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diff --git a/old/514.txt b/old/514.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f43f75d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/514.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21023 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott + +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 Women + +Author: Louisa May Alcott + +Posting Date: September 13, 2008 [EBook #514] +Release Date: May, 1996 +[This file last updated on August 19, 2010] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE WOMEN *** + + + + +LITTLE WOMEN + + +by + +Louisa May Alcott + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PART 1 + + ONE PLAYING PILGRIMS + TWO A MERRY CHRISTMAS + THREE THE LAURENCE BOY + FOUR BURDENS + FIVE BEING NEIGHBORLY + SIX BETH FINDS THE PALACE BEAUTIFUL + SEVEN AMY'S VALLEY OF HUMILIATION + EIGHT JO MEETS APOLLYON + NINE MEG GOES TO VANITY FAIR + TEN THE P.C. AND P.O. + ELEVEN EXPERIMENTS + TWELVE CAMP LAURENCE + THIRTEEN CASTLES IN THE AIR + FOURTEEN SECRETS + FIFTEEN A TELEGRAM + SIXTEEN LETTERS + SEVENTEEN LITTLE FAITHFUL + EIGHTEEN DARK DAYS + NINETEEN AMY'S WILL + TWENTY CONFIDENTIAL + TWENTY-ONE LAURIE MAKES MISCHIEF, AND JO MAKES PEACE + TWENTY-TWO PLEASANT MEADOWS + TWENTY-THREE AUNT MARCH SETTLES THE QUESTION + + +PART 2 + + TWENTY-FOUR GOSSIP + TWENTY-FIVE THE FIRST WEDDING + TWENTY-SIX ARTISTIC ATTEMPTS + TWENTY-SEVEN LITERARY LESSONS + TWENTY-EIGHT DOMESTIC EXPERIENCES + TWENTY-NINE CALLS + THIRTY CONSEQUENCES + THIRTY-ONE OUR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT + THIRTY-TWO TENDER TROUBLES + THIRTY-THREE JO'S JOURNAL + THIRTY-FOUR FRIEND + THIRTY-FIVE HEARTACHE + THIRTY-SIX BETH'S SECRET + THIRTY-SEVEN NEW IMPRESSIONS + THIRTY-EIGHT ON THE SHELF + THIRTY-NINE LAZY LAURENCE + FORTY THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW + FORTY-ONE LEARNING TO FORGET + FORTY-TWO ALL ALONE + FORTY-THREE SURPRISES + FORTY-FOUR MY LORD AND LADY + FORTY-FIVE DAISY AND DEMI + FORTY-SIX UNDER THE UMBRELLA + FORTY-SEVEN HARVEST TIME + + + +CHAPTER ONE + +PLAYING PILGRIMS + +"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying +on the rug. + +"It's so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down at her old +dress. + +"I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty +things, and other girls nothing at all," added little Amy, with an +injured sniff. + +"We've got Father and Mother, and each other," said Beth contentedly +from her corner. + +The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the +cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly, "We haven't got +Father, and shall not have him for a long time." She didn't say +"perhaps never," but each silently added it, thinking of Father far +away, where the fighting was. + +Nobody spoke for a minute; then Meg said in an altered tone, "You know +the reason Mother proposed not having any presents this Christmas was +because it is going to be a hard winter for everyone; and she thinks we +ought not to spend money for pleasure, when our men are suffering so in +the army. We can't do much, but we can make our little sacrifices, and +ought to do it gladly. But I am afraid I don't," and Meg shook her +head, as she thought regretfully of all the pretty things she wanted. + +"But I don't think the little we should spend would do any good. We've +each got a dollar, and the army wouldn't be much helped by our giving +that. I agree not to expect anything from Mother or you, but I do want +to buy _Undine and Sintran_ for myself. I've wanted it so long," said +Jo, who was a bookworm. + +"I planned to spend mine in new music," said Beth, with a little sigh, +which no one heard but the hearth brush and kettle-holder. + +"I shall get a nice box of Faber's drawing pencils; I really need +them," said Amy decidedly. + +"Mother didn't say anything about our money, and she won't wish us to +give up everything. Let's each buy what we want, and have a little +fun; I'm sure we work hard enough to earn it," cried Jo, examining the +heels of her shoes in a gentlemanly manner. + +"I know I do--teaching those tiresome children nearly all day, when I'm +longing to enjoy myself at home," began Meg, in the complaining tone +again. + +"You don't have half such a hard time as I do," said Jo. "How would you +like to be shut up for hours with a nervous, fussy old lady, who keeps +you trotting, is never satisfied, and worries you till you're ready to +fly out the window or cry?" + +"It's naughty to fret, but I do think washing dishes and keeping things +tidy is the worst work in the world. It makes me cross, and my hands +get so stiff, I can't practice well at all." And Beth looked at her +rough hands with a sigh that any one could hear that time. + +"I don't believe any of you suffer as I do," cried Amy, "for you don't +have to go to school with impertinent girls, who plague you if you +don't know your lessons, and laugh at your dresses, and label your +father if he isn't rich, and insult you when your nose isn't nice." + +"If you mean libel, I'd say so, and not talk about labels, as if Papa +was a pickle bottle," advised Jo, laughing. + +"I know what I mean, and you needn't be statirical about it. It's +proper to use good words, and improve your vocabilary," returned Amy, +with dignity. + +"Don't peck at one another, children. Don't you wish we had the money +Papa lost when we were little, Jo? Dear me! How happy and good we'd +be, if we had no worries!" said Meg, who could remember better times. + +"You said the other day you thought we were a deal happier than the +King children, for they were fighting and fretting all the time, in +spite of their money." + +"So I did, Beth. Well, I think we are. For though we do have to work, +we make fun of ourselves, and are a pretty jolly set, as Jo would say." + +"Jo does use such slang words!" observed Amy, with a reproving look at +the long figure stretched on the rug. + +Jo immediately sat up, put her hands in her pockets, and began to +whistle. + +"Don't, Jo. It's so boyish!" + +"That's why I do it." + +"I detest rude, unladylike girls!" + +"I hate affected, niminy-piminy chits!" + +"Birds in their little nests agree," sang Beth, the peacemaker, with +such a funny face that both sharp voices softened to a laugh, and the +"pecking" ended for that time. + +"Really, girls, you are both to be blamed," said Meg, beginning to +lecture in her elder-sisterly fashion. "You are old enough to leave off +boyish tricks, and to behave better, Josephine. It didn't matter so +much when you were a little girl, but now you are so tall, and turn up +your hair, you should remember that you are a young lady." + +"I'm not! And if turning up my hair makes me one, I'll wear it in two +tails till I'm twenty," cried Jo, pulling off her net, and shaking down +a chestnut mane. "I hate to think I've got to grow up, and be Miss +March, and wear long gowns, and look as prim as a China Aster! It's +bad enough to be a girl, anyway, when I like boy's games and work and +manners! I can't get over my disappointment in not being a boy. And +it's worse than ever now, for I'm dying to go and fight with Papa. And +I can only stay home and knit, like a poky old woman!" + +And Jo shook the blue army sock till the needles rattled like +castanets, and her ball bounded across the room. + +"Poor Jo! It's too bad, but it can't be helped. So you must try to be +contented with making your name boyish, and playing brother to us +girls," said Beth, stroking the rough head with a hand that all the +dish washing and dusting in the world could not make ungentle in its +touch. + +"As for you, Amy," continued Meg, "you are altogether too particular +and prim. Your airs are funny now, but you'll grow up an affected +little goose, if you don't take care. I like your nice manners and +refined ways of speaking, when you don't try to be elegant. But your +absurd words are as bad as Jo's slang." + +"If Jo is a tomboy and Amy a goose, what am I, please?" asked Beth, +ready to share the lecture. + +"You're a dear, and nothing else," answered Meg warmly, and no one +contradicted her, for the 'Mouse' was the pet of the family. + +As young readers like to know 'how people look', we will take this +moment to give them a little sketch of the four sisters, who sat +knitting away in the twilight, while the December snow fell quietly +without, and the fire crackled cheerfully within. It was a comfortable +room, though the carpet was faded and the furniture very plain, for a +good picture or two hung on the walls, books filled the recesses, +chrysanthemums and Christmas roses bloomed in the windows, and a +pleasant atmosphere of home peace pervaded it. + +Margaret, the eldest of the four, was sixteen, and very pretty, being +plump and fair, with large eyes, plenty of soft brown hair, a sweet +mouth, and white hands, of which she was rather vain. Fifteen-year-old +Jo was very tall, thin, and brown, and reminded one of a colt, for she +never seemed to know what to do with her long limbs, which were very +much in her way. She had a decided mouth, a comical nose, and sharp, +gray eyes, which appeared to see everything, and were by turns fierce, +funny, or thoughtful. Her long, thick hair was her one beauty, but it +was usually bundled into a net, to be out of her way. Round shoulders +had Jo, big hands and feet, a flyaway look to her clothes, and the +uncomfortable appearance of a girl who was rapidly shooting up into a +woman and didn't like it. Elizabeth, or Beth, as everyone called her, +was a rosy, smooth-haired, bright-eyed girl of thirteen, with a shy +manner, a timid voice, and a peaceful expression which was seldom +disturbed. Her father called her 'Little Miss Tranquility', and the +name suited her excellently, for she seemed to live in a happy world of +her own, only venturing out to meet the few whom she trusted and loved. +Amy, though the youngest, was a most important person, in her own +opinion at least. A regular snow maiden, with blue eyes, and yellow +hair curling on her shoulders, pale and slender, and always carrying +herself like a young lady mindful of her manners. What the characters +of the four sisters were we will leave to be found out. + +The clock struck six and, having swept up the hearth, Beth put a pair +of slippers down to warm. Somehow the sight of the old shoes had a +good effect upon the girls, for Mother was coming, and everyone +brightened to welcome her. Meg stopped lecturing, and lighted the +lamp, Amy got out of the easy chair without being asked, and Jo forgot +how tired she was as she sat up to hold the slippers nearer to the +blaze. + +"They are quite worn out. Marmee must have a new pair." + +"I thought I'd get her some with my dollar," said Beth. + +"No, I shall!" cried Amy. + +"I'm the oldest," began Meg, but Jo cut in with a decided, "I'm the man +of the family now Papa is away, and I shall provide the slippers, for +he told me to take special care of Mother while he was gone." + +"I'll tell you what we'll do," said Beth, "let's each get her something +for Christmas, and not get anything for ourselves." + +"That's like you, dear! What will we get?" exclaimed Jo. + +Everyone thought soberly for a minute, then Meg announced, as if the +idea was suggested by the sight of her own pretty hands, "I shall give +her a nice pair of gloves." + +"Army shoes, best to be had," cried Jo. + +"Some handkerchiefs, all hemmed," said Beth. + +"I'll get a little bottle of cologne. She likes it, and it won't cost +much, so I'll have some left to buy my pencils," added Amy. + +"How will we give the things?" asked Meg. + +"Put them on the table, and bring her in and see her open the bundles. +Don't you remember how we used to do on our birthdays?" answered Jo. + +"I used to be so frightened when it was my turn to sit in the chair +with the crown on, and see you all come marching round to give the +presents, with a kiss. I liked the things and the kisses, but it was +dreadful to have you sit looking at me while I opened the bundles," +said Beth, who was toasting her face and the bread for tea at the same +time. + +"Let Marmee think we are getting things for ourselves, and then +surprise her. We must go shopping tomorrow afternoon, Meg. There is so +much to do about the play for Christmas night," said Jo, marching up +and down, with her hands behind her back, and her nose in the air. + +"I don't mean to act any more after this time. I'm getting too old for +such things," observed Meg, who was as much a child as ever about +'dressing-up' frolics. + +"You won't stop, I know, as long as you can trail round in a white gown +with your hair down, and wear gold-paper jewelry. You are the best +actress we've got, and there'll be an end of everything if you quit the +boards," said Jo. "We ought to rehearse tonight. Come here, Amy, and +do the fainting scene, for you are as stiff as a poker in that." + +"I can't help it. I never saw anyone faint, and I don't choose to make +myself all black and blue, tumbling flat as you do. If I can go down +easily, I'll drop. If I can't, I shall fall into a chair and be +graceful. I don't care if Hugo does come at me with a pistol," +returned Amy, who was not gifted with dramatic power, but was chosen +because she was small enough to be borne out shrieking by the villain +of the piece. + +"Do it this way. Clasp your hands so, and stagger across the room, +crying frantically, 'Roderigo! Save me! Save me!'" and away went Jo, +with a melodramatic scream which was truly thrilling. + +Amy followed, but she poked her hands out stiffly before her, and +jerked herself along as if she went by machinery, and her "Ow!" was +more suggestive of pins being run into her than of fear and anguish. +Jo gave a despairing groan, and Meg laughed outright, while Beth let +her bread burn as she watched the fun with interest. "It's no use! Do +the best you can when the time comes, and if the audience laughs, don't +blame me. Come on, Meg." + +Then things went smoothly, for Don Pedro defied the world in a speech +of two pages without a single break. Hagar, the witch, chanted an +awful incantation over her kettleful of simmering toads, with weird +effect. Roderigo rent his chains asunder manfully, and Hugo died in +agonies of remorse and arsenic, with a wild, "Ha! Ha!" + +"It's the best we've had yet," said Meg, as the dead villain sat up and +rubbed his elbows. + +"I don't see how you can write and act such splendid things, Jo. +You're a regular Shakespeare!" exclaimed Beth, who firmly believed that +her sisters were gifted with wonderful genius in all things. + +"Not quite," replied Jo modestly. "I do think _The Witches Curse, an +Operatic Tragedy_ is rather a nice thing, but I'd like to try +_Macbeth_, if we only had a trapdoor for Banquo. I always wanted to do +the killing part. 'Is that a dagger that I see before me?" muttered +Jo, rolling her eyes and clutching at the air, as she had seen a famous +tragedian do. + +"No, it's the toasting fork, with Mother's shoe on it instead of the +bread. Beth's stage-struck!" cried Meg, and the rehearsal ended in a +general burst of laughter. + +"Glad to find you so merry, my girls," said a cheery voice at the door, +and actors and audience turned to welcome a tall, motherly lady with a +'can I help you' look about her which was truly delightful. She was not +elegantly dressed, but a noble-looking woman, and the girls thought the +gray cloak and unfashionable bonnet covered the most splendid mother in +the world. + +"Well, dearies, how have you got on today? There was so much to do, +getting the boxes ready to go tomorrow, that I didn't come home to +dinner. Has anyone called, Beth? How is your cold, Meg? Jo, you look +tired to death. Come and kiss me, baby." + +While making these maternal inquiries Mrs. March got her wet things +off, her warm slippers on, and sitting down in the easy chair, drew Amy +to her lap, preparing to enjoy the happiest hour of her busy day. The +girls flew about, trying to make things comfortable, each in her own +way. Meg arranged the tea table, Jo brought wood and set chairs, +dropping, over-turning, and clattering everything she touched. Beth +trotted to and fro between parlor kitchen, quiet and busy, while Amy +gave directions to everyone, as she sat with her hands folded. + +As they gathered about the table, Mrs. March said, with a particularly +happy face, "I've got a treat for you after supper." + +A quick, bright smile went round like a streak of sunshine. Beth +clapped her hands, regardless of the biscuit she held, and Jo tossed up +her napkin, crying, "A letter! A letter! Three cheers for Father!" + +"Yes, a nice long letter. He is well, and thinks he shall get through +the cold season better than we feared. He sends all sorts of loving +wishes for Christmas, and an especial message to you girls," said Mrs. +March, patting her pocket as if she had got a treasure there. + +"Hurry and get done! Don't stop to quirk your little finger and simper +over your plate, Amy," cried Jo, choking on her tea and dropping her +bread, butter side down, on the carpet in her haste to get at the treat. + +Beth ate no more, but crept away to sit in her shadowy corner and brood +over the delight to come, till the others were ready. + +"I think it was so splendid in Father to go as chaplain when he was too +old to be drafted, and not strong enough for a soldier," said Meg +warmly. + +"Don't I wish I could go as a drummer, a vivan--what's its name? Or a +nurse, so I could be near him and help him," exclaimed Jo, with a groan. + +"It must be very disagreeable to sleep in a tent, and eat all sorts of +bad-tasting things, and drink out of a tin mug," sighed Amy. + +"When will he come home, Marmee?" asked Beth, with a little quiver in +her voice. + +"Not for many months, dear, unless he is sick. He will stay and do his +work faithfully as long as he can, and we won't ask for him back a +minute sooner than he can be spared. Now come and hear the letter." + +They all drew to the fire, Mother in the big chair with Beth at her +feet, Meg and Amy perched on either arm of the chair, and Jo leaning on +the back, where no one would see any sign of emotion if the letter +should happen to be touching. Very few letters were written in those +hard times that were not touching, especially those which fathers sent +home. In this one little was said of the hardships endured, the +dangers faced, or the homesickness conquered. It was a cheerful, +hopeful letter, full of lively descriptions of camp life, marches, and +military news, and only at the end did the writer's heart over-flow +with fatherly love and longing for the little girls at home. + +"Give them all of my dear love and a kiss. Tell them I think of them +by day, pray for them by night, and find my best comfort in their +affection at all times. A year seems very long to wait before I see +them, but remind them that while we wait we may all work, so that these +hard days need not be wasted. I know they will remember all I said to +them, that they will be loving children to you, will do their duty +faithfully, fight their bosom enemies bravely, and conquer themselves +so beautifully that when I come back to them I may be fonder and +prouder than ever of my little women." Everybody sniffed when they came +to that part. Jo wasn't ashamed of the great tear that dropped off the +end of her nose, and Amy never minded the rumpling of her curls as she +hid her face on her mother's shoulder and sobbed out, "I am a selfish +girl! But I'll truly try to be better, so he mayn't be disappointed in +me by-and-by." + +"We all will," cried Meg. "I think too much of my looks and hate to +work, but won't any more, if I can help it." + +"I'll try and be what he loves to call me, 'a little woman' and not be +rough and wild, but do my duty here instead of wanting to be somewhere +else," said Jo, thinking that keeping her temper at home was a much +harder task than facing a rebel or two down South. + +Beth said nothing, but wiped away her tears with the blue army sock and +began to knit with all her might, losing no time in doing the duty that +lay nearest her, while she resolved in her quiet little soul to be all +that Father hoped to find her when the year brought round the happy +coming home. + +Mrs. March broke the silence that followed Jo's words, by saying in her +cheery voice, "Do you remember how you used to play Pilgrims Progress +when you were little things? Nothing delighted you more than to have +me tie my piece bags on your backs for burdens, give you hats and +sticks and rolls of paper, and let you travel through the house from +the cellar, which was the City of Destruction, up, up, to the housetop, +where you had all the lovely things you could collect to make a +Celestial City." + +"What fun it was, especially going by the lions, fighting Apollyon, and +passing through the valley where the hob-goblins were," said Jo. + +"I liked the place where the bundles fell off and tumbled downstairs," +said Meg. + +"I don't remember much about it, except that I was afraid of the cellar +and the dark entry, and always liked the cake and milk we had up at the +top. If I wasn't too old for such things, I'd rather like to play it +over again," said Amy, who began to talk of renouncing childish things +at the mature age of twelve. + +"We never are too old for this, my dear, because it is a play we are +playing all the time in one way or another. Our burdens are here, our +road is before us, and the longing for goodness and happiness is the +guide that leads us through many troubles and mistakes to the peace +which is a true Celestial City. Now, my little pilgrims, suppose you +begin again, not in play, but in earnest, and see how far on you can +get before Father comes home." + +"Really, Mother? Where are our bundles?" asked Amy, who was a very +literal young lady. + +"Each of you told what your burden was just now, except Beth. I rather +think she hasn't got any," said her mother. + +"Yes, I have. Mine is dishes and dusters, and envying girls with nice +pianos, and being afraid of people." + +Beth's bundle was such a funny one that everybody wanted to laugh, but +nobody did, for it would have hurt her feelings very much. + +"Let us do it," said Meg thoughtfully. "It is only another name for +trying to be good, and the story may help us, for though we do want to +be good, it's hard work and we forget, and don't do our best." + +"We were in the Slough of Despond tonight, and Mother came and pulled +us out as Help did in the book. We ought to have our roll of +directions, like Christian. What shall we do about that?" asked Jo, +delighted with the fancy which lent a little romance to the very dull +task of doing her duty. + +"Look under your pillows Christmas morning, and you will find your +guidebook," replied Mrs. March. + +They talked over the new plan while old Hannah cleared the table, then +out came the four little work baskets, and the needles flew as the +girls made sheets for Aunt March. It was uninteresting sewing, but +tonight no one grumbled. They adopted Jo's plan of dividing the long +seams into four parts, and calling the quarters Europe, Asia, Africa, +and America, and in that way got on capitally, especially when they +talked about the different countries as they stitched their way through +them. + +At nine they stopped work, and sang, as usual, before they went to bed. +No one but Beth could get much music out of the old piano, but she had +a way of softly touching the yellow keys and making a pleasant +accompaniment to the simple songs they sang. Meg had a voice like a +flute, and she and her mother led the little choir. Amy chirped like a +cricket, and Jo wandered through the airs at her own sweet will, always +coming out at the wrong place with a croak or a quaver that spoiled the +most pensive tune. They had always done this from the time they could +lisp... + + Crinkle, crinkle, 'ittle 'tar, + +and it had become a household custom, for the mother was a born singer. +The first sound in the morning was her voice as she went about the +house singing like a lark, and the last sound at night was the same +cheery sound, for the girls never grew too old for that familiar +lullaby. + + + +CHAPTER TWO + +A MERRY CHRISTMAS + +Jo was the first to wake in the gray dawn of Christmas morning. No +stockings hung at the fireplace, and for a moment she felt as much +disappointed as she did long ago, when her little sock fell down +because it was crammed so full of goodies. Then she remembered her +mother's promise and, slipping her hand under her pillow, drew out a +little crimson-covered book. She knew it very well, for it was that +beautiful old story of the best life ever lived, and Jo felt that it +was a true guidebook for any pilgrim going on a long journey. She woke +Meg with a "Merry Christmas," and bade her see what was under her +pillow. A green-covered book appeared, with the same picture inside, +and a few words written by their mother, which made their one present +very precious in their eyes. Presently Beth and Amy woke to rummage +and find their little books also, one dove-colored, the other blue, and +all sat looking at and talking about them, while the east grew rosy +with the coming day. + +In spite of her small vanities, Margaret had a sweet and pious nature, +which unconsciously influenced her sisters, especially Jo, who loved +her very tenderly, and obeyed her because her advice was so gently +given. + +"Girls," said Meg seriously, looking from the tumbled head beside her +to the two little night-capped ones in the room beyond, "Mother wants +us to read and love and mind these books, and we must begin at once. +We used to be faithful about it, but since Father went away and all +this war trouble unsettled us, we have neglected many things. You can +do as you please, but I shall keep my book on the table here and read a +little every morning as soon as I wake, for I know it will do me good +and help me through the day." + +Then she opened her new book and began to read. Jo put her arm round +her and, leaning cheek to cheek, read also, with the quiet expression +so seldom seen on her restless face. + +"How good Meg is! Come, Amy, let's do as they do. I'll help you with +the hard words, and they'll explain things if we don't understand," +whispered Beth, very much impressed by the pretty books and her +sisters' example. + +"I'm glad mine is blue," said Amy. and then the rooms were very still +while the pages were softly turned, and the winter sunshine crept in to +touch the bright heads and serious faces with a Christmas greeting. + +"Where is Mother?" asked Meg, as she and Jo ran down to thank her for +their gifts, half an hour later. + +"Goodness only knows. Some poor creeter came a-beggin', and your ma +went straight off to see what was needed. There never was such a woman +for givin' away vittles and drink, clothes and firin'," replied Hannah, +who had lived with the family since Meg was born, and was considered by +them all more as a friend than a servant. + +"She will be back soon, I think, so fry your cakes, and have everything +ready," said Meg, looking over the presents which were collected in a +basket and kept under the sofa, ready to be produced at the proper +time. "Why, where is Amy's bottle of cologne?" she added, as the +little flask did not appear. + +"She took it out a minute ago, and went off with it to put a ribbon on +it, or some such notion," replied Jo, dancing about the room to take +the first stiffness off the new army slippers. + +"How nice my handkerchiefs look, don't they? Hannah washed and ironed +them for me, and I marked them all myself," said Beth, looking proudly +at the somewhat uneven letters which had cost her such labor. + +"Bless the child! She's gone and put 'Mother' on them instead of 'M. +March'. How funny!" cried Jo, taking one up. + +"Isn't that right? I thought it was better to do it so, because Meg's +initials are M.M., and I don't want anyone to use these but Marmee," +said Beth, looking troubled. + +"It's all right, dear, and a very pretty idea, quite sensible too, for +no one can ever mistake now. It will please her very much, I know," +said Meg, with a frown for Jo and a smile for Beth. + +"There's Mother. Hide the basket, quick!" cried Jo, as a door slammed +and steps sounded in the hall. + +Amy came in hastily, and looked rather abashed when she saw her sisters +all waiting for her. + +"Where have you been, and what are you hiding behind you?" asked Meg, +surprised to see, by her hood and cloak, that lazy Amy had been out so +early. + +"Don't laugh at me, Jo! I didn't mean anyone should know till the time +came. I only meant to change the little bottle for a big one, and I +gave all my money to get it, and I'm truly trying not to be selfish any +more." + +As she spoke, Amy showed the handsome flask which replaced the cheap +one, and looked so earnest and humble in her little effort to forget +herself that Meg hugged her on the spot, and Jo pronounced her 'a +trump', while Beth ran to the window, and picked her finest rose to +ornament the stately bottle. + +"You see I felt ashamed of my present, after reading and talking about +being good this morning, so I ran round the corner and changed it the +minute I was up, and I'm so glad, for mine is the handsomest now." + +Another bang of the street door sent the basket under the sofa, and the +girls to the table, eager for breakfast. + +"Merry Christmas, Marmee! Many of them! Thank you for our books. We +read some, and mean to every day," they all cried in chorus. + +"Merry Christmas, little daughters! I'm glad you began at once, and +hope you will keep on. But I want to say one word before we sit down. +Not far away from here lies a poor woman with a little newborn baby. +Six children are huddled into one bed to keep from freezing, for they +have no fire. There is nothing to eat over there, and the oldest boy +came to tell me they were suffering hunger and cold. My girls, will +you give them your breakfast as a Christmas present?" + +They were all unusually hungry, having waited nearly an hour, and for a +minute no one spoke, only a minute, for Jo exclaimed impetuously, "I'm +so glad you came before we began!" + +"May I go and help carry the things to the poor little children?" asked +Beth eagerly. + +"I shall take the cream and the muffings," added Amy, heroically giving +up the article she most liked. + +Meg was already covering the buckwheats, and piling the bread into one +big plate. + +"I thought you'd do it," said Mrs. March, smiling as if satisfied. "You +shall all go and help me, and when we come back we will have bread and +milk for breakfast, and make it up at dinnertime." + +They were soon ready, and the procession set out. Fortunately it was +early, and they went through back streets, so few people saw them, and +no one laughed at the queer party. + +A poor, bare, miserable room it was, with broken windows, no fire, +ragged bedclothes, a sick mother, wailing baby, and a group of pale, +hungry children cuddled under one old quilt, trying to keep warm. + +How the big eyes stared and the blue lips smiled as the girls went in. + +"Ach, mein Gott! It is good angels come to us!" said the poor woman, +crying for joy. + +"Funny angels in hoods and mittens," said Jo, and set them to laughing. + +In a few minutes it really did seem as if kind spirits had been at work +there. Hannah, who had carried wood, made a fire, and stopped up the +broken panes with old hats and her own cloak. Mrs. March gave the +mother tea and gruel, and comforted her with promises of help, while +she dressed the little baby as tenderly as if it had been her own. The +girls meantime spread the table, set the children round the fire, and +fed them like so many hungry birds, laughing, talking, and trying to +understand the funny broken English. + +"Das ist gut!" "Die Engel-kinder!" cried the poor things as they ate +and warmed their purple hands at the comfortable blaze. The girls had +never been called angel children before, and thought it very agreeable, +especially Jo, who had been considered a 'Sancho' ever since she was +born. That was a very happy breakfast, though they didn't get any of +it. And when they went away, leaving comfort behind, I think there +were not in all the city four merrier people than the hungry little +girls who gave away their breakfasts and contented themselves with +bread and milk on Christmas morning. + +"That's loving our neighbor better than ourselves, and I like it," said +Meg, as they set out their presents while their mother was upstairs +collecting clothes for the poor Hummels. + +Not a very splendid show, but there was a great deal of love done up in +the few little bundles, and the tall vase of red roses, white +chrysanthemums, and trailing vines, which stood in the middle, gave +quite an elegant air to the table. + +"She's coming! Strike up, Beth! Open the door, Amy! Three cheers for +Marmee!" cried Jo, prancing about while Meg went to conduct Mother to +the seat of honor. + +Beth played her gayest march, Amy threw open the door, and Meg enacted +escort with great dignity. Mrs. March was both surprised and touched, +and smiled with her eyes full as she examined her presents and read the +little notes which accompanied them. The slippers went on at once, a +new handkerchief was slipped into her pocket, well scented with Amy's +cologne, the rose was fastened in her bosom, and the nice gloves were +pronounced a perfect fit. + +There was a good deal of laughing and kissing and explaining, in the +simple, loving fashion which makes these home festivals so pleasant at +the time, so sweet to remember long afterward, and then all fell to +work. + +The morning charities and ceremonies took so much time that the rest of +the day was devoted to preparations for the evening festivities. Being +still too young to go often to the theater, and not rich enough to +afford any great outlay for private performances, the girls put their +wits to work, and necessity being the mother of invention, made +whatever they needed. Very clever were some of their productions, +pasteboard guitars, antique lamps made of old-fashioned butter boats +covered with silver paper, gorgeous robes of old cotton, glittering +with tin spangles from a pickle factory, and armor covered with the +same useful diamond shaped bits left in sheets when the lids of +preserve pots were cut out. The big chamber was the scene of many +innocent revels. + +No gentleman were admitted, so Jo played male parts to her heart's +content and took immense satisfaction in a pair of russet leather boots +given her by a friend, who knew a lady who knew an actor. These boots, +an old foil, and a slashed doublet once used by an artist for some +picture, were Jo's chief treasures and appeared on all occasions. The +smallness of the company made it necessary for the two principal actors +to take several parts apiece, and they certainly deserved some credit +for the hard work they did in learning three or four different parts, +whisking in and out of various costumes, and managing the stage +besides. It was excellent drill for their memories, a harmless +amusement, and employed many hours which otherwise would have been +idle, lonely, or spent in less profitable society. + +On Christmas night, a dozen girls piled onto the bed which was the +dress circle, and sat before the blue and yellow chintz curtains in a +most flattering state of expectancy. There was a good deal of rustling +and whispering behind the curtain, a trifle of lamp smoke, and an +occasional giggle from Amy, who was apt to get hysterical in the +excitement of the moment. Presently a bell sounded, the curtains flew +apart, and the _operatic tragedy_ began. + +"A gloomy wood," according to the one playbill, was represented by a +few shrubs in pots, green baize on the floor, and a cave in the +distance. This cave was made with a clothes horse for a roof, bureaus +for walls, and in it was a small furnace in full blast, with a black +pot on it and an old witch bending over it. The stage was dark and the +glow of the furnace had a fine effect, especially as real steam issued +from the kettle when the witch took off the cover. A moment was +allowed for the first thrill to subside, then Hugo, the villain, +stalked in with a clanking sword at his side, a slouching hat, black +beard, mysterious cloak, and the boots. After pacing to and fro in +much agitation, he struck his forehead, and burst out in a wild strain, +singing of his hatred for Roderigo, his love for Zara, and his pleasing +resolution to kill the one and win the other. The gruff tones of Hugo's +voice, with an occasional shout when his feelings overcame him, were +very impressive, and the audience applauded the moment he paused for +breath. Bowing with the air of one accustomed to public praise, he +stole to the cavern and ordered Hagar to come forth with a commanding, +"What ho, minion! I need thee!" + +Out came Meg, with gray horsehair hanging about her face, a red and +black robe, a staff, and cabalistic signs upon her cloak. Hugo +demanded a potion to make Zara adore him, and one to destroy Roderigo. +Hagar, in a fine dramatic melody, promised both, and proceeded to call +up the spirit who would bring the love philter. + + Hither, hither, from thy home, + Airy sprite, I bid thee come! + Born of roses, fed on dew, + Charms and potions canst thou brew? + Bring me here, with elfin speed, + The fragrant philter which I need. + Make it sweet and swift and strong, + Spirit, answer now my song! + +A soft strain of music sounded, and then at the back of the cave +appeared a little figure in cloudy white, with glittering wings, golden +hair, and a garland of roses on its head. Waving a wand, it sang... + + Hither I come, + From my airy home, + Afar in the silver moon. + Take the magic spell, + And use it well, + Or its power will vanish soon! + +And dropping a small, gilded bottle at the witch's feet, the spirit +vanished. Another chant from Hagar produced another apparition, not a +lovely one, for with a bang an ugly black imp appeared and, having +croaked a reply, tossed a dark bottle at Hugo and disappeared with a +mocking laugh. Having warbled his thanks and put the potions in his +boots, Hugo departed, and Hagar informed the audience that as he had +killed a few of her friends in times past, she had cursed him, and +intends to thwart his plans, and be revenged on him. Then the curtain +fell, and the audience reposed and ate candy while discussing the +merits of the play. + +A good deal of hammering went on before the curtain rose again, but +when it became evident what a masterpiece of stage carpentery had been +got up, no one murmured at the delay. It was truly superb. A tower +rose to the ceiling, halfway up appeared a window with a lamp burning +in it, and behind the white curtain appeared Zara in a lovely blue and +silver dress, waiting for Roderigo. He came in gorgeous array, with +plumed cap, red cloak, chestnut lovelocks, a guitar, and the boots, of +course. Kneeling at the foot of the tower, he sang a serenade in +melting tones. Zara replied and, after a musical dialogue, consented +to fly. Then came the grand effect of the play. Roderigo produced a +rope ladder, with five steps to it, threw up one end, and invited Zara +to descend. Timidly she crept from her lattice, put her hand on +Roderigo's shoulder, and was about to leap gracefully down when "Alas! +Alas for Zara!" she forgot her train. It caught in the window, the +tower tottered, leaned forward, fell with a crash, and buried the +unhappy lovers in the ruins. + +A universal shriek arose as the russet boots waved wildly from the +wreck and a golden head emerged, exclaiming, "I told you so! I told +you so!" With wonderful presence of mind, Don Pedro, the cruel sire, +rushed in, dragged out his daughter, with a hasty aside... + +"Don't laugh! Act as if it was all right!" and, ordering Roderigo up, +banished him from the kingdom with wrath and scorn. Though decidedly +shaken by the fall from the tower upon him, Roderigo defied the old +gentleman and refused to stir. This dauntless example fired Zara. She +also defied her sire, and he ordered them both to the deepest dungeons +of the castle. A stout little retainer came in with chains and led +them away, looking very much frightened and evidently forgetting the +speech he ought to have made. + +Act third was the castle hall, and here Hagar appeared, having come to +free the lovers and finish Hugo. She hears him coming and hides, sees +him put the potions into two cups of wine and bid the timid little +servant, "Bear them to the captives in their cells, and tell them I +shall come anon." The servant takes Hugo aside to tell him something, +and Hagar changes the cups for two others which are harmless. +Ferdinando, the 'minion', carries them away, and Hagar puts back the +cup which holds the poison meant for Roderigo. Hugo, getting thirsty +after a long warble, drinks it, loses his wits, and after a good deal +of clutching and stamping, falls flat and dies, while Hagar informs him +what she has done in a song of exquisite power and melody. + +This was a truly thrilling scene, though some persons might have +thought that the sudden tumbling down of a quantity of long red hair +rather marred the effect of the villain's death. He was called before +the curtain, and with great propriety appeared, leading Hagar, whose +singing was considered more wonderful than all the rest of the +performance put together. + +Act fourth displayed the despairing Roderigo on the point of stabbing +himself because he has been told that Zara has deserted him. Just as +the dagger is at his heart, a lovely song is sung under his window, +informing him that Zara is true but in danger, and he can save her if +he will. A key is thrown in, which unlocks the door, and in a spasm of +rapture he tears off his chains and rushes away to find and rescue his +lady love. + +Act fifth opened with a stormy scene between Zara and Don Pedro. He +wishes her to go into a convent, but she won't hear of it, and after a +touching appeal, is about to faint when Roderigo dashes in and demands +her hand. Don Pedro refuses, because he is not rich. They shout and +gesticulate tremendously but cannot agree, and Rodrigo is about to bear +away the exhausted Zara, when the timid servant enters with a letter +and a bag from Hagar, who has mysteriously disappeared. The latter +informs the party that she bequeaths untold wealth to the young pair +and an awful doom to Don Pedro, if he doesn't make them happy. The bag +is opened, and several quarts of tin money shower down upon the stage +till it is quite glorified with the glitter. This entirely softens the +stern sire. He consents without a murmur, all join in a joyful chorus, +and the curtain falls upon the lovers kneeling to receive Don Pedro's +blessing in attitudes of the most romantic grace. + +Tumultuous applause followed but received an unexpected check, for the +cot bed, on which the dress circle was built, suddenly shut up and +extinguished the enthusiastic audience. Roderigo and Don Pedro flew to +the rescue, and all were taken out unhurt, though many were speechless +with laughter. The excitement had hardly subsided when Hannah +appeared, with "Mrs. March's compliments, and would the ladies walk +down to supper." + +This was a surprise even to the actors, and when they saw the table, +they looked at one another in rapturous amazement. It was like Marmee +to get up a little treat for them, but anything so fine as this was +unheard of since the departed days of plenty. There was ice cream, +actually two dishes of it, pink and white, and cake and fruit and +distracting French bonbons and, in the middle of the table, four great +bouquets of hot house flowers. + +It quite took their breath away, and they stared first at the table and +then at their mother, who looked as if she enjoyed it immensely. + +"Is it fairies?" asked Amy. + +"Santa Claus," said Beth. + +"Mother did it." And Meg smiled her sweetest, in spite of her gray +beard and white eyebrows. + +"Aunt March had a good fit and sent the supper," cried Jo, with a +sudden inspiration. + +"All wrong. Old Mr. Laurence sent it," replied Mrs. March. + +"The Laurence boy's grandfather! What in the world put such a thing +into his head? We don't know him!" exclaimed Meg. + +"Hannah told one of his servants about your breakfast party. He is an +odd old gentleman, but that pleased him. He knew my father years ago, +and he sent me a polite note this afternoon, saying he hoped I would +allow him to express his friendly feeling toward my children by sending +them a few trifles in honor of the day. I could not refuse, and so you +have a little feast at night to make up for the bread-and-milk +breakfast." + +"That boy put it into his head, I know he did! He's a capital fellow, +and I wish we could get acquainted. He looks as if he'd like to know +us but he's bashful, and Meg is so prim she won't let me speak to him +when we pass," said Jo, as the plates went round, and the ice began to +melt out of sight, with ohs and ahs of satisfaction. + +"You mean the people who live in the big house next door, don't you?" +asked one of the girls. "My mother knows old Mr. Laurence, but says +he's very proud and doesn't like to mix with his neighbors. He keeps +his grandson shut up, when he isn't riding or walking with his tutor, +and makes him study very hard. We invited him to our party, but he +didn't come. Mother says he's very nice, though he never speaks to us +girls." + +"Our cat ran away once, and he brought her back, and we talked over the +fence, and were getting on capitally, all about cricket, and so on, +when he saw Meg coming, and walked off. I mean to know him some day, +for he needs fun, I'm sure he does," said Jo decidedly. + +"I like his manners, and he looks like a little gentleman, so I've no +objection to your knowing him, if a proper opportunity comes. He +brought the flowers himself, and I should have asked him in, if I had +been sure what was going on upstairs. He looked so wistful as he went +away, hearing the frolic and evidently having none of his own." + +"It's a mercy you didn't, Mother!" laughed Jo, looking at her boots. +"But we'll have another play sometime that he can see. Perhaps he'll +help act. Wouldn't that be jolly?" + +"I never had such a fine bouquet before! How pretty it is!" And Meg +examined her flowers with great interest. + +"They are lovely. But Beth's roses are sweeter to me," said Mrs. +March, smelling the half-dead posy in her belt. + +Beth nestled up to her, and whispered softly, "I wish I could send my +bunch to Father. I'm afraid he isn't having such a merry Christmas as +we are." + + + +CHAPTER THREE + +THE LAURENCE BOY + +"Jo! Jo! Where are you?" cried Meg at the foot of the garret stairs. + +"Here!" answered a husky voice from above, and, running up, Meg found +her sister eating apples and crying over the Heir of Redclyffe, wrapped +up in a comforter on an old three-legged sofa by the sunny window. +This was Jo's favorite refuge, and here she loved to retire with half a +dozen russets and a nice book, to enjoy the quiet and the society of a +pet rat who lived near by and didn't mind her a particle. As Meg +appeared, Scrabble whisked into his hole. Jo shook the tears off her +cheeks and waited to hear the news. + +"Such fun! Only see! A regular note of invitation from Mrs. Gardiner +for tomorrow night!" cried Meg, waving the precious paper and then +proceeding to read it with girlish delight. + +"'Mrs. Gardiner would be happy to see Miss March and Miss Josephine at +a little dance on New Year's Eve.' Marmee is willing we should go, now +what shall we wear?" + +"What's the use of asking that, when you know we shall wear our +poplins, because we haven't got anything else?" answered Jo with her +mouth full. + +"If I only had a silk!" sighed Meg. "Mother says I may when I'm +eighteen perhaps, but two years is an everlasting time to wait." + +"I'm sure our pops look like silk, and they are nice enough for us. +Yours is as good as new, but I forgot the burn and the tear in mine. +Whatever shall I do? The burn shows badly, and I can't take any out." + +"You must sit still all you can and keep your back out of sight. The +front is all right. I shall have a new ribbon for my hair, and Marmee +will lend me her little pearl pin, and