Prudy, when she saw her father, her auntie, and +Susy leaving the house just after breakfast. + +And she went, as a matter of course; but the pavements were a little +slippery from sleet; and Prudy, who was never a famous walker, had as +much as she could do, even with the help of her father's hand, to keep +from falling. + +"Why, Prudy," said Mr. Parlin, "what ails you this morning? You limp so +much that I believe you need crutches." + +"I'm sick in my knee," replied Prudy, delighted to see that her lameness +was observed. "If _you_ had my knee, and it hurt, you'd know how it +feels!" + +By this time they had reached a livery stable; and, to Susy's surprise, +her father stopped short, and said to a man who stood by the door, "Mr. +Hill, my daughter has come to look at her pony." + +Prudy was in a great fright at sight of so many horses, and needed all +her auntie's attention; but Susy had no fear, and Mr. Parlin led her +along to a stall where stood a beautiful black pony, as gentle-looking +as a Newfoundland dog. + +"How do you like him, Susy? Stroke his face, and talk to him." + +"But, O, papa, you don't mean, you can't mean, he's my very own! A whole +pony all to myself!" + +"See what you think of his saddle, miss," said Mr. Hill, laughing at +Susy's eagerness; and he led pony out, and threw over his back a +handsome side-saddle. + +"Why, it seems as if I could just jump on without anybody touching me," +cried Susy. + +"Not afraid a bit?" said Mr. Hill, as Mr. Parlin seated Susy in the +saddle, and gave her the reins. "Ponies throw people, sometimes." + +"O, but my papa would never give me a bad pony," answered Susy, with +perfect confidence. + +Mr. Hill laughed again. He was a rough man; but he thought a child's +faith in a parent was a beautiful thing. + +He did not know many passages of Scripture, but thought he had read +somewhere, "And if he ask bread, will he give him a stone?" No; fathers +are glad to give their "best gifts," and the little ones trust them. + +"It's like sailing in a boat," cried Susy, riding back and forth about +the yard in great excitement; "why, it's just as easy as the swing in +the oilnut-tree at grandma Parlin's! O, papa, to think I should forget +to thank you!" + +But perhaps Mr. Parlin regarded glowing cheeks and shining eyes as the +very best of thanks. + +Prudy thought the pony a beautiful "baby horse;" wanted to ride, and +didn't want to; was afraid, and wasn't afraid, and, as her father said, +"had as many minds as some politicians who are said to 'stand on the +fence.'" By and by, after some coaxing, the timid little thing consented +to sit behind Susy, and cling round her waist, if her father would walk +beside her to make sure she didn't fall off. In this way they went +home. + +"I like to sit so I can hug my sister, while she drives the horse," said +Prudy; "besides, it hurts me to walk." + +Mr. Parlin and aunt Madge smiled at the child's speeches, but gave no +more heed to this lameness of which she complained, than they did to any +of the rest of her little freaks. + +Prudy liked to be pitied for every small hurt; and when Susy had a sore +throat, and wore a compress, she looked upon her with envy, and felt it +almost as a personal slight that _her_ throat could not be wrapped in a +compress too. + +On their way they met "lame Jessie," a little girl with crooked spine +and very high shoulders, who hobbled along on crutches. + +"She's lamer than me," said Prudy. "Good morning, Jessie." + +"I know what I've thought of," said Susy, who could talk of nothing +which was not in some way connected with her pony. "I'm going to give +that girl some rides. How happy she will be, poor little Jessie!" + +"When you get your sleigh," said Mr. Parlin. + +"My sleigh, papa? How many more presents are coming?" + +"It is hard to tell, Susy; one gift makes way for another, you see. +First comes the pony; but how can he live without a stable, and a groom +to feed him? Then what is a pony worth without a saddle? And, as one +does not wish always to ride pony-back, a sleigh is the next thing." + +"But, papa, you know in the summer!" + +"Yes, my dear, in the summer, if we all live, there must be a light +carriage made on purpose for you." + +"There is one thing more that pony needs," said aunt Madge, stroking his +eyebrows, "and that is, a name." + +"O, I never thought of that," said Susy; "help me find a name, auntie." + +"Let me think. I should call him something good and pleasant. Think of +something good and pleasant Think of something you like very much." + +"O, Frosted Cake," cried Prudy: "wouldn't that be pleasant? Susy loves +that." + +"I should like to name him for the American Eagle," said Susy, who had +heard some patriotic speeches from her cousin Percy; "only you couldn't +pet that name, could you?" + +"You might call him Don Carlos, or Don Pedro," suggested Mr. Parlin. + +"No, papa; only think of Donny: that is like Donkey! You haven't any +long ears, _have_ you, pony? If you had, I'd call you Little Pitcher, +for 'little pitchers have great ears.' That makes me think of Mr. Allen, +auntie. How big his ears are, you know? _Is_ it because his teacher +pulled them so?" + +"O, call him 'Gustus,'" cried Prudy. + +"But that would soon be Gusty," said aunt Madge, "and would sound too +much like the east wind." + +"Dear me," sighed Susy; "who'd ever think it was such hard work to find +names?" + +"O, look," said Prudy, as they passed a jaded old horse; "there is a +pony just exactly like this! Only it's twice as big, you know, and not a +_bit_ such a color!" + +"Well, there, Prudy," said Susy, disdainfully, "I thought, when you +began to speak, you was going to tell something! Why don't you wait till +you have something to say? Please give me a list of names, papa." + +"There's Speedwell, Lightfoot, Zephyr, Prince, Will-o'-the-wisp--" + +"I might call him Wispy," broke in Susy. "Zephyr is good, only it makes +you think of worsteds." + +"Now, listen," said aunt Madge; "you might call him Elephant, just for +sport, because he is in reality so very little. Or, on the other hand, +you might find the least speck of a name, like Firefly, or Midge." + +"I don't like any of those," replied Susy, still dissatisfied. + +"I see," said aunt Madge, laughing, "nothing will please you but a great +name. What say to Pegasus, a flying horse, which poets are said to ride? +It might be shortened to Peggy." + +"Now, auntie, you wouldn't have this beautiful pony called Peggy; you +know you wouldn't! the one my father bought on purpose for me! But was +there such a horse, truly?" + +"O, no; there is an old fable, which, as we say, is 'as true now as it +ever was,' of a glorious creature with wings, and whoever mounts him +gets a flying ride into the clouds. But the trouble is to catch him!" + +"O, I wish my pony could fly," said Susy, gazing dreamily at his black +mane and sleek sides. "The first place I'd go to would be the moon; and +there I'd stay till I built a castle as big as a city. I'd come home +every night, so mother wouldn't be frightened, and fly up in the +morning, and--and--" + +"See here," said Prudy, who had for some time been trying to speak; +"call him _Wings_!" + +"So I will," answered Susy, quickly, "and I'll make believe he flies in +the air like a bird. Now, auntie, what do you think of Wings?" + +"Odd enough, I'm sure, my dear." + +"Well, _I_ like it," returned Susy, with a positive shake of the head. +"It's of no use to keep fussing so long over a name, and I feel a great +deal easier, now I've made up my mind! Dear little Wings, you prick up +your ears, and I know you like it, too. I wish you had a soul, so you +could be taken to church, and christened like a baby." + +Just here Susy was startled by a sudden laugh from cousin Percy, who +had for some moments been walking behind the pony unobserved. + +"You're enough to frighten any one to death," she screamed, "creeping +about like a cat." + +Susy had a foolish dread of being laughed at. + +"Creeping like a cat," echoed Percy, "while you creep like a snail! What +will you take for your pony, that can fly in the air like a bird, but +can't walk on the ground any better than a goose?" + +"I don't know what you're talking about," said Susy, quite excited: "if +you want to see anybody ride fast, just look here." And she started the +pony at full speed, regardless of Prudy, who was so frightened, that she +seized poor Wings by his flowing mane, and called out for her sister to +stop. But Susy dashed on at a flying pace, and Percy cried after her, +"O, Susy, cousin Susy, what think of your Christmas present? Will you +remember not to eat it, and not to hang it on a nail? Susy, Susy?" + +There was hardly a happier child living than Susy, during those +delightful holidays. She said to herself, sometimes, that this was such +a beautiful world, she couldn't think of a single thing that wasn't as +splendid as it could be. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +PRUDY'S TROUBLE. + + +The happy days flew by. The Old Year was worn out, and the New Year +stepped in fresh and youthful. Susy found her little sleigh a very +comfortable affair; and so, I think, did "lame Jessie." When her father +found that Susy had really chosen for her pony the name of Wings, he +ordered a beautiful picture of the Flying Horse to be painted on the +dashboard of the sleigh. + +Susy was delighted with this, and her vivid fancy took wings at once, +and flew away to the other end of the world, where her aunt Madge told +her the fountain of Pirene was said to gush out of a hill-side. + +"Only think," said she to Flossy; "it was a woman once, that fountain +was; but she poured her life all out into tears, crying because her son +was killed. So the fountain is made of tears!" + +"Bitter and salt, then," said Florence, threading her needle. + +"No, indeed; just as sweet and nice as any water. Pegasus loved it; and +there was a beautiful young man, his name was Bel--Bel--well, I declare, +I've forgotten,--no, 'twas Bellerophon; and he had a bridle, and wanted +a horse. O, do you know this horse was white, with silvery wings, wild +as a hawk; and, once in a while, he would fold up his wings, and trot +round on the mountain!" + +Florence yawned, and waxed her thread. + +"O, it was a splendid bridle, this man had, made of gold; and I +forgot--the mountain the horse trotted round on was called Helicon. And +the man mounted him, and went up, up, till they were nothing but specks +in the sky." + +"A likely story," said Florence; "there, you've told enough! I don't +want to hear any more such nonsense." + +"Well, if you don't want to hear about the monster they killed, you +needn't; that's all I can say; but the young man loved that horse; and +he kissed him, too, he was so splendid!" + +"Kiss a horse!" Flossy looked very, much disgusted. + +"Why, I've kissed my pony a great many times," said Susy, bravely, +"right between his eyes; and he almost kisses me. He wants to say, 'I +love you.' I can see it in his eyes." + +By this time Flossy had finished her doll's garment, and, putting it on +the little thing's shoulders, held up the doll to be admired. + +"I think her opera cloak is very 'bewitching,' don't you, Susy? It is +trimmed with ermine, because she is a queen, and is going to the opera." + +"It looks well enough," said Susy, indifferently, "but it isn't ermine; +it's only white cat's fur, with black spots sewed on," + +"Of course it isn't real ermine!" replied Florence; "but I play that it +is, and it's just as well." + +"But you know all the while it's a make-believe. She hasn't any more +sense than a stick of wood, either; and I don't see any sport in playing +with dolls." + +"And I don't see any sense in fairy stories," retorted Flossy. "Do you +know what Percy says about you? He says your head is as full of airy +notions as a dandelion top. I love Queen Mab as if she was my own +sister," continued Flossy, in a pettish tone. "You know I do, Susy. I +always thought, if anything should happen to Queen Mab, and I lost her, +I should certainly dress in mourning; now you needn't laugh." + +"O, I can't help laughing, when anybody makes such a fuss over a doll," +replied Susy, with a curl of the lip. "Anything that isn't alive, and +hasn't any sense, and don't care for you! I like canary birds, and +babies, and ponies, and that's enough to like." + +"Well, now, that's so funny!" said Florence, twitching the folds of +Queen Mab's dress into place; "for the very reason I like my doll, is +because she _isn't_ alive. I wouldn't have been you, Susy Parlin, when +you had your last canary bird, and let him choke to death." + +"O, no, Flossy, I didn't let him choke: I forgot to put any seed in the +bottle, and he stuck his head in so deep, that he smothered to death." + +"I don't know but smothering is as bad as choking," said Florence; "and +now your new bird will be sure to come to some bad end." + +"You're always saying hateful things," exclaimed Susy, a good deal +vexed. "I like Grace Clifford ten times as well, for she's a great deal +more lady-like." + +"Well, I suppose I can go home," said Florence, with a rising color; +"you're such a perfect lady that I can't get along with you." + +"O, dear," thought poor Susy, "what does ail my tongue? Here this very +morning I said in my prayer, that I meant to be good and patient." + +Florence began to put on her cloak. + +"Cousin Flossy," said Susy, in a hesitating voice, "I wish you wouldn't +go. I didn't mean to tell that I liked Gracie best; but it's the real +honest truth, and if I should take it back, 'twould be a lie." + +This was not making matters much better. Florence put on her hood, and +tied it with a twitch. + +"But I like _you_ ever so much, Flossy; now, you know I do. You're +hateful sometimes; but so am I; and I can't tell which is the +hatefulest." + +Here Flossy, who was as fickle as the wind, laughed merrily, took off +her hood and cloak, and danced about the room in high spirits. + +"Yes," said she, "I'll stay just on purpose to plague you!" + +But good humor had been restored on both sides, and the little girls +were soon talking together, as freely as if nothing had happened. + +"Just come out in the kitchen," said Susy, "and you shall see me wash my +bird." + +"Why, I thought birds washed themselves," replied Florence, following +her cousin with some surprise. + +"They do, but Dandy won't; it's all in the world I have against Dandy; +he isn't a cold-water bird." + +Grandma Read stood by the kitchen table, clear-starching one of her +caps--a piece of work which she always performed with her own hands. +She moved one side to make room for Susy's bird-cage, but said she did +not approve of washing canaries; she thought it must be a dangerous +experiment. + +"If he needed a bath, he would take it himself, Susan. Little birds know +what is best for them by instinct, thee may depend upon it." + +"But my birdie gay ought to be clean," persisted Susy, who was often +very positive. "Mrs. Mason says so--the lady that gave him to me. I told +her he wouldn't bathe, and she said then I must bathe him." + +Susy went to the range, and, dipping some hot water from the boiler, +cooled it with fresh water, till she found, by putting in her fingers, +that it was of a proper temperature, according to her own judgment. Then +she plunged the timid little canary into the bowl, in spite of his +fluttering. Such a wee young thing as he was too! He seemed to be afraid +of the water, and struggled against it with all his small strength. + +"O, Dandy, darling," said Susy, in a cooing voice, as if she were +talking to a baby; "be a little man, Dandy; hold up his head, and let +Susy wash it all cleany! O, he's Susie's birdie gay!--What makes him +roll up his eyes?" + +"Take him out quick, Susan," said grandma Read; "he will strangle." + +A few seconds more and all would have been over with birdie gay. He +curled down very languidly on the floor of the cage, and seemed to wish +to be let alone. + +"He acts so every morning when I bathe him," said Susy, who would not +give up the point; "but Mrs. Mason told me to do it! Dotty always cried +when she was washed, till she was ever so old." + +"I think," said Mrs. Parlin, who had just entered the kitchen, "I must +ask Mrs. Mason if she is very sure it is proper to treat little birds in +that way." + +"But look, mamma; here he is, shaking out his feathers, all bright and +happy again. O, you cunning little Dandy, now we'll hang you up in the +sun to dry. See him hop on one foot; that is just to make me laugh." + +"But _I_ hop on one foot, too," said little Prudy, "and you don't laugh +at me." + +"This is a droll little head for fancies," said Mrs. Parlin, patting +Prudy's curls, and looking at grandma Read. "Do you know, mother, that +for several days she has made believe she was lame Jessie, and has +hobbled about whenever she could think of it." + +"Now you mustn't laugh," said Prudy, looking up with a grieved face; I +can't never help hopping; I _have_ to hop. My knee was so sick, I cried +last night, and I was just as _wide-awakeful_!" + +"Ain't thee afraid the child has been hurt in some way, my daughter?" +said grandma Read. + +"O, no, mother," said Mrs. Parlin, smiling, as Prudy limped out of the +room. "I have examined her knee, and there is nothing the matter with +it. She is only imitating that lame child. You know Prudy has all sorts +of whims. Don't you know how she has wanted us to call her Jessie +sometimes?" + +"Why, no, indeed, grandma, she isn't lame," said Susy, laughing. +"Sometimes she will run about the room as well as I do, and then, in a +few minutes, when she thinks of it, she will limp and take hold of +chairs. Mother, isn't it just the same as a wrong story for Prudy to act +that way? If I did so, you'd punish me; now, wouldn't you?" + +"I don't know what to think about it," said Mrs. Parlin, gravely. +"Sometimes I am afraid Prudy is really becoming naughty and deceitful. I +thought once it was only her funny way of playing; but she is getting +old enough now to know the difference between truth and falsehood." + +There was an anxious look on Mrs. Parlin's face. She was a faithful +mother, and watched her children's conduct with the tenderest care. + +But this lameness of which little Prudy complained, was something more +than play; it was a sad truth, as the family learned very soon. Instead +of walking properly when her mother bade her do so, the poor child cried +bitterly, said it hurt her, and she was so tired she wished they would +let her lie on the sofa, and never get up. At times she seemed better; +and when everybody thought she was quite well, suddenly the pain and +weakness would come again, and she could only limp, or walk by catching +hold of chairs. + +At last her father called in a physician. + +"How long has this child been lame?" said he. + +"A month or more." + +The doctor looked grave. "Has she ever had an injury, Mr. Parlin, such +as slipping on the ice, or falling down stairs?" + +"No, sir," replied Mr. Parlin, "I believe not." + +"Not a serious injury that I know of," said Mrs. Parlin, passing her +hand across her forehead, and trying to remember. "No, I think Prudy has +never had a _bad_ fall, though she is always meeting with slight +accidents." + +"O, mamma," said Susy, who had begged to stay in the room, "she did have +a fall: don't you know, Christmas day, ever so long ago, how she went +rolling down stairs with her little chair in her arms, and woke +everybody up?" + +The doctor caught at Susy's words. + +"With her little chair in her arms, my dear? And did she cry as if she +was hurt?" + +"Yes, sir; she said the _prongs_ of the chair stuck into her side." + +"It hurt me dreffully," said Prudy, who had until now forgotten all +about it. "Susy spoke so quick, and said I was a little snail; and then +I rolled over and over, and down I went." + +The doctor almost smiled at these words, lisped out in such a plaintive +voice, as if Prudy could not think of that fall even now, without +pitying herself very much. + +"Just let me see you stand up, little daughter," said he; for Prudy was +lying on the sofa. + +But it hurt her to bear her weight on her feet. + +She said, "One foot, the '_lame-knee-foot_,' came down so long, it +_more_ than touched the floor." + +The doctor looked sober. The foot did drag indeed. The trouble was not +in her knee, but in her hip, which had really been injured when she fell +down stairs, and the "prongs" of the chair were forced against it. + +It seemed to Mrs. Parlin strange that Prudy had never complained of any +pain in her side; but the doctor said it was very common for people to +suffer from hip-disease, and seem to have only a lame knee. + +"Hip-disease!" When Mrs. Parlin heard these words, she grew so dizzy, +that it was all she could do to keep from fainting. It came over her in +a moment, the thought of what her little daughter would have to +suffer--days and nights of pain, and perhaps a whole lifetime of +lameness. She had often heard of hip-disease, and was aware that it is a +very serious thing. + +Do you know, she would gladly have changed places with Prudy, would +gladly have borne all the child must suffer, if by that means she could +have saved her? This is the feeling which mothers have when any trouble +comes upon their children; but the little ones, with their simple minds, +cannot understand it. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ROSY FRANCES EASTMAN MARY. + + +Prudy had enjoyed a great many rides in Susy's beautiful sleigh; but now +the doctor forbade her going out, except for very short distances, and +even then, he said, she must sit in her mother's lap. He wanted her to +lie down nearly all the time, and keep very quiet. + +At first, Mrs. Parlin wondered how it would be possible to keep such a +restless child quiet; but she found, as time passed, and the disease +made progress, that poor little Prudy was only too glad to lie still. +Every motion seemed to hurt her, and sometimes she cried if any one +even jarred the sofa suddenly. + +These were dark days for everybody in the house. Susy, who was +thoughtful beyond her years, suffered terribly from anxiety about her +little sister. More than that, she suffered from remorse. + +"O, grandma Read," said she one evening, as she sat looking up at the +solemn, shining stars, with overflowing eyes--"O, grandma!" The words +came from the depths of a troubled heart. "I may live to be real old; +but I never shall be happy again! I can't, for, if it hadn't been for +me? Prudy would be running round the house as well as ever!" + +Mrs. Read had a gentle, soothing voice. She could comfort Susy when +anybody could. Now she tried to set her heart at rest by saying that the +doctor gave a great deal of hope. He could not promise a certain cure, +but he felt great faith in a new kind of splint which he was using for +Prudy's hip. + +"O, grandma, it may be, and then, again, it may not be," sobbed poor +Susy; "we can't tell what God will think best; but anyhow, it was I that +did it." + +"But, Susan, thee must think how innocent thee was of any wrong motive. +Thee did not get angry, and push thy little sister, thee knows thee +didn't, Susan! Thee was only in a hurry, and rather thoughtless. The +best of us often do very foolish things, and cause much mischief; but +thee'll find it isn't best to grieve over these mistakes. Why, my dear +little Susan, I have lived eight years to thy one, and if I should sit +down now and drop a tear for every blunder I have made, I don't know but +I could almost make a fountain of myself, like that woman thee tells +about in the fairy story." + +"The fountain of Pirene that Pegasus loved," said Susy; "that was the +name of it. Why, grandma, I never should have thought of your saying +such a queer thing as that! Why, it seems as if you always did just +right, and thought it all over before you did it. Do _you_ ever do +wrong? How funny!" + +Mrs. Read smiled sadly. She was not an angel yet; so I suppose she did +wrong once in a while. + +"Now, grandma, I want to ask you one question, real sober and honest. +You know it was so dark that morning in the middle of the night, when we +were going down the back stairs? Now, if I'd made a great deal worse +mistake than calling Prudy a snail,--if I'd pushed her real hard, and +she had fallen faster,--O, I can't bear to think! I mean, if the +chair-prongs had hit her head, grandma--and--killed her! What would they +have done to _me_? I thought about it last night, so I couldn't go to +sleep for the longest while! I heard the clock _strike_ once while I was +awake there in bed! Would they have put me in the lock-up, grandma, and +then hung me for murder?" + +"My dear child, no, indeed! How came such horrible ideas in thy tender +little brain? It is too dreadful to think about; but, even if thy little +sister _had_ died, Susan, thee would have been no more to blame than +thee is now, and a great, great deal more to be pitied." + +Susy sat for a long while gazing out of the window; but the stars did +not wink so solemnly; the moon looked friendly once more. Susy was +drinking in her grandmother's words of comfort. The look of sadness was +disappearing from the young face, and smiles began to play about the +corners of her mouth. + +"Well," said she, starting up briskly, "I'm glad I wasn't so very +terribly wicked! I wish I'd been somewhere else, when I stood on those +back-stairs, in the middle of the night; but what's the use? I'm not +going to think any more about it, grandma; for if I should think till my +head was all twisted up in a knot, what good would it do? It wouldn't +help Prudy any; would it, grandma?" + +"No, dear," said the mild, soothing voice again; "don't think, I beg of +thee; but if thee wants to know what would do Prudence good, I will tell +thee: try thy best to amuse her. She has to lie day after day and +suffer. It is very hard for a little girl that loves to play, and can't +read, and doesn't know how to pass the time; don't thee think so, +Susan?" + +It was certainly hard. Prudy's round rosy face began to grow pale; and, +instead of laughing and singing half the time, she would now lie and cry +from pain, or because she really did not know what else to do with +herself. + +It was worst at night. Hour after hour, she would lie awake, and listen +to the ticking of the clock. Susy thought it a pitiable case, when +_she_, heard the clock strike _once_; but little Prudy heard it strike +again and again. How strangely it pounded out the strokes in the night! +What a dreary sound it was, pealing through the silence! The echoes +answered with a shudder. Then, when Prudy had counted one, two, three, +four, and the clock had no more to say at that time, it began to tick +again: "Prudy's sick! Prudy's sick! O, dear me! O, dear me!" + +Prudy could hardly believe it was the same clock she saw in the daytime. +She wondered if it felt lonesome in the night, and had the blues; or +what _could_ ail it! The poor little girl wanted somebody to speak to in +these long, long hours. She did not sleep with Susy, but in a new +cot-bed of her own, in aunt Madge's room; for, dearly as she loved to +lie close to any one she loved, she begged now to sleep alone, "so +nobody could hit her, or move her, or joggle her." + +It was a great comfort to have aunt Madge so near. If it had been Susy +instead, Prudy would have had no company but the sound of her breathing. +It was of