my new slippers are lovely, and +my gloves will do, though they aren't as nice as I'd like." + +"Mine are spoiled with lemonade, and I can't get any new ones, so I +shall have to go without," said Jo, who never troubled herself much +about dress. + +"You must have gloves, or I won't go," cried Meg decidedly. "Gloves are +more important than anything else. You can't dance without them, and +if you don't I should be so mortified." + +"Then I'll stay still. I don't care much for company dancing. It's no +fun to go sailing round. I like to fly about and cut capers." + +"You can't ask Mother for new ones, they are so expensive, and you are +so careless. She said when you spoiled the others that she shouldn't +get you any more this winter. Can't you make them do?" + +"I can hold them crumpled up in my hand, so no one will know how +stained they are. That's all I can do. No! I'll tell you how we can +manage, each wear one good one and carry a bad one. Don't you see?" + +"Your hands are bigger than mine, and you will stretch my glove +dreadfully," began Meg, whose gloves were a tender point with her. + +"Then I'll go without. I don't care what people say!" cried Jo, taking +up her book. + +"You may have it, you may! Only don't stain it, and do behave nicely. +Don't put your hands behind you, or stare, or say 'Christopher +Columbus!' will you?" + +"Don't worry about me. I'll be as prim as I can and not get into any +scrapes, if I can help it. Now go and answer your note, and let me +finish this splendid story." + +So Meg went away to 'accept with thanks', look over her dress, and sing +blithely as she did up her one real lace frill, while Jo finished her +story, her four apples, and had a game of romps with Scrabble. + +On New Year's Eve the parlor was deserted, for the two younger girls +played dressing maids and the two elder were absorbed in the +all-important business of 'getting ready for the party'. Simple as the +toilets were, there was a great deal of running up and down, laughing +and talking, and at one time a strong smell of burned hair pervaded the +house. Meg wanted a few curls about her face, and Jo undertook to +pinch the papered locks with a pair of hot tongs. + +"Ought they to smoke like that?" asked Beth from her perch on the bed. + +"It's the dampness drying," replied Jo. + +"What a queer smell! It's like burned feathers," observed Amy, +smoothing her own pretty curls with a superior air. + +"There, now I'll take off the papers and you'll see a cloud of little +ringlets," said Jo, putting down the tongs. + +She did take off the papers, but no cloud of ringlets appeared, for the +hair came with the papers, and the horrified hairdresser laid a row of +little scorched bundles on the bureau before her victim. + +"Oh, oh, oh! What have you done? I'm spoiled! I can't go! My hair, +oh, my hair!" wailed Meg, looking with despair at the uneven frizzle on +her forehead. + +"Just my luck! You shouldn't have asked me to do it. I always spoil +everything. I'm so sorry, but the tongs were too hot, and so I've made +a mess," groaned poor Jo, regarding the little black pancakes with +tears of regret. + +"It isn't spoiled. Just frizzle it, and tie your ribbon so the ends +come on your forehead a bit, and it will look like the last fashion. +I've seen many girls do it so," said Amy consolingly. + +"Serves me right for trying to be fine. I wish I'd let my hair alone," +cried Meg petulantly. + +"So do I, it was so smooth and pretty. But it will soon grow out +again," said Beth, coming to kiss and comfort the shorn sheep. + +After various lesser mishaps, Meg was finished at last, and by the +united exertions of the entire family Jo's hair was got up and her +dress on. They looked very well in their simple suits, Meg's in +silvery drab, with a blue velvet snood, lace frills, and the pearl pin. +Jo in maroon, with a stiff, gentlemanly linen collar, and a white +chrysanthemum or two for her only ornament. Each put on one nice light +glove, and carried one soiled one, and all pronounced the effect "quite +easy and fine". Meg's high-heeled slippers were very tight and hurt +her, though she would not own it, and Jo's nineteen hairpins all seemed +stuck straight into her head, which was not exactly comfortable, but, +dear me, let us be elegant or die. + +"Have a good time, dearies!" said Mrs. March, as the sisters went +daintily down the walk. "Don't eat much supper, and come away at +eleven when I send Hannah for you." As the gate clashed behind them, a +voice cried from a window... + +"Girls, girls! Have you you both got nice pocket handkerchiefs?" + +"Yes, yes, spandy nice, and Meg has cologne on hers," cried Jo, adding +with a laugh as they went on, "I do believe Marmee would ask that if we +were all running away from an earthquake." + +"It is one of her aristocratic tastes, and quite proper, for a real +lady is always known by neat boots, gloves, and handkerchief," replied +Meg, who had a good many little 'aristocratic tastes' of her own. + +"Now don't forget to keep the bad breadth out of sight, Jo. Is my sash +right? And does my hair look very bad?" said Meg, as she turned from +the glass in Mrs. Gardiner's dressing room after a prolonged prink. + +"I know I shall forget. If you see me doing anything wrong, just +remind me by a wink, will you?" returned Jo, giving her collar a twitch +and her head a hasty brush. + +"No, winking isn't ladylike. I'll lift my eyebrows if any thing is +wrong, and nod if you are all right. Now hold your shoulder straight, +and take short steps, and don't shake hands if you are introduced to +anyone. It isn't the thing." + +"How do you learn all the proper ways? I never can. Isn't that music +gay?" + +Down they went, feeling a trifle timid, for they seldom went to +parties, and informal as this little gathering was, it was an event to +them. Mrs. Gardiner, a stately old lady, greeted them kindly and +handed them over to the eldest of her six daughters. Meg knew Sallie +and was at her ease very soon, but Jo, who didn't care much for girls +or girlish gossip, stood about, with her back carefully against the +wall, and felt as much out of place as a colt in a flower garden. Half +a dozen jovial lads were talking about skates in another part of the +room, and she longed to go and join them, for skating was one of the +joys of her life. She telegraphed her wish to Meg, but the eyebrows +went up so alarmingly that she dared not stir. No one came to talk to +her, and one by one the group dwindled away till she was left alone. +She could not roam about and amuse herself, for the burned breadth +would show, so she stared at people rather forlornly till the dancing +began. Meg was asked at once, and the tight slippers tripped about so +briskly that none would have guessed the pain their wearer suffered +smilingly. Jo saw a big red headed youth approaching her corner, and +fearing he meant to engage her, she slipped into a curtained recess, +intending to peep and enjoy herself in peace. Unfortunately, another +bashful person had chosen the same refuge, for, as the curtain fell +behind her, she found herself face to face with the 'Laurence boy'. + +"Dear me, I didn't know anyone was here!" stammered Jo, preparing to +back out as speedily as she had bounced in. + +But the boy laughed and said pleasantly, though he looked a little +startled, "Don't mind me, stay if you like." + +"Shan't I disturb you?" + +"Not a bit. I only came here because I don't know many people and felt +rather strange at first, you know." + +"So did I. Don't go away, please, unless you'd rather." + +The boy sat down again and looked at his pumps, till Jo said, trying to +be polite and easy, "I think I've had the pleasure of seeing you +before. You live near us, don't you?" + +"Next door." And he looked up and laughed outright, for Jo's prim +manner was rather funny when he remembered how they had chatted about +cricket when he brought the cat home. + +That put Jo at her ease and she laughed too, as she said, in her +heartiest way, "We did have such a good time over your nice Christmas +present." + +"Grandpa sent it." + +"But you put it into his head, didn't you, now?" + +"How is your cat, Miss March?" asked the boy, trying to look sober +while his black eyes shone with fun. + +"Nicely, thank you, Mr. Laurence. But I am not Miss March, I'm only +Jo," returned the young lady. + +"I'm not Mr. Laurence, I'm only Laurie." + +"Laurie Laurence, what an odd name." + +"My first name is Theodore, but I don't like it, for the fellows called +me Dora, so I made them say Laurie instead." + +"I hate my name, too, so sentimental! I wish every one would say Jo +instead of Josephine. How did you make the boys stop calling you Dora?" + +"I thrashed 'em." + +"I can't thrash Aunt March, so I suppose I shall have to bear it." And +Jo resigned herself with a sigh. + +"Don't you like to dance, Miss Jo?" asked Laurie, looking as if he +thought the name suited her. + +"I like it well enough if there is plenty of room, and everyone is +lively. In a place like this I'm sure to upset something, tread on +people's toes, or do something dreadful, so I keep out of mischief and +let Meg sail about. Don't you dance?" + +"Sometimes. You see I've been abroad a good many years, and haven't +been into company enough yet to know how you do things here." + +"Abroad!" cried Jo. "Oh, tell me about it! I love dearly to hear +people describe their travels." + +Laurie didn't seem to know where to begin, but Jo's eager questions +soon set him going, and he told her how he had been at school in Vevay, +where the boys never wore hats and had a fleet of boats on the lake, +and for holiday fun went on walking trips about Switzerland with their +teachers. + +"Don't I wish I'd been there!" cried Jo. "Did you go to Paris?" + +"We spent last winter there." + +"Can you talk French?" + +"We were not allowed to speak anything else at Vevay." + +"Do say some! I can read it, but can't pronounce." + +"Quel nom a cette jeune demoiselle en les pantoufles jolis?" + +"How nicely you do it! Let me see ... you said, 'Who is the young lady +in the pretty slippers', didn't you?" + +"Oui, mademoiselle." + +"It's my sister Margaret, and you knew it was! Do you think she is +pretty?" + +"Yes, she makes me think of the German girls, she looks so fresh and +quiet, and dances like a lady." + +Jo quite glowed with pleasure at this boyish praise of her sister, and +stored it up to repeat to Meg. Both peeped and criticized and chatted +till they felt like old acquaintances. Laurie's bashfulness soon wore +off, for Jo's gentlemanly demeanor amused and set him at his ease, and +Jo was her merry self again, because her dress was forgotten and nobody +lifted their eyebrows at her. She liked the 'Laurence boy' better than +ever and took several good looks at him, so that she might describe him +to the girls, for they had no brothers, very few male cousins, and boys +were almost unknown creatures to them. + +"Curly black hair, brown skin, big black eyes, handsome nose, fine +teeth, small hands and feet, taller than I am, very polite, for a boy, +and altogether jolly. Wonder how old he is?" + +It was on the tip of Jo's tongue to ask, but she checked herself in +time and, with unusual tact, tried to find out in a round-about way. + +"I suppose you are going to college soon? I see you pegging away at +your books, no, I mean studying hard." And Jo blushed at the dreadful +'pegging' which had escaped her. + +Laurie smiled but didn't seem shocked, and answered with a shrug. "Not +for a year or two. I won't go before seventeen, anyway." + +"Aren't you but fifteen?" asked Jo, looking at the tall lad, whom she +had imagined seventeen already. + +"Sixteen, next month." + +"How I wish I was going to college! You don't look as if you liked it." + +"I hate it! Nothing but grinding or skylarking. And I don't like the +way fellows do either, in this country." + +"What do you like?" + +"To live in Italy, and to enjoy myself in my own way." + +Jo wanted very much to ask what his own way was, but his black brows +looked rather threatening as he knit them, so she changed the subject +by saying, as her foot kept time, "That's a splendid polka! Why don't +you go and try it?" + +"If you will come too," he answered, with a gallant little bow. + +"I can't, for I told Meg I wouldn't, because..." There Jo stopped, and +looked undecided whether to tell or to laugh. + +"Because, what?" + +"You won't tell?" + +"Never!" + +"Well, I have a bad trick of standing before the fire, and so I burn my +frocks, and I scorched this one, and though it's nicely mended, it +shows, and Meg told me to keep still so no one would see it. You may +laugh, if you want to. It is funny, I know." + +But Laurie didn't laugh. He only looked down a minute, and the +expression of his face puzzled Jo when he said very gently, "Never mind +that. I'll tell you how we can manage. There's a long hall out there, +and we can dance grandly, and no one will see us. Please come." + +Jo thanked him and gladly went, wishing she had two neat gloves when +she saw the nice, pearl-colored ones her partner wore. The hall was +empty, and they had a grand polka, for Laurie danced well, and taught +her the German step, which delighted Jo, being full of swing and +spring. When the music stopped, they sat down on the stairs to get +their breath, and Laurie was in the midst of an account of a students' +festival at Heidelberg when Meg appeared in search of her sister. She +beckoned, and Jo reluctantly followed her into a side room, where she +found her on a sofa, holding her foot, and looking pale. + +"I've sprained my ankle. That stupid high heel turned and gave me a +sad wrench. It aches so, I can hardly stand, and I don't know how I'm +ever going to get home," she said, rocking to and fro in pain. + +"I knew you'd hurt your feet with those silly shoes. I'm sorry. But I +don't see what you can do, except get a carriage, or stay here all +night," answered Jo, softly rubbing the poor ankle as she spoke. + +"I can't have a carriage without its costing ever so much. I dare say +I can't get one at all, for most people come in their own, and it's a +long way to the stable, and no one to send." + +"I'll go." + +"No, indeed! It's past nine, and dark as Egypt. I can't stop here, +for the house is full. Sallie has some girls staying with her. I'll +rest till Hannah comes, and then do the best I can." + +"I'll ask Laurie. He will go," said Jo, looking relieved as the idea +occurred to her. + +"Mercy, no! Don't ask or tell anyone. Get me my rubbers, and put +these slippers with our things. I can't dance anymore, but as soon as +supper is over, watch for Hannah and tell me the minute she comes." + +"They are going out to supper now. I'll stay with you. I'd rather." + +"No, dear, run along, and bring me some coffee. I'm so tired I can't +stir." + +So Meg reclined, with rubbers well hidden, and Jo went blundering away +to the dining room, which she found after going into a china closet, +and opening the door of a room where old Mr. Gardiner was taking a +little private refreshment. Making a dart at the table, she secured +the coffee, which she immediately spilled, thereby making the front of +her dress as bad as the back. + +"Oh, dear, what a blunderbuss I am!" exclaimed Jo, finishing Meg's +glove by scrubbing her gown with it. + +"Can I help you?" said a friendly voice. And there was Laurie, with a +full cup in one hand and a plate of ice in the other. + +"I was trying to get something for Meg, who is very tired, and someone +shook me, and here I am in a nice state," answered Jo, glancing +dismally from the stained skirt to the coffee-colored glove. + +"Too bad! I was looking for someone to give this to. May I take it +to your sister?" + +"Oh, thank you! I'll show you where she is. I don't offer to take it +myself, for I should only get into another scrape if I did." + +Jo led the way, and as if used to waiting on ladies, Laurie drew up a +little table, brought a second installment of coffee and ice for Jo, +and was so obliging that even particular Meg pronounced him a 'nice +boy'. They had a merry time over the bonbons and mottoes, and were in +the midst of a quiet game of _Buzz_, with two or three other young +people who had strayed in, when Hannah appeared. Meg forgot her foot +and rose so quickly that she was forced to catch hold of Jo, with an +exclamation of pain. + +"Hush! Don't say anything," she whispered, adding aloud, "It's +nothing. I turned my foot a little, that's all," and limped upstairs +to put her things on. + +Hannah scolded, Meg cried, and Jo was at her wits' end, till she +decided to take things into her own hands. Slipping out, she ran down +and, finding a servant, asked if he could get her a carriage. It +happened to be a hired waiter who knew nothing about the neighborhood +and Jo was looking round for help when Laurie, who had heard what she +said, came up and offered his grandfather's carriage, which had just +come for him, he said. + +"It's so early! You can't mean to go yet?" began Jo, looking relieved +but hesitating to accept the offer. + +"I always go early, I do, truly! Please let me take you home. It's all +on my way, you know, and it rains, they say." + +That settled it, and telling him of Meg's mishap, Jo gratefully +accepted and rushed up to bring down the rest of the party. Hannah +hated rain as much as a cat does so she made no trouble, and they +rolled away in the luxurious close carriage, feeling very festive and +elegant. Laurie went on the box so Meg could keep her foot up, and the +girls talked over their party in freedom. + +"I had a capital time. Did you?" asked Jo, rumpling up her hair, and +making herself comfortable. + +"Yes, till I hurt myself. Sallie's friend, Annie Moffat, took a fancy +to me, and asked me to come and spend a week with her when Sallie does. +She is going in the spring when the opera comes, and it will be +perfectly splendid, if Mother only lets me go," answered Meg, cheering +up at the thought. + +"I saw you dancing with the red headed man I ran away from. Was he +nice?" + +"Oh, very! His hair is auburn, not red, and he was very polite, and I +had a delicious redowa with him." + +"He looked like a grasshopper in a fit when he did the new step. Laurie +and I couldn't help laughing. Did you hear us?" + +"No, but it was very rude. What were you about all that time, hidden +away there?" + +Jo told her adventures, and by the time she had finished they were at +home. With many thanks, they said good night and crept in, hoping to +disturb no one, but the instant their door creaked, two little +nightcaps bobbed up, and two sleepy but eager voices cried out... + +"Tell about the party! Tell about the party!" + +With what Meg called 'a great want of manners' Jo had saved some +bonbons for the little girls, and they soon subsided, after hearing the +most thrilling events of the evening. + +"I declare, it really seems like being a fine young lady, to come home +from the party in a carriage and sit in my dressing gown with a maid to +wait on me," said Meg, as Jo bound up her foot with arnica and brushed +her hair. + +"I don't believe fine young ladies enjoy themselves a bit more than we +do, in spite of our burned hair, old gowns, one glove apiece and tight +slippers that sprain our ankles when we are silly enough to wear them." +And I think Jo was quite right. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR + +BURDENS + +"Oh, dear, how hard it does seem to take up our packs and go on," +sighed Meg the morning after the party, for now the holidays were over, +the week of merrymaking did not fit her for going on easily with the +task she never liked. + +"I wish it was Christmas or New Year's all the time. Wouldn't it be +fun?" answered Jo, yawning dismally. + +"We shouldn't enjoy ourselves half so much as we do now. But it does +seem so nice to have little suppers and bouquets, and go to parties, +and drive home, and read and rest, and not work. It's like other +people, you know, and I always envy girls who do such things, I'm so +fond of luxury," said Meg, trying to decide which of two shabby gowns +was the least shabby. + +"Well, we can't have it, so don't let us grumble but shoulder our +bundles and trudge along as cheerfully as Marmee does. I'm sure Aunt +March is a regular Old Man of the Sea to me, but I suppose when I've +learned to carry her without complaining, she will tumble off, or get +so light that I shan't mind her." + +This idea tickled Jo's fancy and put her in good spirits, but Meg +didn't brighten, for her burden, consisting of four spoiled children, +seemed heavier than ever. She had not heart enough even to make herself +pretty as usual by putting on a blue neck ribbon and dressing her hair +in the most becoming way. + +"Where's the use of looking nice, when no one sees me but those cross +midgets, and no one cares whether I'm pretty or not?" she muttered, +shutting her drawer with a jerk. "I shall have to toil and moil all my +days, with only little bits of fun now and then, and get old and ugly +and sour, because I'm poor and can't enjoy my life as other girls do. +It's a shame!" + +So Meg went down, wearing an injured look, and wasn't at all agreeable +at breakfast time. Everyone seemed rather out of sorts and inclined to +croak. + +Beth had a headache and lay on the sofa, trying to comfort herself with +the cat and three kittens. Amy was fretting because her lessons were +not learned, and she couldn't find her rubbers. Jo would whistle and +make a great racket getting ready. + +Mrs. March was very busy trying to finish a letter, which must go at +once, and Hannah had the grumps, for being up late didn't suit her. + +"There never was such a cross family!" cried Jo, losing her temper when +she had upset an inkstand, broken both boot lacings, and sat down upon +her hat. + +"You're the crossest person in it!" returned Amy, washing out the sum +that was all wrong with the tears that had fallen on her slate. + +"Beth, if you don't keep these horrid cats down cellar I'll have them +drowned," exclaimed Meg angrily as she tried to get rid of the kitten +which had scrambled up her back and stuck like a burr just out of reach. + +Jo laughed, Meg scolded, Beth implored, and Amy wailed because she +couldn't remember how much nine times twelve was. + +"Girls, girls, do be quiet one minute! I must get this off by the +early mail, and you drive me distracted with your worry," cried Mrs. +March, crossing out the third spoiled sentence in her letter. + +There was a momentary lull, broken by Hannah, who stalked in, laid two +hot turnovers on the table, and stalked out again. These turnovers were +an institution, and the girls called them 'muffs', for they had no +others and found the hot pies very comforting to their hands on cold +mornings. + +Hannah never forgot to make them, no matter how busy or grumpy she +might be, for the walk was long and bleak. The poor things got no other +lunch and were seldom home before two. + +"Cuddle your cats and get over your headache, Bethy. Goodbye, Marmee. +We are a set of rascals this morning, but we'll come home regular +angels. Now then, Meg!" And Jo tramped away, feeling that the +pilgrims were not setting out as they ought to do. + +They always looked back before turning the corner, for their mother was +always at the window to nod and smile, and wave her hand to them. +Somehow it seemed as if they couldn't have got through the day without +that, for whatever their mood might be, the last glimpse of that +motherly face was sure to affect them like sunshine. + +"If Marmee shook her fist instead of kissing her hand to us, it would +serve us right, for more ungrateful wretches than we are were never +seen," cried Jo, taking a remorseful satisfaction in the snowy walk and +bitter wind. + +"Don't use such dreadful expressions," replied Meg from the depths of +the veil in which she had shrouded herself like a nun sick of the world. + +"I like good strong words that mean something," replied Jo, catching +her hat as it took a leap off her head preparatory to flying away +altogether. + +"Call yourself any names you like, but I am neither a rascal nor a +wretch and I don't choose to be called so." + +"You're a blighted being, and decidedly cross today because you can't +sit in the lap of luxury all the time. Poor dear, just wait till I +make my fortune, and you shall revel in carriages and ice cream and +high-heeled slippers, and posies, and red-headed boys to dance with." + +"How ridiculous you are, Jo!" But Meg laughed at the nonsense and felt +better in spite of herself. + +"Lucky for you I am, for if I put on crushed airs and tried to be +dismal, as you do, we should be in a nice state. Thank goodness, I can +always find something funny to keep me up. Don't croak any more, but +come home jolly, there's a dear." + +Jo gave her sister an encouraging pat on the shoulder as they parted +for the day, each going a different way, each hugging her little warm +turnover, and each trying to be cheerful in spite of wintry weather, +hard work, and the unsatisfied desires of pleasure-loving youth. + +When Mr. March lost his property in trying to help an unfortunate +friend, the two oldest girls begged to be allowed to do something +toward their own support, at least. Believing that they could not +begin too early to cultivate energy, industry, and independence, their +parents consented, and both fell to work with the hearty good will +which in spite of all obstacles is sure to succeed at last. + +Margaret found a place as nursery governess and felt rich with her +small salary. As she said, she was 'fond of luxury', and her chief +trouble was poverty. She found it harder to bear than the others +because she could remember a time when home was beautiful, life full of +ease and pleasure, and want of any kind unknown. She tried not to be +envious or discontented, but it was very natural that the young girl +should long for pretty things, gay friends, accomplishments, and a +happy life. At the Kings' she daily saw all she wanted, for the +children's older sisters were just out, and Meg caught frequent +glimpses of dainty ball dresses and bouquets, heard lively gossip about +theaters, concerts, sleighing parties, and merrymakings of all kinds, +and saw money lavished on trifles which would have been so precious to +her. Poor Meg seldom complained, but a sense of injustice made her +feel bitter toward everyone sometimes, for she had not yet learned to +know how rich she was in the blessings which alone can make life happy. + +Jo happened to suit Aunt March, who was lame and needed an active +person to wait upon her. The childless old lady had offered to adopt +one of the girls when the troubles came, and was much offended because +her offer was declined. Other friends told the Marches that they had +lost all chance of being remembered in the rich old lady's will, but +the unworldly Marches only said... + +"We can't give up our girls for a dozen fortunes. Rich or poor, we +will keep together and be happy in one another." + +The old lady wouldn't speak to them for a time, but happening to meet +Jo at a friend's, something in her comical face and blunt manners +struck the old lady's fancy, and she proposed to take her for a +companion. This did not suit Jo at all, but she accepted the place +since nothing better appeared and, to every one's surprise, got on +remarkably well with her irascible relative. There was an occasional +tempest, and once Jo marched home, declaring she couldn't bear it +longer, but Aunt March always cleared up quickly, and sent for her to +come back again with such urgency that she could not refuse, for in her +heart she rather liked the peppery old lady. + +I suspect that the real attraction was a large library of fine books, +which was left to dust and spiders since Uncle March died. Jo +remembered the kind old gentleman, who used to let her build railroads +and bridges with his big dictionaries, tell her stories about queer +pictures in his Latin books, and buy her cards of gingerbread whenever +he met her in the street. The dim, dusty room, with the busts staring +down from the tall bookcases, the cozy chairs, the globes, and best of +all, the wilderness of books in which she could wander where she liked, +made the library a region of bliss to her. + +The moment Aunt March took her nap, or was busy with company, Jo +hurried to this quiet place, and curling herself up in the easy chair, +devoured poetry, romance, history, travels, and pictures like a regular +bookworm. But, like all happiness, it did not last long, for as sure +as she had just reached the heart of the story, the sweetest verse of a +song, or the most perilous adventure of her traveler, a shrill voice +called, "Josy-phine! Josy-phine!" and she had to leave her paradise to +wind yarn, wash the poodle, or read Belsham's Essays by the hour +together. + +Jo's ambition was to do something very splendid. What it was, she had +no idea as yet, but left it for time to tell her, and meanwhile, found +her greatest affliction in the fact that she couldn't read, run, and +ride as much as she liked. A quick temper, sharp tongue, and restless +spirit were always getting her into scrapes, and her life was a series +of ups and downs, which were both comic and pathetic. But the training +she received at Aunt March's was just what she needed, and the thought +that she was doing something to support herself made her happy in spite +of the perpetual "Josy-phine!" + +Beth was too bashful to go to school. It had been tried, but she +suffered so much that it was given up, and she did her lessons at home +with her father. Even when he went away, and her mother was called to +devote her skill and energy to Soldiers' Aid Societies, Beth went +faithfully on by herself and did the best she could. She was a +housewifely little creature, and helped Hannah keep home neat and +comfortable for the workers, never thinking of any reward but to be +loved. Long, quiet days she spent, not lonely nor idle, for her little +world was peopled with imaginary friends, and she was by nature a busy +bee. There were six dolls to be taken up and dressed every morning, +for Beth was a child still and loved her pets as well as ever. Not one +whole or handsome one among them, all were outcasts till Beth took them +in, for when her sisters outgrew these idols, they passed to her +because Amy would have nothing old or ugly. Beth cherished them all the +more tenderly for that very reason, and set up a hospital for infirm +dolls. No pins were ever stuck into their cotton vitals, no harsh +words or blows were ever given them, no neglect ever saddened the heart +of the most repulsive, but all were fed and clothed, nursed and +caressed with an affection which never failed. One forlorn fragment of +dollanity had belonged to Jo and, having led a tempestuous life, was +left a wreck in the rag bag, from which dreary poorhouse it was rescued +by Beth and taken to her refuge. Having no top to its head, she tied +on a neat little cap, and as both arms and legs were gone, she hid +these deficiencies by folding it in a blanket and devoting her best bed +to this chronic invalid. If anyone had known the care lavished on that +dolly, I think it would have touched their hearts, even while they +laughed. She brought it bits of bouquets, she read to it, took it out +to breathe fresh air, hidden under her coat, she sang it lullabies and +never went to bed without kissing its dirty face and whispering +tenderly, "I hope you'll have a good night, my poor dear." + +Beth had her troubles as well as the others, and not being an angel but +a very human little girl, she often 'wept a little weep' as Jo said, +because she couldn't take music lessons and have a fine piano. She +loved music so dearly, tried so hard to learn, and practiced away so +patiently at the jingling old instrument, that it did seem as if +someone (not to hint Aunt March) ought to help her. Nobody did, +however, and nobody saw Beth wipe the tears off the yellow keys, that +wouldn't keep in tune, when she was all alone. She sang like a little +lark about her work, never was too tired for Marmee and the girls, and +day after day said hopefully to herself, "I know I'll get my music some +time, if I'm good." + +There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners +till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the +sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and +the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow +behind. + +If anybody had asked Amy what the greatest trial of her life was, she +would have answered at once, "My nose." When she was a baby, Jo had +accidently dropped her into the coal hod, and Amy insisted that the +fall had ruined her nose forever. It was not big nor red, like poor +'Petrea's', it was only rather flat, and all the pinching in the world +could not give it an aristocratic point. No one minded it but herself, +and it was doing its best to grow, but Amy felt deeply the want of a +Grecian nose, and drew whole sheets of handsome ones to console herself. + +"Little Raphael," as her sisters called her, had a decided talent for +drawing, and was never so happy as when copying flowers, designing +fairies, or illustrating stories with queer specimens of art. Her +teachers complained that instead of doing her sums she covered her +slate with animals, the blank pages of her atlas were used to copy maps +on, and caricatures of the most ludicrous description came fluttering +out of all her books at unlucky moments. She got through her lessons +as well as she could, and managed to escape reprimands by being a model +of deportment. She was a great favorite with her mates, being +good-tempered and possessing the happy art of pleasing without effort. +Her little airs and graces were much admired, so were her +accomplishments, for besides her drawing, she could play twelve tunes, +crochet, and read French without mispronouncing more than two-thirds of +the words. She had a plaintive way of saying, "When Papa was rich we +did so-and-so," which was very touching, and her long words were +considered 'perfectly elegant' by the girls. + +Amy was in a fair way to be spoiled, for everyone petted her, and her +small vanities and selfishnesses were growing nicely. One thing, +however, rather quenched the vanities. She had to wear her cousin's +clothes. Now Florence's mama hadn't a particle of taste, and Amy +suffered deeply at having to wear a red instead of a blue bonnet, +unbecoming gowns, and fussy aprons that did not fit. Everything was +good, well made, and little worn, but Amy's artistic eyes were much +afflicted, especially this winter, when her school dress was a dull +purple with yellow dots and no trimming. + +"My only comfort," she said to Meg, with tears in her eyes, "is that +Mother doesn't take tucks in my dresses whenever I'm naughty, as Maria +Parks's mother does. My dear, it's really dreadful, for sometimes she +is so bad her frock is up to her knees, and she can't come to school. +When I think of this _deggerredation_, I feel that I can bear even my +flat nose and purple gown with yellow sky-rockets on it." + +Meg was Amy's confidant and monitor, and by some strange attraction of +opposites Jo was gentle Beth's. To Jo alone did the shy child tell her +thoughts, and over her big harum-scarum sister Beth unconsciously +exercised more influence than anyone in the family. The two older +girls were a great deal to one another, but each took one of the +younger sisters into her keeping and watched over her in her own way, +'playing mother' they called it, and put their sisters in the places of +discarded dolls with the maternal instinct of little women. + +"Has anybody got anything to tell? It's been such a dismal day I'm +really dying for some amusement," said Meg, as they sat sewing together +that evening. + +"I had a queer time with Aunt today, and, as I got the best of it, I'll +tell you about it," began Jo, who dearly loved to tell stories. "I was +reading that everlasting Belsham, and droning away as I always do, for +Aunt soon drops off, and then I take out some nice book, and read like +fury till she wakes up. I actually made myself sleepy, and before she +began to nod, I gave such a gape that she asked me what I meant by +opening my mouth wide enough to take the whole book in at once." + +"I wish I could, and be done with it," said I, trying not to be saucy. + +"Then she gave me a long lecture on my sins, and told me to sit and +think them over while she just 'lost' herself for a moment. She never +finds herself very soon, so the minute her cap began to bob like a +top-heavy dahlia, I whipped the _Vicar of Wakefield_ out of my pocket, +and read away, with one eye on him and one on Aunt. I'd just got to +where they all tumbled into the water when I forgot and laughed out +loud. Aunt woke up and, being more good-natured after her nap, told me +to read a bit and show what frivolous work I preferred to the worthy +and instructive Belsham. I did my very best, and she liked it, though +she only said... + +"'I don't understand what it's all about. Go back and begin it, +child.'" + +"Back I went, and made the Primroses as interesting as ever I could. +Once I was wicked enough to stop in a thrilling place, and say meekly, +'I'm afraid it tires you, ma'am. Shan't I stop now?'" + +"She caught up her knitting, which had dropped out of her hands, gave +me a sharp look through her specs, and said, in her short way, 'Finish +the chapter, and don't be impertinent, miss'." + +"Did she own she liked it?" asked Meg. + +"Oh, bless you, no! But she let old Belsham rest, and when I ran back +after my gloves this afternoon, there she was, so hard at the Vicar +that she didn't hear me laugh as I danced a jig in the hall because of +the good time coming. What a pleasant life she might have if only she +chose! I don't envy her much, in spite of her money, for after all +rich people have about as many worries as poor ones, I think," added Jo. + +"That reminds me," said Meg, "that I've got something to tell. It isn't +funny, like Jo's story, but I thought about it a good deal as I came +home. At the Kings' today I found everybody in a flurry, and one of +the children said that her oldest brother had done something dreadful, +and Papa had sent him away. I heard Mrs. King crying and Mr. King +talking very loud, and Grace and Ellen turned away their faces when +they passed me, so I shouldn't see how red and swollen their eyes were. +I didn't ask any questions, of course, but I felt so sorry for them and +was rather glad I hadn't any wild brothers to do wicked things and +disgrace the family." + +"I think being disgraced in school is a great deal try_inger_ than +anything bad boys can do," said Amy, shaking her head, as if her +experience of life had been a deep one. "Susie Perkins came to school +today with a lovely red carnelian ring. I wanted it dreadfully, and +wished I was her with all my might. Well, she drew a picture of Mr. +Davis, with a monstrous nose and a hump, and the words, 'Young ladies, +my eye is upon you!' coming out of his mouth in a balloon thing. We +were laughing over it when all of a sudden his eye _was_ on us, and he +ordered Susie to bring up her slate. She was _parry_lized with fright, +but she went, and oh, what _do_ you think he did? He took her by the +ear--the ear! Just fancy how horrid!--and led her to the recitation +platform, and made her stand there half an hour, holding the slate so +everyone could see." + +"Didn't the girls laugh at the picture?" asked Jo, who relished the +scrape. + +"Laugh? Not one! They sat still as mice, and Susie cried quarts, I know +she did. I didn't envy her then, for I felt that millions of carnelian +rings wouldn't have made me happy after that. I never, never should +have got over such a agonizing mortification." And Amy went on with her +work, in the proud consciousness of virtue and the successful utterance +of two long words in a breath. + +"I saw something I liked this morning, and I meant to tell it at +dinner, but I forgot," said Beth, putting Jo's topsy-turvy basket in +order as she talked. "When I went to get some oysters for Hannah, Mr. +Laurence was in the fish shop, but he didn't see me, for I kept behind +the fish barrel, and he was busy with Mr. Cutter the fish-man. A poor +woman came in with a pail and a mop, and asked Mr. Cutter if he would +let her do some scrubbing for a bit of fish, because she hadn't any +dinner for her children, and had been disappointed of a day's work. +Mr. Cutter was in a hurry and said 'No', rather crossly, so she was +going away, looking hungry and sorry, when Mr. Laurence hooked up a big +fish with the crooked end of his cane and held it out to her. She was +so glad and surprised she took it right into her arms, and thanked him +over and over. He told her to 'go along and cook it', and she hurried +off, so happy! Wasn't it good of him? Oh, she did look so funny, +hugging the big, slippery fish, and hoping Mr. Laurence's bed in heaven +would be 'aisy'." + +When they had laughed at Beth's story, they asked their mother for one, +and after a moments thought, she said soberly, "As I sat cutting out +blue flannel jackets today at the rooms, I felt very anxious about +Father, and thought how lonely and helpless we should be, if anything +happened to him. It was not a wise thing to do, but I kept on worrying +till an old man came in with an order for some clothes. He sat down +near me, and I began to talk to him, for he looked poor and tired and +anxious. + +"'Have you sons in the army?' I asked, for the note he brought was not +to me." + +"Yes, ma'am. I had four, but two were killed, one is a prisoner, and +I'm going to the other, who is very sick in a Washington hospital.' he +answered quietly." + +"'You have done a great deal for your country, sir,' I said, feeling +respect now, instead of pity." + +"'Not a mite more than I ought, ma'am. I'd go myself, if I was any +use. As I ain't, I give my boys, and give 'em free.'" + +"He spoke so cheerfully, looked so sincere, and seemed so glad to give +his all, that I was ashamed of myself. I'd given one man and thought +it too much, while he gave four without grudging them. I had all my +girls to comfort me at home, and his last son was waiting, miles away, +to say good-by to him, perhaps! I felt so rich, so happy thinking of +my blessings, that I made him a nice bundle, gave him some money, and +thanked him heartily for the lesson he had taught me." + +"Tell another story, Mother, one with a moral to it, like this. I like +to think about them afterward, if they are real and not too preachy," +said Jo, after a minute's silence. + +Mrs. March smiled and began at once, for she had told stories to this +little audience for many years, and knew how to please them. + +"Once upon a time, there were four girls, who had enough to eat and +drink and wear, a good many comforts and pleasures, kind friends and +parents who loved them dearly, and yet they were not contented." (Here +the listeners stole sly looks at one another, and began to sew +diligently.) "These girls were anxious to be good and made many +excellent resolutions, but they did not keep them very well, and were +constantly saying, 'If only we had this,' or 'If we could only do +that,' quite forgetting how much they already had, and how many things +they actually could do. So they asked an old woman what spell they +could use to make them happy, and she said, 'When you feel +discontented, think over your blessings, and be grateful.'" (Here Jo +looked up quickly, as if about to speak, but changed her mind, seeing +that the story was not done yet.) + +"Being sensible girls, they decided to try her advice, and soon were +surprised to see how well off they were. One discovered that money +couldn't keep shame and sorrow out of rich people's houses, another +that, though she was poor, she was a great deal happier, with her +youth, health, and good spirits, than a certain fretful, feeble old +lady who couldn't enjoy her comforts, a third that, disagreeable as it +was to help get dinner, it was harder still to go begging for it and +the fourth, that even carnelian rings were not so valuable as good +behavior. So they agreed to stop complaining, to enjoy the blessings +already possessed, and try to deserve them, lest they should be taken +away entirely, instead of increased, and I believe they were never +disappointed or sorry that they took the old woman's advice." + +"Now, Marmee, that is very cunning of you to turn our own stories +against us, and give us a sermon instead of a romance!" cried Meg. + +"I like that kind of sermon. It's the sort Father used to tell us," +said Beth thoughtfully, putting the needles straight on Jo's cushion. + +"I don't complain near as much as the others do, and I shall be more +careful than ever now, for I've had warning from Susie's downfall," +said Amy morally. + +"We needed that lesson, and we won't forget it. If we do so, you just +say to us, as old Chloe did in _Uncle Tom_, 'Tink ob yer marcies, +chillen!' 'Tink ob yer marcies!'" added Jo, who could not, for the life +of her, help getting a morsel of fun out of the little sermon, though +she took it to heart as much as any of them. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE + +BEING NEIGHBORLY + +"What in the world are you going to do now, Jo?" asked Meg one snowy +afternoon, as her sister came tramping through the hall, in rubber +boots, old sack, and hood, with a broom in one hand and a shovel in the +other. + +"Going out for exercise," answered Jo with a mischievous twinkle in her +eyes. + +"I should think two long walks this morning would have been enough! +It's cold and dull out, and I advise you to stay warm and dry by the +fire, as I do," said Meg with a shiver. + +"Never take advice! Can't keep still all day, and not being a +pussycat, I don't like to doze by the fire. I like adventures, and I'm +going to find some." + +Meg went back to toast her feet and read _Ivanhoe_, and Jo began to dig +paths with great energy. The snow was light, and with her broom she +soon swept a path all round the garden, for Beth to walk in when the +sun came out and the invalid dolls needed air. Now, the garden +separated the Marches' house from that of Mr. Laurence. Both stood in +a suburb of the city, which was still country-like, with groves and +lawns, large gardens, and quiet streets. A low hedge parted the two +estates. On one side was an old, brown house, looking rather bare and +shabby, robbed of the vines that in summer covered its walls and the +flowers, which then surrounded it. On the other side was a stately +stone mansion, plainly betokening every sort of comfort and luxury, +from the big coach house and well-kept grounds to the conservatory and +the glimpses of lovely things one caught between the rich curtains. + +Yet it seemed a lonely, lifeless sort of house, for no children +frolicked on the lawn, no motherly face ever smiled at the windows, and +few people went in and out, except the old gentleman and his grandson. + +To Jo's lively fancy, this fine house seemed a kind of enchanted +palace, full of splendors and delights which no one enjoyed. She had +long wanted to behold these hidden glories, and to know the Laurence +boy, who looked as if he would like to be known, if he only knew how to +begin. Since the party, she had been more eager than ever, and had +planned many ways of making friends with him, but he had not been seen +lately, and Jo began to think he had gone away, when she one day spied +a brown face at an upper window, looking wistfully down into their +garden, where Beth and Amy were snow-balling one another. + +"That boy is suffering for society and fun," she said to herself. "His +grandpa does not know what's good for him, and keeps him shut up all +alone. He needs a party of jolly boys to play with, or somebody young +and lively. I've a great mind to go over and tell the old gentleman +so!" + +The idea amused Jo, who liked to do daring things and was always +scandalizing Meg by her queer performances. The plan of 'going over' +was not forgotten. And when the snowy afternoon came, Jo resolved to +try what could be done. She saw Mr. Lawrence drive off, and then +sallied out to dig her way down to the hedge, where she paused and took +a survey. All quiet, curtains down at the lower windows, servants out +of sight, and nothing human visible but a curly black head leaning on a +thin hand at the upper window. + +"There he is," thought Jo, "Poor boy! All alone and sick this dismal +day. It's a shame! I'll toss up a snowball and make him look out, and +then say a kind word to him." + +Up went a handful of soft snow, and the head turned at once, showing a +face which lost its listless look in a minute, as the big eyes +brightened and the mouth began to smile. Jo nodded and laughed, and +flourished her broom as she called out... + +"How do you do? Are you sick?" + +Laurie opened the window, and croaked out as hoarsely as a raven... + +"Better, thank you. I've had a bad cold, and been shut up a week." + +"I'm sorry. What do you amuse yourself with?" + +"Nothing. It's dull as tombs up here." + +"Don't you read?" + +"Not much. They won't let me." + +"Can't somebody read to you?" + +"Grandpa does sometimes, but my books don't interest him, and I hate to +ask Brooke all the time." + +"Have someone come and see you then." + +"There isn't anyone I'd like to see. Boys make such a row, and my head +is weak." + +"Isn't there some nice girl who'd read and amuse you? Girls are quiet +and like to play nurse." + +"Don't know any." + +"You know us," began Jo, then laughed and stopped. + +"So I do! Will you come, please?" cried Laurie. + +"I'm not quiet and nice, but I'll come, if Mother will let me. I'll go +ask her. Shut the window, like a good boy, and wait till I come." + +With that, Jo shouldered her broom and marched into the house, +wondering what they would all say to her. Laurie was in a flutter of +excitement at the idea of having company, and flew about to get ready, +for as Mrs. March said, he was 'a little gentleman', and did honor to +the coming guest by brushing his curly pate, putting on a fresh collar, +and trying to tidy up the room, which in spite of half a dozen +servants, was anything but neat. Presently there came a loud ring, +than a decided voice, asking for 'Mr. Laurie', and a surprised-looking +servant came running up to announce a young lady. + +"All right, show her up, it's Miss Jo," said Laurie, going to the door +of his little parlor to meet Jo, who appeared, looking rosy and quite +at her ease, with a covered dish in one hand and Beth's three kittens +in the other. + +"Here I am, bag and baggage," she said briskly. "Mother sent her love, +and was glad if I could do anything for you. Meg wanted me to bring +some of her blanc mange, she makes it very nicely, and Beth thought her +cats would be comforting. I knew you'd laugh at them, but I couldn't +refuse, she was so anxious to do something." + +It so happened that Beth's funny loan was just the thing, for in +laughing over the kits, Laurie forgot his bashfulness, and grew +sociable at once. + +"That looks too pretty to eat," he said, smiling with pleasure, as Jo +uncovered the dish, and showed the blanc mange, surrounded by a garland +of green leaves, and the scarlet flowers of Amy's pet geranium. + +"It isn't anything, only they all felt kindly and wanted to show it. +Tell the girl to put it away for your tea. It's so simple you can eat +it, and being soft, it will slip down without hurting your sore throat. +What a cozy room this is!" + +"It might be if it was kept nice, but the maids are lazy, and I don't +know how to make them mind. It worries me though." + +"I'll right it up in two minutes, for it only needs to have the hearth +brushed, so--and the things made straight on the mantelpiece, so--and +the books put here, and the bottles there, and your sofa turned from +the light, and the pillows plumped up a bit. Now then, you're fixed." + +And so he was, for, as she laughed and talked, Jo had whisked things +into place and given quite a different air to the room. Laurie watched +her in respectful silence, and when she beckoned him to his sofa, he +sat down with a sigh of satisfaction, saying gratefully... + +"How kind you are! Yes, that's what it wanted. Now please take the +big chair and let me do something to amuse my company." + +"No, I came to amuse you. Shall I read aloud?" and Jo looked +affectionately toward some inviting books near by. + +"Thank you! I've read all those, and if you don't mind, I'd rather +talk," answered Laurie. + +"Not a bit. I'll talk all day if you'll only set me going. Beth says I +never know when to stop." + +"Is Beth the rosy one, who stays at home good deal and sometimes goes +out with a little basket?" asked Laurie with interest. + +"Yes, that's Beth. She's my girl, and a regular good one she is, too." + +"The pretty one is Meg, and the curly-haired one is Amy, I believe?" + +"How did you find that out?" + +Laurie colored up, but answered frankly, "Why, you see I often hear you +calling to one another, and when I'm alone up here, I can't help +looking over at your house, you always seem to be having such good +times. I beg your pardon for being so rude, but sometimes you forget +to put down the curtain at the window where the flowers are. And when +the lamps are lighted, it's like looking at a picture to see the fire, +and you all around the table with your mother. Her face is right +opposite, and it looks so sweet behind the flowers, I can't help +watching it. I haven't got any mother, you know." And Laurie poked the +fire to hide a little twitching of the lips that he could not control. + +The solitary, hungry look in his eyes went straight to Jo's warm heart. +She had been so simply taught that there was no nonsense in her head, +and at fifteen she was as innocent and frank as any child. Laurie was +sick and lonely, and feeling how rich she was in home and happiness, +she gladly tried to share it with him. Her face was very friendly and +her sharp voice unusually gentle as she said... + +"We'll never draw that curtain any more, and I give you leave to look +as much as you like. I just wish, though, instead of peeping, you'd +come over and see us. Mother is so splendid, she'd do you heaps of +good, and Beth would sing to you if I begged her to, and Amy would +dance. Meg and I would make you laugh over our funny stage properties, +and we'd have jolly times. Wouldn't your grandpa let you?" + +"I think he would, if your mother asked him. He's very kind, though he +does not look so, and he lets me do what I like, pretty much, only he's +afraid I might be a bother to strangers," began Laurie, brightening +more and more. + +"We are not strangers, we are neighbors, and you needn't think you'd be +a bother. We want to know you, and I've been trying to do it this ever +so long. We haven't been here a great while, you know, but we have got +acquainted with all our neighbors but you." + +"You see, Grandpa lives among his books, and doesn't mind much what +happens outside. Mr. Brooke, my tutor, doesn't stay here, you know, +and I have no one to go about with me, so I just stop at home and get +on as I can." + +"That's bad. You ought to make an effort and go visiting everywhere +you are asked, then you'll have plenty of friends, and pleasant places +to go to. Never mind being bashful. It won't last long if you keep +going." + +Laurie turned red again, but wasn't offended at being accused of +bashfulness, for there was so much good will in Jo it was impossible +not to take her blunt speeches as kindly as they were meant. + +"Do you like your school?" asked the boy, changing the subject, after a +little pause, during which he stared at the fire and Jo looked about +her, well pleased. + +"Don't go to school, I'm a businessman--girl, I mean. I go to wait on +my great-aunt, and a dear, cross old soul she is, too," answered Jo. + +Laurie opened his mouth to ask another question, but remembering just +in time that it wasn't manners to make too many inquiries into people's +affairs, he shut it again, and looked uncomfortable. + +Jo liked his good breeding, and didn't mind having a laugh at Aunt +March, so she gave him a lively description of the fidgety old lady, +her fat poodle, the parrot that talked Spanish, and the library where +she reveled. + +Laurie enjoyed that immensely, and when she told about the prim old +gentleman who came once to woo Aunt March, and in the middle of a fine +speech, how Poll had tweaked his wig off to his great dismay, the boy +lay back and laughed till the tears ran down his cheeks, and a maid +popped her head in to see what was the matter. + +"Oh! That does me no end of good. Tell on, please," he said, taking +his face out of the sofa cushion, red and shining with merriment. + +Much elated with her success, Jo did 'tell on', all about their plays +and plans, their hopes and fears for Father, and the most interesting +events of the little world in which the sisters lived. Then they got +to talking about books, and to Jo's delight, she found that Laurie +loved them as well as she did, and had read even more than herself. + +"If you like them so much, come down and see ours. Grandfather is out, +so you needn't be afraid," said Laurie, getting up. + +"I'm not afraid of anything," returned Jo, with a toss of the head. + +"I don't believe you are!" exclaimed the boy, looking at her with much +admiration, though he privately thought she would have good reason to +be a trifle afraid of the old gentleman, if she met him in some of his +moods. + +The atmosphere of the whole house being summerlike, Laurie led the way +from room to room, letting Jo stop to examine whatever struck her +fancy. And so, at last they came to the library, where she clapped her +hands and pranced, as she always did when especially delighted. It was +lined with books, and there were pictures and statues, and distracting +little cabinets full of coins and curiosities, and Sleepy Hollow +chairs, and queer tables, and bronzes, and best of all, a great open +fireplace with quaint tiles all round it. + +"What richness!" sighed Jo, sinking into the depth of a velour chair +and gazing about her with an air of intense satisfaction. "Theodore +Laurence, you ought to be the happiest boy in the world," she added +impressively. + +"A fellow can't live on books," said Laurie, shaking his head as he +perched on a table opposite. + +Before he could more, a bell rang, and Jo flew up, exclaiming with +alarm, "Mercy me! It's your grandpa!" + +"Well, what if it is? You are not afraid of anything, you know," +returned the boy, looking wicked. + +"I think I am a little bit afraid of him, but I don't know why I should +be. Marmee said I might come, and I don't think you're any the worse +for it," said Jo, composing herself, though she kept her eyes on the +door. + +"I'm a great deal better for it, and ever so much obliged. I'm only +afraid you are very tired of talking to me. It was so pleasant, I +couldn't bear to stop," said Laurie gratefully. + +"The doctor to see you, sir," and the maid beckoned as she spoke. + +"Would you mind if I left you for a minute? I suppose I must see him," +said Laurie. + +"Don't mind me. I'm happy as a cricket here," answered Jo. + +Laurie went away, and his guest amused herself in her own way. She was +standing before a fine portrait of the old gentleman when the door +opened again, and without turning, she said decidedly, "I'm sure now +that I shouldn't be afraid of him, for he's got kind eyes, though his +mouth is grim, and he looks as if he had a tremendous will of his own. +He isn't as handsome as my grandfather, but I like him." + +"Thank you, ma'am," said a gruff voice behind her, and there, to her +great dismay, stood old Mr. Laurence. + +Poor Jo blushed till she couldn't blush any redder, and her heart began +to beat uncomfortably fast as she thought what she had said. For a +minute a wild desire to run away possessed her, but that was cowardly, +and the girls would laugh at her, so she resolved to stay and get out +of the scrape as she could. A second look showed her that the living +eyes, under the bushy eyebrows, were kinder even than the painted ones, +and there was a sly twinkle in them, which lessened her fear a good +deal. The gruff voice was gruffer than ever, as the old gentleman said +abruptly, after the dreadful pause, "So you're not afraid of me, hey?" + +"Not much, sir." + +"And you don't think me as handsome as your grandfather?" + +"Not quite, sir." + +"And I've got a tremendous will, have I?" + +"I only said I thought so." + +"But you like me in spite of it?" + +"Yes, I do, sir." + +That answer pleased the old gentleman. He gave a short laugh, shook +hands with her, and, putting his finger under her chin, turned up her +face, examined it gravely, and let it go, saying with a nod, "You've +got your grandfather's spirit, if you haven't his face. He was a fine +man, my dear, but what is better, he was a brave and an honest one, and +I was proud to be his friend." + +"Thank you, sir," And Jo was quite comfortable after that, for it +suited her exactly. + +"What have you been doing to this boy of mine, hey?" was the next +question, sharply put. + +"Only trying to be neighborly, sir." And Jo told how her visit came +about. + +"You think he needs cheering up a bit, do you?" + +"Yes, sir, he seems a little lonely, and young folks would do him good +perhaps. We are only girls, but we should be glad to help if we could, +for we don't forget the splendid Christmas present you sent us," said +Jo eagerly. + +"Tut, tut, tut! That was the boy's affair. How is the poor woman?" + +"Doing nicely, sir." And off went Jo, talking very fast, as she told +all about the Hummels, in whom her mother had interested richer friends +than they were. + +"Just her father's way of doing good. I shall come and see your mother +some fine day. Tell her so. There's the tea bell, we have it early on +the boy's account. Come down and go on being neighborly." + +"If you'd like to have me, sir." + +"Shouldn't ask you, if I didn't." And Mr. Laurence offered her his arm +with old-fashioned courtesy. + +"What would Meg say to this?" thought Jo, as she was marched away, +while her eyes danced with fun as she imagined herself telling the +story at home. + +"Hey! Why, what the dickens has come to the fellow?" said the old +gentleman, as Laurie came running downstairs and brought up with a +start of surprise at the astounding sight of Jo arm in arm with his +redoubtable grandfather. + +"I didn't know you'd come, sir," he began, as Jo gave him a triumphant +little glance. + +"That's evident, by the way you racket downstairs. Come to your tea, +sir, and behave like a gentleman." And having pulled the boy's hair by +way of a caress, Mr. Laurence walked on, while Laurie went through a +series of comic evolutions behind their backs, which nearly produced an +explosion of laughter from Jo. + +The old gentleman did not say much as he drank his four cups of tea, +but he watched the young people, who soon chatted away like old +friends, and the change in his grandson did not escape him. There was +color, light, and life in the boy's face now, vivacity in his manner, +and genuine merriment in his laugh. + +"She's right, the lad is lonely. I'll see what these little girls can +do for him," thought Mr. Laurence, as he looked and listened. He liked +Jo, for her odd, blunt ways suited him, and she seemed to understand +the boy almost as well as if she had been one herself. + +If the Laurences had been what Jo called 'prim and poky', she would not +have got on at all, for such people always made her shy and awkward. +But finding them free and easy, she was so herself, and made a good +impression. When they rose she proposed to go, but Laurie said he had +something more to show her, and took her away to the conservatory, +which had been lighted for her benefit. It seemed quite fairylike to +Jo, as she went up and down the walks, enjoying the blooming walls on +either side, the soft light, the damp sweet air, and the wonderful +vines and trees that hung about her, while her new friend cut the +finest flowers till his hands were full. Then he tied them up, saying, +with the happy look Jo liked to see, "Please give these to your mother, +and tell her I like the medicine she sent me very much." + +They found Mr. Laurence standing before the fire in the great drawing +room, but Jo's attention was entirely absorbed by a grand piano, which +stood open. + +"Do you play?" she asked, turning to Laurie with a respectful +expression. + +"Sometimes," he answered modestly. + +"Please do now. I want to hear it, so I can tell Beth." + +"Won't you first?" + +"Don't know how. Too stupid to learn, but I love music dearly." + +So Laurie played and Jo listened, with her nose luxuriously buried in +heliotrope and tea roses. Her respect and regard for the 'Laurence' +boy increased very much, for he played remarkably well and didn't put +on any airs. She wished Beth could hear him, but she did not say so, +only praised him till he was quite abashed, and his grandfather came to +his rescue. + +"That will do, that will do, young lady. Too many sugarplums are not +good for him. His music isn't bad, but I hope he will do as well in +more important things. Going? well, I'm much obliged to you, and I +hope you'll come again. My respects to your mother. Good night, Doctor +Jo." + +He shook hands kindly, but looked as if something did not please him. +When they got into the hall, Jo asked Laurie if she had said something +amiss. He shook his head. + +"No, it was me. He doesn't like to hear me play." + +"Why not?" + +"I'll tell you some day. John is going home with you, as I can't." + +"No need of that. I am not a young lady, and it's only a step. Take +care of yourself, won't you?" + +"Yes, but you will come again, I hope?" + +"If you promise to come and see us after you are well." + +"I will." + +"Good night, Laurie!" + +"Good night, Jo, good night!" + +When all the afternoon's adventures had been told, the family felt +inclined to go visiting in a body, for each found something very +attractive in the big house on the other side of the hedge. Mrs. March +wanted to talk of her father with the old man who had not forgotten +him, Meg longed to walk in the conservatory, Beth sighed for the grand +piano, and Amy was eager to see the fine pictures and statues. + +"Mother, why didn't Mr. Laurence like to have Laurie play?" asked Jo, +who was of an inquiring disposition. + +"I am not sure, but I think it was because his son, Laurie's father, +married an Italian lady, a musician, which displeased the old man, who +is very proud. The lady was good and lovely and accomplished, but he +did not like her, and never saw his son after he married. They both +died when Laurie was a little child, and then his grandfather took him +home. I fancy the boy, who was born in Italy, is not very strong, and +the old man is afraid of losing him, which makes him so careful. +Laurie comes naturally by his love of music, for he is like his mother, +and I dare say his grandfather fears that he may want to be a musician. +At any rate, his skill reminds him of the woman he did not like, and so +he 'glowered' as Jo said." + +"Dear me, how romantic!" exclaimed Meg. + +"How silly!" said Jo. "Let him be a musician if he wants to, and not +plague his life out sending him to college, when he hates to go." + +"That's why he has such handsome black eyes and pretty manners, I +suppose. Italians are always nice," said Meg, who was a little +sentimental. + +"What do you know about his eyes and his manners? You never spoke to +him, hardly," cried Jo, who was not sentimental. + +"I saw him at the party, and what you tell shows that he knows how to +behave. That was a nice little speech about the medicine Mother sent +him." + +"He meant the blanc mange, I suppose." + +"How stupid you are, child! He meant you, of course." + +"Did he?" And Jo opened her eyes as if it had never occurred to her +before. + +"I never saw such a girl! You don't know a compliment when you get +it," said Meg, with the air of a young lady who knew all about the +matter. + +"I think they are great nonsense, and I'll thank you not to be silly +and spoil my fun. Laurie's a nice boy and I like him, and I won't have +any sentimental stuff about compliments and such rubbish. We'll all be +good to him because he hasn't got any mother, and he may come over and +see us, mayn't he, Marmee?" + +"Yes, Jo, your little friend is very welcome, and I hope Meg will +remember that children should be children as long as they can." + +"I don't call myself a child, and I'm not in my teens yet," observed +Amy. "What do you say, Beth?" + +"I was thinking about our '_Pilgrim's Progress_'," answered Beth, who +had not heard a word. "How we got out of the Slough and through the +Wicket Gate by resolving to be good, and up the steep hill by trying, +and that maybe the house over there, full of splendid things, is going +to be our Palace Beautiful." + +"We have got to get by the lions first," said Jo, as if she rather +liked the prospect. + + + +CHAPTER SIX + +BETH FINDS THE PALACE BEAUTIFUL + +The big house did prove a Palace Beautiful, though it took some time +for all to get in, and Beth found it very hard to pass the lions. Old +Mr. Laurence was the biggest one, but after he had called, said +something funny or kind to each one of the girls, and talked over old +times with their mother, nobody felt much afraid of him, except timid +Beth. The other lion was the fact that they were poor and Laurie rich, +for this made them shy of accepting favors which they could not return. +But, after a while, they found that he considered them the benefactors, +and could not do enough to show how grateful he was for Mrs. March's +motherly welcome, their cheerful society, and the comfort he took in +that humble home of theirs. So they soon forgot their pride and +interchanged kindnesses without stopping to think which was the greater. + +All sorts of pleasant things happened about that time, for the new +friendship flourished like grass in spring. Every one liked Laurie, +and he privately informed his tutor that "the Marches were regularly +splendid girls." With the delightful enthusiasm of youth, they took +the solitary boy into their midst and made much of him, and he found +something very charming in the innocent companionship of these +simple-hearted girls. Never having known mother or sisters, he was +quick to feel the influences they brought about him, and their busy, +lively ways made him ashamed of the indolent life he led. He was tired +of books, and found people so interesting now that Mr. Brooke was +obliged to make very unsatisfactory reports, for Laurie was always +playing truant and running over to the Marches'. + +"Never mind, let him take a holiday, and make it up afterward," said +the old gentleman. "The good lady next door says he is studying too +hard and needs young society, amusement, and exercise. I suspect she +is right, and that I've been coddling the fellow as if I'd been his +grandmother. Let him do what he likes, as long as he is happy. He +can't get into mischief in that little nunnery over there, and Mrs. +March is doing more for him than we can." + +What good times they had, to be sure. Such plays and tableaux, such +sleigh rides and skating frolics, such pleasant evenings in the old +parlor, and now and then such gay little parties at the great house. +Meg could walk in the conservatory whenever she liked and revel in +bouquets, Jo browsed over the new library voraciously, and convulsed +the old gentleman with her criticisms, Amy copied pictures and enjoyed +beauty to her heart's content, and Laurie played 'lord of the manor' in +the most delightful style. + +But Beth, though yearning for the grand piano, could not pluck up +courage to go to the 'Mansion of Bliss', as Meg called it. She went +once with Jo, but the old gentleman, not being aware of her infirmity, +stared at her so hard from under his heavy eyebrows, and said "Hey!" so +loud, that he frightened her so much her 'feet chattered on the floor', +she never told her mother, and she ran away, declaring she would never +go there any more, not even for the dear piano. No persuasions or +enticements could overcome her fear, till, the fact coming to Mr. +Laurence's ear in some mysterious way, he set about mending matters. +During one of the brief calls he made, he artfully led the conversation +to music, and talked away about great singers whom he had seen, fine +organs he had heard, and told such charming anecdotes that Beth found +it impossible to stay in her distant corner, but crept nearer and +nearer, as if fascinated. At the back of his chair she stopped and +stood listening, with her great eyes wide open and her cheeks red with +excitement of this unusual performance. Taking no more notice of her +than if she had been a fly, Mr. Laurence talked on about Laurie's +lessons and teachers. And presently, as if the idea had just occurred +to him, he said to Mrs. March... + +"The boy neglects his music now, and I'm glad of it, for he was getting +too fond of it. But the piano suffers for want of use. Wouldn't some +of your girls like to run over, and practice on it now and then, just +to keep it in tune, you know, ma'am?" + +Beth took a step forward, and pressed her hands tightly together to +keep from clapping them, for this was an irresistible temptation, and +the thought of practicing on that splendid instrument quite took her +breath away. Before Mrs. March could reply, Mr. Laurence went on with +an odd little nod and smile... + +"They needn't see or speak to anyone, but run in at any time. For I'm +shut up in my study at the other end of the house, Laurie is out a +great deal, and the servants are never near the drawing room after nine +o'clock." + +Here he rose, as if going, and Beth made up her mind to speak, for that +last arrangement left nothing to be desired. "Please, tell the young +ladies what I say, and if they don't care to come, why, never mind." +Here a little hand slipped into his, and Beth looked up at him with a +face full of gratitude, as she said, in her earnest yet timid way... + +"Oh sir, they do care, very very much!" + +"Are you the musical girl?" he asked, without any startling "Hey!" as +he looked down at her very kindly. + +"I'm Beth. I love it dearly, and I'll come, if you are quite sure +nobody will hear me, and be disturbed," she added, fearing to be rude, +and trembling at her own boldness as she spoke. + +"Not a soul, my dear. The house is empty half the day, so come and +drum away as much as you like, and I shall be obliged to you." + +"How kind you are, sir!" + +Beth blushed like a rose under the friendly look he wore, but she was +not frightened now, and gave the hand a grateful squeeze because she +had no words to thank him for the precious gift he had given her. The +old gentleman softly stroked the hair off her forehead, and, stooping +down, he kissed her, saying, in a tone few people ever heard... + +"I had a little girl once, with eyes like these. God bless you, my +dear! Good day, madam." And away he went, in a great hurry. + +Beth had a rapture with her mother, and then rushed up to impart the +glorious news to her family of invalids, as the girls were not home. +How blithely she sang that evening, and how they all laughed at her +because she woke Amy in the night by playing the piano on her face in +her sleep. Next day, having seen both the old and young gentleman out +of the house, Beth, after two or three retreats, fairly got in at the +side door, and made her way as noiselessly as any mouse to the drawing +room where her idol stood. Quite by accident, of course, some pretty, +easy music lay on the piano, and with trembling fingers and frequent +stops to listen and look about, Beth at last touched the great +instrument, and straightway forgot her fear, herself, and everything +else but the unspeakable delight which the music gave her, for it was +like the voice of a beloved friend. + +She stayed till Hannah came to take her home to dinner, but she had no +appetite, and could only sit and smile upon everyone in a general state +of beatitude. + +After that, the little brown hood slipped through the hedge nearly +every day, and the great drawing room was haunted by a tuneful spirit +that came and went unseen. She never knew that Mr. Laurence opened his +study door to hear the old-fashioned airs he liked. She never saw +Laurie mount guard in the hall to warn the servants away. She never +suspected that the exercise books and new songs which she found in the +rack were put there for her especial benefit, and when he talked to her +about music at home, she only thought how kind he was to tell things +that helped her so much. So she enjoyed herself heartily, and found, +what isn't always the case, that her granted wish was all she had +hoped. Perhaps it was because she was so grateful for this blessing +that a greater was given her. At any rate she deserved both. + +"Mother, I'm going to work Mr. Laurence a pair of slippers. He is so +kind to me, I must thank him, and I don't know any other way. Can I do +it?" asked Beth, a few weeks after that eventful call of his. + +"Yes, dear. It will please him very much, and be a nice way of +thanking him. The girls will help you about them, and I will pay for +the making up," replied Mrs. March, who took peculiar pleasure in +granting Beth's requests because she so seldom asked anything for +herself. + +After many serious discussions with Meg and Jo, the pattern was chosen, +the materials bought, and the slippers begun. A cluster of grave yet +cheerful pansies on a deeper purple ground was pronounced very +appropriate and pretty, and Beth worked away early and late, with +occasional lifts over hard parts. She was a nimble little needlewoman, +and they were finished before anyone got tired of them. Then she wrote +a short, simple note, and with Laurie's help, got them smuggled onto +the study table one morning before the old gentleman was up. + +When this excitement was over, Beth waited to see what would happen. +All day passed and a part of the next before any acknowledgement +arrived, and she was beginning to fear she had offended her crochety +friend. On the afternoon of the second day, she went out to do an +errand, and give poor Joanna, the invalid doll, her daily exercise. As +she came up the street, on her return, she saw three, yes, four heads +popping in and out of the parlor windows, and the moment they saw her, +several hands were waved, and several joyful voices screamed... + +"Here's a letter from the old gentleman! Come quick, and read it!" + +"Oh, Beth, he's sent you..." began Amy, gesticulating with unseemly +energy, but she got no further, for Jo quenched her by slamming down +the window. + +Beth hurried on in a flutter of suspense. At the door her sisters +seized and bore her to the parlor in a triumphal procession, all +pointing and all saying at once, "Look there! Look there!" Beth did +look, and turned pale with delight and surprise, for there stood a +little cabinet piano, with a letter lying on the glossy lid, directed +like a sign board to "Miss Elizabeth March." + +"For me?" gasped Beth, holding onto Jo and feeling as if she should +tumble down, it was such an overwhelming thing altogether. + +"Yes, all for you, my precious! Isn't it splendid of him? Don't you +think he's the dearest old man in the world? Here's the key in the +letter. We didn't open it, but we are dying to know what he says," +cried Jo, hugging her sister and offering the note. + +"You read it! I can't, I feel so queer! Oh, it is too lovely!" and +Beth hid her face in Jo's apron, quite upset by her present. + +Jo opened the paper and began to laugh, for the first words she saw +were... + +"Miss March: "Dear Madam--" + +"How nice it sounds! I wish someone would write to me so!" said Amy, +who thought the old-fashioned address very elegant. + +"'I have had many pairs of slippers in my life, but I never had any +that suited me so well as yours,'" continues Jo. "'Heart's-ease is my +favorite flower, and these will always remind me of the gentle giver. +I like to pay my debts, so I know you will allow 'the old gentleman' to +send you something which once belonged to the little grand daughter he +lost. With hearty thanks and best wishes, I remain "'Your grateful +friend and humble servant, 'JAMES LAURENCE'." + +"There, Beth, that's an honor to be proud of, I'm sure! Laurie told me +how fond Mr. Laurence used to be of the child who died, and how he kept +all her little things carefully. Just think, he's given you her piano. +That comes of having big blue eyes and loving music," said Jo, trying +to soothe Beth, who trembled and looked more excited than she had ever +been before. + +"See the cunning brackets to hold candles, and the nice green silk, +puckered up, with a gold rose in the middle, and the pretty rack and +stool, all complete," added Meg, opening the instrument and displaying +its beauties. + +"'Your humble servant, James Laurence'. Only think of his writing that +to you. I'll tell the girls. They'll think it's splendid," said Amy, +much impressed by the note. + +"Try it, honey. Let's hear the sound of the baby pianny," said Hannah, +who always took a share in the family joys and sorrows. + +So Beth tried it, and everyone pronounced it the most remarkable piano +ever heard. It had evidently been newly tuned and put in apple-pie +order, but, perfect as it was, I think the real charm lay in the +happiest of all happy faces which leaned over it, as Beth lovingly +touched the beautiful black and white keys and pressed the bright +pedals. + +"You'll have to go and thank him," said Jo, by way of a joke, for the +idea of the child's really going never entered her head. + +"Yes, I mean to. I guess I'll go now, before I get frightened thinking +about it." And, to the utter amazement of the assembled family, Beth +walked deliberately down the garden, through the hedge, and in at the +Laurences' door. + +"Well, I wish I may die if it ain't the queerest thing I ever see! The +pianny has turned her head! She'd never have gone in her right mind," +cried Hannah, staring after her, while the girls were rendered quite +speechless by the miracle. + +They would have been still more amazed if they had seen what Beth did +afterward. If you will believe me, she went and knocked at the study +door before she gave herself time to think, and when a gruff voice +called out, "come in!" she did go in, right up to Mr. Laurence, who +looked quite taken aback, and held out her hand, saying, with only a +small quaver in her voice, "I came to thank you, sir, for..." But she +didn't finish, for he looked so friendly that she forgot her speech +and, only remembering that he had lost the little girl he loved, she +put both arms round his neck and kissed him. + +If the roof of the house had suddenly flown off, the old gentleman +wouldn't have been more astonished. But he liked it. Oh, dear, yes, he +liked it amazingly! And was so touched and pleased by that confiding +little kiss that all his crustiness vanished, and he just set her on +his knee, and laid his wrinkled cheek against her rosy one, feeling as +if he had got his own little granddaughter back again. Beth ceased to +fear him from that moment, and sat there talking to him as cozily as if +she had known him all her life, for love casts out fear, and gratitude +can conquer pride. When she went home, he walked with her to her own +gate, shook hands cordially, and touched his hat as he marched back +again, looking very stately and erect, like a handsome, soldierly old +gentleman, as he was. + +When the girls saw that performance, Jo began to dance a jig, by way of +expressing her satisfaction, Amy nearly fell out of the window in her +surprise, and Meg exclaimed, with up-lifted hands, "Well, I do believe +the world is coming to an end." + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN + +AMY'S VALLEY OF HUMILIATION + +"That boy is a perfect cyclops, isn't he?" said Amy one day, as Laurie +clattered by on horseback, with a flourish of his whip as he passed. + +"How dare you say so, when he's got both his eyes? And very handsome +ones they are, too," cried Jo, who resented any slighting remarks about +her friend. + +"I didn't say anything about his eyes, and I don't see why you need +fire up when I admire his riding." + +"Oh, my goodness! That little goose means a centaur, and she called +him a Cyclops," exclaimed Jo, with a burst of laughter. + +"You needn't be so rude, it's only a 'lapse of lingy', as Mr. Davis +says," retorted Amy, finishing Jo with her Latin. "I just wish I had a +little of the money Laurie spends on that horse," she added, as if to +herself, yet hoping her sisters would hear. + +"Why?" asked Meg kindly, for Jo had gone off in another laugh at Amy's +second blunder. + +"I need it so much. I'm dreadfully in debt, and it won't be my turn to +have the rag money for a month." + +"In debt, Amy? What do you mean?" And Meg looked sober. + +"Why, I owe at least a dozen pickled limes, and I can't pay them, you +know, till I have money, for Marmee forbade my having anything charged +at the shop." + +"Tell me all about it. Are limes the fashion now? It used to be +pricking bits of rubber to make balls." And Meg tried to keep her +countenance, Amy looked so grave and important. + +"Why, you see, the girls are always buying them, and unless you want to +be thought mean, you must do it too. It's nothing but limes now, for +everyone is sucking them in their desks in schooltime, and trading them +off for pencils, bead rings, paper dolls, or something else, at recess. +If one girl likes another, she gives her a lime. If she's mad with +her, she eats one before her face, and doesn't offer even a suck. They +treat by turns, and I've had ever so many but haven't returned them, +and I ought for they are debts of honor, you know." + +"How much will pay them off and restore your credit?" asked Meg, taking +out her purse. + +"A quarter would more than do it, and leave a few cents over for a +treat for you. Don't you like limes?" + +"Not much. You may have my share. Here's the money. Make it last as +long as you can, for it isn't very plenty, you know." + +"Oh, thank you! It must be so nice to have pocket money! I'll have a +grand feast, for I haven't tasted a lime this week. I felt delicate +about taking any, as I couldn't return them, and I'm actually suffering +for one." + +Next day Amy was rather late at school, but could not resist the +temptation of displaying, with pardonable pride, a moist brown-paper +parcel, before she consigned it to the inmost recesses of her desk. +During the next few minutes the rumor that Amy March had got +twenty-four delicious limes (she ate one on the way) and was going to +treat circulated through her 'set', and the attentions of her friends +became quite overwhelming. Katy Brown invited her to her next party on +the spot. Mary Kingsley insisted on lending her her watch till recess, +and Jenny Snow, a satirical young lady, who had basely twitted Amy upon +her limeless state, promptly buried the hatchet and offered to furnish +answers to certain appalling sums. But Amy had not forgotten Miss +Snow's cutting remarks about 'some persons whose noses were not too +flat to smell other people's limes, and stuck-up people who were not +too proud to ask for them', and she instantly crushed 'that Snow +girl's' hopes by the withering telegram, "You needn't be so polite all +of a sudden, for you won't get any." + +A distinguished personage happened to visit the school that morning, +and Amy's beautifully drawn maps received praise, which honor to her +foe rankled in the soul of Miss Snow, and caused Miss March to assume +the airs of a studious young peacock. But, alas, alas! Pride goes +before a fall, and the revengeful Snow turned the tables with +disastrous success. No sooner had the guest paid the usual stale +compliments and bowed himself out, than Jenny, under pretense of asking +an important question, informed Mr. Davis, the teacher, that Amy March +had pickled limes in her desk. + +Now Mr. Davis had declared limes a contraband article, and solemnly +vowed to publicly ferrule the first person who was found breaking the +law. This much-enduring man had succeeded in banishing chewing gum +after a long and stormy war, had made a bonfire of the confiscated +novels and newspapers, had suppressed a private post office, had +forbidden distortions of the face, nicknames, and caricatures, and done +all that one man could do to keep half a hundred rebellious girls in +order. Boys are trying enough to human patience, goodness knows, but +girls are infinitely more so, especially to nervous gentlemen with +tyrannical tempers and no more talent for teaching than Dr. Blimber. +Mr. Davis knew any quantity of Greek, Latin, algebra, and ologies of +all sorts so he was called a fine teacher, and manners, morals, +feelings, and examples were not considered of any particular +importance. It was a most unfortunate moment for denouncing Amy, and +Jenny knew it. Mr. Davis had evidently taken his coffee too strong +that morning, there was an east wind, which always affected his +neuralgia, and his pupils had not done him the credit which he felt he +deserved. Therefore, to use the expressive, if not elegant, language +of a schoolgirl, "He was as nervous as a witch and as cross as a bear". +The word 'limes' was like fire to powder, his yellow face flushed, and +he rapped on his desk with an energy which made Jenny skip to her seat +with unusual rapidity. + +"Young ladies, attention, if you please!" + +At the stern order the buzz ceased, and fifty pairs of blue, black, +gray, and brown eyes were obediently fixed upon his awful countenance. + +"Miss March, come to the desk." + +Amy rose to comply with outward composure, but a secret fear oppressed +her, for the limes weighed upon her conscience. + +"Bring with you the limes you have in your desk," was the unexpected +command which arrested her before she got out of her seat. + +"Don't take all." whispered her neighbor, a young lady of great +presence of mind. + +Amy hastily shook out half a dozen and laid the rest down before Mr. +Davis, feeling that any man possessing a human heart would relent when +that delicious perfume met his nose. Unfortunately, Mr. Davis +particularly detested the odor of the fashionable pickle, and disgust +added to his wrath. + +"Is that all?" + +"Not quite," stammered Amy. + +"Bring the rest immediately." + +With a despairing glance at her set, she obeyed. + +"You are sure there are no more?" + +"I never lie, sir." + +"So I see. Now take these disgusting things two by two, and throw them +out of the window." + +There was a simultaneous sigh, which created quite a little gust, as +the last hope fled, and the treat was ravished from their longing lips. +Scarlet with shame and anger, Amy went to and fro six dreadful times, +and as each doomed couple, looking oh, so plump and juicy, fell from +her reluctant hands, a shout from the street completed the anguish of +the girls, for it told them that their feast was being exulted over by +the little Irish children, who were their sworn foes. This--this was +too much. All flashed indignant or appealing glances at the inexorable +Davis, and one passionate lime lover burst into tears. + +As Amy returned from her last trip, Mr. Davis gave a portentous "Hem!" +and said, in his most impressive manner... + +"Young ladies, you remember what I said to you a week ago. I am sorry +this has happened, but I never allow my rules to be infringed, and I +never break my word. Miss March, hold out your hand." + +Amy started, and put both hands behind her, turning on him an imploring +look which pleaded for her better than the words she could not utter. +She was rather a favorite with 'old Davis', as, of course, he was +called, and it's my private belief that he would have broken his word +if the indignation of one irrepressible young lady had not found vent +in a hiss. That hiss, faint as it was, irritated the irascible +gentleman, and sealed the culprit's fate. + +"Your hand, Miss March!" was the only answer her mute appeal received, +and too proud to cry or beseech, Amy set her teeth, threw back her head +defiantly, and bore without flinching several tingling blows on her +little palm. They were neither many nor heavy, but that made no +difference to her. For the first time in her life she had been struck, +and the disgrace, in her eyes, was as deep as if he had knocked her +down. + +"You will now stand on the platform till recess," said Mr. Davis, +resolved to do the thing thoroughly, since he had begun. + +That was dreadful. It would have been bad enough to go to her seat, +and see the pitying faces of her friends, or the satisfied ones of her +few enemies, but to face the whole school, with that shame fresh upon +her, seemed impossible, and for a second she felt as if she could only +drop down where she stood, and break her heart with crying. A bitter +sense of wrong and the thought of Jenny Snow helped her to bear it, +and, taking the ignominious place, she fixed her eyes on the stove +funnel above what now seemed a sea of faces, and stood there, so +motionless and white that the girls found it hard to study with that +pathetic figure before them. + +During the fifteen minutes that followed, the proud and sensitive +little girl suffered a shame and pain which she never forgot. To +others it might seem a ludicrous or trivial affair, but to her it was a +hard experience, for during the twelve years of her life she had been +governed by love alone, and a blow of that sort had never touched her +before. The smart of her hand and the ache of her heart were forgotten +in the sting of the thought, "I shall have to tell at home, and they +will be so disappointed in me!" + +The fifteen minutes seemed an hour, but they came to an end at last, +and the word 'Recess!' had never seemed so welcome to her before. + +"You can go, Miss March," said Mr. Davis, looking, as he felt, +uncomfortable. + +He did not soon forget the reproachful glance Amy gave him, as she +went, without a word to anyone, straight into the anteroom, snatched +her things, and left the place "forever," as she passionately declared +to herself. She was in a sad state when she got home, and when the +older girls arrived, some time later, an indignation meeting was held +at once. Mrs. March did not say much but looked disturbed, and +comforted her afflicted little daughter in her tenderest manner. Meg +bathed the insulted hand with glycerine and tears, Beth felt that even +her beloved kittens would fail as a balm for griefs like this, Jo +wrathfully proposed that Mr. Davis be arrested without delay, and +Hannah shook her fist at the 'villain' and pounded potatoes for dinner +as if she had him under her pestle. + +No notice was taken of Amy's flight, except by her mates, but the +sharp-eyed demoiselles discovered that Mr. Davis was quite benignant in +the afternoon, also unusually nervous. Just before school closed, Jo +appeared, wearing a grim expression as she stalked up to the desk, and +delivered a letter from her mother, then collected Amy's property, and +departed, carefully scraping the mud from her boots on the door mat, as +if she shook the dust of the place off her feet. + +"Yes, you can have a vacation from school, but I want you to study a +little every day with Beth," said Mrs. March that evening. "I don't +approve of corporal punishment, especially for girls. I dislike Mr. +Davis's manner of teaching and don't think the girls you associate with +are doing you any good, so I shall ask your father's advice before I +send you anywhere else." + +"That's good! I wish all the girls would leave, and spoil his old +school. It's perfectly maddening to think of those lovely limes," +sighed Amy, with the air of a martyr. + +"I am not sorry you lost them, for you broke the rules, and deserved +some punishment for disobedience," was the severe reply, which rather +disappointed the young lady, who expected nothing but sympathy. + +"Do you mean you are glad I was disgraced before the whole school?" +cried Amy. + +"I should not have chosen that way of mending a fault," replied her +mother, "but I'm not sure that it won't do you more good than a bolder +method. You are getting to be rather conceited, my dear, and it is +quite time you set about correcting it. You have a good many little +gifts and virtues, but there is no need of parading them, for conceit +spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or +goodness will be overlooked long, even if it is, the consciousness of +possessing and using it well should satisfy one, and the great charm of +all power is modesty." + +"So it is!" cried Laurie, who was playing chess in a corner with Jo. +"I knew a girl once, who had a really remarkable talent for music, and +she didn't know it, never guessed what sweet little things she composed +when she was alone, and wouldn't have believed it if anyone had told +her." + +"I wish I'd known that nice girl. Maybe she would have helped me, I'm +so stupid," said Beth, who stood beside him, listening eagerly. + +"You do know her, and she helps you better than anyone else could," +answered Laurie, looking at her with such mischievous meaning in his +merry black eyes that Beth suddenly turned very red, and hid her face +in the sofa cushion, quite overcome by such an unexpected discovery. + +Jo let Laurie win the game to pay for that praise of her Beth, who +could not be prevailed upon to play for them after her compliment. So +Laurie did his best, and sang delightfully, being in a particularly +lively humor, for to the Marches he seldom showed the moody side of his +character. When he was gone, Amy, who had been pensive all evening, +said suddenly, as if busy over some new idea, "Is Laurie an +accomplished boy?" + +"Yes, he has had an excellent education, and has much talent. He will +make a fine man, if not spoiled by petting," replied her mother. + +"And he isn't conceited, is he?" asked Amy. + +"Not in the least. That is why he is so charming and we all like him +so much." + +"I see. It's nice to have accomplishments and be elegant, but not to +show off or get perked up," said Amy thoughtfully. + +"These things are always seen and felt in a person's manner and +conversations, if modestly used, but it is not necessary to display +them," said Mrs. March. + +"Any more than it's proper to wear all your bonnets and gowns and +ribbons at once, that folks may know you've got them," added Jo, and +the lecture ended in a laugh. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT + +JO MEETS APOLLYON + +"Girls, where are you going?" asked Amy, coming into their room one +Saturday afternoon, and finding them getting ready to go out with an +air of secrecy which excited her curiosity. + +"Never mind. Little girls shouldn't ask questions," returned Jo +sharply. + +Now if there is anything mortifying to our feelings when we are young, +it is to be told that, and to be bidden to "run away, dear" is still +more trying to us. Amy bridled up at this insult, and determined to +find out the secret, if she teased for an hour. Turning to Meg, who +never refused her anything very long, she said coaxingly, "Do tell me! +I should think you might let me go, too, for Beth is fussing over her +piano, and I haven't got anything to do, and am so lonely." + +"I can't, dear, because you aren't invited," began Meg, but Jo broke in +impatiently, "Now, Meg, be quiet or you will spoil it all. You can't +go, Amy, so don't be a baby and whine about it." + +"You are going somewhere with Laurie, I know you are. You were +whispering and laughing together on the sofa last night, and you +stopped when I came in. Aren't you going with him?" + +"Yes, we are. Now do be still, and stop bothering." + +Amy held her tongue, but used her eyes, and saw Meg slip a fan into her +pocket. + +"I know! I know! You're going to the theater to see the _Seven +Castles!_" she cried, adding resolutely, "and I shall go, for Mother +said I might see it, and I've got my rag money, and it was mean not to +tell me in time." + +"Just listen to me a minute, and be a good child," said Meg soothingly. +"Mother doesn't wish you to go this week, because your eyes are not +well enough yet to bear the light of this fairy piece. Next week you +can go with Beth and Hannah, and have a nice time." + +"I don't like that half as well as going with you and Laurie. Please +let me. I've been sick with this cold so long, and shut up, I'm dying +for some fun. Do, Meg! I'll be ever so good," pleaded Amy, looking as +pathetic as she could. + +"Suppose we take her. I don't believe Mother would mind, if we bundle +her up well," began Meg. + +"If she goes I shan't, and if I don't, Laurie won't like it, and it +will be very rude, after he invited only us, to go and drag in Amy. I +should think she'd hate to poke herself where she isn't wanted," said +Jo crossly, for she disliked the trouble of overseeing a fidgety child +when she wanted to enjoy herself. + +Her tone and manner angered Amy, who began to put her boots on, saying, +in her most aggravating way, "I shall go. Meg says I may, and if I pay +for myself, Laurie hasn't anything to do with it." + +"You can't sit with us, for our seats are reserved, and you mustn't sit +alone, so Laurie will give you his place, and that will spoil our +pleasure. Or he'll get another seat for you, and that isn't proper +when you weren't asked. You shan't stir a step, so you may just stay +where you are," scolded Jo, crosser than ever, having just pricked her +finger in her hurry. + +Sitting on the floor with one boot on, Amy began to cry and Meg to +reason with her, when Laurie called from below, and the two girls +hurried down, leaving their sister wailing. For now and then she +forgot her grown-up ways and acted like a spoiled child. Just as the +party was setting out, Amy called over the banisters in a threatening +tone, "You'll be sorry for this, Jo March, see if you ain't." + +"Fiddlesticks!" returned Jo, slamming the door. + +They had a charming time, for _The Seven Castles Of The Diamond Lake_ +was as brilliant and wonderful as heart could wish. But in spite of the +comical red imps, sparkling elves, and the gorgeous princes and +princesses, Jo's pleasure had a drop of bitterness in it. The fairy +queen's yellow curls reminded her of Amy, and between the acts she +amused herself with wondering what her sister would do to make her +'sorry for it'. She and Amy had had many lively skirmishes in the +course of their lives, for both had quick tempers and were apt to be +violent when fairly roused. Amy teased Jo, and Jo irritated Amy, and +semioccasional explosions occurred, of which both were much ashamed +afterward. Although the oldest, Jo had the least self-control, and had +hard times trying to curb the fiery spirit which was continually +getting her into trouble. Her anger never lasted long, and having +humbly confessed her fault, she sincerely repented and tried to do +better. Her sisters used to say that they rather liked to get Jo into a +fury because she was such an angel afterward. Poor Jo tried +desperately to be good, but her bosom enemy was always ready to flame +up and defeat her, and it took years of patient effort to subdue it. + +When they got home, they found Amy reading in the parlor. She assumed +an injured air as they came in, never lifted her eyes from her book, or +asked a single question. Perhaps curiosity might have conquered +resentment, if Beth had not been there to inquire and receive a glowing +description of the play. On going up to put away her best hat, Jo's +first look was toward the bureau, for in their last quarrel Amy had +soothed her feelings by turning Jo's top drawer upside down on the +floor. Everything was in its place, however, and after a hasty glance +into her various closets, bags, and boxes, Jo decided that Amy had +forgiven and forgotten her wrongs. + +There Jo was mistaken, for next day she made a discovery which produced +a tempest. Meg, Beth, and Amy were sitting together, late in the +afternoon, when Jo burst into the room, looking excited and demanding +breathlessly, "Has anyone taken my book?" + +Meg and Beth said, "No." at once, and looked surprised. Amy poked the +fire and said nothing. Jo saw her color rise and was down upon her in +a minute. + +"Amy, you've got it!" + +"No, I haven't." + +"You know where it is, then!" + +"No, I don't." + +"That's a fib!" cried Jo, taking her by the shoulders, and looking +fierce enough to frighten a much braver child than Amy. + +"It isn't. I haven't got it, don't know where it is now, and don't +care." + +"You know something about it, and you'd better tell at once, or I'll +make you." And Jo gave her a slight shake. + +"Scold as much as you like, you'll never see your silly old book +again," cried Amy, getting excited in her turn. + +"Why not?" + +"I burned it up." + +"What! My little book I was so fond of, and worked over, and meant to +finish before Father got home? Have you really burned it?" said Jo, +turning very pale, while her eyes kindled and her hands clutched Amy +nervously. + +"Yes, I did! I told you I'd make you pay for being so cross yesterday, +and I have, so..." + +Amy got no farther, for Jo's hot temper mastered her, and she shook Amy +till her teeth chattered in her head, crying in a passion of grief and +anger... + +"You wicked, wicked girl! I never can write it again, and I'll never +forgive you as long as I live." + +Meg flew to rescue Amy, and Beth to pacify Jo, but Jo was quite beside +herself, and with a parting box on her sister's ear, she rushed out of +the room up to the old sofa in the garret, and finished her fight alone. + +The storm cleared up below, for Mrs. March came home, and, having heard +the story, soon brought Amy to a sense of the wrong she had done her +sister. Jo's book was the pride of her heart, and was regarded by her +family as a literary sprout of great promise. It was only half a dozen +little fairy tales, but Jo had worked over them patiently, putting her +whole heart into her work, hoping to make something good enough to +print. She had just copied them with great care, and had destroyed the +old manuscript, so that Amy's bonfire had consumed the loving work of +several years. It seemed a small loss to others, but to Jo it was a +dreadful calamity, and she felt that it never could be made up to her. +Beth mourned as for a departed kitten, and Meg refused to defend her +pet. Mrs. March looked grave and grieved, and Amy felt that no one +would love her till she had asked pardon for the act which she now +regretted more than any of them. + +When the tea bell rang, Jo appeared, looking so grim and unapproachable +that it took all Amy's courage to say meekly... + +"Please forgive me, Jo. I'm very, very sorry." + +"I never shall forgive you," was Jo's stern answer, and from that +moment she ignored Amy entirely. + +No one spoke of the great trouble, not even Mrs. March, for all had +learned by experience that when Jo was in that mood words were wasted, +and the wisest course was to wait till some little accident, or her own +generous nature, softened Jo's resentment and healed the breach. It +was not a happy evening, for though they sewed as usual, while their +mother read aloud from Bremer, Scott, or Edgeworth, something was +wanting, and the sweet home peace was disturbed. They felt this most +when singing time came, for Beth could only play, Jo stood dumb as a +stone, and Amy broke down, so Meg and Mother sang alone. But in spite +of their efforts to be as cheery as larks, the flutelike voices did not +seem to chord as well as usual, and all felt out of tune. + +As Jo received her good-night kiss, Mrs. March whispered gently, "My +dear, don't let the sun go down upon your anger. Forgive each other, +help each other, and begin again tomorrow." + +Jo wanted to lay her head down on that motherly bosom, and cry her +grief and anger all away, but tears were an unmanly weakness, and she +felt so deeply injured that she really couldn't quite forgive yet. So +she winked hard, shook her head, and said gruffly because Amy was +listening, "It was an abominable thing, and she doesn't deserve to be +forgiven." + +With that she marched off to bed, and there was no merry or +confidential gossip that night. + +Amy was much offended that her overtures of peace had been repulsed, +and began to wish she had not humbled herself, to feel more injured +than ever, and to plume herself on her superior virtue in a way which +was particularly exasperating. Jo still looked like a thunder cloud, +and nothing went well all day. It was bitter cold in the morning, she +dropped her precious turnover in the gutter, Aunt March had an attack +of the fidgets, Meg was sensitive, Beth would look grieved and wistful +when she got home, and Amy kept making remarks about people who were +always talking about being good and yet wouldn't even try when other +people set them a virtuous example. + +"Everybody is so hateful, I'll ask Laurie to go skating. He is always +kind and jolly, and will put me to rights, I know," said Jo to herself, +and off she went. + +Amy heard the clash of skates, and looked out with an impatient +exclamation. + +"There! She promised I should go next time, for this is the last ice +we shall have. But it's no use to ask such a crosspatch to take me." + +"Don't say that. You were very naughty, and it is hard to forgive the +loss of her precious little book, but I think she might do it now, and +I guess she will, if you try her at the right minute," said Meg. "Go +after them. Don't say anything till Jo has got good-natured with +Laurie, than take a quiet minute and just kiss her, or do some kind +thing, and I'm sure she'll be friends again with all her heart." + +"I'll try," said Amy, for the advice suited her, and after a flurry to +get ready, she ran after the friends, who were just disappearing over +the hill. + +It was not far to the river, but both were ready before Amy reached +them. Jo saw her coming, and turned her back. Laurie did not see, for +he was carefully skating along the shore, sounding the ice, for a warm +spell had preceded the cold snap. + +"I'll go on to the first bend, and see if it's all right before we +begin to race," Amy heard him say, as he shot away, looking like a +young Russian in his fur-trimmed coat and cap. + +Jo heard Amy panting after her run, stamping her feet and blowing on +her fingers as she tried to put her skates on, but Jo never turned and +went slowly zigzagging down the river, taking a bitter, unhappy sort of +satisfaction in her sister's troubles. She had cherished her anger till +it grew strong and took possession of her, as evil thoughts and +feelings always do unless cast out at once. As Laurie turned the bend, +he shouted back... + +"Keep near the shore. It isn't safe in the middle." Jo heard, but Amy +was struggling to her feet and did not catch a word. Jo glanced over +her shoulder, and the little demon she was harboring said in her ear... + +"No matter whether she heard or not, let her take care of herself." + +Laurie had vanished round the bend, Jo was just at the turn, and Amy, +far behind, striking out toward the smoother ice in the middle of the +river. For a minute Jo stood still with a strange feeling in her +heart, then she resolved to go on, but something held and turned her +round, just in time to see Amy throw up her hands and go down, with a +sudden crash of rotten ice, the splash of water, and a cry that made +Jo's heart stand still with fear. She tried to call Laurie, but her +voice was gone. She tried to rush forward, but her feet seemed to have +no strength in them, and for a second, she could only stand motionless, +staring with a terror-stricken face at the little blue hood above the +black water. Something rushed swiftly by her, and Laurie's voice cried +out... + +"Bring a rail. Quick, quick!" + +How she did it, she never knew, but for the next few minutes she worked +as if possessed, blindly obeying Laurie, who was quite self-possessed, +and lying flat, held Amy up by his arm and hockey stick till Jo dragged +a rail from the fence, and together they got the child out, more +frightened than hurt. + +"Now then, we must walk her home as fast as we can. Pile our things on +her, while I get off these confounded skates," cried Laurie, wrapping +his coat round Amy, and tugging away at the straps which never seemed +so intricate before. + +Shivering, dripping, and crying, they got Amy home, and after an +exciting time of it, she fell asleep, rolled in blankets before a hot +fire. During the bustle Jo had scarcely spoken but flown about, +looking pale and wild, with her things half off, her dress torn, and +her hands cut and bruised by ice and rails and refractory buckles. When +Amy was comfortably asleep, the house quiet, and Mrs. March sitting by +the bed, she called Jo to her and began to bind up the hurt hands. + +"Are you sure she is safe?" whispered Jo, looking remorsefully at the +golden head, which might have been swept away from her sight forever +under the treacherous ice. + +"Quite safe, dear. She is not hurt, and won't even take cold, I think, +you were so sensible in covering and getting her home quickly," replied +her mother cheerfully. + +"Laurie did it all. I only let her go. Mother, if she should die, it +would be my fault." And Jo dropped down beside the bed in a passion of +penitent tears, telling all that had happened, bitterly condemning her +hardness of heart, and sobbing out her gratitude for being spared the +heavy punishment which might have come upon her. + +"It's my dreadful temper! I try to cure it, I think I have, and then +it breaks out worse than ever. Oh, Mother, what shall I do? What +shall I do?" cried poor Jo, in despair. + +"Watch and pray, dear, never get tired of trying, and never think it is +impossible to conquer your fault," said Mrs. March, drawing the blowzy +head to her shoulder and kissing the wet cheek so tenderly that Jo +cried even harder. + +"You don't know, you can't guess how bad it is! It seems as if I could +do anything when I'm in a passion. I get so savage, I could hurt +anyone and enjoy it. I'm afraid I shall do something dreadful some +day, and spoil my life, and make everybody hate me. Oh, Mother, help +me, do help me!" + +"I will, my child, I will. Don't cry so bitterly, but remember this +day, and resolve with all your soul that you will never know another +like it. Jo, dear, we all have our temptations, some far greater than +yours, and it often takes us all our lives to conquer them. You think +your temper is the worst in the world, but mine used to be just like +it." + +"Yours, Mother? Why, you are never angry!" And for the moment Jo +forgot remorse in surprise. + +"I've been trying to cure it for forty years, and have only succeeded +in controlling it. I am angry nearly every day of my life, Jo, but I +have learned not to show it, and I still hope to learn not to feel it, +though it may take me another forty years to do so." + +The patience and the humility of the face she loved so well was a +better lesson to Jo than the wisest lecture, the sharpest reproof. She +felt comforted at once by the sympathy and confidence given her. The +knowledge that her mother had a fault like hers, and tried to mend it, +made her own easier to bear and strengthened her resolution to cure it, +though forty years seemed rather a long time to watch and pray to a +girl of fifteen. + +"Mother, are you angry when you fold your lips tight together and go +out of the room sometimes, when Aunt March scolds or people worry you?" +asked Jo, feeling nearer and dearer to her mother than ever before. + +"Yes, I've learned to check the hasty words that rise to my lips, and +when I feel that they mean to break out against my will, I just go away +for a minute, and give myself a little shake for being so weak and +wicked," answered Mrs. March with a sigh and a smile, as she smoothed +and fastened up Jo's disheveled hair. + +"How did you learn to keep still? That is what troubles me, for the +sharp words fly out before I know what I'm about, and the more I say +the worse I get, till it's a pleasure to hurt people's feelings and say +dreadful things. Tell me how you do it, Marmee dear." + +"My good mother used to help me..." + +"As you do us..." interrupted Jo, with a grateful kiss. + +"But I lost her when I was a little older than you are, and for years +had to struggle on alone, for I was too proud to confess my weakness to +anyone else. I had a hard time, Jo, and shed a good many bitter tears +over my failures, for in spite of my efforts I never seemed to get on. +Then your father came, and I was so happy that I found it easy to be +good. But by-and-by, when I had four little daughters round me and we +were poor, then the old trouble began again, for I am not patient by +nature, and it tried me very much to see my children wanting anything." + +"Poor Mother! What helped you then?" + +"Your father, Jo. He never loses patience, never doubts or complains, +but always hopes, and works and waits so cheerfully that one is ashamed +to do otherwise before him. He helped and comforted me, and showed me +that I must try to practice all the virtues I would have my little +girls possess, for I was their example. It was easier to try for your +sakes than for my own. A startled or surprised look from one of you +when I spoke sharply rebuked me more than any words could have done, +and the love, respect, and confidence of my children was the sweetest +reward I could receive for my efforts to be the woman I would have them +copy." + +"Oh, Mother, if I'm ever half as good as you, I shall be satisfied," +cried Jo, much touched. + +"I hope you will be a great deal better, dear, but you must keep watch +over your 'bosom enemy', as father calls it, or it may sadden, if not +spoil your life. You have had a warning. Remember it, and try with +heart and soul to master this quick temper, before it brings you +greater sorrow and regret than you have known today." + +"I will try, Mother, I truly will. But you must help me, remind me, +and keep me from flying out. I used to see Father sometimes put his +finger on his lips, and look at you with a very kind but sober face, +and you always folded your lips tight and went away. Was he reminding +you then?" asked Jo softly. + +"Yes. I asked him to help me so, and he never forgot it, but saved me +from many a sharp word by that little gesture and kind look." + +Jo saw that her mother's eyes filled and her lips trembled as she +spoke, and fearing that she had said too much, she whispered anxiously, +"Was it wrong to watch you and to speak of it? I didn't mean to be +rude, but it's so comfortable to say all I think to you, and feel so +safe and happy here." + +"My Jo, you may say anything to your mother, for it is my greatest +happiness and pride to feel that my girls confide in me and know how +much I love them." + +"I thought I'd grieved you." + +"No, dear, but speaking of Father reminded me how much I miss him, how +much I owe him, and how faithfully I should watch and work to keep his +little daughters safe and good for him." + +"Yet you told him to go, Mother, and didn't cry when he went, and never +complain now, or seem as if you needed any help," said Jo, wondering. + +"I gave my best to the country I love, and kept my tears till he was +gone. Why should I complain, when we both have merely done our duty +and will surely be the happier for it in the end? If I don't seem to +need help, it is because I have a better friend, even than Father, to +comfort and sustain me. My child, the troubles and temptations of your +life are beginning and may be many, but you can overcome and outlive +them all if you learn to feel the strength and tenderness of your +Heavenly Father as you do that of your earthly one. The more you love +and trust Him, the nearer you will feel to Him, and the less you will +depend on human power and wisdom. His love and care never tire or +change, can never be taken from you, but may become the source of +lifelong peace, happiness, and strength. Believe this heartily, and go +to God with all your little cares, and hopes, and sins, and sorrows, as +freely and confidingly as you come to your mother." + +Jo's only answer was to hold her mother close, and in the silence which +followed the sincerest prayer she had ever prayed left her heart +without words. For in that sad yet happy hour, she had learned not +only the bitterness of remorse and despair, but the sweetness of +self-denial and self-control, and led by her mother's hand, she had +drawn nearer to the Friend who always welcomes every child with a love +stronger than that of any father, tenderer than that of any mother. + +Amy stirred and sighed in her sleep, and as if eager to begin at once +to mend her fault, Jo looked up with an expression on her face which it +had never worn before. + +"I let the sun go down on my anger. I wouldn't forgive her, and today, +if it hadn't been for Laurie, it might have been too late! How could I +be so wicked?" said Jo, half aloud, as she leaned over her sister +softly stroking the wet hair scattered on the pillow. + +As if she heard, Amy opened her eyes, and held out her arms, with a +smile that went straight to Jo's heart. Neither said a word, but they +hugged one another close, in spite of the blankets, and everything was +forgiven and forgotten in one hearty kiss. + + + +CHAPTER NINE + +MEG GOES TO VANITY FAIR + +"I do think it was the most fortunate thing in the world that those +children should have the measles just now," said Meg, one April day, as +she stood packing the 'go abroady' trunk in her room, surrounded by her +sisters. + +"And so nice of Annie Moffat not to forget her promise. A whole +fortnight of fun will be regularly splendid," replied Jo, looking like +a windmill as she folded skirts with her long arms. + +"And such lovely weather, I'm so glad of that," added Beth, tidily +sorting neck and hair ribbons in her best box, lent for the great +occasion. + +"I wish I was going to have a fine time and wear all these nice +things," said Amy with her mouth full of pins, as she artistically +replenished her sister's cushion. + +"I wish you were all going, but as you can't, I shall keep my +adventures to tell you when I come back. I'm sure it's the least I can +do when you have been so kind, lending me things and helping me get +ready," said Meg, glancing round the room at the very simple outfit, +which seemed nearly perfect in their eyes. + +"What did Mother give you out of the treasure box?" asked Amy, who had +not been present at the opening of a certain cedar chest in which Mrs. +March kept a few relics of past splendor, as gifts for her girls when +the proper time came. + +"A pair of silk stockings, that pretty carved fan, and a lovely blue +sash. I wanted the violet silk, but there isn't time to make it over, +so I must be contented with my old tarlaton." + + +"It will look nice over my new muslin skirt, and the sash will set it +off beautifully. I wish I hadn't smashed my coral bracelet, for you +might have had it," said Jo, who loved to give and lend, but whose +possessions were usually too dilapidated to be of much use. + +"There is a lovely old-fashioned pearl set in the treasure chest, but +Mother said real flowers were the prettiest ornament for a young girl, +and Laurie promised to send me all I want," replied Meg. "Now, let me +see, there's my new gray walking suit, just curl up the feather in my +hat, Beth, then my poplin for Sunday and the small party, it looks +heavy for spring, doesn't it? The violet silk would be so nice. Oh, +dear!" + +"Never mind, you've got the tarlaton for the big party, and you always +look like an angel in white," said Amy, brooding over the little store +of finery in which her soul delighted. + +"It isn't low-necked, and it doesn't sweep enough, but it will have to +do. My blue housedress looks so well, turned and freshly trimmed, that +I feel as if I'd got a new one. My silk sacque isn't a bit the +fashion, and my bonnet doesn't look like Sallie's. I didn't like to +say anything, but I was sadly disappointed in my umbrella. I told +Mother black with a white handle, but she forgot and bought a green one +with a yellowish handle. It's strong and neat, so I ought not to +complain, but I know I shall feel ashamed of it beside Annie's silk one +with a gold top," sighed Meg, surveying the little umbrella with great +disfavor. + +"Change it," advised Jo. + +"I won't be so silly, or hurt Marmee's feelings, when she took so much +pains to get my things. It's a nonsensical notion of mine, and I'm not +going to give up to it. My silk stockings and two pairs of new gloves +are my comfort. You are a dear to lend me yours, Jo. I feel so rich +and sort of elegant, with two new pairs, and the old ones cleaned up +for common." And Meg took a refreshing peep at her glove box. + +"Annie Moffat has blue and pink bows on her nightcaps. Would you put +some on mine?" she asked, as Beth brought up a pile of snowy muslins, +fresh from Hannah's hands. + +"No, I wouldn't, for the smart caps won't match the plain gowns without +any trimming on them. Poor folks shouldn't rig," said Jo decidedly. + +"I wonder if I shall ever be happy enough to have real lace on my +clothes and bows on my caps?" said Meg impatiently. + +"You said the other day that you'd be perfectly happy if you could only +go to Annie Moffat's," observed Beth in her quiet way. + +"So I did! Well, I am happy, and I won't fret, but it does seem as if +the more one gets the more one wants, doesn't it? There now, the trays +are ready, and everything in but my ball dress, which I shall leave for +Mother to pack," said Meg, cheering up, as she glanced from the +half-filled trunk to the many times pressed and mended white tarlaton, +which she called her 'ball dress' with an important air. + +The next day was fine, and Meg departed in style for a fortnight of +novelty and pleasure. Mrs. March had consented to the visit rather +reluctantly, fearing that Margaret would come back more discontented +than she went. But she begged so hard, and Sallie had promised to take +good care of her, and a little pleasure seemed so delightful after a +winter of irksome work that the mother yielded, and the daughter went +to take her first taste of fashionable life. + +The Moffats were very fashionable, and simple Meg was rather daunted, +at first, by the splendor of the house and the elegance of its +occupants. But they were kindly people, in spite of the frivolous life +they led, and soon put their guest at her ease. Perhaps Meg felt, +without understanding why, that they were not particularly cultivated +or intelligent people, and that all their gilding could not quite +conceal the ordinary material of which they were made. It certainly +was agreeable to fare sumptuously, drive in a fine carriage, wear her +best frock every day, and do nothing but enjoy herself. It suited her +exactly, and soon she began to imitate the manners and conversation of +those about her, to put on little airs and graces, use French phrases, +crimp her hair, take in her dresses, and talk about the fashions as +well as she could. The more she saw of Annie Moffat's pretty things, +the more she envied her and sighed to be rich. Home now looked bare +and dismal as she thought of it, work grew harder than ever, and she +felt that she was a very destitute and much-injured girl, in spite of +the new gloves and silk stockings. + +She had not much time for repining, however, for the three young girls +were busily employed in 'having a good time'. They shopped, walked, +rode, and called all day, went to theaters and operas or frolicked at +home in the evening, for Annie had many friends and knew how to +entertain them. Her older sisters were very fine young ladies, and one +was engaged, which was extremely interesting and romantic, Meg thought. +Mr. Moffat was a fat, jolly old gentleman, who knew her father, and +Mrs. Moffat, a fat, jolly old lady, who took as great a fancy to Meg as +her daughter had done. Everyone petted her, and 'Daisey', as they +called her, was in a fair way to have her head turned. + +When the evening for the small party came, she found that the poplin +wouldn't do at all, for the other girls were putting on thin dresses +and making themselves very fine indeed. So out came the tarlatan, +looking older, limper, and shabbier than ever beside Sallie's crisp new +one. Meg saw the girls glance at it and then at one another, and her +cheeks began to burn, for with all her gentleness she was very proud. +No one said a word about it, but Sallie offered to dress her hair, and +Annie to tie her sash, and Belle, the engaged sister, praised her white +arms. But in their kindness Meg saw only pity for her poverty, and her +heart felt very heavy as she stood by herself, while the others +laughed, chattered, and flew about like gauzy butterflies. The hard, +bitter feeling was getting pretty bad, when the maid brought in a box +of flowers. Before she could speak, Annie had the cover off, and all +were exclaiming at the lovely roses, heath, and fern within. + +"It's for Belle, of course, George always sends her some, but these are +altogether ravishing," cried Annie, with a great sniff. + +"They are for Miss March, the man said. And here's a note," put in the +maid, holding it to Meg. + +"What fun! Who are they from? Didn't know you had a lover," cried the +girls, fluttering about Meg in a high state of curiosity and surprise. + +"The note is from Mother, and the flowers from Laurie," said Meg +simply, yet much gratified that he had not forgotten her. + +"Oh, indeed!" said Annie with a funny look, as Meg slipped the note +into her pocket as a sort of talisman against envy, vanity, and false +pride, for the few loving words had done her good, and the flowers +cheered her up by their beauty. + +Feeling almost happy again, she laid by a few ferns and roses for +herself, and quickly made up the rest in dainty bouquets for the +breasts, hair, or skirts of her friends, offering them so prettily that +Clara, the elder sister, told her she was 'the sweetest little thing +she ever saw', and they looked quite charmed with her small attention. +Somehow the kind act finished her despondency, and when all the rest +went to show themselves to Mrs. Moffat, she saw a happy, bright-eyed +face in the mirror, as she laid her ferns against her rippling hair and +fastened the roses in the dress that didn't strike her as so very +shabby now. + +She enjoyed herself very much that evening, for she danced to her +heart's content. Everyone was very kind, and she had three +compliments. Annie made her sing, and some one said she had a +remarkably fine voice. Major Lincoln asked who 'the fresh little girl +with the beautiful eyes' was, and Mr. Moffat insisted on dancing with +her because she 'didn't dawdle, but had some spring in her', as he +gracefully expressed it. So altogether she had a very nice time, till +she overheard a bit of conversation, which disturbed her extremely. +She was sitting just inside the conservatory, waiting for her partner +to bring her an ice, when she heard a voice ask on the other side of +the flowery wall... + +"How old is he?" + +"Sixteen or seventeen, I should say," replied another voice. + +"It would be a grand thing for one of those girls, wouldn't it? Sallie +says they are very intimate now, and the old man quite dotes on them." + +"Mrs. M. has made her plans, I dare say, and will play her cards well, +early as it is. The girl evidently doesn't think of it yet," said Mrs. +Moffat. + +"She told that fib about her momma, as if she did know, and colored up +when the flowers came quite prettily. Poor thing! She'd be so nice if +she was only got up in style. Do you think she'd be offended if we +offered to lend her a dress for Thursday?" asked another voice. + +"She's proud, but I don't believe she'd mind, for that dowdy tarlaton +is all she has got. She may tear it tonight, and that will be a good +excuse for offering a decent one." + +Here Meg's partner appeared, to find her looking much flushed and +rather agitated. She was proud, and her pride was useful just then, +for it helped her hide her mortification, anger, and disgust at what +she had just heard. For, innocent and unsuspicious as she was, she +could not help understanding the gossip of her friends. She tried to +forget it, but could not, and kept repeating to herself, "Mrs. M. has +made her plans," "that fib about her mamma," and "dowdy tarlaton," till +she was ready to cry and rush home to tell her troubles and ask for +advice. As that was impossible, she did her best to seem gay, and +being rather excited, she succeeded so well that no one dreamed what an +effort she was making. She was very glad when it was all over and she +was quiet in her bed, where she could think and wonder and fume till +her head ached and her hot cheeks were cooled by a few natural tears. +Those foolish, yet well meant words, had opened a new world to Meg, and +much disturbed the peace of the old one in which till now she had lived +as happily as a child. Her innocent friendship with Laurie was spoiled +by the silly speeches she had overheard. Her faith in her mother was a +little shaken by the worldly plans attributed to her by Mrs. Moffat, +who judged others by herself, and the sensible resolution to be +contented with the simple wardrobe which suited a poor man's daughter +was weakened by the unnecessary pity of girls who thought a shabby +dress one of the greatest calamities under heaven. + +Poor Meg had a restless night, and got up heavy-eyed, unhappy, half +resentful toward her friends, and half ashamed of herself for not +speaking out frankly and setting everything right. Everybody dawdled +that morning, and it was noon before the girls found energy enough even +to take up their worsted work. Something in the manner of her friends +struck Meg at once. They treated her with more respect, she thought, +took quite a tender interest in what she said, and looked at her with +eyes that plainly betrayed curiosity. All this surprised and flattered +her, though she did not understand it till Miss Belle looked up from +her writing, and said, with a sentimental air... + +"Daisy, dear, I've sent an invitation to your friend, Mr. Laurence, for +Thursday. We should like to know him, and it's only a proper +compliment to you." + +Meg colored, but a mischievous fancy to tease the girls made her reply +demurely, "You are very kind, but I'm afraid he won't come." + +"Why not, Cherie?" asked Miss Belle. + +"He's too old." + +"My child, what do you mean? What is his age, I beg to know!" cried +Miss Clara. + +"Nearly seventy, I believe," answered Meg, counting stitches to hide +the merriment in her eyes. + +"You sly creature! Of course we meant the young man," exclaimed Miss +Belle, laughing. + +"There isn't any, Laurie is only a little boy." And Meg laughed also +at the queer look which the sisters exchanged as she thus described her +supposed lover. + +"About your age," Nan said. + +"Nearer my sister Jo's; I am seventeen in August," returned Meg, +tossing her head. + +"It's very nice of him to send you flowers, isn't it?" said Annie, +looking wise about nothing. + +"Yes, he often does, to all of us, for their house is full, and we are +so fond of them. My mother and old Mr. Laurence are friends, you know, +so it is quite natural that we children should play together," and Meg +hoped they would say no more. + +"It's evident Daisy isn't out yet," said Miss Clara to Belle with a nod. + +"Quite a pastoral state of innocence all round," returned Miss Belle +with a shrug. + +"I'm going out to get some little matters for my girls. Can I do +anything for you, young ladies?" asked Mrs. Moffat, lumbering in like +an elephant in silk and lace. + +"No, thank you, ma'am," replied Sallie. "I've got my new pink silk for +Thursday and don't want a thing." + +"Nor I..." began Meg, but stopped because it occurred to her that she +did want several things and could not have them. + +"What shall you wear?" asked Sallie. + +"My old white one again, if I can mend it fit to be seen, it got sadly +torn last night," said Meg, trying to speak quite easily, but feeling +very uncomfortable. + +"Why don't you send home for another?" said Sallie, who was not an +observing young lady. + +"I haven't got any other." It cost Meg an effort to say that, but +Sallie did not see it and exclaimed in amiable surprise, "Only that? +How funny..." She did not finish her speech, for Belle shook her head +at her and broke in, saying kindly... + +"Not at all. Where is the use of having a lot of dresses when she +isn't out yet? There's no need of sending home, Daisy, even if you had +a dozen, for I've got a sweet blue silk laid away, which I've outgrown, +and you shall wear it to please me, won't you, dear?" + +"You are very kind, but I don't mind my old dress if you don't, it does +well enough for a little girl like me," said Meg. + +"Now do let me please myself by dressing you up in style. I admire to +do it, and you'd be a regular little beauty with a touch here and +there. I shan't let anyone see you till you are done, and then we'll +burst upon them like Cinderella and her godmother going to the ball," +said Belle in her persuasive tone. + +Meg couldn't refuse the offer so kindly made, for a desire to see if +she would be 'a little beauty' after touching up caused her to accept +and forget all her former uncomfortable feelings toward the Moffats. + +On the Thursday evening, Belle shut herself up with her maid, and +between them they turned Meg into a fine lady. They crimped and curled +her hair, they polished her neck and arms with some fragrant powder, +touched her lips with coralline salve to make them redder, and Hortense +would have added 'a soupcon of rouge', if Meg had not rebelled. They +laced her into a sky-blue dress, which was so tight she could hardly +breathe and so low in the neck that modest Meg blushed at herself in +the mirror. A set of silver filagree was added, bracelets, necklace, +brooch, and even earrings, for Hortense tied them on with a bit of pink +silk which did not show. A cluster of tea-rose buds at the bosom, and +a ruche, reconciled Meg to the display of her pretty, white shoulders, +and a pair of high-heeled silk boots satisfied the last wish of her +heart. A lace handkerchief, a plumy fan, and a bouquet in a shoulder +holder finished her off, and Miss Belle surveyed her with the +satisfaction of a little girl with a newly dressed doll. + +"Mademoiselle is charmante, tres jolie, is she not?" cried Hortense, +clasping her hands in an affected rapture. + +"Come and show yourself," said Miss Belle, leading the way to the room +where the others were waiting. + +As Meg went rustling after, with her long skirts trailing, her earrings +tinkling, her curls waving, and her heart beating, she felt as if her +fun had really begun at last, for the mirror had plainly told her that +she was 'a little beauty'. Her friends repeated the pleasing phrase +enthusiastically, and for several minutes she stood, like a jackdaw in +the fable, enjoying her borrowed plumes, while the rest chattered like +a party of magpies. + +"While I dress, do you drill her, Nan, in the management of her skirt +and those French heels, or she will trip herself up. Take your silver +butterfly, and catch up that long curl on the left side of her head, +Clara, and don't any of you disturb the charming work of my hands," +said Belle, as she hurried away, looking well pleased with her success. + +"You don't look a bit like yourself, but you are very nice. I'm nowhere +beside you, for Belle has heaps of taste, and you're quite French, I +assure you. Let your flowers hang, don't be so careful of them, and be +sure you don't trip," returned Sallie, trying not to care that Meg was +prettier than herself. + +Keeping that warning carefully in mind, Margaret got safely down stairs +and sailed into the drawing rooms where the Moffats and a few early +guests were assembled. She very soon discovered that there is a charm +about fine clothes which attracts a certain class of people and secures +their respect. Several young ladies, who had taken no notice of her +before, were very affectionate all of a sudden. Several young +gentlemen, who had only stared at her at the other party, now not only +stared, but asked to be introduced, and said all manner of foolish but +agreeable things to her, and several old ladies, who sat on the sofas, +and criticized the rest of the party, inquired who she was with an air +of interest. She heard Mrs. Moffat reply to one of them... + +"Daisy March--father a colonel in the army--one of our first families, +but reverses of fortune, you know; intimate friends of the Laurences; +sweet creature, I assure you; my Ned is quite wild about her." + +"Dear me!" said the old lady, putting up her glass for another +observation of Meg, who tried to look as if she had not heard and been +rather shocked at Mrs. Moffat's fibs. The 'queer feeling' did not pass +away, but she imagined herself acting the new part of fine lady and so +got on pretty well, though the tight dress gave her a side-ache, the +train kept getting under her feet, and she was in constant fear lest +her earrings should fly off and get lost or broken. She was flirting +her fan and laughing at the feeble jokes of a young gentleman who tried +to be witty, when she suddenly stopped laughing and looked confused, +for just opposite, she saw Laurie. He was staring at her with +undisguised surprise, and disapproval also, she thought, for though he +bowed and smiled, yet something in his honest eyes made her blush and +wish she had her old dress on. To complete her confusion, she saw Belle +nudge Annie, and both glance from her to Laurie, who, she was happy to +see, looked unusually boyish and shy. + +"Silly creatures, to put such thoughts into my head. I won't care for +it, or let it change me a bit," thought Meg, and rustled across the +room to shake hands with her friend. + +"I'm glad you came, I was afraid you wouldn't." she said, with her most +grown-up air. + +"Jo wanted me to come, and tell her how you looked, so I did," answered +Laurie, without turning his eyes upon her, though he half smiled at her +maternal tone. + +"What shall you tell her?" asked Meg, full of curiosity to know his +opinion of her, yet feeling ill at ease with him for the first time. + +"I shall say I didn't know you, for you look so grown-up and unlike +yourself, I'm quite afraid of you," he said, fumbling at his glove +button. + +"How absurd of you! The girls dressed me up for fun, and I rather like +it. Wouldn't Jo stare if she saw me?" said Meg, bent on making him say +whether he thought her improved or not. + +"Yes, I think she would," returned Laurie gravely. + +"Don't you like me so?" asked Meg. + +"No, I don't," was the blunt reply. + +"Why not?" in an anxious tone. + +He glanced at her frizzled head, bare shoulders, and fantastically +trimmed dress with an expression that abashed her more than his answer, +which had not a particle of his usual politeness in it. + +"I don't like fuss and feathers." + +That was altogether too much from a lad younger than herself, and Meg +walked away, saying petulantly, "You are the rudest boy I ever saw." + +Feeling very much ruffled, she went and stood at a quiet window to cool +her cheeks, for the tight dress gave her an uncomfortably brilliant +color. As she stood there, Major Lincoln passed by, and a minute after +she heard him saying to his mother... + +"They are making a fool of that little girl. I wanted you to see her, +but they have spoiled her entirely. She's nothing but a doll tonight." + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Meg. "I wish I'd been sensible and worn my own +things, then I should not have disgusted other people, or felt so +uncomfortable and ashamed of myself." + +She leaned her forehead on the cool pane, and stood half hidden by the +curtains, never minding that her favorite waltz had begun, till some +one touched her, and turning, she saw Laurie, looking penitent, as he +said, with his very best bow and his hand out... + +"Please forgive my rudeness, and come and dance with me." + +"I'm afraid it will be too disagreeable to you," said Meg, trying to +look offended and failing entirely. + +"Not a bit of it, I'm dying to do it. Come, I'll be good. I don't like +your gown, but I do think you are just splendid." And he waved his +hands, as if words failed to express his admiration. + +Meg smiled and relented, and whispered as they stood waiting to catch +the time, "Take care my skirt doesn't trip you up. It's the plague of +my life and I was a goose to wear it." + +"Pin it round your neck, and then it will be useful," said Laurie, +looking down at the little blue boots, which he evidently approved of. + +Away they went fleetly and gracefully, for having practiced at home, +they were well