no use to try to wake Susy in the dead of night. Pricking her +with pins would startle her, but she never knew anything even after she +was startled. All she could do was to stare about her, cry, and act very +cross, and then--go to sleep again. + +But with aunt Madge it was quite different. She slept like a cat, with +one eye open. Perhaps the reason she did not sleep more soundly, was, +that she felt a care of little Prudy. No matter when Prudy spoke to her, +aunt Madge always answered. She did not say, "O, dear, you've startled +me out of a delicious nap!" She said, "Well, darling, what do you want?" +Prudy generally wanted to know when it would be morning? When would the +steamboat whistle? What made it stay dark so long? She wanted a drink of +water, and _always_ wanted a story. + +If aunt Madge had forgotten to provide a glass of water, she put on her +slippers, lighted the little handled lamp, and stole softly down stairs +to the pail, which Norah always pumped full of well-water the last thing +in the evening. + +Or, if Prudy fancied it would console her to have a peep at her +beautiful doll which "would be alive if it could speak," why, down +stairs went auntie again to search out the spot where Susy had probably +left it when "she took it to show to some children." + +The many, many times that kind young lady crept shivering down stairs to +humor Prudy's whims! Prudy could not have counted the times; and you may +be sure aunt Madge never _would_. + +Then the stories, both sensible and silly, which Prudy teased for, and +always got! Aunt Madge poured them forth like water into the _sieve_ of +Prudy's mind, which could not hold stories any better than secrets. No +matter how many she told, Prudy insisted that she wanted "one more," and +the "same one over again." + +It touched Susy to the heart to see how much her little sister +suffered, and she spent a great deal of time at first in trying to amuse +her. Aunt Madge told stories in the night; but Susy told them in the +daytime, till, as she expressed it, her "tongue ached." She cut out +paper dolls when she wanted to read, and played go visiting, or dressed +rag babies, when she longed to be out of doors. But while the novelty +lasted, she was quite a Florence Nightingale. + +Her Wednesday and Saturday after-noons were no longer her own. Before +Prudy's lameness, Susy had used her new skates a great deal, and could +now skim over the ice quite gracefully, for a little girl of her age. +The reason she learned to skate so well, was because she was fearless. +Most children tremble when they try to stand on the ice, and for that +very reason are nearly sure to fall; but Susy did not tremble in the +face of danger: she had a strong will of her own, and never expected to +fail in anything she undertook. + +She had spent half of her short life out of doors, and almost considered +it lost time when she was obliged to stay in the house for the rain. + +Mrs. Parlin kept saying it was high time for her eldest daughter to +begin to be womanly, and do long stints with her needle: she could not +sew as well now as she sewed two years ago. + +But Mr. Parlin laughed at his wife's anxiety, and said he loved Susy's +red cheeks; he didn't care if she grew as brown as an Indian. She was +never rude or coarse, he thought; and she would be womanly enough one of +these days, he was quite sure. + +"Anything," said Mr. Parlin, "but these _womanly_ little girls, such as +I have seen sitting in a row, sewing seams, without animation enough to +tear rents in their own dresses! If Susy loves birds, and flowers, and +snowbanks, I am thankful, and perfectly willing she should have plenty +of them for playthings." + +Then, when Mrs. Parlin smiled mischievously, and said, "I should like to +know what sort of a wild Arab you would make out of a little girl," Mr. +Parlin answered triumphantly,--"Look at my sister Margaret! I brought +her up my own self! I always took her out in the woods with me, gunning +and trouting. I taught her how to skate when she was a mere baby. I +often said she was all the brother I had in the world! She can remember +now how I used to wrap her in shawls, and prop her up on the woodpile, +while I chopped wood." + +"And how you hired her to drop ears of corn for you into the +corn-sheller; and how, one day, her fingers were so benumbed, that one +of them was clipped off before she knew it!" + +"Well, so it was, that is true; but only the tip of it. Active children +will meet with accidents. She was a regular little fly-away, and would +sooner climb a tree or a ladder any time, than walk on solid ground. +_Now_ look at her!" + +And Mr. Parlin repeated the words, "Now look at her," as if he was sure +his wife must confess that she was a remarkable person. + +Mrs. Parlin said, if Susy should ever become half as excellent and +charming as Miss Margaret Parlin, she should be perfectly satisfied, for +her part. + +Thus Susy was allowed to romp to her heart's content; "fairly ran wild," +as aunt Eastman declared, with a frown of disapproval. She gathered wild +roses, and wore them in her cheeks, the very best place in the world +for roses. She drank in sunshine with the fresh air of heaven, just as +the flowers do, and thrived on it. + +But there was one objection to this out-of-doors life: Susy did not love +to stay in the house. Ainu days and evenings, to be sure, she made +herself very happy with reading, for she loved to read, particularly +fairy books, and Rollo's Travels. + +But now, just as she had learned to skate on the basin with other little +girls and young ladies, and could drive Wings anywhere and everywhere +she pleased, it was a sore trial to give up these amusements for the +sake of spending more hours with poor little Prudy. She was very +self-denying at first, but it grew to be an "old story." She found it +was not only pony and skates she must give up, but even her precious +reading, for Prudy was jealous of books, and did not like to have Susy +touch them. She thought Susy was lost to her when she opened a book, and +might as well not be in the house, for she never heard a word that +anybody said. + +Now I know just what you will think: "O, I would have given up a great +deal more than ponies and books for _my_ dear little sister! I would +have told her stories, and never have complained that my 'tongue ached.' +It would not have wearied me to do anything and everything for such a +patient sufferer as little Prudy!" + +But now I shall be obliged to confess one thing, which I would have +gladly concealed. + +Prudy was not always patient. Some sweet little children become almost +like the angels when sickness is laid upon them; but Prudy had been such +a healthy, active child, that the change to perfect quiet was +exceedingly tiresome. She was young, too,--too young to reason about the +uses of suffering. She only knew she was dreadfully afflicted, and +thought everybody ought to amuse her. + +"O, dear me!" said Susy, sometimes, "I just believe the more anybody +does for Prudy, the more she expects." + +Now this was really the case. When Prudy first began to lie upon the +sofa, everybody pitied her, and tried to say and do funny things, in +order to take up her attention. It was not possible to keep on giving so +much time to her; but Prudy expected it. She would lie very pleasant and +happy for hours at a time, counting the things in the room, talking to +herself, or humming little tunes; and then, again, everything would go +wrong. Her playthings would keep falling to the floor, and, as she could +not stoop at all, some one must come and pick them up that very minute, +or they "didn't pity her a bit." + +Every once in a while, she declared her knee was "broken in seven new +places," and the doctor must come and take off the splint. She didn't +want such a hard thing "right on there;" she wanted it "right off." + +Her mother told her she must try to be patient, and be one of God's +little girls. "But, mamma," said Prudy, "does God love me any? I should +think, if he loved me, he'd be sorrier I was sick, and get me well." + +Then, sometimes, when she had been more fretful than usual, she would +close her eyes, and her mother would hear her say, in a low voice,-- + +"O, God, I didn't mean to. It's my _knee_ that's cross!" + +Upon the whole, I think Prudy was as patient as most children of her age +would have been under the same trial. Her father and mother, who had the +most care of her, did not wonder in the least that her poor little +nerves got tired out sometimes. + +While Susy was at school, Prudy had a long time to think what she wanted +her to do when she should come home. She would lie and watch the clock, +for she had learned to tell the time quite well; and when the hour drew +near for Susy to come, she moved her head on the pillow, and twisted her +fingers together nervously. + +If Susy was in good season, Prudy put up her little mouth for a kiss, +and said,-- + +"O, how I do love you, Susy! Ain't I your dear little sister? Well, +won't you make me a lady on the slate?" + +Susy's ladies had no necks, and their heads were driven down on their +shoulders, as if they were going to be packed into their chests; but, +such as they were, Prudy wanted them over and over again. + +But if Susy stopped to slide, or to play by the way, she would find +little Prudy in tears, and hear her say, "O, what made you? Naughty, +naughty old Susy! I'm goin' to die, and go to God's house, and then +you'll be sorry you didn't 'tend to your little sister." + +Susy could never bear to hear Prudy talk about going to God's house. Her +conscience pricked her when she saw that the poor child was grieved; and +she resolved, every time she was late, that she would never be late +again. + +Prudy had a great many odd fancies now: among others, she had a fancy +that she did not like the name of Prudy. + +"Why; only think," said she, "you keep a-calling me Prudy, and Prudy, +and Prudy. It makes my head ache, to have you say Prudy so much." + +"But, my dear child," said Mr. Parlin, smiling, "it happens, +unfortunately, that Prudy is your name; so I think you will have to try +and bear it as well as you can." + +"But I can't bear it any longer," said the child, bursting into tears. +"Prudy is all lame and sick, and I never shall walk any more while you +call me Prudy, papa." + +Mr. Parlin kissed his little daughters's pale cheek, and said, "Then we +will call you pet names; will that do?" + +Prudy smiled with delight. + +"I've thought of a real beautiful, splendid name," said she. "It is Rosy +Frances Eastman Mary; ain't it splendid?" + +After this announcement, Prudy expected the family would be sure to call +her Rosy Frances Eastman Mary; and, indeed, they were quite willing to +please her, whenever they could remember the name. They all supposed it +was a fancy she would forget in a day or two; but, instead of that, she +clung to it more and more fondly. If any one offered her an orange, or +roasted apple, and said, "Look, Prudy; here is something nice for you," +she would turn her face over to one side on the pillow, and make no +reply. If she wanted a thing very much, she would never accept it when +she was addressed by the obnoxious name of Prudy. Even when her father +wanted to take her in his arms to rest her, and happened to say, "Prudy, +shall I hold you a little while?" she would say, "Who was you a-talkin' +to, papa? There isn't any Prudy here!" Then her father had to humble +himself, and ask to be forgiven for being so forgetful. + +The child had a delicate appetite, and her mother tried to tempt it with +little niceties; but, no matter what pains she took, Prudy relished +nothing unless it was given to her as Rosy Frances, the little girl who +was _not_ Prudy. + +"O, here is a glass of lemonade for you, Prudy; made on purpose for +you," Susy would say; "do drink it!" + +"O, dear me, suz," cried Prudy, with tears falling over her cheeks; "O, +Susy, you plague me, and I never done a thing to you! You called me +Prudy, and I ain't Prudy, never again! Call me Rosy Frances Eastman +Mary, and I'll drink the lemonade." + +"You precious little sister," said Susy, bending over her gently, +"you'll forgive me; won't you, darling?" + +"I'll try to," replied Prudy, with a look of meek forbearance, as she +sipped the lemonade. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +LITTLE TROUBLES. + + +Somebody said once to Susy and Flossy, when they were having a frolic in +"Prudy's sitting-room," up stairs, "What happy little things! You don't +know what trouble is, and never will, till you grow up!" + +The little girls preserved a respectful silence, till the lady was out +of hearing, and then held an indignant discussion as to the truth of +what she had said. It would have been a discussion, I mean, if they had +not both taken the same side of the question. + +"How she sighed," said Susy, "just as if she was the _melancholiest_ +person that ever was!" Susy was famous for the use she made of +adjectives, forming the superlatives just as it happened. + +"Yes, just the way," responded Flossy. "I'd like to know what ever +happened to _her_? Pshaw! She laughed this afternoon, and ate apples +fast enough!" + +"O, she thinks she must make believe have a dreadful time, because she +is grown up," said Susy, scornfully. "She's forgot she was ever a little +girl! I've had troubles; I guess I have! And I know one thing, I shall +remember 'em when I grow up, and not say, 'What happy little things!' +to children. It's real hateful!" + +Little folks have trouble, to be sure. Their hearts are full of it, and +running over, sometimes; and how can the largest heart that ever beat be +_more_ than full, and running over? + +Susy had daily trials. They were sent to her because they were good for +her. Shadows and night-dews are good for flowers. If the sun had shone +on Susy always, and she had never had any shadows and night dews, she +would have _scorched up_ into a selfish girl. + +One of her trials was Miss Dotty Dimple. Now, she loved Dotty dearly, +and considered her funny all over, from the crown of her head to the +soles of her little twinkling feet, which were squeezed into a pair of +gaiters. Dotty loved those gaiters as if they were alive. She had a +great contempt for the slippers she wore in the morning, but it was her +"darlin' gaiters," which she put on in the afternoon, and loved next to +father and mother, and all her best friends. + +When ladies called, she stepped very briskly across the floor, looking +down at her feet, and tiptoeing about, till the ladies smiled, and said, +"O, what sweet little boots!" and then she was perfectly happy. + +Susy was not very wide awake in the morning; but Dotty was stirring as +soon as there was a peep of light, and usually stole into Susy's bed to +have a frolic. Nothing but a story would keep her still, and poor Susy +often wondered which was harder, to be used as a football by Dotty, or +to tell stories with her eyes shut. + +"O, Dotty Dimple, keep still; can't you? There's a darling," she would +plead, longing for another nap; "_don't_ kill me." + +"No, no; me won't kill," the little one would reply; "'tisn't _pooty_ to +kill!" + +"O, dear, you little, cunning, darling plague, now hush, and let me go +to sleep!" + +Then Dotty would plant both feet firmly on Susy's chest, and say, in her +teasing little voice, as troublesome as the hum of a mosquito,-- + +"Won't you tell me 'tory--tell me a 'tory--tell me a 'tory, Susy." + +"Well, what do you want to hear?" + +Now, it was natural for Susy to feel cross when she was sleepy. It cost +her a hard struggle to speak pleasantly, and when she succeeded in doing +so, I set it down as one of her greatest victories over herself. The +Quaker motto of her grandmother, "Let patience have her perfect work," +helped her sometimes, when she could wake up enough to remember it. + +"Tell 'bout little yellow gell," said the voice of the mosquito, over +and over again. + +Susy roused herself after the third request, and sleepily asked if +something else wouldn't do? + +"I had a little nobby-colt." + +"No, no, you _di'n't_, you _di'n't_; grandma had the nobby! Tell yellow +gell." + +"O," sighed Susy, "how can you want to hear that so many, many times? +Well, once when I was a little bit of a girl--" + +"'Bout's big as me, you _said_," put in Dotty. + +"O, yes, I did say so once, and I suppose I must tell it so every time, +or you'll fuss! Well, I had a yellow dress all striped off in checks--" + +"Di'n't it go this way?" said Dotty, smoothing the sheet with her little +hand, "and this way?" + +"What? What?" Susy roused herself and rubbed her eyes. "O, yes, it went +in checks; and I was at grandma Parlin's, and Grace--Grace--O, Grace and +I went into the pasture where there were a couple of cows, a gray cow +and a red cow." + +"Now you must say what _is_ couple," says Dotty. + +"Then what is couple?" + +"Gray cow," answers Dotty, very gravely. + +"So when the cows saw us coming, they--they--O, they threw up their +heads, and stopped eating grass--in the air. I mean--threw--up--their +heads." Susy was nearly asleep. + +"Up in the air?" + +"Yes, of course, up in the air. (There, I _will_ wake up!) And the gray +cow began to run towards us, and Grace says to me, 'O, my, she thinks +you're a pumpkin!'" + +"You?" + +"Yes, me, because my dress was so yellow. I was just as afraid of the +cow as I could be." + +"Good cow! _He_ wouldn't hurt!" + +"No, the cow was good, and didn't think I was a pumpkin, not the least +speck. But I was so afraid, that I crept under the bars, and ran home." + +"To grandma's house?" + +"Yes; and grandma laughed." + +"Well, where was me?" was the next question, after a pause. + +Then, when the duty of story-telling was performed, Susy would gladly +have gone back to "climbing the dream-tree;" but no, she must still +listen to Dotty, though she answered her questions in an absent-minded +way, like a person "hunting for a forgotten dream." + +One morning she was going to ride with her cousin Percy. It had been +some time since she had seen Wings, except in the stable, where she +visited him every day. + +But Dotty had set her heart on a rag-baby which Susy had promised to +dress, and Prudy was anxious that Susy should play several games of +checkers with her. + +"O, dear," said the eldest sister, with the perplexed air of a mother +who has disobedient little ones to manage. "I think I have about as much +as I can bear. The _children_ always make a fuss, just as sure as I +want to go out." + +The old, impatient spirit was rising; that spirit which it was one of +the duties of Susy's life to keep under control. + +She went into the bathing-room, and drank off a glass of cold water, and +talked to herself a while, for she considered that the safest way. + +"Have I any right to be cross? Yes, I think I have. Here Dotty woke me +up, right in the middle of a dream, and I'm sleepy this minute. Then +Prudy is a little babyish thing, and always was--making a fuss if I +forget to call her Rosy Frances! Yes, I'll be cross, and act just as I +want to. It's too hard work to keep pleasant; I won't try." + +She walked along to the door, but, by that time, the better spirit was +struggling to be heard. + +"Now, Susy Parlin," it said, "you little girl with a pony, and a pair of +skates, and feet to walk on, and everything you want, ain't you ashamed, +when you think of that dear little sister you pushed down stairs--no, +didn't push--that poor little lame sister!--O, hark! there is your +mother winding up that hard splint! How would you feel with such a thing +on your hip? Go, this minute, and comfort Prudy!" + +The impatient feelings were gone for that time; Susy had swallowed +them, or they had flown out of the window. + +"Now Rosy Frances Eastman Mary," said she, "if your splint is all fixed, +I'll comb your hair." + +The splint was made of hard, polished wood and brass. Under it were +strips of plaster an inch wide, which wound round and round the poor +wounded limb. These strips of plaster became loose, and there was a +little key-hole in the splint, into which Mrs. Parlin put a key, and +wound up and tightened the plaster every morning. This operation did not +hurt Prudy at all. + +"Now," said Susy, after she had combed Prudy's hair carefully, and put a +net over it, until her mother should be ready to curl it, "now we will +have a game of checkers." + +Prudy played in high glee, for Susy allowed her to jump all her men, and +march triumphantly into the king-row, at the head of a victorious army. + +"There, now, Rosy," said Susy, gently, "are you willing to let me go out +riding? I can't play any more if I ride, for I must dress Dotty's doll, +and feed my canary." + +"O, well," said Prudy, considering the matter, "I'm sick; I tell you how +it is, I'm sick, you know; but--well, you may go, Susy, if you'll make +up a story as long as a mile." + +Susy really felt grateful to Prudy, but it was her own gentle manner +which had charmed the sick child into giving her consent. + +Then Susy proceeded to dress Dotty's doll in a very simple fashion, with +two holes for short sleeves, and a skirt with a raw edge; but she looked +kind and pleasant while she was at work, and Dotty was just as well +pleased as if it had been an elegant costume she was preparing. And it +was really good enough for a poor deformed rag-baby, with a head shaped +like a stove-pipe. + +Susy was delighted to find how well a little patience served her in +amusing "the children." Next, she went to give Dandy his morning bath. +Mrs. Parlin still thought it a dangerous practice, but had not seen Mrs. +Mason, to question her about it, and Susy was too obstinate in her +opinion to listen to her mother. + +"I must do it," said Susy; "it has been ever so long since Dandy was +bathed, and I shouldn't take any comfort riding, mamma, if I didn't +leave him clean." + +Susy plunged the trembling canary into his little bathing-bowl, in some +haste. He struggled as usual, and begged, with his weak, piping voice, +to be spared such an infliction. But Susy was resolute. + +"It'll do you good, Ducky Daddles; we mustn't have any lazy, dirty +birdies in this house." + +Ducky Daddies rolled up his little eyes, and gasped for breath. + +"O, look, mother!" cried Susy, laughing; "how funny Dandy acts! Do you +suppose it's to make me laugh? O, is he fainting away?" + +"Fainting away! My dear child, he is dying!" + +This was the sad truth. Mrs. Parlin fanned him, hoping to call back the +lingering breath. But it was too late. One or two more throbs, and his +frightened little heart had ceased to beat; his frail life had gone out +as suddenly as a spark of fire. + +Susy was too much shocked to speak. She stood holding the stiffening +bird in her hands, and gazing at it. + +Mrs. Parlin was very sorry for Susy, and had too much kindness of +feeling to add to her distress by saying,-- + +"You know how I warned you, Susy." + +Susy was already suffering for her obstinacy and disregard of her +mother's advice; and Mrs. Parlin believed she would lay the lesson to +heart quite as well without more words. It was a bitter lesson. Susy +loved dumb creatures dearly, and was just becoming very fond of Dandy. + +In the midst of her trouble, and while her eyes were swollen with tears, +her cousin Percy came with Wings and the sleigh to give her the promised +ride. Susy no longer cared for going out: it seemed to her that her +heart was almost broken. + +"Well, cousin Indigo, what is the matter?" said Percy; "you look as if +this world was a howling wilderness, and you wanted to howl too. What, +crying over that bird? Poh! I can buy you a screech-owl any time, that +will make twice the noise he could in his best days. Come, hurry, and +put your things on!" + +Susy buried her face in her apron. + +"I'll compose a dirge for him," said Percy. + + "My bird is dead, said Susy P., + My bird is dead; O, deary me! + He sang so sweet, te whee, te whee; + He sings no more; O, deary me! + Go hang his cage up in the tree, + That cage I care no more to see. + My bird is dead, cried Susy P." + +These provoking words Percy drawled out in a sing-song voice. It was +too much. Susy's eyes flashed through her tears. + +"You've always laughed at me, Percy Eastman, and plagued me about Freddy +Jackson, and everything, and I've borne it like a--like a lady. But when +you go to laughing at my poor little Dandy that's dead, and can't +speak--" + +Susy was about to say, "Can't speak for himself," but saw in time how +absurdly she was talking, and stopped short. + +Percy laughed. + +"Where are you going with that cage?" + +"Going to put it away, where I'll never see it again," sobbed poor Susy. + +"Give it to me," said Percy: "I'll take care of it for you." + +If Susy's eyes had not been blinded by tears, she would have been +surprised to see the real pity in Percy's face. + +He was a rollicking boy, full of merriment and bluster, and what tender +feelings he possessed, he took such a wonderful amount of pains to +conceal, that Susy never suspected he had any. She would have enjoyed +her ride if she had not felt so full of grief. The day was beautiful. +There had been a storm, and the trees looked as if they had been +snowballing one another; but Susy had no eye for trees, and just then +hardly cared for her pony. + +Percy put the cage in the sleigh, under the buffalo robes; and when +they reached his own door, he carried the cage into the house, while +Susy drew a sigh of relief. He offered to stuff Dandy, or have him +stuffed; but Susy rejected the idea with horror. + +"No, if Dandy was dead, he was all dead; she didn't want to see him +sitting up stiff and cold, when he couldn't sing a speck." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ANNIE LOVEJOY. + + +But the day was not over yet. The bright sun and blue sky were doing +what they could to make a cheerful time of it, but it seemed as if Susy +fell more deeply into trouble, as the hours passed on. + +There are such days in everybody's life, when it rains small vexations +from morning till night, and when all we can do is to hope for better +things to-morrow. + +It was Wednesday; and in the afternoon, Flossy Eastman came over with a +new game, and while the little girls, Flossy, Susy and Prudy were +playing it, and trying their best to keep Dotty Dimple's prying fingers +and long curls out of the way, in came Miss Annie Lovejoy. + +This was a little neighbor, who, as the children sometimes privately +declared, was "always 'round." Mrs. Parlin had her own private doubts +about the advantages to be derived from her friendship, and had +sometimes gone so far as to send her home, when she seemed more than +usually in the way. + +Annie's mother lived next door, but all Mrs. Parlin knew of her, was +what she could see and hear from her own windows; and that little was +not very agreeable. She saw that Mrs. Love joy dressed in gaudy colors, +and loaded herself with jewelry; and she could hear her scold her +servants and children with a loud, shrill voice. + +The two ladies had never exchanged calls; but Annie, it seemed, had few +playmates, and she clung to Susy with such a show of affection, that Mrs. +Parlin could not forbid her visits, although she watched her closely; +anxious, as a careful mother should be, to make sure she was a proper +companion for her little daughter. So far she had never known her to say +or do anything morally wrong, though her manners were not exactly those +of a well-bred little girl. + +This afternoon, when the new game was broken up by the entrance of +Annie, the children began the play of housekeeping, because Prudy could +join in it. Susy found she enjoyed any amusement much more when it +pleased the little invalid. + +"I will be the lady of the house," said Annie, promptly, "because I have +rings on my fingers, and a coral necklace. My name is Mrs. Piper. +Prudy,--no, Rosy,--you shall be Mrs. Shotwell, come a-visiting me; +because you can't do anything else. We'll make believe you've lost your +husband in the wars. I know a Mrs. Shotwell, and she is always +_taking-on_, and saying, 'My poor dear husband,' under her handkerchief; +just this way." + +The children laughed at the nasal twang which Annie gave to the words, +and Prudy imitated it to perfection, not knowing it was wrong. + +"Well, what shall I be?" said Susy, not very well pleased that the first +characters had been taken already. + +"O, you shall be a hired girl, and wear a handkerchief on your head, +just as our girl does; and you must be a little deaf, and keep saying, +'What, ma'am?' when I speak to you." + +"And I," said Florence, "will be Mr. Peter Piper, the head of the +family." + +"Yes," returned Annie, "you can put on a waterproof cloak, and you will +make quite a good-looking husband; but I shall be the head of the family +myself, and have things about as I please!" + +"Well, there," cried Flossy, slipping her arms into the sleeves of her +cloak, "I don't know about that; I don't think it's very polite for you +to treat your husband in that way." + +Flossy wanted to have the control of family matters herself. + +"But I believe in 'Woman's Rights,'" said Annie, with a toss of the +head, "and if there's anything I despise, it is a _man_ meddling about +the house." + +Here little Dotty began to cause a disturbance, by sticking a +fruit-knife into the edges of the "what-not," and making a whirring +noise. + +"I wouldn't do so, Dotty," said Susy, going up to her; "it troubles us; +and, besides, I'm afraid it will break the knife." + +"I don't allow my hired girl to interfere with my children," said +Annie, speaking up in the character of Mrs. Piper; "I am mistress of the +house, I'd have you to know! There, little daughter, they shan't plague +her; she shall keep on doing mischief; so she shall!" + +Dotty needed no coaxing to keep on doing mischief, but hit the musical +knife harder than ever, giving it a dizzy motion, like the clapper in a +mill. + +Prudy was quite annoyed by the sound, but did not really know whether to +be nervous or not, and concluded to express her vexation in groans: the +groans she was giving in memory of the departed Mr. Shotwell, who had +died of a "cannon bullet." + +"My good Mrs. Shotwell," said Mrs. Piper, trying to "make +conversation," "I think I have got something in my eye: will you please +tell me how it looks?" + +"O," said Prudy, peeping into it, "your eye looks very well, ma'am; +don't you '_xcuse_ it; it looks well enough for _me_." + +"Ahem!" said Mrs. Piper, laughing, and settling her head-dress, which +was Susy's red scarf: "are your feet warm, Mrs. Shotwell?" + +"Thank you, ma'am," replied Prudy, "I don't feel 'em cold. O, dear, if +your husband was all deaded up, I guess you'd cry, Mrs. Piper." + +Susy and Flossy looked at each other, and smiled. They thought Prudy +seemed more like herself than they had known her for a long time. + +"You must go right out of the parlor, Betsey," said Mrs. Piper, +flourishing the poker; "I mean you, Susy--the parlor isn't any place for +hired girls." + +"Ma'am?" said Susy, inclining her head to one side, in order to hear +better. + +"O, dear! the plague of having a deaf girl!" moaned Mrs. Piper. "You +don't know how trying it is, Mrs. Shotwell! That hired girl, Betsey, +hears with her elbows, Mrs. Shotwell; I verily believe she does!" + +"O, no, ma'am," replied Prudy; "I guess she doesn't hear with her +elbows, does she? If she _heard_ with her elbows, she wouldn't have to +ask you over again!" + +This queer little speech set Mr. Piper and his wife, and their servant, +all to laughing, and Betsey looked at her elbows, to see if they were in +the right place. + +"Will you please, ma'am," said Prudy, "ask Betsey to _hot_ a flatiron? +I've cried my handkerchief all up!" + +"Yes; go right out, Betsey, and _hot_ a flatiron," said Mrs. Piper, very +hospitably. "Go out, this instant, and build a fire, Betsey." + +"Yes, go right out, Betsey," echoed Mr. Piper, who could find nothing +better to do than to repeat his wife's words; for, in spite of himself, +she did appear to be the "head of the family." + +"It was my darlin' husband's handkerchief," sobbed Prudy. + +"Rather a small one for a man," said Mr. Piper, laughing. + +"Well," replied Prudy, rather quick for a thought, "my husband had a +very small nose!" + +Mrs. Piper tried to make more "conversation." + +"O, Mrs. Shotwell, you ought to be exceeding thankful you're a widow, +and don't keep house! I think my hired girls will carry down my gray +hairs to the grave! The last one I had was Irish, and very Catholic." + +Prudy groaned for sympathy, and wiped her eyes on that corner of her +handkerchief which was supposed to be not quite "cried up." + +"Yes, indeed, it was awful," continued Mrs. Piper; "for she was always +going to masses and mass-meetings; and there couldn't anybody die but +they must be 'waked,' you know." + +"Why, I didn't know they could be waked up when they was dead," said +Prudy, opening her eyes. + +"O, but they only _make believe_ you can wake 'em," said Mrs. Piper; "of +course it isn't true! For my part, I don't believe a word an Irish girl +says, any way." + +"Hush, my child," she continued, turning to Dotty, who was now +sharpening the silver knife on the edges of the iron grate. "Betsey, why +in the world don't you see to that baby? I believe you are losing your +mind!" + +"That makes me think," said Prudy, suddenly breaking in with a new +idea; "what do you s'pose the reason is folks can't be waked up? What +makes 'em stay in heaven all the days, and nights, and years, and never +come down here to see anybody, not a minute?" + +"What an idea!" said Annie. "I'm sure I don't know." + +"Well, I've been a thinkin'," said Prudy, answering her own question, +"that when God has sended 'em up to the sky, they like to stay up there +the best. It's a nicer place, a great deal nicer place, up to God's +house." + +"O, yes, of course," replied Annie, "but our play--" + +"I've been a thinkin'," continued Prudy, "that when I go up to God's +house, I shan't wear the splint. I can run all over the house, and he'll +be willing I should go up stairs, and down cellar, you know." + +Prudy sighed. Sometimes she almost longed for "God's house." + +"Well, let's go on with our play," said Annie, impatiently. "It's most +supper-time, Mrs. Shotwell. Come in, Betsey." + +"Ma'am?" said Betsey, appearing at the door, and turning up one ear, +very much as if it were a dipper, in which she expected to catch the +words which dropped from the lips of her mistress. "Betsey, have you +attended to your sister--to my little child, I mean? Then go out and +make some sassafras cakes, and some eel-pie, and some squirrel-soup; +and set the table in five minutes: do you hear?" + +"Ma'am?" said the deaf servant; "what did you say about ginger-bread?" + +Susy did not like her part of the game; but she played it as well as she +could, and let Annie manage everything, because that was what pleased +Annie. + +"O, how stupid Betsey is!" said Mr. Piper, coming to the aid of his +wife. "Mrs. Piper says eel-jumbles, and sassafras-pie, and pound-cake; +all made in five minutes!" + +Here everybody laughed, and Prudy, suddenly remembering her part, +sighed, and said,-- + +"O, my darlin' husband used to like jumble-pie! I've forgot to cry for +ever so long!" + +Susy began to set the table, and went into the nursery for some cake and +cookies, which were kept in an old tin chest, on purpose for this play +of housekeeping, which had now been carried on regularly every Wednesday +and Saturday afternoon, for some time. + +Susy opened the cake-chest, and found nothing in it but a few dry +cookies: the fruit-cake was all gone. Who could have eaten it? Not +Flossy, for she had a singular dislike for raisins and currants, and +never so much as tasted fruit-cake. Not Prudy, for the poor little thing +had grown so lame by this time, that she was unable to bear her weight +on her feet, much less to walk into the nursery. Dotty could not be the +thief. Her baby-conscience was rather tough and elastic, and I suppose +she would have felt no more scruples about nibbling nice things, than an +unprincipled little mouse. + +But, then Dotty couldn't reach the cake-chest; so she was certainly +innocent. + +Then Susy remembered in a moment that it was Annie: Annie had run into +the house morning and night, and had often said, "I'm right hungry. I'm +going to steal a piece of our cake!" + +So it seemed that Annie had eaten it _all_. Susy ran back to Prudy's +sitting-room, where her little guests were seated, and said, trying not +to laugh,-- + +"Please, ma'am, I just made some eel-jumbles and things, and a dog came +in and stole them." + +"Very well, Betsey," said Mrs. Piper, serenely; "make some more." + +"Yes, make some more," echoed Mr. Piper; and added, "chain up that dog." + +"But real honest true," said Susy, "the fruit-cake _is_ all gone out of +the chest. You ate it up, you know, Annie; but it's no matter: we'll cut +up some cookies, or, may be, mother'll let us have some +oyster-crackers." + +"_I_ ate up the cake!" cried Annie; "It's no such a thing; I never +touched it!" Her face flushed as she spoke. + +"O, but you did," persisted Susy; "I suppose you've forgotten! You went +to the cake-chest this morning, and last night, and yesterday noon, and +ever so many more times." + +Annie was too angry to speak. + +"But it's just as well," added Susy, politely; "you could have it as +well as not, and perfectly welcome!" + +"What are you talking about?" cried Annie, indignantly; for she thought +she saw a look of surprise and contempt on Flossy's face, and fancied +that Flossy despised her because she had a weakness for fruit-cake. + +"I wonder if you take me for a pig, Susy Parlin! I heard what your +mother said about that cake! She said it was too dry for her company, +but it was too rich for little girls, and we must only eat a _teeny_ +speck at a time. I told my mamma, and she laughed, to think such mean +dried-up cake was too rich for little girls!" + +Susy felt her temper rising, but her desire to be polite did not desert +her. + +"It _was_ rich, nice cake, Annie; but mother said the slices had been +cut a great while, and it was drying up. Let's not talk any more about +it." + +"O, but I _shall_ talk more about it," cried Annie, still more +irritated; "you keep hinting that I tell wrong stories and steal cake; +yes, you do! and then you ain't willing to let me speak!" + +All this sounded like righteous indignation, but was only anger. Annie +was entirely in the wrong, and knew it; therefore she lost her temper. + +Susy had an unusual amount of self-control at this time, merely because +she had the truth on her side. But her dignified composure only vexed +Annie the more. + +"I won't stay here to be imposed upon, and told that I'm a liar and a +thief; so I won't! I'll go right home this very minute, and tell my +mother just how you treat your company!" + +And, in spite of all Susy could say, Annie threw on her hood and cloak, +and flounced out of the room; forgetting, in her wrath, to take off +Susy's red scarf, which was still festooned about her head. + +"Well, I'm glad she's gone," said Flossy, coolly, as the door closed +with a slam. "She's a bold thing, and my mother wouldn't like me to play +with her, if she knew how she acts! She said 'victuals' for food, and +that isn't _elegant_, mother says. What right had she to set up and say +she'd be Mrs. Piper? So forward!" + +After all, this was the grievous part of the whole to Flossy,--that she +had to take an inferior part in the play. + +"But I'm _sorry_ she's gone," said Susy, uneasily. "I don't like to have +her go and tell that I wasn't polite." + +"You _was_ polite," chimed in little Prudy, from the sofa; "a great deal +politer'n she was! I wouldn't care, if I would be you, Susy. I don't +wish Annie was dead, but I wish she was a duck a-sailin' on the water!" + +The children went back to the game they had been playing before Annie +came; but the interest was quite gone. Their quick-tempered little +guest had been a "_kill-joy_" in spite of her name. + +But the afternoon was not over yet. What happened next, I will tell you +in another chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +MORAL COURAGE. + + +Annie Lovejoy had not been gone fifteen minutes, when there was a sharp +ringing of Mrs. Parlin's doorbell, and a little boy gave Norah the red +scarf of Susy's, and a note for Mrs. Parlin. + +Norah suspected they both came from Mrs. Lovejoy, and she could see that +lady from the opposite window, looking toward the house with a very +defiant expression. + +Mrs. Parlin opened the note with some surprise, for she had been +engaged with visitors in the parlor, and did not know what had been +going on up stairs. + +Whatever Mrs. Lovejoy's other accomplishments might be, she could not +write very elegantly. The ink was hardly dry, and the words were badly +blotted, as well as incorrectly spelled. + + "Mrs. Parlin. + + "Madam: If my own _doughter_ is a _theif_ and a _lier_, I beg to be + informed. She has no _knowlidg_ of the cake, _whitch_ was so + _dryed_ up, a _begar woold_ not touch it. Will Miss Susan Parlin + come over here, and take back her words? + + "SERENA LOVEJOY." + +Mrs. Parlin was at a loss to understand this, for she had quite +forgotten the fact, that the children had any cake to use at their play +of housekeeping. She supposed that Susy must have accused Annie of +prying into the china-closet, where the cakes and jellies were kept. She +sent for Susy at once. + +"My daughter," said she, in her usual quiet tones, "did you ever have +any reason to suppose that Annie Lovejoy went about meddling with our +things, and peeping into the closets?" + +"Why, no, mother," replied Susy, much surprised; "she never saw the +closets, that I know of. Why, mother, what do you mean?" + +"Never ate cake, did she, without leave?" + +"O, now I know what you mean, mother! Yes'm, she ate some of that +fruit-cake you gave us to play with; and when I told her of it, she got +angry, and said she was going right home, and would tell her mother how +I treated my company; but I don't see how you found that out!" + +"Never mind yet how I found it out, my dear. I want to know if you are +sure that Annie ate the cake?" + +"Yes, mother: just as certain sure as I can be! You know Dotty can't +reach that high shelf in the nursery-closet, and I can't, without +getting into a chair; and Prudy can't walk a step; and Flossy despises +cake." + +"But," said Mrs. Parlin, smiling, "I don't see that you have proved +Annie to be the guilty one." + +"Guilty? O, I don't know as she is _guilty_, mamma; but she ate the +cake! She ate it right before my face and eyes; but I told her it was +just as well, she was perfectly welcome, and tried to be as polite as if +she was a grown-up lady, mother. But, O, dear, it didn't make a speck of +difference how much I said; for the more I said, the more angry she +grew, and I couldn't make her believe I didn't think she was a thief and +a liar! Only think, a thief and a liar! But I never said those words at +all, mother!" + +"Very well, my dear; I am sure you did not. It is a great comfort to +me, Susy, that I can always rely on your word. You have done nothing +wrong, and need not be unhappy; but Mrs. Lovejoy sends for you to go +over and tell her just what you mean about the cake; are you willing to +go?" + +Susy was not willing; indeed, she was very much frightened, and begged +her mother to excuse her in some way to Mrs. Lovejoy, or, if that would +not do, to go herself and explain the matter for her. + +But, as it was Susy's own affair, Mrs. Parlin wished to have as little +to do with it as possible. Besides, she considered it a good opportunity +to teach Susy a lesson in moral courage. + +Susy started very reluctantly. + +"I'm afraid Mrs. Lovejoy will scold real sharp," said she. "What shall I +do? O, mother, I didn't see Annie eat _all_ the cake; I didn't watch. +How do I know but she gave some crumbs to the cat? Can't I--can't I say, +I _guess_ the cat ate it?" + +"Susy!" said Mrs. Parlin, sternly, "are you more afraid of displeasing +Mrs. Lovejoy than you are of displeasing God? All that is required of +you is the simple truth. Merely say to Annie's mother just what you have +said to me; that you saw Annie eating cake several times, though there +was no harm in it, and you did _not_ call her either a thief or a liar. +Speak respectfully, but decidedly; and when you have said all that is +necessary, leave her politely, and come home." + +Susy called up all her courage when she entered Mrs. Lovejoy's house, +and saw that lady sitting very erect on a sofa, with a bleak face, which +looked somehow as if a north-east wind had blown over it, and frozen it. + +"Well, little girl," said she, without waiting for ceremony, "so you +call my Annie all the bad names you can think of, it seems. Is that the +way you are brought up?" + +"I didn't call her names, ma'am; she ate the cake, but I was willing," +replied Susy, calmly and respectfully, though she trembled from head to +foot. There was one thought which sustained Susy; she was telling the +truth, and that was just what God wanted her to do. + +"Well," said Mrs. Lovejoy, "I must say you're a dignified little piece! +Do you know you've done the same thing as to tell me I lie?" + +This was just the way _Annie_ had spoken; warping innocent words, and +making them the occasion of a quarrel. + +Susy could think of nothing which seemed exactly right to say to Mrs. +Lovejoy in reply; so she wisely held her peace. + +"Yes, miss, you've insulted my child, and, as if that were not enough, +you come over here, deliberately, and insult _me_, in my own house!" + +Tears sprang to Susy's eyes, but she resolutely crushed them back. +There was, in her childish mind, a certain sense of self-respect, which +made her unwilling to cry in the presence of such a person as Mrs. +Lovejoy. She felt instinctively that the woman was not a lady. Susy was +too young to reason about the matter; but she was quite sure her own +mother was a model of good manners; and never, never had she known her +mother to raise her voice to such a high key, or speak such angry words! + +Mrs. Lovejoy said a great many things which were both severe and unjust; +but Susy managed to keep up a respectful manner, as her mother had +directed. Mrs. Lovejoy was disappointed. She had expected Susy would +quail before her presence and make the most humble confessions. + +"I always knew," cried Mrs. Lovejoy, becoming more and more +exasperated,--"I always knew Mrs. Parlin held her head pretty high! She +is a proud, stuck-up woman, your mother is; she has taught you to look +down on my little girl! O, yes, I understand the whole story! You're a +beautiful family for neighbors!" + +Poor Susy was fairly bewildered. + +"Now you may go home as straight as you can go! But remember one thing: +never, while we live in this city, shall my daughter Annie darken your +doors again!" + +Susy walked home with downcast head and overflowing eyes. Her heart was +very heavy, for she felt she had been disgraced for life, and could +never be respected any more. Here was a trial so terrible that it caused +the death of little Dandy to seem almost a trifle by comparison. + +It was strange, Susy thought, how people could live through such severe +troubles as had fallen to her lot to-day. She was a little girl of quick +and sensitive feelings, and a sharp word always wounded her more than a +blow. How that angry woman had talked about her mother! + +Susy decided, upon the whole, that this was the sting--this was the "pin +in the lash," which had hurt her more than the lash. How _dared_ Mrs. +Lovejoy say a word about her own mother, who was certainly the best +woman that ever lived, always excepting the good people in the Bible! + +By the time she entered the house, her indignation had risen like a +blaze, and burned away all her tears. But should she tell her mother +what Mrs. Lovejoy had said about her ownself, about her being "stuck +up," and holding her head pretty high? Susy could not decide whether she +ought to tell her, and risk the danger of almost breaking her heart! But +before she had time to decide, she had poured out the whole story in a +torrent. + +Strange to say, Mrs. Parlin listened with perfect calmness, and even +said, when Susy had finished,-- + +"Very well, my dear; now you may go and hang up your hood and cloak." + +"But, mother," said Susy, rushing up stairs again, quite out of breath, +"now I've taken care of my things; but did you understand what I said, +mother? Annie will never come into this house, never again! Her mother +forbids it!" + +"That is quite fortunate for me, Susy, as it saves me the trouble of +forbidding it myself!" + +"Why, mother, you wouldn't do such a thing as that! Why, mother, I never +heard of your doing such a thing in my life!" + +"I should regret the necessity very much, my child; but wouldn't it be +better, on the whole, to have a little moral courage, and put an end to +all intercourse between the two families, than to live in a constant +broil?" + +"Why, yes, mother, I suppose so." + +Susy was beginning to feel more composed. She saw that her mother +understood the whole story, yet her heart was far from being broken! + +"What is moral courage, mother?" + +"The courage to do right." + +"Did I have moral courage when I told Mrs. Lovejoy the truth?" + +"Yes, dear. It was hard for you, wasn't it? If it had been easy, there +would have been no moral courage about it." + +"I am glad I had moral courage!" said Susy with animation. "I knew I did +something _right_, but I didn't know what you called it." + +"Now," continued Mrs. Parlin, "I have this very day been talking with a +lady, who once lived next door to Mrs. Lovejoy; and she tells me enough +about her to convince me that she is not a person I wish for a neighbor. +And I have heard enough about Annie, too, to feel very sure she is not a +safe companion for my little daughter." + +"But, mother," said Susy, "you are not--you don't feel 'stuck up' above +Mrs. Lovejoy?" + +Mrs. Parlin smiled. + +"That is not a very proper expression, Susy; but I think I do not feel +_stuck-up_ above her in the least. I am only anxious that my little +daughter may not be injured by bad examples. I don't know what sort of a +little girl Annie might be with proper influences, but--" + +"Now, mamma, I don't want to say anything improper," said Susy, +earnestly; "but wouldn't it be the _piousest_ for me to play with Annie, +and try to make her go to Sabbath school, and be better?" + +Mrs. Parlin did not answer at once. She was thinking of what she had +said to Susy about people who are "home missionaries," and do a great +deal of good by a beautiful example. + +"If you were older, dear, it would be quite different. But, instead of +improving Annie, who is a self-willed child, I fear you would only grow +worse yourself. She is bold, and you are rather timid. She wants to +lead, and not to follow. I fear she will set you bad examples." + +"I didn't know, mamma; but I thought I was almost old enough to set my +_own_ examples! I'm the oldest of the family." + +Susy said no more about becoming a home-missionary to Annie; for, +although she could not quite see the force of her mother's reasoning, +she believed her mother was always right. + +"But what does she mean by calling me _timid_? She has blamed me a great +deal for being _bold_." + +Yes, bold Susy certainly was, when there was a fence to climb, a pony to +ride, or a storm to be faced; but she was, nevertheless, a little +faint-hearted when people laughed at her. But Susy was learning every +day, and this time it had been a lesson in moral courage. She did not +fully understand her mother, however, as you will see by and by. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +RUTHIE TURNER. + + "The darkest day, + Wait till to-morrow, will have passed away." + + +The next morning, Susy woke with a faint recollection that something +unpleasant had occurred, though she could not at first remember what it +was. + +"But I didn't do anything wrong," was her second thought. "Now, after I +say my prayers, the next thing I'll feed--O, Dandy is dead!" + +"See here, Susy," said Percy, coming into the dining-room, just after +breakfast; "did you ever see this cage before?" + +"Now, Percy! When you know I want it out of my sight!" + +Then, in the next breath, "Why, Percy Eastman, if here isn't your +beautiful mocking-bird in the cage!" + +"Yes, Susy; and if you'll keep him, and be good to him, you'll do me a +great favor." + +It was a long while before Susy could be persuaded that this rare bird +was to be her "ownest own." It was a wonderfully gifted little creature. +Susy could but own that he was just as good as a canary, only a great +deal better. "The greater included the less." He had as sweet a voice, +and a vast deal more compass. His powers of mimicry were very amusing to +poor little Prudy, who was never tired of hearing him mew like a kitten, +quack like a duck, or whistle like a schoolboy. + +Susy was still more delighted than Prudy. It was so comforting, too, to +know that she was doing Percy "a great favor," by accepting his +beautiful present. She wondered in her own mind how he _could_ be tired +of such an interesting pet, and asked her to take it, just to get rid of +it! + +About this time, Mr. Parlin bought for Prudy a little armed-chair, which +rolled about the floor on wheels. This Prudy herself could propel with +only the outlay of a very little strength; but there were days when she +did not care to sit in it at all. Prudy seemed to grow worse. The doctor +was hopeful, very hopeful; but Mrs. Parlin was not. + +Prudy's dimpled hands had grown so thin, that you could trace the +winding path of every blue vein quite distinctly. Her eyes were large +and mournful, and seemed to be always asking for pity. She grew quiet +and patient--"painfully patient," her father said. Indeed, Mr. Parlin, +as well as his wife, feared the little sufferer was ripening for heaven. + +"Mamma," said she, one day, "mamma, you never snip my fingers any +nowadays do you? When I'm just as naughty, you never snip my fingers!" + +Mrs. Parlin turned her face away. There were tears in her eyes, and she +did not like to look at those little white fingers, which she was almost +afraid would never have the natural, childish naughtiness in them any +more. + +"I think sick and patient little girls don't need punishing," said she, +after a while. "Do you remember how you used to think I snipped your +hands to 'get the naughty out?' You thought the naughty was all in your +little hands!" + +"But it wasn't, mamma," said Prudy, slowly and solemnly. "I know where +it was: it was in my _heart_." + +"Who can take the naughty out of our hearts, dear? Do