matched, and the blithe young couple were a pleasant +sight to see, as they twirled merrily round and round, feeling more +friendly than ever after their small tiff. + +"Laurie, I want you to do me a favor, will you?" said Meg, as he stood +fanning her when her breath gave out, which it did very soon though she +would not own why. + +"Won't I!" said Laurie, with alacrity. + +"Please don't tell them at home about my dress tonight. They won't +understand the joke, and it will worry Mother." + +"Then why did you do it?" said Laurie's eyes, so plainly that Meg +hastily added... + +"I shall tell them myself all about it, and 'fess' to Mother how silly +I've been. But I'd rather do it myself. So you'll not tell, will you?" + +"I give you my word I won't, only what shall I say when they ask me?" + +"Just say I looked pretty well and was having a good time." + +"I'll say the first with all my heart, but how about the other? You +don't look as if you were having a good time. Are you?" And Laurie +looked at her with an expression which made her answer in a whisper... + +"No, not just now. Don't think I'm horrid. I only wanted a little +fun, but this sort doesn't pay, I find, and I'm getting tired of it." + +"Here comes Ned Moffat. What does he want?" said Laurie, knitting his +black brows as if he did not regard his young host in the light of a +pleasant addition to the party. + +"He put his name down for three dances, and I suppose he's coming for +them. What a bore!" said Meg, assuming a languid air which amused +Laurie immensely. + +He did not speak to her again till suppertime, when he saw her drinking +champagne with Ned and his friend Fisher, who were behaving 'like a +pair of fools', as Laurie said to himself, for he felt a brotherly sort +of right to watch over the Marches and fight their battles whenever a +defender was needed. + +"You'll have a splitting headache tomorrow, if you drink much of that. +I wouldn't, Meg, your mother doesn't like it, you know," he whispered, +leaning over her chair, as Ned turned to refill her glass and Fisher +stooped to pick up her fan. + +"I'm not Meg tonight, I'm 'a doll' who does all sorts of crazy things. +Tomorrow I shall put away my 'fuss and feathers' and be desperately +good again," she answered with an affected little laugh. + +"Wish tomorrow was here, then," muttered Laurie, walking off, +ill-pleased at the change he saw in her. + +Meg danced and flirted, chattered and giggled, as the other girls did. +After supper she undertook the German, and blundered through it, nearly +upsetting her partner with her long skirt, and romping in a way that +scandalized Laurie, who looked on and meditated a lecture. But he got +no chance to deliver it, for Meg kept away from him till he came to say +good night. + +"Remember!" she said, trying to smile, for the splitting headache had +already begun. + +"Silence a la mort," replied Laurie, with a melodramatic flourish, as +he went away. + +This little bit of byplay excited Annie's curiosity, but Meg was too +tired for gossip and went to bed, feeling as if she had been to a +masquerade and hadn't enjoyed herself as much as she expected. She was +sick all the next day, and on Saturday went home, quite used up with +her fortnight's fun and feeling that she had 'sat in the lap of luxury' +long enough. + +"It does seem pleasant to be quiet, and not have company manners on all +the time. Home is a nice place, though it isn't splendid," said Meg, +looking about her with a restful expression, as she sat with her mother +and Jo on the Sunday evening. + +"I'm glad to hear you say so, dear, for I was afraid home would seem +dull and poor to you after your fine quarters," replied her mother, who +had given her many anxious looks that day. For motherly eyes are quick +to see any change in children's faces. + +Meg had told her adventures gayly and said over and over what a +charming time she had had, but something still seemed to weigh upon her +spirits, and when the younger girls were gone to bed, she sat +thoughtfully staring at the fire, saying little and looking worried. +As the clock struck nine and Jo proposed bed, Meg suddenly left her +chair and, taking Beth's stool, leaned her elbows on her mother's knee, +saying bravely... + +"Marmee, I want to 'fess'." + +"I thought so. What is it, dear?" + +"Shall I go away?" asked Jo discreetly. + +"Of course not. Don't I always tell you everything? I was ashamed to +speak of it before the younger children, but I want you to know all the +dreadful things I did at the Moffats'." + +"We are prepared," said Mrs. March, smiling but looking a little +anxious. + +"I told you they dressed me up, but I didn't tell you that they +powdered and squeezed and frizzled, and made me look like a +fashion-plate. Laurie thought I wasn't proper. I know he did, though +he didn't say so, and one man called me 'a doll'. I knew it was silly, +but they flattered me and said I was a beauty, and quantities of +nonsense, so I let them make a fool of me." + +"Is that all?" asked Jo, as Mrs. March looked silently at the downcast +face of her pretty daughter, and could not find it in her heart to +blame her little follies. + +"No, I drank champagne and romped and tried to flirt, and was +altogether abominable," said Meg self-reproachfully. + +"There is something more, I think." And Mrs. March smoothed the soft +cheek, which suddenly grew rosy as Meg answered slowly... + +"Yes. It's very silly, but I want to tell it, because I hate to have +people say and think such things about us and Laurie." + +Then she told the various bits of gossip she had heard at the Moffats', +and as she spoke, Jo saw her mother fold her lips tightly, as if ill +pleased that such ideas should be put into Meg's innocent mind. + +"Well, if that isn't the greatest rubbish I ever heard," cried Jo +indignantly. "Why didn't you pop out and tell them so on the spot?" + +"I couldn't, it was so embarrassing for me. I couldn't help hearing at +first, and then I was so angry and ashamed, I didn't remember that I +ought to go away." + +"Just wait till I see Annie Moffat, and I'll show you how to settle +such ridiculous stuff. The idea of having 'plans' and being kind to +Laurie because he's rich and may marry us by-and-by! Won't he shout +when I tell him what those silly things say about us poor children?" +And Jo laughed, as if on second thoughts the thing struck her as a good +joke. + +"If you tell Laurie, I'll never forgive you! She mustn't, must she, +Mother?" said Meg, looking distressed. + +"No, never repeat that foolish gossip, and forget it as soon as you +can," said Mrs. March gravely. "I was very unwise to let you go among +people of whom I know so little, kind, I dare say, but worldly, +ill-bred, and full of these vulgar ideas about young people. I am more +sorry than I can express for the mischief this visit may have done you, +Meg." + +"Don't be sorry, I won't let it hurt me. I'll forget all the bad and +remember only the good, for I did enjoy a great deal, and thank you +very much for letting me go. I'll not be sentimental or dissatisfied, +Mother. I know I'm a silly little girl, and I'll stay with you till +I'm fit to take care of myself. But it is nice to be praised and +admired, and I can't help saying I like it," said Meg, looking half +ashamed of the confession. + +"That is perfectly natural, and quite harmless, if the liking does not +become a passion and lead one to do foolish or unmaidenly things. +Learn to know and value the praise which is worth having, and to excite +the admiration of excellent people by being modest as well as pretty, +Meg." + +Margaret sat thinking a moment, while Jo stood with her hands behind +her, looking both interested and a little perplexed, for it was a new +thing to see Meg blushing and talking about admiration, lovers, and +things of that sort. And Jo felt as if during that fortnight her +sister had grown up amazingly, and was drifting away from her into a +world where she could not follow. + +"Mother, do you have 'plans', as Mrs. Moffat said?" asked Meg bashfully. + +"Yes, my dear, I have a great many, all mothers do, but mine differ +somewhat from Mrs. Moffat's, I suspect. I will tell you some of them, +for the time has come when a word may set this romantic little head and +heart of yours right, on a very serious subject. You are young, Meg, +but not too young to understand me, and mothers' lips are the fittest +to speak of such things to girls like you. Jo, your turn will come in +time, perhaps, so listen to my 'plans' and help me carry them out, if +they are good." + +Jo went and sat on one arm of the chair, looking as if she thought they +were about to join in some very solemn affair. Holding a hand of each, +and watching the two young faces wistfully, Mrs. March said, in her +serious yet cheery way... + +"I want my daughters to be beautiful, accomplished, and good. To be +admired, loved, and respected. To have a happy youth, to be well and +wisely married, and to lead useful, pleasant lives, with as little care +and sorrow to try them as God sees fit to send. To be loved and chosen +by a good man is the best and sweetest thing which can happen to a +woman, and I sincerely hope my girls may know this beautiful +experience. It is natural to think of it, Meg, right to hope and wait +for it, and wise to prepare for it, so that when the happy time comes, +you may feel ready for the duties and worthy of the joy. My dear +girls, I am ambitious for you, but not to have you make a dash in the +world, marry rich men merely because they are rich, or have splendid +houses, which are not homes because love is wanting. Money is a +needful and precious thing, and when well used, a noble thing, but I +never want you to think it is the first or only prize to strive for. +I'd rather see you poor men's wives, if you were happy, beloved, +contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace." + +"Poor girls don't stand any chance, Belle says, unless they put +themselves forward," sighed Meg. + +"Then we'll be old maids," said Jo stoutly. + +"Right, Jo. Better be happy old maids than unhappy wives, or +unmaidenly girls, running about to find husbands," said Mrs. March +decidedly. "Don't be troubled, Meg, poverty seldom daunts a sincere +lover. Some of the best and most honored women I know were poor girls, +but so love-worthy that they were not allowed to be old maids. Leave +these things to time. Make this home happy, so that you may be fit for +homes of your own, if they are offered you, and contented here if they +are not. One thing remember, my girls. Mother is always ready to be +your confidant, Father to be your friend, and both of us hope and trust +that our daughters, whether married or single, will be the pride and +comfort of our lives." + +"We will, Marmee, we will!" cried both, with all their hearts, as she +bade them good night. + + + +CHAPTER TEN + +THE P.C. AND P.O. + +As spring came on, a new set of amusements became the fashion, and the +lengthening days gave long afternoons for work and play of all sorts. +The garden had to be put in order, and each sister had a quarter of the +little plot to do what she liked with. Hannah used to say, "I'd know +which each of them gardings belonged to, ef I see 'em in Chiny," and so +she might, for the girls' tastes differed as much as their characters. +Meg's had roses and heliotrope, myrtle, and a little orange tree in it. +Jo's bed was never alike two seasons, for she was always trying +experiments. This year it was to be a plantation of sun flowers, the +seeds of which cheerful and aspiring plant were to feed Aunt +Cockle-top and her family of chicks. Beth had old-fashioned fragrant +flowers in her garden, sweet peas and mignonette, larkspur, pinks, +pansies, and southernwood, with chickweed for the birds and catnip for +the pussies. Amy had a bower in hers, rather small and earwiggy, but +very pretty to look at, with honeysuckle and morning-glories hanging +their colored horns and bells in graceful wreaths all over it, tall +white lilies, delicate ferns, and as many brilliant, picturesque plants +as would consent to blossom there. + +Gardening, walks, rows on the river, and flower hunts employed the fine +days, and for rainy ones, they had house diversions, some old, some +new, all more or less original. One of these was the 'P.C.', for as +secret societies were the fashion, it was thought proper to have one, +and as all of the girls admired Dickens, they called themselves the +Pickwick Club. With a few interruptions, they had kept this up for a +year, and met every Saturday evening in the big garret, on which +occasions the ceremonies were as follows: Three chairs were arranged +in a row before a table on which was a lamp, also four white badges, +with a big 'P.C.' in different colors on each, and the weekly newspaper +called, The Pickwick Portfolio, to which all contributed something, +while Jo, who reveled in pens and ink, was the editor. At seven +o'clock, the four members ascended to the clubroom, tied their badges +round their heads, and took their seats with great solemnity. Meg, as +the eldest, was Samuel Pickwick, Jo, being of a literary turn, Augustus +Snodgrass, Beth, because she was round and rosy, Tracy Tupman, and Amy, +who was always trying to do what she couldn't, was Nathaniel Winkle. +Pickwick, the president, read the paper, which was filled with original +tales, poetry, local news, funny advertisements, and hints, in which +they good-naturedly reminded each other of their faults and short +comings. On one occasion, Mr. Pickwick put on a pair of spectacles +without any glass, rapped upon the table, hemmed, and having stared +hard at Mr. Snodgrass, who was tilting back in his chair, till he +arranged himself properly, began to read: + + _________________________________________________ + + "THE PICKWICK PORTFOLIO" + + + + MAY 20, 18-- + + POET'S CORNER + + ANNIVERSARY ODE + + + Again we meet to celebrate + With badge and solemn rite, + Our fifty-second anniversary, + In Pickwick Hall, tonight. + + We all are here in perfect health, + None gone from our small band: + Again we see each well-known face, + And press each friendly hand. + + Our Pickwick, always at his post, + With reverence we greet, + As, spectacles on nose, he reads + Our well-filled weekly sheet. + + Although he suffers from a cold, + We joy to hear him speak, + For words of wisdom from him fall, + In spite of croak or squeak. + + Old six-foot Snodgrass looms on high, + With elephantine grace, + And beams upon the company, + With brown and jovial face. + + Poetic fire lights up his eye, + He struggles 'gainst his lot. + Behold ambition on his brow, + And on his nose, a blot. + + Next our peaceful Tupman comes, + So rosy, plump, and sweet, + Who chokes with laughter at the puns, + And tumbles off his seat. + + Prim little Winkle too is here, + With every hair in place, + A model of propriety, + Though he hates to wash his face. + + The year is gone, we still unite + To joke and laugh and read, + And tread the path of literature + That doth to glory lead. + + Long may our paper prosper well, + Our club unbroken be, + And coming years their blessings pour + On the useful, gay 'P. C.'. + A. SNODGRASS + + ________ + + THE MASKED MARRIAGE + (A Tale Of Venice) + + Gondola after gondola swept up to the marble + steps, and left its lovely load to swell the + brilliant throng that filled the stately halls of Count + Adelon. Knights and ladies, elves and pages, monks + and flower girls, all mingled gaily in the dance. + Sweet voices and rich melody filled the air, and so + with mirth and music the masquerade went on. + "Has your Highness seen the Lady Viola tonight?" + asked a gallant troubadour of the fairy queen who + floated down the hall upon his arm. + + "Yes, is she not lovely, though so sad! Her + dress is well chosen, too, for in a week she weds + Count Antonio, whom she passionately hates." + + "By my faith, I envy him. Yonder he comes, + arrayed like a bridegroom, except the black mask. + When that is off we shall see how he regards the + fair maid whose heart he cannot win, though her + stern father bestows her hand," returned the troubadour. + + "Tis whispered that she loves the young English + artist who haunts her steps, and is spurned by the + old Count," said the lady, as they joined the dance. + The revel was at its height when a priest + appeared, and withdrawing the young pair to an alcove, + hung with purple velvet, he motioned them to kneel. + Instant silence fell on the gay throng, and not a + sound, but the dash of fountains or the rustle of + orange groves sleeping in the moonlight, broke the + hush, as Count de Adelon spoke thus: + + "My lords and ladies, pardon the ruse by which + I have gathered you here to witness the marriage of + my daughter. Father, we wait your services." + All eyes turned toward the bridal party, and a + murmur of amazement went through the throng, for + neither bride nor groom removed their masks. Curiosity + and wonder possessed all hearts, but respect restrained + all tongues till the holy rite was over. Then the + eager spectators gathered round the count, demanding + an explanation. + + "Gladly would I give it if I could, but I only + know that it was the whim of my timid Viola, and I + yielded to it. Now, my children, let the play end. + Unmask and receive my blessing." + + But neither bent the knee, for the young bridegroom + replied in a tone that startled all listeners + as the mask fell, disclosing the noble face of Ferdinand + Devereux, the artist lover, and leaning on the + breast where now flashed the star of an English earl + was the lovely Viola, radiant with joy and beauty. + + "My lord, you scornfully bade me claim your + daughter when I could boast as high a name and vast a + fortune as the Count Antonio. I can do more, for even + your ambitious soul cannot refuse the Earl of Devereux + and De Vere, when he gives his ancient name and boundless + wealth in return for the beloved hand of this fair lady, + now my wife." + + The count stood like one changed to stone, and + turning to the bewildered crowd, Ferdinand added, with + a gay smile of triumph, "To you, my gallant friends, I + can only wish that your wooing may prosper as mine has + done, and that you may all win as fair a bride as I have + by this masked marriage." + S. PICKWICK + + + Why is the P. C. like the Tower of Babel? + It is full of unruly members. + + _________ + + THE HISTORY OF A SQUASH + + + Once upon a time a farmer planted a little seed + in his garden, and after a while it sprouted and became + a vine and bore many squashes. One day in October, + when they were ripe, he picked one and took it + to market. A grocerman bought and put it in his shop. + That same morning, a little girl in a brown hat + and blue dress, with a round face and snub nose, went + and bought it for her mother. She lugged it home, cut + it up, and boiled it in the big pot, mashed some of it + with salt and butter, for dinner. And to the rest she added + a pint of milk, two eggs, four spoons of sugar, nutmeg, + and some crackers, put it in a deep dish, and baked it + till it was brown and nice, and next day it was eaten + by a family named March. + T. TUPMAN + + _________ + + Mr. Pickwick, Sir:-- + I address you upon the subject of sin the sinner + I mean is a man named Winkle who makes trouble in his + club by laughing and sometimes won't write his piece in + this fine paper I hope you will pardon his badness and + let him send a French fable because he can't write out + of his head as he has so many lessons to do and no brains + in future I will try to take time by the fetlock and + prepare some work which will be all commy la fo that + means all right I am in haste as it is nearly school + time. + Yours respectably, + N. WINKLE + + [The above is a manly and handsome acknowledgment of past + misdemeanors. If our young friend studied punctuation, it + would be well.] + + _________ + + A SAD ACCIDENT + + On Friday last, we were startled by a violent shock + in our basement, followed by cries of distress. + On rushing in a body to the cellar, we discovered our beloved + President prostrate upon the floor, having tripped and + fallen while getting wood for domestic purposes. A perfect + scene of ruin met our eyes, for in his fall Mr. Pickwick + had plunged his head and shoulders into a tub of water, + upset a keg of soft soap upon his manly form, and torn + his garments badly. On being removed from this perilous + situation, it was discovered that he had suffered + no injury but several bruises, and we are happy to add, + is now doing well. + ED. + + _________ + + THE PUBLIC BEREAVEMENT + + It is our painful duty to record the sudden and + mysterious disappearance of our cherished friend, Mrs. + Snowball Pat Paw. This lovely and beloved cat was the + pet of a large circle of warm and admiring friends; for + her beauty attracted all eyes, her graces and virtues + endeared her to all hearts, and her loss is deeply felt + by the whole community. + + When last seen, she was sitting at the gate, watching + the butcher's cart, and it is feared that some villain, + tempted by her charms, basely stole her. Weeks have passed, + but no trace of her has been discovered, and we relinquish + all hope, tie a black ribbon to her basket, set aside her + dish, and weep for her as one lost to us forever. + + _________ + + A sympathizing friend sends the following gem: + + + A LAMENT + (FOR S. B. PAT PAW) + + We mourn the loss of our little pet, + And sigh o'er her hapless fate, + For never more by the fire she'll sit, + Nor play by the old green gate. + + The little grave where her infant sleeps + Is 'neath the chestnut tree. + But o'er her grave we may not weep, + We know not where it may be. + + Her empty bed, her idle ball, + Will never see her more; + No gentle tap, no loving purr + Is heard at the parlor door. + + Another cat comes after her mice, + A cat with a dirty face, + But she does not hunt as our darling did, + Nor play with her airy grace. + + Her stealthy paws tread the very hall + Where Snowball used to play, + But she only spits at the dogs our pet + So gallantly drove away. + + She is useful and mild, and does her best, + But she is not fair to see, + And we cannot give her your place dear, + Nor worship her as we worship thee. + A.S. + + _________ + + ADVERTISEMENTS + + MISS ORANTHY BLUGGAGE, the accomplished + strong-minded lecturer, will deliver her + famous lecture on "WOMAN AND HER POSITION" + at Pickwick Hall, next Saturday Evening, + after the usual performances. + + + A WEEKLY MEETING will be held at Kitchen + Place, to teach young ladies how to cook. + Hannah Brown will preside, and all are + invited to attend. + + The DUSTPAN SOCIETY will meet on Wednesday + next, and parade in the upper story of the + Club House. All members to appear in uniform + and shoulder their brooms at nine precisely. + + Mrs. BETH BOUNCER will open her new + assortment of Doll's Millinery next week. + The latest Paris fashions have arrived, + and orders are respectfully solicited. + + A NEW PLAY will appear at the Barnville + Theatre, in the course of a few weeks, which + will surpass anything ever seen on the American stage. + "The Greek Slave, or Constantine the Avenger," is the name + of this thrilling drama!!! + + + + HINTS + + If S.P. didn't use so much soap on his hands, + he wouldn't always be late at breakfast. A.S. + is requested not to whistle in the street. T.T. + please don't forget Amy's napkin. N.W. must + not fret because his dress has not nine tucks. + + + + WEEKLY REPORT + + Meg--Good. + Jo--Bad. + Beth--Very Good. + Amy--Middling. + + _________________________________________________ + + +As the President finished reading the paper (which I beg leave to +assure my readers is a bona fide copy of one written by bona fide girls +once upon a time), a round of applause followed, and then Mr. Snodgrass +rose to make a proposition. + +"Mr. President and gentlemen," he began, assuming a parliamentary +attitude and tone, "I wish to propose the admission of a new +member--one who highly deserves the honor, would be deeply grateful for +it, and would add immensely to the spirit of the club, the literary +value of the paper, and be no end jolly and nice. I propose Mr. +Theodore Laurence as an honorary member of the P. C. Come now, do +have him." + +Jo's sudden change of tone made the girls laugh, but all looked rather +anxious, and no one said a word as Snodgrass took his seat. + +"We'll put it to a vote," said the President. "All in favor of this +motion please to manifest it by saying, 'Aye'." + +A loud response from Snodgrass, followed, to everybody's surprise, by a +timid one from Beth. + +"Contrary-minded say, 'No'." + +Meg and Amy were contrary-minded, and Mr. Winkle rose to say with great +elegance, "We don't wish any boys, they only joke and bounce about. +This is a ladies' club, and we wish to be private and proper." + +"I'm afraid he'll laugh at our paper, and make fun of us afterward," +observed Pickwick, pulling the little curl on her forehead, as she +always did when doubtful. + +Up rose Snodgrass, very much in earnest. "Sir, I give you my word as a +gentleman, Laurie won't do anything of the sort. He likes to write, +and he'll give a tone to our contributions and keep us from being +sentimental, don't you see? We can do so little for him, and he does +so much for us, I think the least we can do is to offer him a place +here, and make him welcome if he comes." + +This artful allusion to benefits conferred brought Tupman to his feet, +looking as if he had quite made up his mind. + +"Yes; we ought to do it, even if we are afraid. I say he may come, and +his grandpa, too, if he likes." + +This spirited burst from Beth electrified the club, and Jo left her +seat to shake hands approvingly. "Now then, vote again. Everybody +remember it's our Laurie, and say, 'Aye!'" cried Snodgrass excitedly. + +"Aye! Aye! Aye!" replied three voices at once. + +"Good! Bless you! Now, as there's nothing like 'taking time by the +fetlock', as Winkle characteristically observes, allow me to present +the new member." And, to the dismay of the rest of the club, Jo threw +open the door of the closet, and displayed Laurie sitting on a rag bag, +flushed and twinkling with suppressed laughter. + +"You rogue! You traitor! Jo, how could you?" cried the three girls, +as Snodgrass led her friend triumphantly forth, and producing both a +chair and a badge, installed him in a jiffy. + +"The coolness of you two rascals is amazing," began Mr. Pickwick, +trying to get up an awful frown and only succeeding in producing an +amiable smile. But the new member was equal to the occasion, and +rising, with a grateful salutation to the Chair, said in the most +engaging manner, "Mr. President and ladies--I beg pardon, +gentlemen--allow me to introduce myself as Sam Weller, the very humble +servant of the club." + +"Good! Good!" cried Jo, pounding with the handle of the old warming +pan on which she leaned. + +"My faithful friend and noble patron," continued Laurie with a wave of +the hand, "who has so flatteringly presented me, is not to be blamed +for the base stratagem of tonight. I planned it, and she only gave in +after lots of teasing." + +"Come now, don't lay it all on yourself. You know I proposed the +cupboard," broke in Snodgrass, who was enjoying the joke amazingly. + +"Never mind what she says. I'm the wretch that did it, sir," said the +new member, with a Welleresque nod to Mr. Pickwick. "But on my honor, +I never will do so again, and henceforth devote myself to the interest +of this immortal club." + +"Hear! Hear!" cried Jo, clashing the lid of the warming pan like a +cymbal. + +"Go on, go on!" added Winkle and Tupman, while the President bowed +benignly. + +"I merely wish to say, that as a slight token of my gratitude for the +honor done me, and as a means of promoting friendly relations between +adjoining nations, I have set up a post office in the hedge in the +lower corner of the garden, a fine, spacious building with padlocks on +the doors and every convenience for the mails, also the females, if I +may be allowed the expression. It's the old martin house, but I've +stopped up the door and made the roof open, so it will hold all sorts +of things, and save our valuable time. Letters, manuscripts, books, +and bundles can be passed in there, and as each nation has a key, it +will be uncommonly nice, I fancy. Allow me to present the club key, +and with many thanks for your favor, take my seat." + +Great applause as Mr. Weller deposited a little key on the table and +subsided, the warming pan clashed and waved wildly, and it was some +time before order could be restored. A long discussion followed, and +everyone came out surprising, for everyone did her best. So it was an +unusually lively meeting, and did not adjourn till a late hour, when it +broke up with three shrill cheers for the new member. + +No one ever regretted the admittance of Sam Weller, for a more devoted, +well-behaved, and jovial member no club could have. He certainly did +add 'spirit' to the meetings, and 'a tone' to the paper, for his +orations convulsed his hearers and his contributions were excellent, +being patriotic, classical, comical, or dramatic, but never +sentimental. Jo regarded them as worthy of Bacon, Milton, or +Shakespeare, and remodeled her own works with good effect, she thought. + +The P. O. was a capital little institution, and flourished +wonderfully, for nearly as many queer things passed through it as +through the real post office. Tragedies and cravats, poetry and +pickles, garden seeds and long letters, music and gingerbread, rubbers, +invitations, scoldings, and puppies. The old gentleman liked the fun, +and amused himself by sending odd bundles, mysterious messages, and +funny telegrams, and his gardener, who was smitten with Hannah's +charms, actually sent a love letter to Jo's care. How they laughed +when the secret came out, never dreaming how many love letters that +little post office would hold in the years to come. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN + +EXPERIMENTS + +"The first of June! The Kings are off to the seashore tomorrow, and +I'm free. Three months' vacation--how I shall enjoy it!" exclaimed +Meg, coming home one warm day to find Jo laid upon the sofa in an +unusual state of exhaustion, while Beth took off her dusty boots, and +Amy made lemonade for the refreshment of the whole party. + +"Aunt March went today, for which, oh, be joyful!" said Jo. "I was +mortally afraid she'd ask me to go with her. If she had, I should have +felt as if I ought to do it, but Plumfield is about as gay as a +churchyard, you know, and I'd rather be excused. We had a flurry +getting the old lady off, and I had a fright every time she spoke to +me, for I was in such a hurry to be through that I was uncommonly +helpful and sweet, and feared she'd find it impossible to part from me. +I quaked till she was fairly in the carriage, and had a final fright, +for as it drove of, she popped out her head, saying, 'Josyphine, won't +you--?' I didn't hear any more, for I basely turned and fled. I did +actually run, and whisked round the corner where I felt safe." + +"Poor old Jo! She came in looking as if bears were after her," said +Beth, as she cuddled her sister's feet with a motherly air. + +"Aunt March is a regular samphire, is she not?" observed Amy, tasting +her mixture critically. + +"She means vampire, not seaweed, but it doesn't matter. It's too warm +to be particular about one's parts of speech," murmured Jo. + +"What shall you do all your vacation?" asked Amy, changing the subject +with tact. + +"I shall lie abed late, and do nothing," replied Meg, from the depths +of the rocking chair. "I've been routed up early all winter and had to +spend my days working for other people, so now I'm going to rest and +revel to my heart's content." + +"No," said Jo, "that dozy way wouldn't suit me. I've laid in a heap of +books, and I'm going to improve my shining hours reading on my perch in +the old apple tree, when I'm not having l----" + +"Don't say 'larks!'" implored Amy, as a return snub for the 'samphire' +correction. + +"I'll say 'nightingales' then, with Laurie. That's proper and +appropriate, since he's a warbler." + +"Don't let us do any lessons, Beth, for a while, but play all the time +and rest, as the girls mean to," proposed Amy. + +"Well, I will, if Mother doesn't mind. I want to learn some new songs, +and my children need fitting up for the summer. They are dreadfully +out of order and really suffering for clothes." + +"May we, Mother?" asked Meg, turning to Mrs. March, who sat sewing in +what they called 'Marmee's corner'. + +"You may try your experiment for a week and see how you like it. I +think by Saturday night you will find that all play and no work is as +bad as all work and no play." + +"Oh, dear, no! It will be delicious, I'm sure," said Meg complacently. + +"I now propose a toast, as my 'friend and pardner, Sairy Gamp', says. +Fun forever, and no grubbing!" cried Jo, rising, glass in hand, as the +lemonade went round. + +They all drank it merrily, and began the experiment by lounging for the +rest of the day. Next morning, Meg did not appear till ten o'clock. +Her solitary breakfast did not taste good, and the room seemed lonely +and untidy, for Jo had not filled the vases, Beth had not dusted, and +Amy's books lay scattered about. Nothing was neat and pleasant but +'Marmee's corner', which looked as usual. And there Meg sat, to 'rest +and read', which meant to yawn and imagine what pretty summer dresses +she would get with her salary. Jo spent the morning on the river with +Laurie and the afternoon reading and crying over _The Wide, Wide +World_, up in the apple tree. Beth began by rummaging everything out +of the big closet where her family resided, but getting tired before +half done, she left her establishment topsy-turvy and went to her +music, rejoicing that she had no dishes to wash. Amy arranged her +bower, put on her best white frock, smoothed her curls, and sat down to +draw under the honeysuckle, hoping someone would see and inquire who +the young artist was. As no one appeared but an inquisitive +daddy-longlegs, who examined her work with interest, she went to walk, +got caught in a shower, and came home dripping. + +At teatime they compared notes, and all agreed that it had been a +delightful, though unusually long day. Meg, who went shopping in the +afternoon and got a 'sweet blue muslin', had discovered, after she had +cut the breadths off, that it wouldn't wash, which mishap made her +slightly cross. Jo had burned the skin off her nose boating, and got a +raging headache by reading too long. Beth was worried by the confusion +of her closet and the difficulty of learning three or four songs at +once, and Amy deeply regretted the damage done her frock, for Katy +Brown's party was to be the next day and now like Flora McFlimsey, she +had 'nothing to wear'. But these were mere trifles, and they assured +their mother that the experiment was working finely. She smiled, said +nothing, and with Hannah's help did their neglected work, keeping home +pleasant and the domestic machinery running smoothly. It was +astonishing what a peculiar and uncomfortable state of things was +produced by the 'resting and reveling' process. The days kept getting +longer and longer, the weather was unusually variable and so were +tempers; an unsettled feeling possessed everyone, and Satan found +plenty of mischief for the idle hands to do. As the height of luxury, +Meg put out some of her sewing, and then found time hang so heavily, +that she fell to snipping and spoiling her clothes in her attempts to +furbish them up a la Moffat. Jo read till her eyes gave out and she +was sick of books, got so fidgety that even good-natured Laurie had a +quarrel with her, and so reduced in spirits that she desperately wished +she had gone with Aunt March. Beth got on pretty well, for she was +constantly forgetting that it was to be all play and no work, and fell +back into her old ways now and then. But something in the air affected +her, and more than once her tranquility was much disturbed, so much so +that on one occasion she actually shook poor dear Joanna and told her +she was 'a fright'. Amy fared worst of all, for her resources were +small, and when her sisters left her to amuse herself, she soon found +that accomplished and important little self a great burden. She didn't +like dolls, fairy tales were childish, and one couldn't draw all the +time. Tea parties didn't amount to much, neither did picnics, unless +very well conducted. "If one could have a fine house, full of nice +girls, or go traveling, the summer would be delightful, but to stay at +home with three selfish sisters and a grown-up boy was enough to try +the patience of a Boaz," complained Miss Malaprop, after several days +devoted to pleasure, fretting, and ennui. + +No one would own that they were tired of the experiment, but by Friday +night each acknowledged to herself that she was glad the week was +nearly done. Hoping to impress the lesson more deeply, Mrs. March, who +had a good deal of humor, resolved to finish off the trial in an +appropriate manner, so she gave Hannah a holiday and let the girls +enjoy the full effect of the play system. + +When they got up on Saturday morning, there was no fire in the kitchen, +no breakfast in the dining room, and no mother anywhere to be seen. + +"Mercy on us! What has happened?" cried Jo, staring about her in +dismay. + +Meg ran upstairs and soon came back again, looking relieved but rather +bewildered, and a little ashamed. + +"Mother isn't sick, only very tired, and she says she is going to stay +quietly in her room all day and let us do the best we can. It's a very +queer thing for her to do, she doesn't act a bit like herself. But she +says it has been a hard week for her, so we mustn't grumble but take +care of ourselves." + +"That's easy enough, and I like the idea, I'm aching for something to +do, that is, some new amusement, you know," added Jo quickly. + +In fact it was an immense relief to them all to have a little work, and +they took hold with a will, but soon realized the truth of Hannah's +saying, "Housekeeping ain't no joke." There was plenty of food in the +larder, and while Beth and Amy set the table, Meg and Jo got breakfast, +wondering as they did why servants ever talked about hard work. + +"I shall take some up to Mother, though she said we were not to think +of her, for she'd take care of herself," said Meg, who presided and +felt quite matronly behind the teapot. + +So a tray was fitted out before anyone began, and taken up with the +cook's compliments. The boiled tea was very bitter, the omelet +scorched, and the biscuits speckled with saleratus, but Mrs. March +received her repast with thanks and laughed heartily over it after Jo +was gone. + +"Poor little souls, they will have a hard time, I'm afraid, but they +won't suffer, and it will do them good," she said, producing the more +palatable viands with which she had provided herself, and disposing of +the bad breakfast, so that their feelings might not be hurt, a motherly +little deception for which they were grateful. + +Many were the complaints below, and great the chagrin of the head cook +at her failures. "Never mind, I'll get the dinner and be servant, you +be mistress, keep your hands nice, see company, and give orders," said +Jo, who knew still less than Meg about culinary affairs. + +This obliging offer was gladly accepted, and Margaret retired to the +parlor, which she hastily put in order by whisking the litter under the +sofa and shutting the blinds to save the trouble of dusting. Jo, with +perfect faith in her own powers and a friendly desire to make up the +quarrel, immediately put a note in the office, inviting Laurie to +dinner. + +"You'd better see what you have got before you think of having +company," said Meg, when informed of the hospitable but rash act. + +"Oh, there's corned beef and plenty of potatoes, and I shall get some +asparagus and a lobster, 'for a relish', as Hannah says. We'll have +lettuce and make a salad. I don't know how, but the book tells. I'll +have blanc mange and strawberries for dessert, and coffee too, if you +want to be elegant." + +"Don't try too many messes, Jo, for you can't make anything but +gingerbread and molasses candy fit to eat. I wash my hands of the +dinner party, and since you have asked Laurie on your own +responsibility, you may just take care of him." + +"I don't want you to do anything but be civil to him and help to the +pudding. You'll give me your advice if I get in a muddle, won't you?" +asked Jo, rather hurt. + +"Yes, but I don't know much, except about bread and a few trifles. You +had better ask Mother's leave before you order anything," returned Meg +prudently. + +"Of course I shall. I'm not a fool." And Jo went off in a huff at the +doubts expressed of her powers. + +"Get what you like, and don't disturb me. I'm going out to dinner and +can't worry about things at home," said Mrs. March, when Jo spoke to +her. "I never enjoyed housekeeping, and I'm going to take a vacation +today, and read, write, go visiting, and amuse myself." + +The unusual spectacle of her busy mother rocking comfortably and +reading early in the morning made Jo feel as if some unnatural +phenomenon had occurred, for an eclipse, an earthquake, or a volcanic +eruption would hardly have seemed stranger. + +"Everything is out of sorts, somehow," she said to herself, going +downstairs. "There's Beth crying, that's a sure sign that something is +wrong in this family. If Amy is bothering, I'll shake her." + +Feeling very much out of sorts herself, Jo hurried into the parlor to +find Beth sobbing over Pip, the canary, who lay dead in the cage with +his little claws pathetically extended, as if imploring the food for +want of which he had died. + +"It's all my fault, I forgot him, there isn't a seed or a drop left. +Oh, Pip! Oh, Pip! How could I be so cruel to you?" cried Beth, taking +the poor thing in her hands and trying to restore him. + +Jo peeped into his half-open eye, felt his little heart, and finding +him stiff and cold, shook her head, and offered her domino box for a +coffin. + +"Put him in the oven, and maybe he will get warm and revive," said Amy +hopefully. + +"He's been starved, and he shan't be baked now he's dead. I'll make +him a shroud, and he shall be buried in the garden, and I'll never have +another bird, never, my Pip! for I am too bad to own one," murmured +Beth, sitting on the floor with her pet folded in her hands. + +"The funeral shall be this afternoon, and we will all go. Now, don't +cry, Bethy. It's a pity, but nothing goes right this week, and Pip has +had the worst of the experiment. Make the shroud, and lay him in my +box, and after the dinner party, we'll have a nice little funeral," +said Jo, beginning to feel as if she had undertaken a good deal. + +Leaving the others to console Beth, she departed to the kitchen, which +was in a most discouraging state of confusion. Putting on a big apron, +she fell to work and got the dishes piled up ready for washing, when +she discovered that the fire was out. + +"Here's a sweet prospect!" muttered Jo, slamming the stove door open, +and poking vigorously among the cinders. + +Having rekindled the fire, she thought she would go to market while the +water heated. The walk revived her spirits, and flattering herself +that she had made good bargains, she trudged home again, after buying a +very young lobster, some very old asparagus, and two boxes of acid +strawberries. By the time she got cleared up, the dinner arrived and +the stove was red-hot. Hannah had left a pan of bread to rise, Meg had +worked it up early, set it on the hearth for a second rising, and +forgotten it. Meg was entertaining Sallie Gardiner in the parlor, when +the door flew open and a floury, crocky, flushed, and disheveled figure +appeared, demanding tartly... + +"I say, isn't bread 'riz' enough when it runs over the pans?" + +Sallie began to laugh, but Meg nodded and lifted her eyebrows as high +as they would go, which caused the apparition to vanish and put the +sour bread into the oven without further delay. Mrs. March went out, +after peeping here and there to see how matters went, also saying a +word of comfort to Beth, who sat making a winding sheet, while the dear +departed lay in state in the domino box. A strange sense of +helplessness fell upon the girls as the gray bonnet vanished round the +corner, and despair seized them when a few minutes later Miss Crocker +appeared, and said she'd come to dinner. Now this lady was a thin, +yellow spinster, with a sharp nose and inquisitive eyes, who saw +everything and gossiped about all she saw. They disliked her, but had +been taught to be kind to her, simply because she was old and poor and +had few friends. So Meg gave her the easy chair and tried to entertain +her, while she asked questions, criticized everything, and told stories +of the people whom she knew. + +Language cannot describe the anxieties, experiences, and exertions +which Jo underwent that morning, and the dinner she served up became a +standing joke. Fearing to ask any more advice, she did her best alone, +and discovered that something more than energy and good will is +necessary to make a cook. She boiled the asparagus for an hour and was +grieved to find the heads cooked off and the stalks harder than ever. +The bread burned black; for the salad dressing so aggravated her that +she could not make it fit to eat. The lobster was a scarlet mystery to +her, but she hammered and poked till it was unshelled and its meager +proportions concealed in a grove of lettuce leaves. The potatoes had +to be hurried, not to keep the asparagus waiting, and were not done at +the last. The blanc mange was lumpy, and the strawberries not as ripe +as they looked, having been skilfully 'deaconed'. + +"Well, they can eat beef and bread and butter, if they are hungry, only +it's mortifying to have to spend your whole morning for nothing," +thought Jo, as she rang the bell half an hour later than usual, and +stood, hot, tired, and dispirited, surveying the feast spread before +Laurie, accustomed to all sorts of elegance, and Miss Crocker, whose +tattling tongue would report them far and wide. + +Poor Jo would gladly have gone under the table, as one thing after +another was tasted and left, while Amy giggled, Meg looked distressed, +Miss Crocker pursed her lips, and Laurie talked and laughed with all +his might to give a cheerful tone to the festive scene. Jo's one +strong point was the fruit, for she had sugared it well, and had a +pitcher of rich cream to eat with it. Her hot cheeks cooled a trifle, +and she drew a long breath as the pretty glass plates went round, and +everyone looked graciously at the little rosy islands floating in a sea +of cream. Miss Crocker tasted first, made a wry face, and drank some +water hastily. Jo, who refused, thinking there might not be enough, +for they dwindled sadly after the picking over, glanced at Laurie, but +he was eating away manfully, though there was a slight pucker about his +mouth and he kept his eye fixed on his plate. Amy, who was fond of +delicate fare, took a heaping spoonful, choked, hid her face in her +napkin, and left the table precipitately. + +"Oh, what is it?" exclaimed Jo, trembling. + +"Salt instead of sugar, and the cream is sour," replied Meg with a +tragic gesture. + +Jo uttered a groan and fell back in her chair, remembering that she had +given a last hasty powdering to the berries out of one of the two boxes +on the kitchen table, and had neglected to put the milk in the +refrigerator. She turned scarlet and was on the verge of crying, when +she met Laurie's eyes, which would look merry in spite of his heroic +efforts. The comical side of the affair suddenly struck her, and she +laughed till the tears ran down her cheeks. So did everyone else, even +'Croaker' as the girls called the old lady, and the unfortunate dinner +ended gaily, with bread and butter, olives and fun. + +"I haven't strength of mind enough to clear up now, so we will sober +ourselves with a funeral," said Jo, as they rose, and Miss Crocker made +ready to go, being eager to tell the new story at another friend's +dinner table. + +They did sober themselves for Beth's sake. Laurie dug a grave under +the ferns in the grove, little Pip was laid in, with many tears by his +tender-hearted mistress, and covered with moss, while a wreath of +violets and chickweed was hung on the stone which bore his epitaph, +composed by Jo while she struggled with the dinner. + + Here lies Pip March, + Who died the 7th of June; + Loved and lamented sore, + And not forgotten soon. + +At the conclusion of the ceremonies, Beth retired to her room, overcome +with emotion and lobster, but there was no place of repose, for the +beds were not made, and she found her grief much assuaged by beating up +the pillows and putting things in order. Meg helped Jo clear away the +remains of the feast, which took half the afternoon and left them so +tired that they agreed to be contented with tea and toast for supper. + +Laurie took Amy to drive, which was a deed of charity, for the sour +cream seemed to have had a bad effect upon her temper. Mrs. March came +home to find the three older girls hard at work in the middle of the +afternoon, and a glance at the closet gave her an idea of the success +of one part of the experiment. + +Before the housewives could rest, several people called, and there was +a scramble to get ready to see them. Then tea must be got, errands +done, and one or two necessary bits of sewing neglected until the last +minute. As twilight fell, dewy and still, one by one they gathered on +the porch where the June roses were budding beautifully, and each +groaned or sighed as she sat down, as if tired or troubled. + +"What a dreadful day this has been!" began Jo, usually the first to +speak. + +"It has seemed shorter than usual, but so uncomfortable," said Meg. + +"Not a bit like home," added Amy. + +"It can't seem so without Marmee and little Pip," sighed Beth, glancing +with full eyes at the empty cage above her head. + +"Here's Mother, dear, and you shall have another bird tomorrow, if you +want it." + +As she spoke, Mrs. March came and took her place among them, looking as +if her holiday had not been much pleasanter than theirs. + +"Are you satisfied with your experiment, girls, or do you want another +week of it?" she asked, as Beth nestled up to her and the rest turned +toward her with brightening faces, as flowers turn toward the sun. + +"I don't!" cried Jo decidedly. + +"Nor I," echoed the others. + +"You think then, that it is better to have a few duties and live a +little for others, do you?" + +"Lounging and larking doesn't pay," observed Jo, shaking her head. "I'm +tired of it and mean to go to work at something right off." + +"Suppose you learn plain cooking. That's a useful accomplishment, +which no woman should be without," said Mrs. March, laughing inaudibly +at the recollection of Jo's dinner party, for she had met Miss Crocker +and heard her account of it. + +"Mother, did you go away and let everything be, just to see how we'd +get on?" cried Meg, who had had suspicions all day. + +"Yes, I wanted you to see how the comfort of all depends on each doing +her share faithfully. While Hannah and I did your work, you got on +pretty well, though I don't think you were very happy or amiable. So I +thought, as a little lesson, I would show you what happens when +everyone thinks only of herself. Don't you feel that it is pleasanter +to help one another, to have daily duties which make leisure sweet when +it comes, and to bear and forbear, that home may be comfortable and +lovely to us all?" + +"We do, Mother, we do!" cried the girls. + +"Then let me advise you to take up your little burdens again, for +though they seem heavy sometimes, they are good for us, and lighten as +we learn to carry them. Work is wholesome, and there is plenty for +everyone. It keeps us from ennui and mischief, is good for health and +spirits, and gives us a sense of power and independence better than +money or fashion." + +"We'll work like bees, and love it too, see if we don't," said Jo. +"I'll learn plain cooking for my holiday task, and the next dinner +party I have shall be a success." + +"I'll make the set of shirts for father, instead of letting you do it, +Marmee. I can and I will, though I'm not fond of sewing. That will be +better than fussing over my own things, which are plenty nice enough as +they are." said Meg. + +"I'll do my lessons every day, and not spend so much time with my music +and dolls. I am a stupid thing, and ought to be studying, not +playing," was Beth's resolution, while Amy followed their example by +heroically declaring, "I shall learn to make buttonholes, and attend to +my parts of speech." + +"Very good! Then I am quite satisfied with the experiment, and fancy +that we shall not have to repeat it, only don't go to the other extreme +and delve like slaves. Have regular hours for work and play, make each +day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth +of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age +will bring few regrets, and life become a beautiful success, in spite +of poverty." + +"We'll remember, Mother!" and they did. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE + +CAMP LAURENCE + +Beth was postmistress, for, being most at home, she could attend to it +regularly, and dearly liked the daily task of unlocking the little door +and distributing the mail. One July day she came in with her hands +full, and went about the house leaving letters and parcels like the +penny post. + +"Here's your posy, Mother! Laurie never forgets that," she said, +putting the fresh nosegay in the vase that stood in 'Marmee's corner', +and was kept supplied by the affectionate boy. + +"Miss Meg March, one letter and a glove," continued Beth, delivering +the articles to her sister, who sat near her mother, stitching +wristbands. + +"Why, I left a pair over there, and here is only one," said Meg, +looking at the gray cotton glove. "Didn't you drop the other in the +garden?" + +"No, I'm sure I didn't, for there was only one in the office." + +"I hate to have odd gloves! Never mind, the other may be found. My +letter is only a translation of the German song I wanted. I think Mr. +Brooke did it, for this isn't Laurie's writing." + +Mrs. March glanced at Meg, who was looking very pretty in her gingham +morning gown, with the little curls blowing about her forehead, and +very womanly, as she sat sewing at her little worktable, full of tidy +white rolls, so unconscious of the thought in her mother's mind as she +sewed and sang, while her fingers flew and her thoughts were busied +with girlish fancies as innocent and fresh as the pansies in her belt, +that Mrs. March smiled and was satisfied. + +"Two letters for Doctor Jo, a book, and a funny old hat, which covered +the whole post office and stuck outside," said Beth, laughing as she +went into the study where Jo sat writing. + +"What a sly fellow Laurie is! I said I wished bigger hats were the +fashion, because I burn my face every hot day. He said, 'Why mind the +fashion? Wear a big hat, and be comfortable!' I said I would if I had +one, and he has sent me this, to try me. I'll wear it for fun, and +show him I don't care for the fashion." And hanging the antique +broad-brim on a bust of Plato, Jo read her letters. + +One from her mother made her cheeks glow and her eyes fill, for it said +to her... + + +My Dear: + +I write a little word to tell you with how much satisfaction I watch +your efforts to control your temper. You say nothing about your +trials, failures, or successes, and think, perhaps, that no one sees +them but the Friend whose help you daily ask, if I may trust the +well-worn cover of your guidebook. I, too, have seen them all, and +heartily believe in the sincerity of your resolution, since it begins +to bear fruit. Go on, dear, patiently and bravely, and always believe +that no one sympathizes more tenderly with you than your loving... + +Mother + + +"That does me good! That's worth millions of money and pecks of +praise. Oh, Marmee, I do try! I will keep on trying, and not get +tired, since I have you to help me." + +Laying her head on her arms, Jo wet her little romance with a few happy +tears, for she had thought that no one saw and appreciated her efforts +to be good, and this assurance was doubly precious, doubly encouraging, +because unexpected and from the person whose commendation she most +valued. Feeling stronger than ever to meet and subdue her Apollyon, +she pinned the note inside her frock, as a shield and a reminder, lest +she be taken unaware, and proceeded to open her other letter, quite +ready for either good or bad news. In a big, dashing hand, Laurie +wrote... + +Dear Jo, What ho! + +Some English girls and boys are coming to see me tomorrow and I want to +have a jolly time. If it's fine, I'm going to pitch my tent in +Longmeadow, and row up the whole crew to lunch and croquet--have a +fire, make messes, gypsy fashion, and all sorts of larks. They are +nice people, and like such things. Brooke will go to keep us boys +steady, and Kate Vaughn will play propriety for the girls. I want you +all to come, can't let Beth off at any price, and nobody shall worry +her. Don't bother about rations, I'll see to that and everything else, +only do come, there's a good fellow! + +In a tearing hurry, Yours ever, Laurie. + +"Here's richness!" cried Jo, flying in to tell the news to Meg. + +"Of course we can go, Mother? It will be such a help to Laurie, for I +can row, and Meg see to the lunch, and the children be useful in some +way." + +"I hope the Vaughns are not fine grown-up people. Do you know anything +about them, Jo?" asked Meg. + +"Only that there are four of them. Kate is older than you, Fred and +Frank (twins) about my age, and a little girl (Grace), who is nine or +ten. Laurie knew them abroad, and liked the boys. I fancied, from the +way he primmed up his mouth in speaking of her, that he didn't admire +Kate much." + +"I'm so glad my French print is clean, it's just the thing and so +becoming!" observed Meg complacently. "Have you anything decent, Jo?" + +"Scarlet and gray boating suit, good enough for me. I shall row and +tramp about, so I don't want any starch to think of. You'll come, +Betty?" + +"If you won't let any boys talk to me." + +"Not a boy!" + +"I like to please Laurie, and I'm not afraid of Mr. Brooke, he is so +kind. But I don't want to play, or sing, or say anything. I'll work +hard and not trouble anyone, and you'll take care of me, Jo, so I'll +go." + +"That's my good girl. You do try to fight off your shyness, and I love +you for it. Fighting faults isn't easy, as I know, and a cheery word +kind of gives a lift. Thank you, Mother," And Jo gave the thin cheek a +grateful kiss, more precious to Mrs. March than if it had given back +the rosy roundness of her youth. + +"I had a box of chocolate drops, and the picture I wanted to copy," +said Amy, showing her mail. + +"And I got a note from Mr. Laurence, asking me to come over and play to +him tonight, before the lamps are lighted, and I shall go," added Beth, +whose friendship with the old gentleman prospered finely. + +"Now let's fly round, and do double duty today, so that we can play +tomorrow with free minds," said Jo, preparing to replace her pen with a +broom. + +When the sun peeped into the girls' room early next morning to promise +them a fine day, he saw a comical sight. Each had made such +preparation for the fete as seemed necessary and proper. Meg had an +extra row of little curlpapers across her forehead, Jo had copiously +anointed her afflicted face with cold cream, Beth had taken Joanna to +bed with her to atone for the approaching separation, and Amy had +capped the climax by putting a clothespin on her nose to uplift the +offending feature. It was one of the kind artists use to hold the +paper on their drawing boards, therefore quite appropriate and +effective for the purpose it was now being put. This funny spectacle +appeared to amuse the sun, for he burst out with such radiance that Jo +woke up and roused her sisters by a hearty laugh at Amy's ornament. + +Sunshine and laughter were good omens for a pleasure party, and soon a +lively bustle began in both houses. Beth, who was ready first, kept +reporting what went on next door, and enlivened her sisters' toilets by +frequent telegrams from the window. + +"There goes the man with the tent! I see Mrs. Barker doing up the +lunch in a hamper and a great basket. Now Mr. Laurence is looking up +at the sky and the weathercock. I wish he would go too. There's +Laurie, looking like a sailor, nice boy! Oh, mercy me! Here's a +carriage full of people, a tall lady, a little girl, and two dreadful +boys. One is lame, poor thing, he's got a crutch. Laurie didn't tell +us that. Be quick, girls! It's getting late. Why, there is Ned +Moffat, I do declare. Meg, isn't that the man who bowed to you one day +when we were shopping?" + +"So it is. How queer that he should come. I thought he was at the +mountains. There is Sallie. I'm glad she got back in time. Am I all +right, Jo?" cried Meg in a flutter. + +"A regular daisy. Hold up your dress and put your hat on straight, it +looks sentimental tipped that way and will fly off at the first puff. +Now then, come on!" + +"Oh, Jo, you are not going to wear that awful hat? It's too absurd! +You shall not make a guy of yourself," remonstrated Meg, as Jo tied +down with a red ribbon the broad-brimmed, old-fashioned leghorn Laurie +had sent for a joke. + +"I just will, though, for it's capital, so shady, light, and big. It +will make fun, and I don't mind being a guy if I'm comfortable." With +that Jo marched straight away and the rest followed, a bright little +band of sisters, all looking their best in summer suits, with happy +faces under the jaunty hatbrims. + +Laurie ran to meet and present them to his friends in the most cordial +manner. The lawn was the reception room, and for several minutes a +lively scene was enacted there. Meg was grateful to see that Miss +Kate, though twenty, was dressed with a simplicity which American girls +would do well to imitate, and who was much flattered by Mr. Ned's +assurances that he came especially to see her. Jo understood why +Laurie 'primmed up his mouth' when speaking of Kate, for that young +lady had a standoff-don't-touch-me air, which contrasted strongly with +the free and easy demeanor of the other girls. Beth took an +observation of the new boys and decided that the lame one was not +'dreadful', but gentle and feeble, and she would be kind to him on that +account. Amy found Grace a well-mannered, merry, little person, and +after staring dumbly at one another for a few minutes, they suddenly +became very good friends. + +Tents, lunch, and croquet utensils having been sent on beforehand, the +party was soon embarked, and the two boats pushed off together, leaving +Mr. Laurence waving his hat on the shore. Laurie and Jo rowed one +boat, Mr. Brooke and Ned the other, while Fred Vaughn, the riotous +twin, did his best to upset both by paddling about in a wherry like a +disturbed water bug. Jo's funny hat deserved a vote of thanks, for it +was of general utility. It broke the ice in the beginning by producing +a laugh, it created quite a refreshing breeze, flapping to and fro as +she rowed, and would make an excellent umbrella for the whole party, if +a shower came up, she said. Miss Kate decided that she was 'odd', but +rather clever, and smiled upon her from afar. + +Meg, in the other boat, was delightfully situated, face to face with +the rowers, who both admired the prospect and feathered their oars with +uncommon 'skill and dexterity'. Mr. Brooke was a grave, silent young +man, with handsome brown eyes and a pleasant voice. Meg liked his +quiet manners and considered him a walking encyclopedia of useful +knowledge. He never talked to her much, but he looked at her a good +deal, and she felt sure that he did not regard her with aversion. Ned, +being in college, of course put on all the airs which freshmen think it +their bounden duty to assume. He was not very wise, but very +good-natured, and altogether an excellent person to carry on a picnic. +Sallie Gardiner was absorbed in keeping her white pique dress clean and +chattering with the ubiquitous Fred, who kept Beth in constant terror +by his pranks. + +It was not far to Longmeadow, but the tent was pitched and the wickets +down by the time they arrived. A pleasant green field, with three +wide-spreading oaks in the middle and a smooth strip of turf for +croquet. + +"Welcome to Camp Laurence!" said the young host, as they landed with +exclamations of delight. + +"Brooke is commander in chief, I am commissary general, the other +fellows are staff officers, and you, ladies, are company. The tent is +for your especial benefit and that oak is your drawing room, this is +the messroom and the third is the camp kitchen. Now, let's have a game +before it gets hot, and then we'll see about dinner." + +Frank, Beth, Amy, and Grace sat down to watch the game played by the +other eight. Mr. Brooke chose Meg, Kate, and Fred. Laurie took Sallie, +Jo, and Ned. The English played well, but the Americans played better, +and contested every inch of the ground as strongly as if the spirit of +'76 inspired them. Jo and Fred had several skirmishes and once +narrowly escaped high words. Jo was through the last wicket and had +missed the stroke, which failure ruffled her a good deal. Fred was +close behind her and his turn came before hers. He gave a stroke, his +ball hit the wicket, and stopped an inch on the wrong side. No one was +very near, and running up to examine, he gave it a sly nudge with his +toe, which put it just an inch on the right side. + +"I'm through! Now, Miss Jo, I'll settle you, and get in first," cried +the young gentleman, swinging his mallet for another blow. + +"You pushed it. I saw you. It's my turn now," said Jo sharply. + +"Upon my word, I didn't move it. It rolled a bit, perhaps, but that is +allowed. So, stand off please, and let me have a go at the stake." + +"We don't cheat in America, but you can, if you choose," said Jo +angrily. + +"Yankees are a deal the most tricky, everybody knows. There you go!" +returned Fred, croqueting her ball far away. + +Jo opened her lips to say something rude, but checked herself in time, +colored up to her forehead and stood a minute, hammering down a wicket +with all her might, while Fred hit the stake and declared himself out +with much exultation. She went off to get her ball, and was a long +time finding it among the bushes, but she came back, looking cool and +quiet, and waited her turn patiently. It took several strokes to +regain the place she had lost, and when she got there, the other side +had nearly won, for Kate's ball was the last but one and lay near the +stake. + +"By George, it's all up with us! Goodbye, Kate. Miss Jo owes me one, +so you are finished," cried Fred excitedly, as they all drew near to +see the finish. + +"Yankees have a trick of being generous to their enemies," said Jo, +with a look that made the lad redden, "especially when they beat them," +she added, as, leaving Kate's ball untouched, she won the game by a +clever stroke. + +Laurie threw up his hat, then remembered that it wouldn't do to exult +over the defeat of his guests, and stopped in the middle of the cheer +to whisper to his friend, "Good for you, Jo! He did cheat, I saw him. +We can't tell him so, but he won't do it again, take my word for it." + +Meg drew her aside, under pretense of pinning up a loose braid, and +said approvingly, "It was dreadfully provoking, but you kept your +temper, and I'm so glad, Jo." + +"Don't praise me, Meg, for I could box his ears this minute. I should +certainly have boiled over if I hadn't stayed among the nettles till I +got my rage under control enough to hold my tongue. It's simmering now, +so I hope he'll keep out of my way," returned Jo, biting her lips as +she glowered at Fred from under her big hat. + +"Time for lunch," said Mr. Brooke, looking at his watch. "Commissary +general, will you make the fire and get water, while Miss March, Miss +Sallie, and I spread the table? Who can make good coffee?" + +"Jo can," said Meg, glad to recommend her sister. So Jo, feeling that +her late lessons in cookery were to do her honor, went to preside over +the coffeepot, while the children collected dry sticks, and the boys +made a fire and got water from a spring near by. Miss Kate sketched +and Frank talked to Beth, who was making little mats of braided rushes +to serve as plates. + +The commander in chief and his aides soon spread the tablecloth with an +inviting array of eatables and drinkables, prettily decorated with +green leaves. Jo announced that the coffee was ready, and everyone +settled themselves to a hearty meal, for youth is seldom dyspeptic, and +exercise develops wholesome appetites. A very merry lunch it was, for +everything seemed fresh and funny, and frequent peals of laughter +startled a venerable horse who fed near by. There was a pleasing +inequality in the table, which produced many mishaps to cups and +plates, acorns dropped in the milk, little black ants partook of the +refreshments without being invited, and fuzzy caterpillars swung down +from the tree to see what was going on. Three white-headed children +peeped over the fence, and an objectionable dog barked at them from the +other side of the river with all his might and main. + +"There's salt here," said Laurie, as he handed Jo a saucer of berries. + +"Thank you, I prefer spiders," she replied, fishing up two unwary +little ones who had gone to a creamy death. "How dare you remind me of +that horrid dinner party, when yours is so nice in every way?" added +Jo, as they both laughed and ate out of one plate, the china having run +short. + +"I had an uncommonly good time that day, and haven't got over it yet. +This is no credit to me, you know, I don't do anything. It's you and +Meg and Brooke who make it all go, and I'm no end obliged to you. What +shall we do when we can't eat anymore?" asked Laurie, feeling that his +trump card had been played when lunch was over. + +"Have games till it's cooler. I brought Authors, and I dare say Miss +Kate knows something new and nice. Go and ask her. She's company, and +you ought to stay with her more." + +"Aren't you company too? I thought she'd suit Brooke, but he keeps +talking to Meg, and Kate just stares at them through that ridiculous +glass of hers. I'm going, so you needn't try to preach propriety, for +you can't do it, Jo." + +Miss Kate did know several new games, and as the girls would not, and +the boys could not, eat any more, they all adjourned to the drawing +room to play Rig-marole. + +"One person begins a story, any nonsense you like, and tells as long as +he pleases, only taking care to stop short at some exciting point, when +the next takes it up and does the same. It's very funny when well +done, and makes a perfect jumble of tragical comical stuff to laugh +over. Please start it, Mr. Brooke," said Kate, with a commanding air, +which surprised Meg, who treated the tutor with as much respect as any +other gentleman. + +Lying on the grass at the feet of the two young ladies, Mr. Brooke +obediently began the story, with the handsome brown eyes steadily fixed +upon the sunshiny river. + +"Once on a time, a knight went out into the world to seek his fortune, +for he had nothing but his sword and his shield. He traveled a long +while, nearly eight-and-twenty years, and had a hard time of it, till +he came to the palace of a good old king, who had offered a reward to +anyone who could tame and train a fine but unbroken colt, of which he +was very fond. The knight agreed to try, and got on slowly but surely, +for the colt was a gallant fellow, and soon learned to love his new +master, though he was freakish and wild. Every day, when he gave his +lessons to this pet of the king's, the knight rode him through the +city, and as he rode, he looked everywhere for a certain beautiful +face, which he had seen many times in his dreams, but never found. One +day, as he went prancing down a quiet street, he saw at the window of a +ruinous castle the lovely face. He was delighted, inquired who lived +in this old castle, and was told that several captive princesses were +kept there by a spell, and spun all day to lay up money to buy their +liberty. The knight wished intensely that he could free them, but he +was poor and could only go by each day, watching for the sweet face and +longing to see it out in the sunshine. At last he resolved to get into +the castle and ask how he could help them. He went and knocked. The +great door flew open, and he beheld..." + +"A ravishingly lovely lady, who exclaimed, with a cry of rapture, 'At +last! At last!'" continued Kate, who had read French novels, and +admired the style. "'Tis she!' cried Count Gustave, and fell at her +feet in an ecstasy of joy. 'Oh, rise!' she said, extending a hand of +marble fairness. 'Never! Till you tell me how I may rescue you,' swore +the knight, still kneeling. 'Alas, my cruel fate condemns me to remain +here till my tyrant is destroyed.' 'Where is the villain?' 'In the +mauve salon. Go, brave heart, and save me from despair.' 'I obey, and +return victorious or dead!' With these thrilling words he rushed away, +and flinging open the door of the mauve salon, was about to enter, when +he received..." + +"A stunning blow from the big Greek lexicon, which an old fellow in a +black gown fired at him," said Ned. "Instantly, Sir What's-his-name +recovered himself, pitched the tyrant out of the window, and turned to +join the lady, victorious, but with a bump on his brow, found the door +locked, tore up the curtains, made a rope ladder, got halfway down when +the ladder broke, and he went headfirst into the moat, sixty feet +below. Could swim like a duck, paddled round the castle till he came +to a little door guarded by two stout fellows, knocked their heads +together till they cracked like a couple of nuts, then, by a trifling +exertion of his prodigious strength, he smashed in the door, went up a +pair of stone steps covered with dust a foot thick, toads as big as +your fist, and spiders that would frighten you into hysterics, Miss +March. At the top of these steps he came plump upon a sight that took +his breath away and chilled his blood..." + +"A tall figure, all in white with a veil over its face and a lamp in +its wasted hand," went on Meg. "It beckoned, gliding noiselessly +before him down a corridor as dark and cold as any tomb. Shadowy +effigies in armor stood on either side, a dead silence reigned, the +lamp burned blue, and the ghostly figure ever and anon turned its face +toward him, showing the glitter of awful eyes through its white veil. +They reached a curtained door, behind which sounded lovely music. He +sprang forward to enter, but the specter plucked him back, and waved +threateningly before him a..." + +"Snuffbox," said Jo, in a sepulchral tone, which convulsed the +audience. "'Thankee,' said the knight politely, as he took a pinch and +sneezed seven times so violently that his head fell off. 'Ha! Ha!' +laughed the ghost, and having peeped through the keyhole at the +princesses spinning away for dear life, the evil spirit picked up her +victim and put him in a large tin box, where there were eleven other +knights packed together without their heads, like sardines, who all +rose and began to..." + +"Dance a hornpipe," cut in Fred, as Jo paused for breath, "and, as they +danced, the rubbishy old castle turned to a man-of-war in full sail. +'Up with the jib, reef the tops'l halliards, helm hard alee, and man +the guns!' roared the captain, as a Portuguese pirate hove in sight, +with a flag black as ink flying from her foremast. 'Go in and win, my +hearties!' says the captain, and a tremendous fight began. Of course +the British beat--they always do." + +"No, they don't!" cried Jo, aside. + +"Having taken the pirate captain prisoner, sailed slap over the +schooner, whose decks were piled high with dead and whose lee scuppers +ran blood, for the order had been 'Cutlasses, and die hard!' 'Bosun's +mate, take a bight of the flying-jib sheet, and start this villain if +he doesn't confess his sins double quick,' said the British captain. +The Portuguese held his tongue like a brick, and walked the plank, +while the jolly tars cheered like mad. But the sly dog dived, came up +under the man-of-war, scuttled her, and down she went, with all sail +set, 'To the bottom of the sea, sea, sea' where..." + +"Oh, gracious! What shall I say?" cried Sallie, as Fred ended his +rigmarole, in which he had jumbled together pell-mell nautical phrases +and facts out of one of his favorite books. "Well, they went to the +bottom, and a nice mermaid welcomed them, but was much grieved on +finding the box of headless knights, and kindly pickled them in brine, +hoping to discover the mystery about them, for being a woman, she was +curious. By-and-by a diver came down, and the mermaid said, 'I'll give +you a box of pearls if you can take it up,' for she wanted to restore +the poor things to life, and couldn't raise the heavy load herself. So +the diver hoisted it up, and was much disappointed on opening it to +find no pearls. He left it in a great lonely field, where it was found +by a..." + +"Little goose girl, who kept a hundred fat geese in the field," said +Amy, when Sallie's invention gave out. "The little girl was sorry for +them, and asked an old woman what she should do to help them. 'Your +geese will tell you, they know everything.' said the old woman. So she +asked what she should use for new heads, since the old ones were lost, +and all the geese opened their hundred mouths and screamed..." + +"'Cabbages!'" continued Laurie promptly. "'Just the thing,' said the +girl, and ran to get twelve fine ones from her garden. She put them on, +the knights revived at once, thanked her, and went on their way +rejoicing, never knowing the difference, for there were so many other +heads like them in the world that no one thought anything of it. The +knight in whom I'm interested went back to find the pretty face, and +learned that the princesses had spun themselves free and all gone and +married, but one. He was in a great state of mind at that, and +mounting the colt, who stood by him through thick and thin, rushed to +the castle to see which was left. Peeping over the hedge, he saw the +queen of his affections picking flowers in her garden. 'Will you give +me a rose?' said he. 'You must come and get it. I can't come to you, +it isn't proper,' said she, as sweet as honey. He tried to climb over +the hedge, but it seemed to grow higher and higher. Then he tried to +push through, but it grew thicker and thicker, and he was in despair. +So he patiently broke twig after twig till he had made a little hole +through which he peeped, saying imploringly, 'Let me in! Let me in!' +But the pretty princess did not seem to understand, for she picked her +roses quietly, and left him to fight his way in. Whether he did or +not, Frank will tell you." + +"I can't. I'm not playing, I never do," said Frank, dismayed at the +sentimental predicament out of which he was to rescue the absurd +couple. Beth had disappeared behind Jo, and Grace was asleep. + +"So the poor knight is to be left sticking in the hedge, is he?" asked +Mr. Brooke, still watching the river, and playing with the wild rose in +his buttonhole. + +"I guess the princess gave him a posy, and opened the gate after a +while," said Laurie, smiling to himself, as he threw acorns at his +tutor. + +"What a piece of nonsense we have made! With practice we might do +something quite clever. Do you know Truth?" + +"I hope so," said Meg soberly. + +"The game, I mean?" + +"What is it?" said Fred. + +"Why, you pile up your hands, choose a number, and draw out in turn, +and the person who draws at the number has to answer truly any question +put by the rest. It's great fun." + +"Let's try it," said Jo, who liked new experiments. + +Miss Kate and Mr. Brooke, Meg, and Ned declined, but Fred, Sallie, Jo, +and Laurie piled and drew, and the lot fell to Laurie. + +"Who are your heroes?" asked Jo. + +"Grandfather and Napoleon." + +"Which lady here do you think prettiest?" said Sallie. + +"Margaret." + +"Which do you like best?" from Fred. + +"Jo, of course." + +"What silly questions you ask!" And Jo gave a disdainful shrug as the +rest laughed at Laurie's matter-of-fact tone. + +"Try again. Truth isn't a bad game," said Fred. + +"It's a very good one for you," retorted Jo in a low voice. Her turn +came next. + +"What is your greatest fault?" asked Fred, by way of testing in her the +virtue he lacked himself. + +"A quick temper." + +"What do you most wish for?" said Laurie. + +"A pair of boot lacings," returned Jo, guessing and defeating his +purpose. + +"Not a true answer. You must say what you really do want most." + +"Genius. Don't you wish you could give it to me, Laurie?" And she +slyly smiled in his disappointed face. + +"What virtues do you most admire in a man?" asked Sallie. + +"Courage and honesty." + +"Now my turn," said Fred, as his hand came last. + +"Let's give it to him," whispered Laurie to Jo, who nodded and asked at +once... + +"Didn't you cheat at croquet?" + +"Well, yes, a little bit." + +"Good! Didn't you take your story out of _The Sea Lion?_" said Laurie. + +"Rather." + +"Don't you think the English nation perfect in every respect?" asked +Sallie. + +"I should be ashamed of myself if I didn't." + +"He's a true John Bull. Now, Miss Sallie, you shall have a chance +without waiting to draw. I'll harrrow up your feelings first by asking +if you don't think you are something of a flirt," said Laurie, as Jo +nodded to Fred as a sign that peace was declared. + +"You impertinent boy! Of course I'm not," exclaimed Sallie, with an +air that proved the contrary. + +"What do you hate most?" asked Fred. + +"Spiders and rice pudding." + +"What do you like best?" asked Jo. + +"Dancing and French gloves." + +"Well, I think Truth is a very silly play. Let's have a sensible game +of Authors to refresh our minds," proposed Jo. + +Ned, Frank, and the little girls joined in this, and while it went on, +the three elders sat apart, talking. Miss Kate took out her sketch +again, and Margaret watched her, while Mr. Brooke lay on the grass with +a book, which he did not read. + +"How beautifully you do it! I wish I could draw," said Meg, with +mingled admiration and regret in her voice. + +"Why don't you learn? I should think you had taste and talent for it," +replied Miss Kate graciously. + +"I haven't time." + +"Your mamma prefers other accomplishments, I fancy. So did mine, but I +proved to her that I had talent by taking a few lessons privately, and +then she was quite willing I should go on. Can't you do the same with +your governess?" + +"I have none." + +"I forgot young ladies in America go to school more than with us. Very +fine schools they are, too, Papa says. You go to a private one, I +suppose?" + +"I don't go at all. I am a governess myself." + +"Oh, indeed!" said Miss Kate, but she might as well have said, "Dear +me, how dreadful!" for her tone implied it, and something in her face +made Meg color, and wish she had not been so frank. + +Mr. Brooke looked up and said quickly, "Young ladies in America love +independence as much as their ancestors did, and are admired and +respected for supporting themselves." + +"Oh, yes, of course it's very nice and proper in them to do so. We +have many most respectable and worthy young women who do the same and +are employed by the nobility, because, being the daughters of +gentlemen, they are both well bred and accomplished, you know," said +Miss Kate in a patronizing tone that hurt Meg's pride, and made her +work seem not only more distasteful, but degrading. + +"Did the German song suit, Miss March?" inquired Mr. Brooke, breaking +an awkward pause. + +"Oh, yes! It was very sweet, and I'm much obliged to whoever +translated it for me." And Meg's downcast face brightened as she spoke. + +"Don't you read German?" asked Miss Kate with a look of surprise. + +"Not very well. My father, who taught me, is away, and I don't get on +very fast alone, for I've no one to correct my pronunciation." + +"Try a little now. Here is Schiller's Mary Stuart and a tutor who +loves to teach." And Mr. Brooke laid his book on her lap with an +inviting smile. + +"It's so hard I'm afraid to try," said Meg, grateful, but bashful in +the presence of the accomplished young lady beside her. + +"I'll read a bit to encourage you." And Miss Kate read one of the most +beautiful passages in a perfectly correct but perfectly expressionless +manner. + +Mr. Brooke made no comment as she returned the book to Meg, who said +innocently, "I thought it was poetry." + +"Some of it is. Try this passage." + +There was a queer smile about Mr. Brooke's mouth as he opened at poor +Mary's lament. + +Meg obediently following the long grass-blade which her new tutor used +to point with, read slowly and timidly, unconsciously making poetry of +the hard words by the soft intonation of her musical voice. Down the +page went the green guide, and presently, forgetting her listener in +the beauty of the sad scene, Meg read as if alone, giving a little +touch of tragedy to the words of the unhappy queen. If she had seen +the brown eyes then, she would have stopped short, but she never looked +up, and the lesson was not spoiled for her. + +"Very well indeed!" said Mr. Brooke, as she paused, quite ignoring her +many mistakes, and looking as if he did indeed love to teach. + +Miss Kate put up her glass, and, having taken a survey of the little +tableau before her, shut her sketch book, saying with condescension, +"You've a nice accent and in time will be a clever reader. I advise +you to learn, for German is a valuable accomplishment to teachers. I +must look after Grace, she is romping." And Miss Kate strolled away, +adding to herself with a shrug, "I didn't come to chaperone a +governess, though she is young and pretty. What odd people these +Yankees are. I'm afraid Laurie will be quite spoiled among them." + +"I forgot that English people rather turn up their noses at governesses +and don't treat them as we do," said Meg, looking after the retreating +figure with an annoyed expression. + +"Tutors also have rather a hard time of it there, as I know to my +sorrow. There's no place like America for us workers, Miss Margaret." +And Mr. Brooke looked so contented and cheerful that Meg was ashamed to +lament her hard lot. + +"I'm glad I live in it then. I don't like my work, but I get a good +deal of satisfaction out of it after all, so I won't complain. I only +wished I liked teaching as you do." + +"I think you would if you had Laurie for a pupil. I shall be very +sorry to lose him next year," said Mr. Brooke, busily punching holes in +the turf. + +"Going to college, I suppose?" Meg's lips asked the question, but her +eyes added, "And what becomes of you?" + +"Yes, it's high time he went, for he is ready, and as soon as he is +off, I shall turn soldier. I am needed." + +"I am glad of that!" exclaimed Meg. "I should think every young man +would want to go, though it is hard for the mothers and sisters who +stay at home," she added sorrowfully. + +"I have neither, and very few friends to care whether I live or die," +said Mr. Brooke rather bitterly as he absently put the dead rose in the +hole he had made and covered it up, like a little grave. + +"Laurie and his grandfather would care a great deal, and we should all +be very sorry to have any harm happen to you," said Meg heartily. + +"Thank you, that sounds pleasant," began Mr. Brooke, looking cheerful +again, but before he could finish his speech, Ned, mounted on the old +horse, came lumbering up to display his equestrian skill before the +young ladies, and there was no more quiet that day. + +"Don't you love to ride?" asked Grace of Amy, as they stood resting +after a race round the field with the others, led by Ned. + +"I dote upon it. My sister, Meg, used to ride when Papa was rich, but +we don't keep any horses now, except Ellen Tree," added Amy, laughing. + +"Tell me about Ellen Tree. Is it a donkey?" asked Grace curiously. + +"Why, you see, Jo is crazy about horses and so am I, but we've only got +an old sidesaddle and no horse. Out in our garden is an apple tree +that has a nice low branch, so Jo put the saddle on it, fixed some +reins on the part that turns up, and we bounce away on Ellen Tree +whenever we like." + +"How funny!" laughed Grace. "I have a pony at home, and ride nearly +every day in the park with Fred and Kate. It's very nice, for my +friends go too, and the Row is full of ladies and gentlemen." + +"Dear, how charming! I hope I shall go abroad some day, but I'd rather +go to Rome than the Row," said Amy, who had not the remotest idea what +the Row was and wouldn't have asked for the world. + +Frank, sitting just behind the little girls, heard what they were +saying, and pushed his crutch away from him with an impatient gesture +as he watched the active lads going through all sorts of comical +gymnastics. Beth, who was collecting the scattered Author cards, +looked up and said, in her shy yet friendly way, "I'm afraid you are +tired. Can I do anything for you?" + +"Talk to me, please. It's dull, sitting by myself," answered Frank, +who had evidently been used to being made much of at home. + +If he asked her to deliver a Latin oration, it would not have seemed a +more impossible task to bashful Beth, but there was no place to run to, +no Jo to hide behind now, and the poor boy looked so wistfully at her +that she bravely resolved to try. + +"What do you like to talk about?" she asked, fumbling over the cards +and dropping half as she tried to tie them up. + +"Well, I like to hear about cricket and boating and hunting," said +Frank, who had not yet learned to suit his amusements to his strength. + +My heart! What shall I do? I don't know anything about them, thought +Beth, and forgetting the boy's misfortune in her flurry, she said, +hoping to make him talk, "I never saw any hunting, but I suppose you +know all about it." + +"I did once, but I can never hunt again, for I got hurt leaping a +confounded five-barred gate, so there are no more horses and hounds for +me," said Frank with a sigh that made Beth hate herself for her +innocent blunder. + +"Your deer are much prettier than our ugly buffaloes," she said, +turning to the prairies for help and feeling glad that she had read one +of the boys' books in which Jo delighted. + +Buffaloes proved soothing and satisfactory, and in her eagerness to +amuse another, Beth forgot herself, and was quite unconscious of her +sisters' surprise and delight at the unusual spectacle of Beth talking +away to one of the dreadful boys, against whom she had begged +protection. + +"Bless her heart! She pities him, so she is good to him," said Jo, +beaming at her from the croquet ground. + +"I always said she was a little saint," added Meg, as if there could be +no further doubt of it. + +"I haven't heard Frank laugh so much for ever so long," said Grace to +Amy, as they sat discussing dolls and making tea sets out of the acorn +cups. + +"My sister Beth is a very fastidious girl, when she likes to be," said +Amy, well pleased at Beth's success. She meant 'facinating', but as +Grace didn't know the exact meaning of either word, fastidious sounded +well and made a good impression. + +An impromptu circus, fox and geese, and an amicable game of croquet +finished the afternoon. At sunset the tent was struck, hampers packed, +wickets pulled up, boats loaded, and the whole party floated down the +river, singing at the tops of their voices. Ned, getting sentimental, +warbled a serenade with the pensive refrain... + + Alone, alone, ah! Woe, alone, + +and at the lines... + + We each are young, we each have a heart, + Oh, why should we stand thus coldly apart? + +he looked at Meg with such a lackadiasical expression that she laughed +outright and spoiled his song. + +"How can you be so cruel to me?" he whispered, under cover of a lively +chorus. "You've kept close to that starched-up Englishwoman all day, +and now you snub me." + +"I didn't mean to, but you looked so funny I really couldn't help it," +replied Meg, passing over the first part of his reproach, for it was +quite true that she had shunned him, remembering the Moffat party and +the talk after it. + +Ned was offended and turned to Sallie for consolation, saying to her +rather pettishly, "There isn't a bit of flirt in that girl, is there?" + +"Not a particle, but she's a dear," returned Sallie, defending her +friend even while confessing her shortcomings. + +"She's not a stricken deer anyway," said Ned, trying to be witty, and +succeeding as well as very young gentlemen usually do. + +On the lawn where it had gathered, the little party separated with +cordial good nights and good-byes, for the Vaughns were going to Canada. +As the four sisters went home through the garden, Miss Kate looked +after them, saying, without the patronizing tone in her voice, "In +spite of their demonstrative manners, American girls are very nice when +one knows them." + +"I quite agree with you," said Mr. Brooke. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN + +CASTLES IN THE AIR + +Laurie lay luxuriously swinging to and fro in his hammock one warm +September afternoon, wondering what his neighbors were about, but too +lazy to go and find out. He was in one of his moods, for the day had +been both unprofitable and unsatisfactory, and he was wishing he could +live it over again. The hot weather made him indolent, and he had +shirked his studies, tried Mr. Brooke's patience to the utmost, +displeased his grandfather by practicing half the afternoon, frightened +the maidservants half out of their wits by mischievously hinting that +one of his dogs was going mad, and, after high words with the stableman +about some fancied neglect of his horse, he had flung himself into his +hammock to fume over the stupidity of the world in general, till the +peace of the lovely day quieted him in spite of himself. Staring up +into the green gloom of the horse-chestnut trees above him, he dreamed +dreams of all sorts, and was just imagining himself tossing on the +ocean in a voyage round the world, when the sound of voices brought him +ashore in a flash. Peeping through the meshes of the hammock, he saw +the Marches coming out, as if bound on some expedition. + +"What in the world are those girls about now?" thought Laurie, opening +his sleepy eyes to take a good look, for there was something rather +peculiar in the appearance of his neighbors. Each wore a large, +flapping hat, a brown linen pouch slung over one shoulder, and carried +a long staff. Meg had a cushion, Jo a book, Beth a basket, and Amy a +portfolio. All walked quietly through the garden, out at the little +back gate, and began to climb the hill that lay between the house and +river. + +"Well, that's cool," said Laurie to himself, "to have a picnic and +never ask me! They can't be going in the boat, for they haven't got +the key. Perhaps they forgot it. I'll take it to them, and see what's +going on." + +Though possessed of half a dozen hats, it took him some time to find +one, then there was a hunt for the key, which was at last discovered in +his pocket, so that the girls were quite out of sight when he leaped +the fence and ran after them. Taking the shortest way to the +boathouse, he waited for them to appear, but no one came, and he went +up the hill to take an observation. A grove of pines covered one part +of it, and from the heart of this green spot came a clearer sound than +the soft sigh of the pines or the drowsy chirp of the crickets. + +"Here's a landscape!" thought Laurie, peeping through the bushes, and +looking wide-awake and good-natured already. + +It was a rather pretty little picture, for the sisters sat together in +the shady nook, with sun and shadow flickering over them, the aromatic +wind lifting their hair and cooling their hot cheeks, and all the +little wood people going on with their affairs as if these were no +strangers but old friends. Meg sat upon her cushion, sewing daintily +with her white hands, and looking as fresh and sweet as a rose in her +pink dress among the green. Beth was sorting the cones that lay thick +under the hemlock near by, for she made pretty things with them. Amy +was sketching a group of ferns, and Jo was knitting as she read aloud. +A shadow passed over the boy's face as he watched them, feeling that he +ought to go away because uninvited; yet lingering because home seemed +very lonely and this quiet party in the woods most attractive to his +restless spirit. He stood so still that a squirrel, busy with its +harvesting, ran down a pine close beside him, saw him suddenly and +skipped back, scolding so shrilly that Beth looked up, espied the +wistful face behind the birches, and beckoned with a reassuring smile. + +"May I come in, please? Or shall I be a bother?" he asked, advancing +slowly. + +Meg lifted her eyebrows, but Jo scowled at her defiantly and said at +once, "Of course you may. We should have asked you before, only we +thought you wouldn't care for such a girl's game as this." + +"I always like your games, but if Meg doesn't want me, I'll go away." + +"I've no objection, if you do something. It's against the rules to be +idle here," replied Meg gravely but graciously. + +"Much obliged. I'll do anything if you'll let me stop a bit, for it's +as dull as the Desert of Sahara down there. Shall I sew, read, cone, +draw, or do all at once? Bring on your bears. I'm ready." And Laurie +sat down with a submissive expression delightful to behold. + +"Finish this story while I set my heel," said Jo, handing him the book. + +"Yes'm." was the meek answer, as he began, doing his best to prove his +gratitude for the favor of admission into the 'Busy Bee Society'. + +The story was not a long one, and when it was finished, he ventured to +ask a few questions as a reward of merit. + +"Please, ma'am, could I inquire if this highly instructive and charming +institution is a new one?" + +"Would you tell him?" asked Meg of her sisters. + +"He'll laugh," said Amy warningly. + +"Who cares?" said Jo. + +"I guess he'll like it," added Beth. + +"Of course I shall! I give you my word I won't laugh. Tell away, Jo, +and don't be afraid." + +"The idea of being afraid of you! Well, you see we used to play +Pilgrim's Progress, and we have been going on with it in earnest, all +winter and summer." + +"Yes, I know," said Laurie, nodding wisely. + +"Who told you?" demanded Jo. + +"Spirits." + +"No, I did. I wanted to amuse him one night when you were all away, +and he was rather dismal. He did like it, so don't scold, Jo," said +Beth meekly. + +"You can't keep a secret. Never mind, it saves trouble now." + +"Go on, please," said Laurie, as Jo became absorbed in her work, +looking a trifle displeased. + +"Oh, didn't she tell you about this new plan of ours? Well, we have +tried not to waste our holiday, but each has had a task and worked at +it with a will. The vacation is nearly over, the stints are all done, +and we are ever so glad that we didn't dawdle." + +"Yes, I should think so," and Laurie thought regretfully of his own +idle days. + +"Mother likes to have us out-of-doors as much as possible, so we bring +our work here and have nice times. For the fun of it we bring our +things in these bags, wear the old hats, use poles to climb the hill, +and play pilgrims, as we used to do years ago. We call this hill the +Delectable Mountain, for we can look far away and see the country where +we hope to live some time." + +Jo pointed, and Laurie sat up to examine, for through an opening in the +wood one could look cross the wide, blue river, the meadows on the +other side, far over the outskirts of the great city, to the green +hills that rose to meet the sky. The sun was low, and the heavens +glowed with the splendor of an autumn sunset. Gold and purple clouds +lay on the hilltops, and rising high into the ruddy light were silvery +white peaks that shone like the airy spires of some Celestial City. + +"How beautiful that is!" said Laurie softly, for he was quick to see +and feel beauty of any kind. + +"It's often so, and we like to watch it, for it is never the same, but +always splendid," replied Amy, wishing she could paint it. + +"Jo talks about the country where we hope to live sometime--the real +country, she means, with pigs and chickens and haymaking. It would be +nice, but I wish the beautiful country up there was real, and we could +ever go to it," said Beth musingly. + +"There is a lovelier country even than that, where we shall go, +by-and-by, when we are good enough," answered Meg with her sweetest +voice. + +"It seems so long to wait, so hard to do. I want to fly away at once, +as those swallows fly, and go in at that splendid gate." + +"You'll get there, Beth, sooner or later, no fear of that," said Jo. +"I'm the one that will have to fight and work, and climb and wait, and +maybe never get in after all." + +"You'll have me for company, if that's any comfort. I shall have to do +a deal of traveling before I come in sight of your Celestial City. If +I arrive late, you'll say a good word for me, won't you, Beth?" + +Something in the boy's face troubled his little friend, but she said +cheerfully, with her quiet eyes on the changing clouds, "If people +really want to go, and really try all their lives, I think they will +get in, for I don't believe there are any locks on that door or any +guards at the gate. I always imagine it is as it is in the picture, +where the shining ones stretch out their hands to welcome poor +Christian as he comes up from the river." + +"Wouldn't it be fun if all the castles in the air which we make could +come true, and we could live in them?" said Jo, after a little pause. + +"I've made such quantities it would be hard to choose which I'd have," +said Laurie, lying flat and throwing cones at the squirrel who had +betrayed him. + +"You'd have to take your favorite one. What is it?" asked Meg. + +"If I tell mine, will you tell yours?" + +"Yes, if the girls will too." + +"We will. Now, Laurie." + +"After I'd seen as much of the world as I want to, I'd like to settle +in Germany and have just as much music as I choose. I'm to be a famous +musician myself, and all creation is to rush to hear me. And I'm never +to be bothered about money or business, but just enjoy myself and live +for what I like. That's my favorite castle. What's yours, Meg?" + +Margaret seemed to find it a little hard to tell hers, and waved a +brake before her face, as if to disperse imaginary gnats, while she +said slowly, "I should like a lovely house, full of all sorts of +luxurious things--nice food, pretty clothes, handsome furniture, +pleasant people, and heaps of money. I am to be mistress of it, and +manage it as I like, with plenty of servants, so I never need work a +bit. How I should enjoy it! For I wouldn't be idle, but do good, and +make everyone love me dearly." + +"Wouldn't you have a master for your castle in the air?" asked Laurie +slyly. + +"I said 'pleasant people', you know," and Meg carefully tied up her +shoe as she spoke, so that no one saw her face. + +"Why don't you say you'd have a splendid, wise, good husband and some +angelic little children? You know your castle wouldn't be perfect +without," said blunt Jo, who had no tender fancies yet, and rather +scorned romance, except in books. + +"You'd have nothing but horses, inkstands, and novels in yours," +answered Meg petulantly. + +"Wouldn't I though? I'd have a stable full of Arabian steeds, rooms +piled high with books, and I'd write out of a magic inkstand, so that +my works should be as famous as Laurie's music. I want to do something +splendid before I go into my castle, something heroic or wonderful that +won't be forgotten after I'm dead. I don't know what, but I'm on the +watch for it, and mean to astonish you all some day. I think I shall +write books, and get rich and famous, that would suit me, so that is my +favorite dream." + +"Mine is to stay at home safe with Father and Mother, and help take +care of the family," said Beth contentedly. + +"Don't you wish for anything else?" asked Laurie. + +"Since I had my little piano, I am perfectly satisfied. I only wish we +may all keep well and be together, nothing else." + +"I have ever so many wishes, but the pet one is to be an artist, and go +to Rome, and do fine pictures, and be the best artist in the whole +world," was Amy's modest desire. + +"We're an ambitious set, aren't we? Every one of us, but Beth, wants +to be rich and famous, and gorgeous in every respect. I do wonder if +any of us will ever get our wishes," said Laurie, chewing grass like a +meditative calf. + +"I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the +door remains to be seen," observed Jo mysteriously. + +"I've got the key to mine, but I'm not allowed to try it. Hang +college!" muttered Laurie with an impatient sigh. + +"Here's mine!" and Amy waved her pencil. + +"I haven't got any," said Meg forlornly. + +"Yes, you have," said Laurie at once. + +"Where?" + +"In your face." + +"Nonsense, that's of no use." + +"Wait and see if it doesn't bring you something worth having," replied +the boy, laughing at the thought of a charming little secret which he +fancied he knew. + +Meg colored behind the brake, but asked no questions and looked across +the river with the same expectant expression which Mr. Brooke had worn +when he told the story of the knight. + +"If we are all alive ten years hence, let's meet, and see how many of +us have got our wishes, or how much nearer we are then than now," said +Jo, always ready with a plan. + +"Bless me! How old I shall be, twenty-seven!" exclaimed Meg, who felt +grown up already, having just reached seventeen. + +"You and I will be twenty-six, Teddy, Beth twenty-four, and Amy +twenty-two. What a venerable party!" said Jo. + +"I hope I shall have done something to be proud of by that time, but +I'm such a lazy dog, I'm afraid I shall dawdle, Jo." + +"You need a motive, Mother says, and when you get it, she is sure +you'll work splendidly." + +"Is she? By Jupiter, I will, if I only get the chance!" cried Laurie, +sitting up with sudden energy. "I ought to be satisfied to please +Grandfather, and I do try, but it's working against the grain, you see, +and comes hard. He wants me to be an India merchant, as he was, and +I'd rather be shot. I hate tea and silk and spices, and every sort of +rubbish his old ships bring, and I don't care how soon they go to the +bottom when I own them. Going to college ought to satisfy him, for if +I give him four years he ought to let me off from the business. But +he's set, and I've got to do just as he did, unless I break away and +please myself, as my father did. If there was anyone left to stay with +the old gentleman, I'd do it tomorrow." + +Laurie spoke excitedly, and looked ready to carry his threat into +execution on the slightest provocation, for he was growing up very fast +and, in spite of his indolent ways, had a young man's hatred of +subjection, a young man's restless longing to try the world for himself. + +"I advise you to sail away in one of your ships, and never come home +again till you have tried your own way," said Jo, whose imagination was +fired by the thought of such a daring exploit, and whose sympathy was +excited by what she called 'Teddy's Wrongs'. + +"That's not right, Jo. You mustn't talk in that way, and Laurie +mustn't take your bad advice. You should do just what your grandfather +wishes, my dear boy," said Meg in her most maternal tone. "Do your best +at college, and when he sees that you try to please him, I'm sure he +won't be hard on you or unjust to you. As you say, there is no one +else to stay with and love him, and you'd never forgive yourself if you +left him without his permission. Don't be dismal or fret, but do your +duty and you'll get your reward, as good Mr. Brooke has, by being +respected and loved." + +"What do you know about him?" asked Laurie, grateful for the good +advice, but objecting to the lecture, and glad to turn the conversation +from himself after his unusual outbreak. + +"Only what your grandpa told us about him, how he took good care of his +own mother till she died, and wouldn't go abroad as tutor to some nice +person because he wouldn't leave her. And how he provides now for an +old woman who nursed his mother, and never tells anyone, but is just as +generous and patient and good as he can be." + +"So he is, dear old fellow!" said Laurie heartily, as Meg paused, +looking flushed and earnest with her story. "It's like Grandpa to find +out all about him without letting him know, and to tell all his +goodness to others, so that they might like him. Brooke couldn't +understand why your mother was so kind to him, asking him over with me +and treating him in her beautiful friendly way. He thought she was +just perfect, and talked about it for days and days, and went on about +you all in flaming style. If ever I do get my wish, you see what I'll +do for Brooke." + +"Begin to do something now by not plaguing his life out," said Meg +sharply. + +"How do you know I do, Miss?" + +"I can always tell by his face when he goes away. If you have been +good, he looks satisfied and walks briskly. If you have plagued him, +he's sober and walks slowly, as if he wanted to go back and do his work +better." + +"Well, I like that? So you keep an account of my good and bad marks in +Brooke's face, do you? I see him bow and smile as he passes your +window, but I didn't know you'd got up a telegraph." + +"We haven't. Don't be angry, and oh, don't tell him I said anything! +It was only to show that I cared how you get on, and what is said here +is said in confidence, you know," cried Meg, much alarmed at the +thought of what might follow from her careless speech. + +"I don't tell tales," replied Laurie, with his 'high and mighty' air, +as Jo called a certain expression which he occasionally wore. "Only if +Brooke is going to be a thermometer, I must mind and have fair weather +for him to report." + +"Please don't be offended. I didn't mean to preach or tell tales or be +silly. I only thought Jo was encouraging you in a feeling which you'd +be sorry for by-and-by. You are so kind to us, we feel as if you were +our brother and say just what we think. Forgive me, I meant it kindly." +And Meg offered her hand with a gesture both affectionate and timid. + +Ashamed of his momentary pique, Laurie squeezed the kind little hand, +and said frankly, "I'm the one to be forgiven. I'm cross and have been +out of sorts all day. I like to have you tell me my faults and be +sisterly, so don't mind if I am grumpy sometimes. I thank you all the +same." + +Bent on showing that he was not offended, he made himself as agreeable +as possible, wound cotton for Meg, recited poetry to please Jo, shook +down cones for Beth, and helped Amy with her ferns, proving himself a +fit person to belong to the 'Busy Bee Society'. In the midst of an +animated discussion on the domestic habits of turtles (one of those +amiable creatures having strolled up from the river), the faint sound +of a bell warned them that Hannah had put the tea 'to draw', and they +would just have time to get home to supper. + +"May I come again?" asked Laurie. + +"Yes, if you are good, and love your book, as the boys in the primer +are told to do," said Meg, smiling. + +"I'll try." + +"Then you may come, and I'll teach you to knit as the Scotchmen do. +There's a demand for socks just now," added Jo, waving hers like a big +blue worsted banner as they parted at the gate. + +That night, when Beth played to Mr. Laurence in the twilight, Laurie, +standing in the shadow of the curtain, listened to the little David, +whose simple music always quieted his moody spirit, and watched the old +man, who sat with his gray head on his hand, thinking tender thoughts +of the dead child he had loved so much. Remembering the conversation of +the afternoon, the boy said to himself, with the resolve to make the +sacrifice cheerfully, "I'll let my castle go, and stay with the dear +old gentleman while he needs me, for I am all he has." + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN + +SECRETS + +Jo was very busy in the garret, for the October days began to grow +chilly, and the afternoons were short. For two or three hours the sun +lay warmly in the high window, showing Jo seated on the old sofa, +writing busily, with her papers spread out upon a trunk before her, +while Scrabble, the pet rat, promenaded the beams overhead, accompanied +by his oldest son, a fine young fellow, who was evidently very proud of +his whiskers. Quite absorbed in her work, Jo scribbled away till the +last page was filled, when she signed her name with a flourish and +threw down her pen, exclaiming... + +"There, I've done my best! If this won't suit I shall have to wait +till I can do better." + +Lying back on the sofa, she read the manuscript carefully through, +making dashes here and there, and putting in many exclamation points, +which looked like little balloons. Then she tied it up with a smart +red ribbon, and sat a minute looking at it with a sober, wistful +expression, which plainly showed how earnest her work had been. Jo's +desk up here was an old tin kitchen which hung against the wall. In it +she kept her papers, and a few books, safely shut away from Scrabble, +who, being likewise of a literary turn, was fond of making a +circulating library of such books as were left in his way by eating the +leaves. From this tin receptacle Jo produced another manuscript, and +putting both in her pocket, crept quietly downstairs, leaving her +friends to nibble on her pens and taste her ink. + +She put on her hat and jacket as noiselessly as possible, and going to +the back entry window, got out upon the roof of a low porch, swung +herself down to the grassy bank, and took a roundabout way to the road. +Once there, she composed herself, hailed a passing omnibus, and rolled +away to town, looking very merry and mysterious. + +If anyone had been watching her, he would have thought her movements +decidedly peculiar, for on alighting, she went off at a great pace till +she reached a certain number in a certain busy street. Having found +the place with some difficulty, she went into the doorway, looked up +the dirty stairs, and after standing stock still a minute, suddenly +dived into the street and walked away as rapidly as she came. This +maneuver she repeated several times, to the great amusement of a +black-eyed young gentleman lounging in the window of a building +opposite. On returning for the third time, Jo gave herself a shake, +pulled her hat over her eyes, and walked up the stairs, looking as if +she were going to have all her teeth out. + +There was a dentist's sign, among others, which adorned the entrance, +and after staring a moment at the pair of artificial jaws which slowly +opened and shut to draw attention to a fine set of teeth, the young +gentleman put on his coat, took his hat, and went down to post himself +in the opposite doorway, saying with a smile and a shiver, "It's like +her to come alone, but if she has a bad time she'll need someone to +help her home." + +In ten minutes Jo came running downstairs with a very red face and the +general appearance of a person who had just passed through a trying +ordeal of some sort. When she saw the young gentleman she looked +anything but pleased, and passed him with a nod. But he followed, +asking with an air of sympathy, "Did you have a bad time?" + +"Not very." + +"You got through quickly." + +"Yes, thank goodness!" + +"Why did you go alone?" + +"Didn't want anyone to know." + +"You're the oddest fellow I ever saw. How many did you have out?" + +Jo looked at her friend as if she did not understand him, then began to +laugh as if mightily amused at something. + +"There are two which I want to have come out, but I must wait a week." + +"What are you laughing at? You are up to some mischief, Jo," said +Laurie, looking mystified. + +"So are you. What were you doing, sir, up in that billiard saloon?" + +"Begging your pardon, ma'am, it wasn't a billiard saloon, but a +gymnasium, and I was taking a lesson in fencing." + +"I'm glad of that." + +"Why?" + +"You can teach me, and then when we play _Hamlet_, you can be Laertes, +and we'll make a fine thing of the fencing scene." + +Laurie burst out with a hearty boy's laugh, which made several +passers-by smile in spite of themselves. + +"I'll teach you whether we play _Hamlet_ or not. It's grand fun and +will straighten you up capitally. But I don't believe that was your +only reason for saying 'I'm glad' in that decided way, was it now?" + +"No, I was glad that you were not in the saloon, because I hope you +never go to such places. Do you?" + +"Not often." + +"I wish you wouldn't." + +"It's no harm, Jo. I have billiards at home, but it's no fun unless +you have good players, so, as I'm fond of it, I come sometimes and have +a game with Ned Moffat or some of the other fellows." + +"Oh, dear, I'm so sorry, for you'll get to liking it better and better, +and will waste time and money, and grow like those dreadful boys. I +did hope you'd stay respectable and be a satisfaction to your friends," +said Jo, shaking her head. + +"Can't a fellow take a little innocent amusement now and then without +losing his respectability?" asked Laurie, looking nettled. + +"That depends upon how and where he takes it. I don't like Ned and his +set, and wish you'd keep out of it. Mother won't let us have him at +our house, though he wants to come. And if you grow like him she won't +be willing to have us frolic together as we do now." + +"Won't she?" asked Laurie anxiously. + +"No, she can't bear fashionable young men, and she'd shut us all up in +bandboxes rather than have us associate with them." + +"Well, she needn't get out her bandboxes yet. I'm not a fashionable +party and don't mean to be, but I do like harmless larks now and then, +don't you?" + +"Yes, nobody minds them, so lark away, but don't get wild, will you? +Or there will be an end of all our good times." + +"I'll be a double distilled saint." + +"I can't bear saints. Just be a simple, honest, respectable boy, and +we'll never desert you. I don't know what I should do if you acted +like Mr. King's son. He had plenty of money, but didn't know how to +spend it, and got tipsy and gambled, and ran away, and forged his +father's name, I believe, and was altogether horrid." + +"You think I'm likely to do the same? Much obliged." + +"No, I don't--oh, dear, no!--but I hear people talking about money +being such a temptation, and I sometimes wish you were poor. I +shouldn't worry then." + +"Do you worry about me, Jo?" + +"A little, when you look moody and discontented, as you sometimes do, +for you've got such a strong will, if you once get started wrong, I'm +afraid it would be hard to stop you." + +Laurie walked in silence a few minutes, and Jo watched him, wishing she +had held her tongue, for his eyes looked angry, though his lips smiled +as if at her warnings. + +"Are you going to deliver lectures all the way home?" he asked +presently. + +"Of course not. Why?" + +"Because if you are, I'll take a bus. If you're not, I'd like to walk +with you and tell you something very interesting." + +"I won't preach any more, and I'd like to hear the news immensely." + +"Very well, then, come on. It's a secret, and if I tell you, you must +tell me yours." + +"I haven't got any," began Jo, but stopped suddenly, remembering that +she had. + +"You know you have--you can't hide anything, so up and 'fess, or I +won't tell," cried Laurie. + +"Is your secret a nice one?" + +"Oh, isn't it! All about people you know, and such fun! You ought to +hear it, and I've been aching to tell it this long time. Come, you +begin." + +"You'll not say anything about it at home, will you?" + +"Not a word." + +"And you won't tease me in private?" + +"I never tease." + +"Yes, you do. You get everything you want out of people. I don't know +how you do it, but you are a born wheedler." + +"Thank you. Fire away." + +"Well, I've left two stories with a newspaperman, and he's to give his +answer next week," whispered Jo, in her confidant's ear. + +"Hurrah for Miss March, the celebrated American authoress!" cried +Laurie, throwing up his hat and catching it again, to the great delight +of two ducks, four cats, five hens, and half a dozen Irish children, +for they were out of the city now. + +"Hush! It won't come to anything, I dare say, but I couldn't rest till +I had tried, and I said nothing about it because I didn't want anyone +else to be disappointed." + +"It won't fail. Why, Jo, your stories are works of Shakespeare +compared to half the rubbish that is published every day. Won't it be +fun to see them in print, and shan't we feel proud of our authoress?" + +Jo's eyes sparkled, for it is always pleasant to be believed in, and a +friend's praise is always sweeter than a dozen newspaper puffs. + +"Where's your secret? Play fair, Teddy, or I'll never believe you +again," she said, trying to extinguish the brilliant hopes that blazed +up at a word of encouragement. + +"I may get into a scrape for telling, but I didn't promise not to, so I +will, for I never feel easy in my mind till I've told you any plummy +bit of news I get. I know where Meg's glove is." + +"Is that all?" said Jo, looking disappointed, as Laurie nodded and +twinkled with a face full of mysterious intelligence. + +"It's quite enough for the present, as you'll agree when I tell you +where it is." + +"Tell, then." + +Laurie bent, and whispered three words in Jo's ear, which produced a +comical change. She stood and stared at him for a minute, looking both +surprised and displeased, then walked on, saying sharply, "How do you +know?" + +"Saw it." + +"Where?" + +"Pocket." + +"All this time?" + +"Yes, isn't that romantic?" + +"No, it's horrid." + +"Don't you like it?" + +"Of course I don't. It's ridiculous, it won't be allowed. My +patience! What would Meg say?" + +"You are not to tell anyone. Mind that." + +"I didn't promise." + +"That was understood, and I trusted you." + +"Well, I won't for the present, anyway, but I'm disgusted, and wish you +hadn't told me." + +"I thought you'd be pleased." + +"At the idea of anybody coming to take Meg away? No, thank you." + +"You'll feel better about it when somebody comes to take you away." + +"I'd like to see anyone try it," cried Jo fiercely. + +"So should I!" and Laurie chuckled at the idea. + +"I don't think secrets agree with me, I feel rumpled up in my mind +since you told me that," said Jo rather ungratefully. + +"Race down this hill with me, and you'll be all right," suggested +Laurie. + +No one was in sight, the smooth road sloped invitingly before her, and +finding the temptation irresistible, Jo darted away, soon leaving hat +and comb behind her and scattering hairpins as she ran. Laurie reached +the goal first and was quite satisfied with the success of his +treatment, for his Atlanta came panting up with flying hair, bright +eyes, ruddy cheeks, and no signs of dissatisfaction in her face. + +"I wish I was a horse, then I could run for miles in this splendid air, +and not lose my breath. It was capital, but see what a guy it's made +me. Go, pick up my things, like a cherub, as you are," said Jo, +dropping down under a maple tree, which was carpeting the bank with +crimson leaves. + +Laurie leisurely departed to recover the lost property, and Jo bundled +up her braids, hoping no one would pass by till she was tidy again. +But someone did pass, and who should it be but Meg, looking +particularly ladylike in her state and festival suit, for she had been +making calls. + +"What in the world are you doing here?" she asked, regarding her +disheveled sister with well-bred surprise. + +"Getting leaves," meekly answered Jo, sorting the rosy handful she had +just swept up. + +"And hairpins," added Laurie, throwing half a dozen into Jo's lap. +"They grow on this road, Meg, so do combs and brown straw hats." + +"You have been running, Jo. How could you? When will you stop such +romping ways?" said Meg reprovingly, as she settled her cuffs and +smoothed her hair, with which the wind had taken liberties. + +"Never till I'm stiff and old and have to use a crutch. Don't try to +make me grow up before my time, Meg. It's hard enough to have you +change all of a sudden. Let me be a little girl as long as I can." + +As she spoke, Jo bent over the leaves to hide the trembling of her +lips, for lately she had felt that Margaret was fast getting to be a +woman, and Laurie's secret made her dread the separation which must +surely come some time and now seemed very near. He saw the trouble in +her face and drew Meg's attention from it by asking quickly, "Where +have you been calling, all so fine?" + +"At the Gardiners', and Sallie has been telling me all about Belle +Moffat's wedding. It was very splendid, and they have gone to spend +the winter in Paris. Just think how delightful that must be!" + +"Do you envy her, Meg?" said Laurie. + +"I'm afraid I do." + +"I'm glad of it!" muttered Jo, tying on her hat with a jerk. + +"Why?" asked Meg, looking surprised. + +"Because if you care much about riches, you will never go and marry a +poor man," said Jo, frowning at Laurie, who was mutely warning her to +mind what she said. + +"I shall never '_go_ and marry' anyone," observed Meg, walking on with +great dignity while the others followed, laughing, whispering, skipping +stones, and 'behaving like children', as Meg said to herself, though +she might have been tempted to join them if she had not had her best +dress on. + +For a week or two, Jo behaved so queerly that her sisters were quite +bewildered. She rushed to the door when the postman rang, was rude to +Mr. Brooke whenever they met, would sit looking at Meg with a +woe-begone face, occasionally jumping up to shake and then kiss her in +a very mysterious manner. Laurie and she were always making signs to +one another, and talking about 'Spread Eagles' till the girls declared +they had both lost their wits. On the second Saturday after Jo got out +of the window, Meg, as she sat sewing at her window, was scandalized by +the sight of Laurie chasing Jo all over the garden and finally +capturing her in Amy's bower. What went on there, Meg could not see, +but shrieks of laughter were heard, followed by the murmur of voices +and a great flapping of newspapers. + +"What shall we do with that girl? She never _will_ behave like a young +lady," sighed Meg, as she watched the race with a disapproving face. + +"I hope she won't. She is so funny and dear as she is," said Beth, who +had never betrayed that she was a little hurt at Jo's having secrets +with anyone but her. + +"It's very trying, but we never can make her _commy la fo_," added Amy, +who sat making some new frills for herself, with her curls tied up in a +very becoming way, two agreeable things that made her feel unusually +elegant and ladylike. + +In a few minutes Jo bounced in, laid herself on the sofa, and affected +to read. + +"Have you anything interesting there?" asked Meg, with condescension. + +"Nothing but a story, won't amount to much, I guess," returned Jo, +carefully keeping the name of the paper out of sight. + +"You'd better read it aloud. That will amuse us and keep you out of +mischief," said Amy in her most grown-up tone. + +"What's the name?" asked Beth, wondering why Jo kept her face behind +the sheet. + +"The Rival Painters." + +"That sounds well. Read it," said Meg. + +With a loud "Hem!" and a long breath, Jo began to read very fast. The +girls listened with interest, for the tale was romantic, and somewhat +pathetic, as most of the characters died in the end. "I like that about +the splendid picture," was Amy's approving remark, as Jo paused. + +"I prefer the lovering part. Viola and Angelo are two of our favorite +names, isn't that queer?" said Meg, wiping her eyes, for the lovering +part was tragical. + +"Who wrote it?" asked Beth, who had caught a glimpse of Jo's face. + +The reader suddenly sat up, cast away the paper, displaying a flushed +countenance, and with a funny mixture of solemnity and excitement +replied in a loud voice, "Your sister." + +"You?" cried Meg, dropping her work. + +"It's very good," said Amy critically. + +"I knew it! I knew it! Oh, my Jo, I am so proud!" and Beth ran to hug +her sister and exult over this splendid success. + +Dear me, how delighted they all were, to be sure! How Meg wouldn't +believe it till she saw the words. "Miss Josephine March," actually +printed in the paper. How graciously Amy criticized the artistic parts +of the story, and offered hints for a sequel, which unfortunately +couldn't be carried out, as the hero and heroine were dead. How Beth +got excited, and skipped and sang with joy. How Hannah came in to +exclaim, "Sakes alive, well I never!" in great astonishment at 'that +Jo's doin's'. How proud Mrs. March was when she knew it. How Jo +laughed, with tears in her eyes, as she declared she might as well be a +peacock and done with it, and how the 'Spread Eagle' might be said to +flap his wings triumphantly over the House of March, as the paper +passed from hand to hand. + +"Tell us about it." "When did it come?" "How much did you get for it?" +"What will Father say?" "Won't Laurie laugh?" cried the family, all in +one breath as they clustered about Jo, for these foolish, affectionate +people made a jubilee of every little household joy. + +"Stop jabbering, girls, and I'll tell you everything," said Jo, +wondering if Miss Burney felt any grander over her Evelina than she did +over her 'Rival Painters'. Having told how she disposed of her tales, +Jo added, "And when I went to get my answer, the man said he liked them +both, but didn't pay beginners, only let them print in his paper, and +noticed the stories. It was good practice, he said, and when the +beginners improved, anyone would pay. So I let him have the two +stories, and today this was sent to me, and Laurie caught me with it +and insisted on seeing it, so I let him. And he said it was good, and +I shall write more, and he's going to get the next paid for, and I am +so happy, for in time I may be able to support myself and help the +girls." + +Jo's breath gave out here, and wrapping her head in the paper, she +bedewed her little story with a few natural tears, for to be +independent and earn the praise of those she loved were the dearest +wishes of her heart, and this seemed to be the first step toward that +happy end. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN + +A TELEGRAM + +"November is the most disagreeable month in the whole year," said +Margaret, standing at the window one dull afternoon, looking out at the +frostbitten garden. + +"That's the reason I was born in it," observed Jo pensively, quite +unconscious of the blot on her nose. + +"If something very pleasant should happen now, we should think it a +delightful month," said Beth, who took a hopeful view of everything, +even November. + +"I dare say, but nothing pleasant ever does happen in this family," +said Meg, who was out of sorts. "We go grubbing along day after day, +without a bit of change, and very little fun. We might as well be in a +treadmill." + +"My patience, how blue we are!" cried Jo. "I don't much wonder, poor +dear, for you see other girls having splendid times, while you grind, +grind, year in and year out. Oh, don't I wish I could manage things +for you as I do for my heroines! You're pretty enough and good enough +already, so I'd have some rich relation leave you a fortune +unexpectedly. Then you'd dash out as an heiress, scorn everyone who +has slighted you, go abroad, and come home my Lady Something in a blaze +of splendor and elegance." + +"People don't have fortunes left them in that style nowadays, men have +to work and women marry for money. It's a dreadfully unjust world," +said Meg bitterly. + +"Jo and I are going to make fortunes for you all. Just wait ten years, +and see if we don't," said Amy, who sat in a corner making mud pies, as +Hannah called her little clay models of birds, fruit, and faces. + +"Can't wait, and I'm afraid I haven't much faith in ink and dirt, +though I'm grateful for your good intentions." + +Meg sighed, and turned to the frostbitten garden again. Jo groaned and +leaned both elbows on the table in a despondent attitude, but Amy +spatted away energetically, and Beth, who sat at the other window, +said, smiling, "Two pleasant things are going to happen right away. +Marmee is coming down the street, and Laurie is tramping through the +garden as if he had something nice to tell." + +In they both came, Mrs. March with her usual question, "Any letter from +Father, girls?" and Laurie to say in his persuasive way, "Won't some of +you come for a drive? I've been working away at mathematics till my +head is in a muddle, and I'm going to freshen my wits by a brisk turn. +It's a dull day, but the air isn't bad, and I'm going to take Brooke +home, so it will be gay inside, if it isn't out. Come, Jo, you and +Beth will go, won't you?" + +"Of course we will." + +"Much obliged, but I'm busy." And Meg whisked out her workbasket, for +she had agreed with her mother that it was best, for her at least, not +to drive too often with the young gentleman. + +"We three will be ready in a minute," cried Amy, running away to wash +her hands. + +"Can I do anything for you, Madam Mother?" asked Laurie, leaning over +Mrs. March's chair with the affectionate look and tone he always gave +her. + +"No, thank you, except call at the office, if you'll be so kind, dear. +It's our day for a letter, and the postman hasn't been. Father is as +regular as the sun, but there's some delay on the way, perhaps." + +A sharp ring interrupted her, and a minute after Hannah came in with a +letter. + +"It's one of them horrid telegraph things, mum," she said, handling it +as if she was afraid it would explode and do some damage. + +At the word 'telegraph', Mrs. March snatched it, read the two lines it +contained, and dropped back into her chair as white as if the little +paper had sent a bullet to her heart. Laurie dashed downstairs for +water, while Meg and Hannah supported her, and Jo read aloud, in a +frightened voice... + + Mrs. March: + Your husband is very ill. Come at once. + S. HALE + Blank Hospital, Washington. + +How still the room was as they listened breathlessly, how strangely the +day darkened outside, and how suddenly the whole world seemed to +change, as the girls gathered about their mother, feeling as if all the +happiness and support of their lives was about to be taken from them. + +Mrs. March was herself again directly, read the message over, and +stretched out her arms to her daughters, saying, in a tone they never +forgot, "I shall go at once, but it may be too late. Oh, children, +children, help me to bear it!" + +For several minutes there was nothing but the sound of sobbing in the +room, mingled with broken words of comfort, tender assurances of help, +and hopeful whispers that died away in tears. Poor Hannah was the +first to recover, and with unconscious wisdom she set all the rest a +good example, for with her, work was panacea for most afflictions. + +"The Lord keep the dear man! I won't waste no time a-cryin', but git +your things ready right away, mum," she said heartily, as she wiped her +face on her apron, gave her mistress a warm shake of the hand with her +own hard one, and went away to work like three women in one. + +"She's right, there's no time for tears now. Be calm, girls, and let +me think." + +They tried to be calm, poor things, as their mother sat up, looking +pale but steady, and put away her grief to think and plan for them. + +"Where's Laurie?" she asked presently, when she had collected her +thoughts and decided on the first duties to be done. + +"Here, ma'am. Oh, let me do something!" cried the boy, hurrying from +the next room whither he had withdrawn, feeling that their first sorrow +was too sacred for even his friendly eyes to see. + +"Send a telegram saying I will come at once. The next train goes early +in the morning. I'll take that." + +"What else? The horses are ready. I can go anywhere, do anything," he +said, looking ready to fly to the ends of the earth. + +"Leave a note at Aunt March's. Jo, give me that pen and paper." + +Tearing off the blank side of one of her newly copied pages, Jo drew +the table before her mother, well knowing that money for the long, sad +journey must be borrowed, and feeling as if she could do anything to +add a little to the sum for her father. + +"Now go, dear, but don't kill yourself driving at a desperate pace. +There is no need of that." + +Mrs. March's warning was evidently thrown away, for five minutes later +Laurie tore by the window on his own fleet horse, riding as if for his +life. + +"Jo, run to the rooms, and tell Mrs. King that I can't come. On the way +get these things. I'll put them down, they'll be needed and I must go +prepared for nursing. Hospital stores are not always good. Beth, go +and ask Mr. Laurence for a couple of bottles of old wine. I'm not too +proud to beg for Father. He shall have the best of everything. Amy, +tell Hannah to get down the black trunk, and Meg, come and help me find +my things, for I'm half bewildered." + +Writing, thinking, and directing all at once might well bewilder the +poor lady, and Meg begged her to sit quietly in her room for a little +while, and let them work. Everyone scattered like leaves before a gust +of wind, and the quiet, happy household was broken up as suddenly as if +the paper had been an evil spell. + +Mr. Laurence came hurrying back with Beth, bringing every comfort the +kind old gentleman could think of for the invalid, and friendliest +promises of protection for the girls during the mother's absence, which +comforted her very much. There was nothing he didn't offer, from his +own dressing gown to himself as escort. But the last was impossible. +Mrs. March would not hear of the old gentleman's undertaking the long +journey, yet an expression of relief was visible when he spoke of it, +for anxiety ill fits one for traveling. He saw the look, knit his heavy +eyebrows, rubbed his hands, and marched abruptly away, saying he'd be +back directly. No one had time to think of him again till, as Meg ran +through the entry, with a pair of rubbers in one hand and a cup of tea +in the other, she came suddenly upon Mr. Brooke. + +"I'm very sorry to hear of this, Miss March," he said, in the kind, +quiet tone which sounded very pleasantly to her perturbed spirit. "I +came to offer myself as escort to your mother. Mr. Laurence has +commissions for me in Washington, and it will give me real satisfaction +to be of service to her there." + +Down dropped the rubbers, and the tea was very near following, as Meg +put out her hand, with a face so full of gratitude that Mr. Brooke +would have felt repaid for a much greater sacrifice than the trifling +one of time and comfort which he was about to take. + +"How kind you all are! Mother will accept, I'm sure, and it will be +such a relief to know that she has someone to take care of her. Thank +you very, very much!" + +Meg spoke earnestly, and forgot herself entirely till something in the +brown eyes looking down at her made her remember the cooling tea, and +lead the way into the parlor, saying she would call her mother. + +Everything was arranged by the time Laurie returned with a note from +Aunt March, enclosing the desired sum, and a few lines repeating what +she had often said before, that she had always told them it was absurd +for March to go into the army, always predicted that no good would come +of it, and she hoped they would take her advice the next time. Mrs. +March put the note in the fire, the money in her purse, and went on +with her preparations, with her lips folded tightly in a way which Jo +would have understood if she had been there. + +The short afternoon wore away. All other errands were done, and Meg +and her mother busy at some necessary needlework, while Beth and Amy +got tea, and Hannah finished her ironing with what she called a 'slap +and a bang', but still Jo did not come. They began to get anxious, and +Laurie went off to find her, for no one knew what freak Jo might take +into her head. He missed her, however, and she came walking in with a +very queer expression of countenance, for there was a mixture of fun +and fear, satisfaction and regret in it, which puzzled the family as +much as did the roll of bills she laid before her mother, saying with a +little choke in her voice, "That's my contribution toward making Father +comfortable and bringing him home!" + +"My dear, where did you get it? Twenty-five dollars! Jo, I hope you +haven't done anything rash?" + +"No, it's mine honestly. I didn't beg, borrow, or steal it. I earned +it, and I don't think you'll blame me, for I only sold what was my own." + +As she spoke, Jo took off her bonnet, and a general outcry arose, for +all her abundant hair was cut short. + +"Your hair! Your beautiful hair!" "Oh, Jo, how could you? Your one +beauty." "My dear girl, there was no need of this." "She doesn't look +like my Jo any more, but I love her dearly for it!" + +As everyone exclaimed, and Beth hugged the cropped head tenderly, Jo +assumed an indifferent air, which did not deceive anyone a particle, +and said, rumpling up the brown bush and trying to look as if she liked +it, "It doesn't affect the fate of the nation, so don't wail, Beth. It +will be good for my vanity, I was getting too proud of my wig. It will +do my brains good to have that mop taken off. My head feels +deliciously light and cool, and the barber said I could soon have a +curly crop, which will be boyish, becoming, and easy to keep in order. +I'm satisfied, so please take the money and let's have supper." + +"Tell me all about it, Jo. I am not quite satisfied, but I can't blame +you, for I know how willingly you sacrificed your vanity, as you call +it, to your love. But, my dear, it was not necessary, and I'm afraid +you will regret it one of these days," said Mrs. March. + +"No, I won't!" returned Jo stoutly, feeling much relieved that her +prank was not entirely condemned. + +"What made you do it?" asked Amy, who would as soon have thought of +cutting off her head as her pretty hair. + +"Well, I was wild to do something for Father," replied Jo, as they +gathered about the table, for healthy young people can eat even in the +midst of trouble. "I hate to borrow as much as Mother does, and I knew +Aunt March would croak, she always does, if you ask for a ninepence. +Meg gave all her quarterly salary toward the rent, and I only got some +clothes with mine, so I felt wicked, and was bound to have some money, +if I sold the nose off my face to get it." + +"You needn't feel wicked, my child! You had no winter things and got +the simplest with your own hard earnings," said Mrs. March with a look +that warmed Jo's heart. + +"I hadn't the least idea of selling my hair at first, but as I went +along I kept thinking what I could do, and feeling as if I'd like to +dive into some of the rich stores and help myself. In a barber's +window I saw tails of hair with the prices marked, and one black tail, +not so thick as mine, was forty dollars. It came to me all of a sudden +that I had one thing to make money out of, and without stopping to +think, I walked in, asked if they bought hair, and what they would give +for mine." + +"I don't see how you dared to do it," said Beth in a tone of awe. + +"Oh, he was a little man who looked as if he merely lived to oil his +hair. He rather stared at first, as if he wasn't used to having girls +bounce into his shop and ask him to buy their hair. He said he didn't +care about mine, it wasn't the fashionable color, and he never paid +much for it in the first place. The work put into it made it dear, and +so on. It was getting late, and I was afraid if it wasn't done right +away that I shouldn't have it done at all, and you know when I start to +do a thing, I hate to give it up. So I begged him to take it, and told +him why I was in such a hurry. It was silly, I dare say, but it +changed his mind, for I got rather excited, and told the story in my +topsy-turvy way, and his wife heard, and said so kindly, 'Take it, +Thomas, and oblige the young lady. I'd do as much for our Jimmy any +day if I had a spire of hair worth selling." + +"Who was Jimmy?" asked Amy, who liked to have things explained as they +went along. + +"Her son, she said, who was in the army. How friendly such things make +strangers feel, don't they? She talked away all the time the man +clipped, and