you ever think?" + +"Our Father in heaven. No one else can. _He_ knows how to snip our +hearts, and get the naughty out. Sometimes he sends the earache and the +toothache to Susy, and the--the--lameness to me. O, he has a great many +ways of snipping!" + +Prudy was showing the angel-side of her nature now. Suffering was +"making her perfect." She had a firm belief that God knew all about it, +and that somehow or other it was "all right." Her mother took a great +deal of pains to teach her this. She knew that no one can bear +affliction with real cheerfulness who does not trust in God. + +But there was now and then a bright day when Prudy felt quite buoyant, +and wanted to play. Susy left everything then, and tried to amuse her. +If this lameness was refining little Prudy, it was also making Susy more +patient. She could not look at her little sister's pale face, and not be +touched with pity. + +One afternoon, Flossy Eastman and Ruthie Turner came to see Susy; and, +as it was one of Prudy's best days, Mrs. Parlin said they might play in +Prudy's sitting-room. Ruthie was what Susy called an "old-fashioned +little girl." She lived with a widowed mother, and had no brothers and +sisters, so that she appeared much older than she really was. She liked +to talk with grown people upon wise subjects, as if she were at least +twenty-five years old. Susy knew that this was not good manners, and she +longed to say so to Ruthie. + +Aunt Madge was in Prudy's sitting-room when Ruthie entered. Ruthie went +up to her and shook hands at once. + +"I suppose it is Susy's aunt Madge," said she. "I am delighted to see +you, for Susy says you love little girls, and know lots of games." + +There was such a quiet composure in Ruth's manner, and she seemed to +feel so perfectly at home in addressing a young lady she had never seen +before, that Miss Parlin was quite astonished, as well as a little +inclined to smile. + +Then Ruthie went on to talk about the war. Susy listened in mute +despair, for she did not know anything about politics. Aunt Madge looked +at Susy's face, and felt amused, for _Ruthie_ knew nothing about +politics either: she was as ignorant as Susy. She had only heard her +mother and other ladies talking together. Ruthie answered all the +purpose of a parrot hung up in a cage, for she caught and echoed +everything that was said, not having much idea what it meant. + +When aunt Madge heard Ruth laboring away at long sentences, with hard +words in them, she thought of little Dotty, as she had seen her, that +morning, trying to tug Percy's huge dog up stairs in her arms. + +"It is too much for her," thought aunt Madge: "the dog got the +upper-hand of Dotty, and I think the big words are more than a match for +Ruth." + +But Ruth did not seem to know it, for she persevered. She gravely asked +aunt Madge if she approved of the "_Mancimation_ of _Proclapation_." +Then she said she and her mamma were very much "_perplexed"_ when news +came of the last defeat. She would have said "_surprised_" only +_surprised_ was an every-day word, and not up to standard of elegant +English. + +Ruth was not so very silly, after all. It was only when she tried to +talk of matters too old for her that she made herself ridiculous. She +was very quiet and industrious, and had knit several pairs of socks for +the soldiers. + +As soon as Miss Parlin could disentangle herself from her conversation +with Ruthie, she left the children to themselves. + +"Let's keep school," said Prudy. "I'll be teacher, if you want me to." + +"Very well," replied Susy, "we'll let her; won't we, girls? she is such +a darling." + +"Well," said Prudy, with a look of immense satisfaction, "please go, +Susy, and ask grandma if I may have one of those shiny, white +handkerchiefs she wears on her neck, and a cap, and play Quaker." + +Grandma was very glad that Prudy felt well enough to play Quaker, and +lent her as much "costume" as she needed, as well as a pair of +spectacles without eyes, which the children often borrowed for their +plays, fancying that they added to the dignity of the wearer. + +When Prudy was fairly equipped, she was a droll little Quakeress, +surely, and grandma had to be called up from the kitchen to behold her +with her own eyes. The little soft face, almost lost in the folds of the +expansive cap, was every bit as solemn as if she had been, as aunt Madge +said, "a hundred years old, and very old for her age." + +She was really a sweet little likeness of grandma Read in miniature. + +"And their names are alike, too," said Susy: "grandma's name is +Prudence, and so is Prudy's." + +"Used to be," said Prudy, gravely. + +"Rosy Frances" was now lifted most carefully into her little wheeled +chair and no queen ever held a court with more dignity than she assumed +as she smoothed into place the folds of her grandma's snowy kerchief, +which she wore about her neck. + +"What shall we do first?" said Flossy and Susy. + +"Thee? thee?" Prudy considered "thee" the most important word of all. +"Why, _thee_ may behave; I mean, behave _thyselves_." + +The new teacher had not collected her ideas yet. + +"Let's get our books together," said Susy, "and then we'll all sit on +the sofa and study." + +"Me, me," chimed in Dotty Dimple, dropping the little carriage in which +she was wheeling her kitty; "me, too!" + +"Well, if you must, you must; snuggle in here between Flossy and me," +said Susy, who was determined that to-day everything should go on +pleasantly. + +"Sixteenth class in joggerphy," said Miss Rosy Frances, peeping severely +over her spectacles. "Be spry quick!" + +The three pupils stood up in a row, holding their books close to their +faces. + +"Thee may hold out your hands now, and I shall ferule thee--the whole +school," was the stern remark of the young teacher, as she took off her +spectacles to wipe the holes. + +"Why, we haven't been doing anything," said Ruthie, affecting to cry. + +"No, I know it; but thee'd _ought_ to have been doing something; thee'd +ought to have studied thy lessons." + +"But, teacher, we didn't have time," pleaded Flossy; "you called us out +so quick! Won't you forgive us!" + +"Yes, I will," said Rosy Frances, gently; "I will, if thee'll speak up +_'xtremely_ loud, and fix _thine_ eyes on thy teacher." + +The pupils replied, "Yes, ma'am," at the top of their voices. + +"Now," said Rosy Frances, appearing to read from the book, "where is the +Isthmus of _Susy?_" + +The scholars all laughed, and answered at random. They did not know that +their teacher was trying to say the "Isthmus of Suez." + +The next question took them by surprise:-- + +"Is there any man in the moon?" + +"What a queer idea, Rosy," said Susy; "what made you ask that?" + +"'Cause I wanted to know," replied the Quaker damsel. "They said he +came down when the other man was eatin' porridge. I should think, if he +went back up there, and didn't have any wife and children, he'd be real +lonesome!" + +This idea of Prudy's set the whole school to romancing, although it was +in the midst of a recitation. Flossy said if there was a man in the +moon, he must be a giant, or he never could get round over the +mountains, which she had heard were very steep. + +Ruthie asked if there was anything said about his wife! Susy, who had +read considerable poetry was sure she had heard something of a woman up +there, named "Cynthia;" but she supposed it was all "moonshine," or +"made up," as she expressed it. She said she meant to ask her aunt +Madge to write a fairy story about it. + +Here their progress in useful knowledge was cut short by the +disappearance of Dotty. Looking out of the window, they saw the little +rogue driving ducks with a broomstick. These ducks had a home not far +from Mrs. Parlin's, and if Dotty Dimple had one temptation stronger than +all others, it was the sight of those waddling fowls, with their velvet +heads, beads of eyes, and spotted feathers. When she saw them "marshin' +along," she was instantly seized with a desire either to head the +company or to march in the rear, and set them to quacking. She was +bareheaded, and Susy ran down stairs to bring her into the house; and +that was an end of the school for that day. Dotty Dimple was something +like the kettle of molasses which Norah was boiling, very sweet, but +very apt to _boil over_: she needed watching. + +When Norah's candy was brought up stairs, the little girls pronounced it +excellent. + +"O, dear," said Flossy, "I wish our girl was half as good as Norah! I +don't see why Electa and Norah ain't more alike when they are own +sisters!" + +"What dreadful girls your mother always has!" said Susy; "it's too bad?" + +"I know of a girl," said Prudy, "one you'd like ever'n, ever so much, +Flossy; only you can't have her." + +"Why not?" said Flossy; "my mother would go hundreds of leagues to get a +good girl. Why can't she have her?" + +"O, 'cause, she's _dead!_ It's Norah's cousin over to Ireland." + +They next played the little game of guessing "something in this room," +that begins with a certain letter. Ruthie puzzled them a long while on +the initial S. At last she said she meant "scrutau" (escritoire or +scrutoire), pointing towards the article with her finger. + +"Why, that's a _writing-desk_," said Susy. "I don't see where you learn +so many big worns, Ruthie." + +"O, I take notice, and remember them," replied Ruthie, looking quite +pleased. She thought Susy was praising her. + +"Now let _me_ tell some letters," said Prudy. + +"L.R. She lives at your house, Flossy." + +Nobody could guess. + +"Why, I should think _that_ was easy enough," said Prudy: "it's that +girl that lives there; she takes off the covers of your stove with a +clothes-pin: it's 'Lecta Rosbornd.'" + +The little girls explained to Prudy that the true initials of Electa +Osborne would be E.O., instead of L.R. But Prudy did not know much about +spelling. She _had_ known most of her letters; but it was some time ago, +and they had nearly all slipped out of her head. + +She said, often, she wished she could "only, only read;" and Susy +offered to teach her, but Mrs. Parlin said it would never do till Prudy +felt stronger. + +I will tell you now why I think Susy did not understand her mother when +she said Annie was not a suitable playmate. In the evening, after Ruthie +and Flossy were gone, Susy said to her mother,-- + +"I feel real cross with Ruthie, mamma: I think she puts herself forward. +She goes into a room, and no matter how old the people are that are +talking, she speaks up, and says, 'O, yes, I know all about it.' I never +saw such an old-fashioned little girl." + +"Very well," said Mrs. Parlin; "if _she_ is rude, take care that the +same fault does not appear in yourself, Susy." + +"But, mother," said Susy, suddenly veering about and speaking in Ruth's +favor, "I don't know but it's proper to do as Ruthy does. If you know +something, and other people don't, ain't it right to speak up and say +it?" + +"It is never right for little girls to _monopolize_ conversation, Susy; +that is, to take the lead in it, and so prevent older people from +talking. Neither is it proper to pretend to know more than we do, and +talk of things beyond our knowledge." + +"I knew you would say so, mother. I just asked to hear what you would +say. I know Ruthie is ill-mannered: do you think I ought to play with +her any more?" + +Mrs. Parlin looked at Susy in surprise. + +"Why, you know, mother, you wouldn't let me play with Annie Lovejoy. You +said, 'evil communications corrupted good manners.'" + +"But can't you see any difference in the cases, Susy? What a muddy +little head you must wear on your shoulders!" + +"Not much of any," said Susy, trying to think; "they're both _bold_; +that's what you don't like." + +"Anything else, Susy?" + +"O, yes, mother; Ruthie's good, and Annie isn't. It was queer for me to +forget that!" + +"I should think it was, Susy, since it is the only thing of much +importance, after all. Now, it seems to me you are very ready to cast +off your friends when their manners offend you. How would you like it to +be treated in the same way? Suppose Mrs. Turner and Ruthie should be +talking together this very minute. Ruthie says, 'That Susy Parlin keeps +her drawers in a perfect tumble; she isn't orderly a bit. Susy Parlin +never knit a stitch for the soldiers in her life. Mother, mayn't I stop +playing with Susy Parlin?'" + +Susy laughed, and looked a little ashamed. + +"Well, mother," said she, twisting the corner of her handkerchief, "I +guess I can't say anything about Ruthie Turner; she's a great deal +better girl than I am, any way." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SUSY'S BIRTHDAY. + + +Days and weeks passed. The snowflakes, which had fallen from time to +time, and kept themselves busy making a patchwork quilt for mother +Earth, now melted away, and the white quilt was torn into shreds. The +bare ground was all there was to be seen, except now and then a dot of +the white coverlet. It was Spring, and everything began to wake up. The +sun wasn't half so sleepy, and didn't walk off over the western hills in +the middle of the afternoon to take a nap. + +The sleighing was gone long ago. The roads were dismal swamps. "Wings" +would have a rest till "settled going." Susy's skates were hung up in a +green baize bag, to dream away the summer. + +The mocking-bird performed his daily duties of entertaining the family, +besides learning a great many new songs. Susy said she tried not to set +her heart on that bird. + +"I'll not give him a name," she added, "for then he'll be sure to die! +My first canary was Bertie, and I named the others Berties, as fast as +they died off. The last one was so yellow that I couldn't help calling +him Dandelion; but I wish I hadn't, for then, perhaps, he'd have lived." + +Susy had caught some whimsical notions about "signs and wonders." It is +strange how some intelligent children will believe in superstitious +stories! But as soon as Susy's parents discovered that her young head +had been stored with such worse than foolish ideas, they were not slow +to teach her better. + +She had a great fright, about this time, concerning Freddy Jackson. He +was one of the few children who were allowed to play in "Prudy's +sitting-room." He did not distract the tired nerves of "Rosy Frances," +as her cousin Percy and other boys did, by sudden shouts and loud +laughing. Prudy had a vague feeling that he was one of the little ones +that God thought best to punish by "snipping his heart." She knew what +it was to have _her_ heart snipped, and had a sympathy with little +Freddy. + +Susy loved Freddy, too. Perhaps Percy was right, when he said that Susy +loved everything that was dumb; and I am not sure but her tender heart +would have warmed to him all the more if he had been stone-blind, as +well as deaf. + +Freddy had a drunken father, and a sad home; but, for all that, he was +not entirely miserable. It is only the wicked who are miserable. The +kind Father in heaven has so planned it that there is something pleasant +in everybody's life. + +Freddy had no more idea what _sound_ is than we have of the angels in +heaven; but he could see, and there is so much to be seen! Here is a +great, round world, full of beauty and wonder. It stands ready to be +looked at. Freddy's ears must be forever shut out from pleasant sound; +but his bright eyes were wide open, seeing all that was made to be +seen. + +He loved to go to Mrs. Parlin's, for there he was sure to be greeted +pleasantly; and he understood the language of smiles as well as anybody. + +When grandma Read saw him coming she would say,-- + +"Now, Susan, thee'd better lay aside thy book, for most likely the poor +little fellow will want to _talk_." + +And Susy did lay aside her book. She had learned so many lessons this +winter in self-denial! + +These "silent talks" were quite droll. Little Dotty almost understood +something about them; that is, when they used the signs: the alphabet +was more than she could manage. When Freddy wanted to talk about Dotty, +he made a sign for a dimple in each cheek. He smoothed his hair when he +meant Susy, and made a waving motion over his head for Prudy, whose hair +was full of ripples. + +Prudy said she had wrinkled hair, and she knew it; but the wrinkles +"wouldn't come out." + +Grandma Read sat one evening by the coal-grate, holding a letter in her +hand, and looking into the glowing fire with a thoughtful expression. +Susy came and sat near her, resting one arm on her grandma's lap, and +trying in various ways to attract her attention. + +"Why, grandma," said she, "I've spoken to you three times; but I can't +get you to answer or look at me." + +"What does thee want, my dear? I will try to attend to thee." + +"O, grandma, there are ever so many things I want to say, now mother is +out of the room, and father hasn't got home. I must tell somebody, or my +heart will break; and you know, grandma dear, I can talk to you so +easy." + +"Can thee? Then go on, Susy; what would thee like to say?" + +"O, two or three things. Have you noticed, grandma, that I've been just +as sober as can be?" + +"For how long, Susan?" + +"O, all day; I've felt as if I couldn't but just live!" + +Grandma Read did not smile at this. She knew very well that such a child +as Susy is capable of intense suffering. + +"Well, Susan, is it about thy sister Prudence?" + +"O, no, grandma! she's getting; better; isn't she?" + +"Are thy lessons at school too hard for thee, Susan?" + +Mrs. Read saw that Susy was very reluctant about opening her heart, +although she had said she could talk to her grandmother "so easy." + +"No, indeed, grandma; my lessons are not too hard. I'm a real good +scholar--one of the best in school for my age." + +This was a fact. Some people would have chidden Susy for it; but Mrs. +Read reflected that the child was only telling the simple truth, and had +no idea of boasting. She was not a little girl who would intrude such +remarks about herself upon strangers. But when she and her grandma were +talking together confidentially, she thought it made all the difference +in the world; as indeed it did. + +"I have a great deal to trouble me," said Susy, and the "evening-blue" +of her eyes clouded over, till there were signs of a shower. "I thought +my pony would make me happy as long as I lived; but it hasn't. One thing +that I feel bad about is--well, it's turning over a new leaf. When New +Year's comes, I'm going to do it, and don't; so I wait till my birthday, +and then I don't. It seems as if I'd tried about a thousand New Years +and birthdays to turn over that leaf." + +Grandma smiled, but did not interrupt Susy. + +"I think I should be real good," continued the child, "if it wasn't such +hard work. I can't be orderly, grandma--not much; and then Dotty upsets +everything. Sometimes I have to hold my breath to keep patient. + +"Well, grandma, my birthday comes to-morrow, the 8th of April. I like +it well enough; only there's one reason why I don't like it at all, and +that is a Bible reason. It's so dreadful that I can't bear to say it to +you," said Susy, shuddering, and lowering her voice to a whisper; "I +don't want to grow up, for I shall have to marry Freddy Jackson." + +Grandma tried to look serious. + +"Who put such a foolish idea into thy head, child?" + +"Cousin Percy told me last night," answered Susy, solemnly. "How can you +laugh when it's all in the Bible, grandma? I never told anybody before. +Wait; I'll show you the verse. I've put a mark at the place." + +Susy brought her Bible to her grandmother, and, opening it at the +thirty-first chapter of Proverbs, pointed, with a trembling finger, to +the eighth verse, which Mrs. Read read aloud,-- + +"Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed +to destruction." + +"Now Percy says that's a sure sign! I told him, O, dear! Freddy ought to +marry a dumb woman; that would be _properest_; but Percy says +no--anything has got to 'come to pass' when it's _foreordinationed_!" + +"And could thee really believe such foolishness, my sensible little +Susan? Does thee suppose the good Lord ever meant that we should read +his Bible as if it were a wicked dream-book?" + +"Then you don't think I shall have to marry Freddy Jackson," cried Susy, +immensely relieved. "I'm so glad I told you! I felt so sober all day, +only nobody noticed it, and I was ashamed to tell!" + +"It is a good thing for thee to tell thy little troubles to thy older +friends, Susan: thee'll almost always find it so," said grandma Read, +stroking Susy's hair. + +"Now, my child, I have a piece of news for thee, if thee is ready to +hear it: thy cousin, Grace Clifford, has a little sister." + +"A baby sister? A real sister? Does mother know it?" + +"Yes, thy mother knows it." + +"But how _could_ you keep it to yourself so long?" + +"Thee thinks good news is hard to keep, does thee? Well, thee shall be +the first to tell thy father when he comes home." + +Susy heard steps on the door-stone, and rushed out, with the joyful +story on her lips. It proved to be not her father, but callers, who were +just ringing the bell; and they heard Susy's exclamation,-- + +"O, have you heard? Grace has a new sister, a baby sister, as true as +you live!" with the most provoking coolness. + +But when Mr. Parlin came, he was sufficiently interested in the news to +satisfy even Susy. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +FAREWELL. + + +Prudy was really getting better. Mrs. Parlin said she should trust a +physician more next time. The doctor declared that all the severe pain +Prudy had suffered was really necessary. + +"Believe me, my dear madam," said he, "when the poor child has +complained most, she has in fact been making most progress towards +health. When the sinews are 'knitting together,' as we call it, then the +agony is greatest." + +This was very comforting to Mrs. Parlin, who thought she would not be +discouraged so easily again; she would always believe that it is +"darkest just before day." + +There was really everything to hope for Prudy. The doctor thought that +by the end of three months she would walk as well as ever. He said she +might make the effort now, every day, to bear her weight on her feet. +She tried this experiment first with her father and mother on each side +to support her; but it was not many days before she could stand firmly +on her right foot, and bear a little weight on her left one, which did +not now, as formerly, drag, or, as she had said, "_more_ than touch the +floor." By and by she began to scramble about on the carpet on all +fours, partly creeping, partly pushing herself along. + +It was surprising how much pleasure Prudy took in going back to these +ways of babyhood. + +Faint blush roses began to bloom in her cheeks as soon as she could take +a little exercise and go out of doors. Her father bought a little +carriage just suitable for the pony, and in this she rode every morning, +her mother or Percy driving; for Mrs. Parlin thought it hardly safe to +trust Susy with such a precious encumbrance as this dear little sister. + +She had been willing that Susy should manage Wings in a sleigh, but in a +carriage the case was quite different; for, though in a sleigh there +might be even more danger of overturning, there was not as much danger +of getting hurt. Indeed, Susy's sleigh had tipped over once or twice in +turning too sharp a corner, and Susy had fallen out, but had instantly +jumped up again, laughing. + +She would have driven in her new carriage to Yarmouth and back again, or +perhaps to Bath, if she had been permitted. She was a reckless little +horsewoman, afraid of nothing, and for that very reason could not be +trusted alone. + +But there was no difficulty in finding companions. Percy pretended to +study book-keeping, but was always ready for a ride. Flossy was not +steady enough to be trusted with the reins, but Ruth Turner was as +careful a driver as need be; though Susy laughed because she held the +reins in both hands, and looked so terrified. + +She said it did no good to talk with Ruth when she was driving; she +never heard a word, for she was always watching to see if a carriage +was coming, and talking to herself, to make sure she remembered which +was her right hand, so she could "turn to the right, as the law +directs." + +Prudy enjoyed the out-of-doors world once more, and felt like a bird let +out of a cage. And so did Susy, for she thought she had had a dull +season of it, and fully agreed with Prudy, who spoke of it as the "slow +winter." + +But now it was the quick spring, the live spring. The brooks began to +gossip; the birds poured out their hearts in song, and the dumb trees +expressed their joy in leaves. + + "The bobolink, on the mullein-stalk, + Would rattle away like a sweet girl's talk." + +The frogs took severe colds, but gave concerts a little way out of the +city every evening. The little flowers peeped up from their beds, as +Norah said, "like babies asking to be took;" and Susy took them; +whenever she could find them, you may be sure, and looked joyfully into +their faces. She could almost say,-- + + "And 'tis my faith that every flower + Enjoys the air it breathes." + +She said, "I don't suppose they know much, but _perhaps_ they know +enough to have a good time: who knows?" + +Susy took long walks to Westbrook, and farther, coming home tired out, +but loaded with precious flowers. There were plenty of friends to give +them to her from their early gardens: broad-faced crocuses, jonquils, +and lilies of the valley, and by and by lilacs, with "purple spikes." + +She gathered snowdrops, "the first pale blossoms of the unripened +year," and May-flowers, pink and white, like sea-shells, or like +"cream-candy," as Prudy said. These soft little blossoms blushed so +sweetly on the same leaf with such old experienced leaves! Susy said, +"it made her think of little bits of children who hadn't any mother, and +lived with their grandparents." + +Dotty was almost crazy with delight when she had a "new pair o' boots, +and a pair o' shaker," and was allowed to toddle about on the pavement +in the sunshine. She had a green twig or a switch to flourish, and could +now cry, "Hullelo!" to those waddling ducks, and hear them reply, +"Quack! quack!" without having such a trembling fear that some stern +Norah, or firm mamma, would rush out bareheaded, and drag her into the +house, like a little culprit. + +It was good times for Dotty Dimple, and good times for the whole family. +Spring had come, and Prudy was getting well. There was a great deal to +thank God for! + +It is an evening in the last of May. A bit of a moon, called "the new +moon," is peeping in at the window. It shines over Susy's right +shoulder, she says. Susy is reading, Prudy is walking slowly across the +floor, and Dotty Dimple is whispering to her kitty, telling her to go +down cellar, and catch the naughty rats while they are asleep. When +kitty winks, Dotty thinks it the same as if she said,-- + +"I hear you, little Miss Dotty: I'm going." + +I think perhaps this is a good time to bid the three little girls +good-by, or, as dear grandma Read would say, "Farewell!" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE PRUDY'S SISTER SUSY*** + + +******* This file should be named 14202.txt or 14202.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/2/0/14202 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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