diverted my mind nicely." + +"Didn't you feel dreadfully when the first cut came?" asked Meg, with a +shiver. + +"I took a last look at my hair while the man got his things, and that +was the end of it. I never snivel over trifles like that. I will +confess, though, I felt queer when I saw the dear old hair laid out on +the table, and felt only the short rough ends of my head. It almost +seemed as if I'd an arm or leg off. The woman saw me look at it, and +picked out a long lock for me to keep. I'll give it to you, Marmee, +just to remember past glories by, for a crop is so comfortable I don't +think I shall ever have a mane again." + +Mrs. March folded the wavy chestnut lock, and laid it away with a short +gray one in her desk. She only said, "Thank you, deary," but something +in her face made the girls change the subject, and talk as cheerfully +as they could about Mr. Brooke's kindness, the prospect of a fine day +tomorrow, and the happy times they would have when Father came home to +be nursed. + +No one wanted to go to bed when at ten o'clock Mrs. March put by the +last finished job, and said, "Come girls." Beth went to the piano and +played the father's favorite hymn. All began bravely, but broke down +one by one till Beth was left alone, singing with all her heart, for to +her music was always a sweet consoler. + +"Go to bed and don't talk, for we must be up early and shall need all +the sleep we can get. Good night, my darlings," said Mrs. March, as +the hymn ended, for no one cared to try another. + +They kissed her quietly, and went to bed as silently as if the dear +invalid lay in the next room. Beth and Amy soon fell asleep in spite +of the great trouble, but Meg lay awake, thinking the most serious +thoughts she had ever known in her short life. Jo lay motionless, and +her sister fancied that she was asleep, till a stifled sob made her +exclaim, as she touched a wet cheek... + +"Jo, dear, what is it? Are you crying about father?" + +"No, not now." + +"What then?" + +"My... My hair!" burst out poor Jo, trying vainly to smother her +emotion in the pillow. + +It did not seem at all comical to Meg, who kissed and caressed the +afflicted heroine in the tenderest manner. + +"I'm not sorry," protested Jo, with a choke. "I'd do it again +tomorrow, if I could. It's only the vain part of me that goes and +cries in this silly way. Don't tell anyone, it's all over now. I +thought you were asleep, so I just made a little private moan for my +one beauty. How came you to be awake?" + +"I can't sleep, I'm so anxious," said Meg. + +"Think about something pleasant, and you'll soon drop off." + +"I tried it, but felt wider awake than ever." + +"What did you think of?" + +"Handsome faces--eyes particularly," answered Meg, smiling to herself +in the dark. + +"What color do you like best?" + +"Brown, that is, sometimes. Blue are lovely." + +Jo laughed, and Meg sharply ordered her not to talk, then amiably +promised to make her hair curl, and fell asleep to dream of living in +her castle in the air. + +The clocks were striking midnight and the rooms were very still as a +figure glided quietly from bed to bed, smoothing a coverlet here, +settling a pillow there, and pausing to look long and tenderly at each +unconscious face, to kiss each with lips that mutely blessed, and to +pray the fervent prayers which only mothers utter. As she lifted the +curtain to look out into the dreary night, the moon broke suddenly from +behind the clouds and shone upon her like a bright, benignant face, +which seemed to whisper in the silence, "Be comforted, dear soul! +There is always light behind the clouds." + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN + +LETTERS + +In the cold gray dawn the sisters lit their lamp and read their chapter +with an earnestness never felt before. For now the shadow of a real +trouble had come, the little books were full of help and comfort, and +as they dressed, they agreed to say goodbye cheerfully and hopefully, +and send their mother on her anxious journey unsaddened by tears or +complaints from them. Everything seemed very strange when they went +down, so dim and still outside, so full of light and bustle within. +Breakfast at that early hour seemed odd, and even Hannah's familiar +face looked unnatural as she flew about her kitchen with her nightcap +on. The big trunk stood ready in the hall, Mother's cloak and bonnet +lay on the sofa, and Mother herself sat trying to eat, but looking so +pale and worn with sleeplessness and anxiety that the girls found it +very hard to keep their resolution. Meg's eyes kept filling in spite +of herself, Jo was obliged to hide her face in the kitchen roller more +than once, and the little girls wore a grave, troubled expression, as +if sorrow was a new experience to them. + +Nobody talked much, but as the time drew very near and they sat waiting +for the carriage, Mrs. March said to the girls, who were all busied +about her, one folding her shawl, another smoothing out the strings of +her bonnet, a third putting on her overshoes, and a fourth fastening up +her travelling bag... + +"Children, I leave you to Hannah's care and Mr. Laurence's protection. +Hannah is faithfulness itself, and our good neighbor will guard you as +if you were his own. I have no fears for you, yet I am anxious that +you should take this trouble rightly. Don't grieve and fret when I am +gone, or think that you can be idle and comfort yourselves by being +idle and trying to forget. Go on with your work as usual, for work is +a blessed solace. Hope and keep busy, and whatever happens, remember +that you never can be fatherless." + +"Yes, Mother." + +"Meg, dear, be prudent, watch over your sisters, consult Hannah, and in +any perplexity, go to Mr. Laurence. Be patient, Jo, don't get +despondent or do rash things, write to me often, and be my brave girl, +ready to help and cheer all. Beth, comfort yourself with your music, +and be faithful to the little home duties, and you, Amy, help all you +can, be obedient, and keep happy safe at home." + +"We will, Mother! We will!" + +The rattle of an approaching carriage made them all start and listen. +That was the hard minute, but the girls stood it well. No one cried, +no one ran away or uttered a lamentation, though their hearts were very +heavy as they sent loving messages to Father, remembering, as they +spoke that it might be too late to deliver them. They kissed their +mother quietly, clung about her tenderly, and tried to wave their hands +cheerfully when she drove away. + +Laurie and his grandfather came over to see her off, and Mr. Brooke +looked so strong and sensible and kind that the girls christened him +'Mr. Greatheart' on the spot. + +"Good-by, my darlings! God bless and keep us all!" whispered Mrs. +March, as she kissed one dear little face after the other, and hurried +into the carriage. + +As she rolled away, the sun came out, and looking back, she saw it +shining on the group at the gate like a good omen. They saw it also, +and smiled and waved their hands, and the last thing she beheld as she +turned the corner was the four bright faces, and behind them like a +bodyguard, old Mr. Laurence, faithful Hannah, and devoted Laurie. + +"How kind everyone is to us!" she said, turning to find fresh proof of +it in the respectful sympathy of the young man's face. + +"I don't see how they can help it," returned Mr. Brooke, laughing so +infectiously that Mrs. March could not help smiling. And so the journey +began with the good omens of sunshine, smiles, and cheerful words. + +"I feel as if there had been an earthquake," said Jo, as their +neighbors went home to breakfast, leaving them to rest and refresh +themselves. + +"It seems as if half the house was gone," added Meg forlornly. + +Beth opened her lips to say something, but could only point to the pile +of nicely mended hose which lay on Mother's table, showing that even in +her last hurried moments she had thought and worked for them. It was a +little thing, but it went straight to their hearts, and in spite of +their brave resolutions, they all broke down and cried bitterly. + +Hannah wisely allowed them to relieve their feelings, and when the +shower showed signs of clearing up, she came to the rescue, armed with +a coffeepot. + +"Now, my dear young ladies, remember what your ma said, and don't fret. +Come and have a cup of coffee all round, and then let's fall to work +and be a credit to the family." + +Coffee was a treat, and Hannah showed great tact in making it that +morning. No one could resist her persuasive nods, or the fragrant +invitation issuing from the nose of the coffee pot. They drew up to +the table, exchanged their handkerchiefs for napkins, and in ten +minutes were all right again. + +"'Hope and keep busy', that's the motto for us, so let's see who will +remember it best. I shall go to Aunt March, as usual. Oh, won't she +lecture though!" said Jo, as she sipped with returning spirit. + +"I shall go to my Kings, though I'd much rather stay at home and attend +to things here," said Meg, wishing she hadn't made her eyes so red. + +"No need of that. Beth and I can keep house perfectly well," put in +Amy, with an important air. + +"Hannah will tell us what to do, and we'll have everything nice when +you come home," added Beth, getting out her mop and dish tub without +delay. + +"I think anxiety is very interesting," observed Amy, eating sugar +pensively. + +The girls couldn't help laughing, and felt better for it, though Meg +shook her head at the young lady who could find consolation in a sugar +bowl. + +The sight of the turnovers made Jo sober again; and when the two went +out to their daily tasks, they looked sorrowfully back at the window +where they were accustomed to see their mother's face. It was gone, +but Beth had remembered the little household ceremony, and there she +was, nodding away at them like a rosyfaced mandarin. + +"That's so like my Beth!" said Jo, waving her hat, with a grateful +face. "Goodbye, Meggy, I hope the Kings won't strain today. Don't +fret about Father, dear," she added, as they parted. + +"And I hope Aunt March won't croak. Your hair is becoming, and it +looks very boyish and nice," returned Meg, trying not to smile at the +curly head, which looked comically small on her tall sister's shoulders. + +"That's my only comfort." And, touching her hat a la Laurie, away went +Jo, feeling like a shorn sheep on a wintry day. + +News from their father comforted the girls very much, for though +dangerously ill, the presence of the best and tenderest of nurses had +already done him good. Mr. Brooke sent a bulletin every day, and as +the head of the family, Meg insisted on reading the dispatches, which +grew more cheerful as the week passed. At first, everyone was eager to +write, and plump envelopes were carefully poked into the letter box by +one or other of the sisters, who felt rather important with their +Washington correspondence. As one of these packets contained +characteristic notes from the party, we will rob an imaginary mail, and +read them. + +My dearest Mother: + +It is impossible to tell you how happy your last letter made us, for +the news was so good we couldn't help laughing and crying over it. How +very kind Mr. Brooke is, and how fortunate that Mr. Laurence's business +detains him near you so long, since he is so useful to you and Father. +The girls are all as good as gold. Jo helps me with the sewing, and +insists on doing all sorts of hard jobs. I should be afraid she might +overdo, if I didn't know her 'moral fit' wouldn't last long. Beth is +as regular about her tasks as a clock, and never forgets what you told +her. She grieves about Father, and looks sober except when she is at +her little piano. Amy minds me nicely, and I take great care of her. +She does her own hair, and I am teaching her to make buttonholes and +mend her stockings. She tries very hard, and I know you will be pleased +with her improvement when you come. Mr. Laurence watches over us like +a motherly old hen, as Jo says, and Laurie is very kind and neighborly. +He and Jo keep us merry, for we get pretty blue sometimes, and feel +like orphans, with you so far away. Hannah is a perfect saint. She +does not scold at all, and always calls me Miss Margaret, which is +quite proper, you know, and treats me with respect. We are all well +and busy, but we long, day and night, to have you back. Give my +dearest love to Father, and believe me, ever your own... + +MEG + +This note, prettily written on scented paper, was a great contrast to +the next, which was scribbled on a big sheet of thin foreign paper, +ornamented with blots and all manner of flourishes and curly-tailed +letters. + +My precious Marmee: + +Three cheers for dear Father! Brooke was a trump to telegraph right +off, and let us know the minute he was better. I rushed up garret when +the letter came, and tried to thank god for being so good to us, but I +could only cry, and say, "I'm glad! I'm glad!" Didn't that do as well +as a regular prayer? For I felt a great many in my heart. We have +such funny times, and now I can enjoy them, for everyone is so +desperately good, it's like living in a nest of turtledoves. You'd +laugh to see Meg head the table and try to be motherish. She gets +prettier every day, and I'm in love with her sometimes. The children +are regular archangels, and I--well, I'm Jo, and never shall be +anything else. Oh, I must tell you that I came near having a quarrel +with Laurie. I freed my mind about a silly little thing, and he was +offended. I was right, but didn't speak as I ought, and he marched +home, saying he wouldn't come again till I begged pardon. I declared I +wouldn't and got mad. It lasted all day. I felt bad and wanted you +very much. Laurie and I are both so proud, it's hard to beg pardon. +But I thought he'd come to it, for I was in the right. He didn't come, +and just at night I remembered what you said when Amy fell into the +river. I read my little book, felt better, resolved not to let the sun +set on my anger, and ran over to tell Laurie I was sorry. I met him at +the gate, coming for the same thing. We both laughed, begged each +other's pardon, and felt all good and comfortable again. + +I made a 'pome' yesterday, when I was helping Hannah wash, and as +Father likes my silly little things, I put it in to amuse him. Give +him my lovingest hug that ever was, and kiss yourself a dozen times for +your... + +TOPSY-TURVY JO + + + A SONG FROM THE SUDS + + Queen of my tub, I merrily sing, + While the white foam rises high, + And sturdily wash and rinse and wring, + And fasten the clothes to dry. + Then out in the free fresh air they swing, + Under the sunny sky. + + I wish we could wash from our hearts and souls + The stains of the week away, + And let water and air by their magic make + Ourselves as pure as they. + Then on the earth there would be indeed, + A glorious washing day! + + Along the path of a useful life, + Will heart's-ease ever bloom. + The busy mind has no time to think + Of sorrow or care or gloom. + And anxious thoughts may be swept away, + As we bravely wield a broom. + + I am glad a task to me is given, + To labor at day by day, + For it brings me health and strength and hope, + And I cheerfully learn to say, + "Head, you may think, Heart, you may feel, + But, Hand, you shall work alway!" + + +Dear Mother, + +There is only room for me to send my love, and some pressed pansies +from the root I have been keeping safe in the house for Father to see. +I read every morning, try to be good all day, and sing myself to sleep +with Father's tune. I can't sing 'LAND OF THE LEAL' now, it makes me +cry. Everyone is very kind, and we are as happy as we can be without +you. Amy wants the rest of the page, so I must stop. I didn't forget +to cover the holders, and I wind the clock and air the rooms every day. + +Kiss dear Father on the cheek he calls mine. Oh, do come soon to your +loving... + +LITTLE BETH + + +Ma Chere Mamma, + +We are all well I do my lessons always and never corroberate the +girls--Meg says I mean contradick so I put in both words and you can +take the properest. Meg is a great comfort to me and lets me have +jelly every night at tea its so good for me Jo says because it keeps me +sweet tempered. Laurie is not as respeckful as he ought to be now I am +almost in my teens, he calls me Chick and hurts my feelings by talking +French to me very fast when I say Merci or Bon jour as Hattie King +does. The sleeves of my blue dress were all worn out, and Meg put in +new ones, but the full front came wrong and they are more blue than the +dress. I felt bad but did not fret I bear my troubles well but I do +wish Hannah would put more starch in my aprons and have buckwheats +every day. Can't she? Didn't I make that interrigation point nice? +Meg says my punchtuation and spelling are disgraceful and I am +mortyfied but dear me I have so many things to do, I can't stop. +Adieu, I send heaps of love to Papa. Your affectionate daughter... + +AMY CURTIS MARCH + + +Dear Mis March, + +I jes drop a line to say we git on fust rate. The girls is clever and +fly round right smart. Miss Meg is going to make a proper good +housekeeper. She hes the liking for it, and gits the hang of things +surprisin quick. Jo doos beat all for goin ahead, but she don't stop +to cal'k'late fust, and you never know where she's like to bring up. +She done out a tub of clothes on Monday, but she starched 'em afore +they was wrenched, and blued a pink calico dress till I thought I +should a died a laughin. Beth is the best of little creeters, and a +sight of help to me, bein so forehanded and dependable. She tries to +learn everything, and really goes to market beyond her years, likewise +keeps accounts, with my help, quite wonderful. We have got on very +economical so fur. I don't let the girls hev coffee only once a week, +accordin to your wish, and keep em on plain wholesome vittles. Amy +does well without frettin, wearin her best clothes and eatin sweet +stuff. Mr. Laurie is as full of didoes as usual, and turns the house +upside down frequent, but he heartens the girls, so I let em hev full +swing. The old gentleman sends heaps of things, and is rather wearin, +but means wal, and it aint my place to say nothin. My bread is riz, so +no more at this time. I send my duty to Mr. March, and hope he's seen +the last of his Pewmonia. + +Yours respectful, + +Hannah Mullet + + +Head Nurse of Ward No. 2, + + +All serene on the Rappahannock, troops in fine condition, commisary +department well conducted, the Home Guard under Colonel Teddy always on +duty, Commander in Chief General Laurence reviews the army daily, +Quartermaster Mullet keeps order in camp, and Major Lion does picket +duty at night. A salute of twenty-four guns was fired on receipt of +good news from Washington, and a dress parade took place at +headquarters. Commander in chief sends best wishes, in which he is +heartily joined by... + +COLONEL TEDDY + + +Dear Madam: + +The little girls are all well. Beth and my boy report daily. Hannah is +a model servant, and guards pretty Meg like a dragon. Glad the fine +weather holds. Pray make Brooke useful, and draw on me for funds if +expenses exceed your estimate. Don't let your husband want anything. +Thank God he is mending. + +Your sincere friend and servant, JAMES LAURENCE + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN + +LITTLE FAITHFUL + +For a week the amount of virtue in the old house would have supplied +the neighborhood. It was really amazing, for everyone seemed in a +heavenly frame of mind, and self-denial was all the fashion. Relieved +of their first anxiety about their father, the girls insensibly relaxed +their praiseworthy efforts a little, and began to fall back into old +ways. They did not forget their motto, but hoping and keeping busy +seemed to grow easier, and after such tremendous exertions, they felt +that Endeavor deserved a holiday, and gave it a good many. + +Jo caught a bad cold through neglect to cover the shorn head enough, +and was ordered to stay at home till she was better, for Aunt March +didn't like to hear people read with colds in their heads. Jo liked +this, and after an energetic rummage from garret to cellar, subsided on +the sofa to nurse her cold with arsenicum and books. Amy found that +housework and art did not go well together, and returned to her mud +pies. Meg went daily to her pupils, and sewed, or thought she did, at +home, but much time was spent in writing long letters to her mother, or +reading the Washington dispatches over and over. Beth kept on, with +only slight relapses into idleness or grieving. + +All the little duties were faithfully done each day, and many of her +sisters' also, for they were forgetful, and the house seemed like a +clock whose pendulum was gone a-visiting. When her heart got heavy +with longings for Mother or fears for Father, she went away into a +certain closet, hid her face in the folds of a dear old gown, and made +her little moan and prayed her little prayer quietly by herself. +Nobody knew what cheered her up after a sober fit, but everyone felt +how sweet and helpful Beth was, and fell into a way of going to her for +comfort or advice in their small affairs. + +All were unconscious that this experience was a test of character, and +when the first excitement was over, felt that they had done well and +deserved praise. So they did, but their mistake was in ceasing to do +well, and they learned this lesson through much anxiety and regret. + +"Meg, I wish you'd go and see the Hummels. You know Mother told us not +to forget them." said Beth, ten days after Mrs. March's departure. + +"I'm too tired to go this afternoon," replied Meg, rocking comfortably +as she sewed. + +"Can't you, Jo?" asked Beth. + +"Too stormy for me with my cold." + +"I thought it was almost well." + +"It's well enough for me to go out with Laurie, but not well enough to +go to the Hummels'," said Jo, laughing, but looking a little ashamed of +her inconsistency. + +"Why don't you go yourself?" asked Meg. + +"I have been every day, but the baby is sick, and I don't know what to +do for it. Mrs. Hummel goes away to work, and Lottchen takes care of +it. But it gets sicker and sicker, and I think you or Hannah ought to +go." + +Beth spoke earnestly, and Meg promised she would go tomorrow. + +"Ask Hannah for some nice little mess, and take it round, Beth, the air +will do you good," said Jo, adding apologetically, "I'd go but I want +to finish my writing." + +"My head aches and I'm tired, so I thought maybe some of you would go," +said Beth. + +"Amy will be in presently, and she will run down for us," suggested Meg. + +So Beth lay down on the sofa, the others returned to their work, and +the Hummels were forgotten. An hour passed. Amy did not come, Meg +went to her room to try on a new dress, Jo was absorbed in her story, +and Hannah was sound asleep before the kitchen fire, when Beth quietly +put on her hood, filled her basket with odds and ends for the poor +children, and went out into the chilly air with a heavy head and a +grieved look in her patient eyes. It was late when she came back, and +no one saw her creep upstairs and shut herself into her mother's room. +Half an hour after, Jo went to 'Mother's closet' for something, and +there found little Beth sitting on the medicine chest, looking very +grave, with red eyes and a camphor bottle in her hand. + +"Christopher Columbus! What's the matter?" cried Jo, as Beth put out +her hand as if to warn her off, and asked quickly. . . + +"You've had the scarlet fever, haven't you?" + +"Years ago, when Meg did. Why?" + +"Then I'll tell you. Oh, Jo, the baby's dead!" + +"What baby?" + +"Mrs. Hummel's. It died in my lap before she got home," cried Beth +with a sob. + +"My poor dear, how dreadful for you! I ought to have gone," said Jo, +taking her sister in her arms as she sat down in her mother's big +chair, with a remorseful face. + +"It wasn't dreadful, Jo, only so sad! I saw in a minute it was sicker, +but Lottchen said her mother had gone for a doctor, so I took Baby and +let Lotty rest. It seemed asleep, but all of a sudden if gave a little +cry and trembled, and then lay very still. I tried to warm its feet, +and Lotty gave it some milk, but it didn't stir, and I knew it was +dead." + +"Don't cry, dear! What did you do?" + +"I just sat and held it softly till Mrs. Hummel came with the doctor. +He said it was dead, and looked at Heinrich and Minna, who have sore +throats. 'Scarlet fever, ma'am. Ought to have called me before,' he +said crossly. Mrs. Hummel told him she was poor, and had tried to cure +baby herself, but now it was too late, and she could only ask him to +help the others and trust to charity for his pay. He smiled then, and +was kinder, but it was very sad, and I cried with them till he turned +round all of a sudden, and told me to go home and take belladonna right +away, or I'd have the fever." + +"No, you won't!" cried Jo, hugging her close, with a frightened look. +"Oh, Beth, if you should be sick I never could forgive myself! What +shall we do?" + +"Don't be frightened, I guess I shan't have it badly. I looked in +Mother's book, and saw that it begins with headache, sore throat, and +queer feelings like mine, so I did take some belladonna, and I feel +better," said Beth, laying her cold hands on her hot forehead and +trying to look well. + +"If Mother was only at home!" exclaimed Jo, seizing the book, and +feeling that Washington was an immense way off. She read a page, +looked at Beth, felt her head, peeped into her throat, and then said +gravely, "You've been over the baby every day for more than a week, and +among the others who are going to have it, so I'm afraid you are going +to have it, Beth. I'll call Hannah, she knows all about sickness." + +"Don't let Amy come. She never had it, and I should hate to give it to +her. Can't you and Meg have it over again?" asked Beth, anxiously. + +"I guess not. Don't care if I do. Serve me right, selfish pig, to let +you go, and stay writing rubbish myself!" muttered Jo, as she went to +consult Hannah. + +The good soul was wide awake in a minute, and took the lead at once, +assuring that there was no need to worry; every one had scarlet fever, +and if rightly treated, nobody died, all of which Jo believed, and felt +much relieved as they went up to call Meg. + +"Now I'll tell you what we'll do," said Hannah, when she had examined +and questioned Beth, "we will have Dr. Bangs, just to take a look at +you, dear, and see that we start right. Then we'll send Amy off to +Aunt March's for a spell, to keep her out of harm's way, and one of you +girls can stay at home and amuse Beth for a day or two." + +"I shall stay, of course, I'm oldest," began Meg, looking anxious and +self-reproachful. + +"I shall, because it's my fault she is sick. I told Mother I'd do the +errands, and I haven't," said Jo decidedly. + +"Which will you have, Beth? There ain't no need of but one," aid +Hannah. + +"Jo, please." And Beth leaned her head against her sister with a +contented look, which effectually settled that point. + +"I'll go and tell Amy," said Meg, feeling a little hurt, yet rather +relieved on the whole, for she did not like nursing, and Jo did. + +Amy rebelled outright, and passionately declared that she had rather +have the fever than go to Aunt March. Meg reasoned, pleaded, and +commanded, all in vain. Amy protested that she would not go, and Meg +left her in despair to ask Hannah what should be done. Before she came +back, Laurie walked into the parlor to find Amy sobbing, with her head +in the sofa cushions. She told her story, expecting to be consoled, +but Laurie only put his hands in his pockets and walked about the room, +whistling softly, as he knit his brows in deep thought. Presently he +sat down beside her, and said, in his most wheedlesome tone, "Now be a +sensible little woman, and do as they say. No, don't cry, but hear what +a jolly plan I've got. You go to Aunt March's, and I'll come and take +you out every day, driving or walking, and we'll have capital times. +Won't that be better than moping here?" + +"I don't wish to be sent off as if I was in the way," began Amy, in an +injured voice. + +"Bless your heart, child, it's to keep you well. You don't want to be +sick, do you?" + +"No, I'm sure I don't, but I dare say I shall be, for I've been with +Beth all the time." + +"That's the very reason you ought to go away at once, so that you may +escape it. Change of air and care will keep you well, I dare say, or +if it does not entirely, you will have the fever more lightly. I +advise you to be off as soon as you can, for scarlet fever is no joke, +miss." + +"But it's dull at Aunt March's, and she is so cross," said Amy, looking +rather frightened. + +"It won't be dull with me popping in every day to tell you how Beth is, +and take you out gallivanting. The old lady likes me, and I'll be as +sweet as possible to her, so she won't peck at us, whatever we do." + +"Will you take me out in the trotting wagon with Puck?" + +"On my honor as a gentleman." + +"And come every single day?" + +"See if I don't!" + +"And bring me back the minute Beth is well?" + +"The identical minute." + +"And go to the theater, truly?" + +"A dozen theaters, if we may." + +"Well--I guess I will," said Amy slowly. + +"Good girl! Call Meg, and tell her you'll give in," said Laurie, with +an approving pat, which annoyed Amy more than the 'giving in'. + +Meg and Jo came running down to behold the miracle which had been +wrought, and Amy, feeling very precious and self-sacrificing, promised +to go, if the doctor said Beth was going to be ill. + +"How is the little dear?" asked Laurie, for Beth was his especial pet, +and he felt more anxious about her than he liked to show. + +"She is lying down on Mother's bed, and feels better. The baby's death +troubled her, but I dare say she has only got cold. Hannah says she +thinks so, but she looks worried, and that makes me fidgety," answered +Meg. + +"What a trying world it is!" said Jo, rumpling up her hair in a fretful +way. "No sooner do we get out of one trouble than down comes another. +There doesn't seem to be anything to hold on to when Mother's gone, so +I'm all at sea." + +"Well, don't make a porcupine of yourself, it isn't becoming. Settle +your wig, Jo, and tell me if I shall telegraph to your mother, or do +anything?" asked Laurie, who never had been reconciled to the loss of +his friend's one beauty. + +"That is what troubles me," said Meg. "I think we ought to tell her if +Beth is really ill, but Hannah says we mustn't, for Mother can't leave +Father, and it will only make them anxious. Beth won't be sick long, +and Hannah knows just what to do, and Mother said we were to mind her, +so I suppose we must, but it doesn't seem quite right to me." + +"Hum, well, I can't say. Suppose you ask Grandfather after the doctor +has been." + +"We will. Jo, go and get Dr. Bangs at once," commanded Meg. "We can't +decide anything till he has been." + +"Stay where you are, Jo. I'm errand boy to this establishment," said +Laurie, taking up his cap. + +"I'm afraid you are busy," began Meg. + +"No, I've done my lessons for the day." + +"Do you study in vacation time?" asked Jo. + +"I follow the good example my neighbors set me," was Laurie's answer, +as he swung himself out of the room. + +"I have great hopes for my boy," observed Jo, watching him fly over the +fence with an approving smile. + +"He does very well, for a boy," was Meg's somewhat ungracious answer, +for the subject did not interest her. + +Dr. Bangs came, said Beth had symptoms of the fever, but he thought she +would have it lightly, though he looked sober over the Hummel story. +Amy was ordered off at once, and provided with something to ward off +danger, she departed in great state, with Jo and Laurie as escort. + +Aunt March received them with her usual hospitality. + +"What do you want now?" she asked, looking sharply over her spectacles, +while the parrot, sitting on the back of her chair, called out... + +"Go away. No boys allowed here." + +Laurie retired to the window, and Jo told her story. + +"No more than I expected, if you are allowed to go poking about among +poor folks. Amy can stay and make herself useful if she isn't sick, +which I've no doubt she will be, looks like it now. Don't cry, child, +it worries me to hear people sniff." + +Amy was on the point of crying, but Laurie slyly pulled the parrot's +tail, which caused Polly to utter an astonished croak and call out, +"Bless my boots!" in such a funny way, that she laughed instead. + +"What do you hear from your mother?" asked the old lady gruffly. + +"Father is much better," replied Jo, trying to keep sober. + +"Oh, is he? Well, that won't last long, I fancy. March never had any +stamina," was the cheerful reply. + +"Ha, ha! Never say die, take a pinch of snuff, goodbye, goodbye!" +squalled Polly, dancing on her perch, and clawing at the old lady's cap +as Laurie tweaked him in the rear. + +"Hold your tongue, you disrespectful old bird! And, Jo, you'd better +go at once. It isn't proper to be gadding about so late with a +rattlepated boy like..." + +"Hold your tongue, you disrespectful old bird!" cried Polly, tumbling +off the chair with a bounce, and running to peck the 'rattlepated' boy, +who was shaking with laughter at the last speech. + +"I don't think I can bear it, but I'll try," thought Amy, as she was +left alone with Aunt March. + +"Get along, you fright!" screamed Polly, and at that rude speech Amy +could not restrain a sniff. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN + +DARK DAYS + +Beth did have the fever, and was much sicker than anyone but Hannah and +the doctor suspected. The girls knew nothing about illness, and Mr. +Laurence was not allowed to see her, so Hannah had everything her own +way, and busy Dr. Bangs did his best, but left a good deal to the +excellent nurse. Meg stayed at home, lest she should infect the Kings, +and kept house, feeling very anxious and a little guilty when she wrote +letters in which no mention was made of Beth's illness. She could not +think it right to deceive her mother, but she had been bidden to mind +Hannah, and Hannah wouldn't hear of 'Mrs. March bein' told, and worried +just for sech a trifle.' + +Jo devoted herself to Beth day and night, not a hard task, for Beth was +very patient, and bore her pain uncomplainingly as long as she could +control herself. But there came a time when during the fever fits she +began to talk in a hoarse, broken voice, to play on the coverlet as if +on her beloved little piano, and try to sing with a throat so swollen +that there was no music left, a time when she did not know the familiar +faces around her, but addressed them by wrong names, and called +imploringly for her mother. Then Jo grew frightened, Meg begged to be +allowed to write the truth, and even Hannah said she 'would think of +it, though there was no danger yet'. A letter from Washington added to +their trouble, for Mr. March had had a relapse, and could not think of +coming home for a long while. + +How dark the days seemed now, how sad and lonely the house, and how +heavy were the hearts of the sisters as they worked and waited, while +the shadow of death hovered over the once happy home. Then it was that +Margaret, sitting alone with tears dropping often on her work, felt how +rich she had been in things more precious than any luxuries money could +buy--in love, protection, peace, and health, the real blessings of +life. Then it was that Jo, living in the darkened room, with that +suffering little sister always before her eyes and that pathetic voice +sounding in her ears, learned to see the beauty and the sweetness of +Beth's nature, to feel how deep and tender a place she filled in all +hearts, and to acknowledge the worth of Beth's unselfish ambition to +live for others, and make home happy by that exercise of those simple +virtues which all may possess, and which all should love and value more +than talent, wealth, or beauty. And Amy, in her exile, longed eagerly +to be at home, that she might work for Beth, feeling now that no +service would be hard or irksome, and remembering, with regretful +grief, how many neglected tasks those willing hands had done for her. +Laurie haunted the house like a restless ghost, and Mr. Laurence locked +the grand piano, because he could not bear to be reminded of the young +neighbor who used to make the twilight pleasant for him. Everyone +missed Beth. The milkman, baker, grocer, and butcher inquired how she +did, poor Mrs. Hummel came to beg pardon for her thoughtlessness and to +get a shroud for Minna, the neighbors sent all sorts of comforts and +good wishes, and even those who knew her best were surprised to find +how many friends shy little Beth had made. + +Meanwhile she lay on her bed with old Joanna at her side, for even in +her wanderings she did not forget her forlorn protege. She longed for +her cats, but would not have them brought, lest they should get sick, +and in her quiet hours she was full of anxiety about Jo. She sent +loving messages to Amy, bade them tell her mother that she would write +soon, and often begged for pencil and paper to try to say a word, that +Father might not think she had neglected him. But soon even these +intervals of consciousness ended, and she lay hour after hour, tossing +to and fro, with incoherent words on her lips, or sank into a heavy +sleep which brought her no refreshment. Dr. Bangs came twice a day, +Hannah sat up at night, Meg kept a telegram in her desk all ready to +send off at any minute, and Jo never stirred from Beth's side. + +The first of December was a wintry day indeed to them, for a bitter +wind blew, snow fell fast, and the year seemed getting ready for its +death. When Dr. Bangs came that morning, he looked long at Beth, held +the hot hand in both his own for a minute, and laid it gently down, +saying, in a low voice to Hannah, "If Mrs. March can leave her husband +she'd better be sent for." + +Hannah nodded without speaking, for her lips twitched nervously, Meg +dropped down into a chair as the strength seemed to go out of her limbs +at the sound of those words, and Jo, standing with a pale face for a +minute, ran to the parlor, snatched up the telegram, and throwing on +her things, rushed out into the storm. She was soon back, and while +noiselessly taking off her cloak, Laurie came in with a letter, saying +that Mr. March was mending again. Jo read it thankfully, but the heavy +weight did not seem lifted off her heart, and her face was so full of +misery that Laurie asked quickly, "What is it? Is Beth worse?" + +"I've sent for Mother," said Jo, tugging at her rubber boots with a +tragic expression. + +"Good for you, Jo! Did you do it on your own responsibility?" asked +Laurie, as he seated her in the hall chair and took off the rebellious +boots, seeing how her hands shook. + +"No. The doctor told us to." + +"Oh, Jo, it's not so bad as that?" cried Laurie, with a startled face. + +"Yes, it is. She doesn't know us, she doesn't even talk about the +flocks of green doves, as she calls the vine leaves on the wall. She +doesn't look like my Beth, and there's nobody to help us bear it. +Mother and father both gone, and God seems so far away I can't find +Him." + +As the tears streamed fast down poor Jo's cheeks, she stretched out her +hand in a helpless sort of way, as if groping in the dark, and Laurie +took it in his, whispering as well as he could with a lump in his +throat, "I'm here. Hold on to me, Jo, dear!" + +She could not speak, but she did 'hold on', and the warm grasp of the +friendly human hand comforted her sore heart, and seemed to lead her +nearer to the Divine arm which alone could uphold her in her trouble. + +Laurie longed to say something tender and comfortable, but no fitting +words came to him, so he stood silent, gently stroking her bent head as +her mother used to do. It was the best thing he could have done, far +more soothing than the most eloquent words, for Jo felt the unspoken +sympathy, and in the silence learned the sweet solace which affection +administers to sorrow. Soon she dried the tears which had relieved +her, and looked up with a grateful face. + +"Thank you, Teddy, I'm better now. I don't feel so forlorn, and will +try to bear it if it comes." + +"Keep hoping for the best, that will help you, Jo. Soon your mother +will be here, and then everything will be all right." + +"I'm so glad Father is better. Now she won't feel so bad about leaving +him. Oh, me! It does seem as if all the troubles came in a heap, and +I got the heaviest part on my shoulders," sighed Jo, spreading her wet +handkerchief over her knees to dry. + +"Doesn't Meg pull fair?" asked Laurie, looking indignant. + +"Oh, yes, she tries to, but she can't love Bethy as I do, and she won't +miss her as I shall. Beth is my conscience, and I can't give her up. +I can't! I can't!" + +Down went Jo's face into the wet handkerchief, and she cried +despairingly, for she had kept up bravely till now and never shed a +tear. Laurie drew his hand across his eyes, but could not speak till +he had subdued the choky feeling in his throat and steadied his lips. +It might be unmanly, but he couldn't help it, and I am glad of it. +Presently, as Jo's sobs quieted, he said hopefully, "I don't think she +will die. She's so good, and we all love her so much, I don't believe +God will take her away yet." + +"The good and dear people always do die," groaned Jo, but she stopped +crying, for her friend's words cheered her up in spite of her own +doubts and fears. + +"Poor girl, you're worn out. It isn't like you to be forlorn. Stop a +bit. I'll hearten you up in a jiffy." + +Laurie went off two stairs at a time, and Jo laid her wearied head down +on Beth's little brown hood, which no one had thought of moving from +the table where she left it. It must have possessed some magic, for +the submissive spirit of its gentle owner seemed to enter into Jo, and +when Laurie came running down with a glass of wine, she took it with a +smile, and said bravely, "I drink-- Health to my Beth! You are a good +doctor, Teddy, and such a comfortable friend. How can I ever pay you?" +she added, as the wine refreshed her body, as the kind words had done +her troubled mind. + +"I'll send my bill, by-and-by, and tonight I'll give you something that +will warm the cockles of your heart better than quarts of wine," said +Laurie, beaming at her with a face of suppressed satisfaction at +something. + +"What is it?" cried Jo, forgetting her woes for a minute in her wonder. + +"I telegraphed to your mother yesterday, and Brooke answered she'd come +at once, and she'll be here tonight, and everything will be all right. +Aren't you glad I did it?" + +Laurie spoke very fast, and turned red and excited all in a minute, for +he had kept his plot a secret, for fear of disappointing the girls or +harming Beth. Jo grew quite white, flew out of her chair, and the +moment he stopped speaking she electrified him by throwing her arms +round his neck, and crying out, with a joyful cry, "Oh, Laurie! Oh, +Mother! I am so glad!" She did not weep again, but laughed +hysterically, and trembled and clung to her friend as if she was a +little bewildered by the sudden news. + +Laurie, though decidedly amazed, behaved with great presence of mind. +He patted her back soothingly, and finding that she was recovering, +followed it up by a bashful kiss or two, which brought Jo round at +once. Holding on to the banisters, she put him gently away, saying +breathlessly, "Oh, don't! I didn't mean to, it was dreadful of me, but +you were such a dear to go and do it in spite of Hannah that I couldn't +help flying at you. Tell me all about it, and don't give me wine +again, it makes me act so." + +"I don't mind," laughed Laurie, as he settled his tie. "Why, you see I +got fidgety, and so did Grandpa. We thought Hannah was overdoing the +authority business, and your mother ought to know. She'd never forgive +us if Beth... Well, if anything happened, you know. So I got grandpa +to say it was high time we did something, and off I pelted to the +office yesterday, for the doctor looked sober, and Hannah most took my +head off when I proposed a telegram. I never can bear to be 'lorded +over', so that settled my mind, and I did it. Your mother will come, I +know, and the late train is in at two A.M. I shall go for her, and +you've only got to bottle up your rapture, and keep Beth quiet till +that blessed lady gets here." + +"Laurie, you're an angel! How shall I ever thank you?" + +"Fly at me again. I rather liked it," said Laurie, looking +mischievous, a thing he had not done for a fortnight. + +"No, thank you. I'll do it by proxy, when your grandpa comes. Don't +tease, but go home and rest, for you'll be up half the night. Bless +you, Teddy, bless you!" + +Jo had backed into a corner, and as she finished her speech, she +vanished precipitately into the kitchen, where she sat down upon a +dresser and told the assembled cats that she was "happy, oh, so happy!" +while Laurie departed, feeling that he had made a rather neat thing of +it. + +"That's the interferingest chap I ever see, but I forgive him and do +hope Mrs. March is coming right away," said Hannah, with an air of +relief, when Jo told the good news. + +Meg had a quiet rapture, and then brooded over the letter, while Jo set +the sickroom in order, and Hannah "knocked up a couple of pies in case +of company unexpected". A breath of fresh air seemed to blow through +the house, and something better than sunshine brightened the quiet +rooms. Everything appeared to feel the hopeful change. Beth's bird +began to chirp again, and a half-blown rose was discovered on Amy's +bush in the window. The fires seemed to burn with unusual cheeriness, +and every time the girls met, their pale faces broke into smiles as +they hugged one another, whispering encouragingly, "Mother's coming, +dear! Mother's coming!" Every one rejoiced but Beth. She lay in that +heavy stupor, alike unconscious of hope and joy, doubt and danger. It +was a piteous sight, the once rosy face so changed and vacant, the once +busy hands so weak and wasted, the once smiling lips quite dumb, and +the once pretty, well-kept hair scattered rough and tangled on the +pillow. All day she lay so, only rousing now and then to mutter, +"Water!" with lips so parched they could hardly shape the word. All +day Jo and Meg hovered over her, watching, waiting, hoping, and +trusting in God and Mother, and all day the snow fell, the bitter wind +raged, and the hours dragged slowly by. But night came at last, and +every time the clock struck, the sisters, still sitting on either side +of the bed, looked at each other with brightening eyes, for each hour +brought help nearer. The doctor had been in to say that some change, +for better or worse, would probably take place about midnight, at which +time he would return. + +Hannah, quite worn out, lay down on the sofa at the bed's foot and fell +fast asleep, Mr. Laurence marched to and fro in the parlor, feeling +that he would rather face a rebel battery than Mrs. March's countenance +as she entered. Laurie lay on the rug, pretending to rest, but staring +into the fire with the thoughtful look which made his black eyes +beautifully soft and clear. + +The girls never forgot that night, for no sleep came to them as they +kept their watch, with that dreadful sense of powerlessness which comes +to us in hours like those. + +"If God spares Beth, I never will complain again," whispered Meg +earnestly. + +"If god spares Beth, I'll try to love and serve Him all my life," +answered Jo, with equal fervor. + +"I wish I had no heart, it aches so," sighed Meg, after a pause. + +"If life is often as hard as this, I don't see how we ever shall get +through it," added her sister despondently. + +Here the clock struck twelve, and both forgot themselves in watching +Beth, for they fancied a change passed over her wan face. The house was +still as death, and nothing but the wailing of the wind broke the deep +hush. Weary Hannah slept on, and no one but the sisters saw the pale +shadow which seemed to fall upon the little bed. An hour went by, and +nothing happened except Laurie's quiet departure for the station. +Another hour, still no one came, and anxious fears of delay in the +storm, or accidents by the way, or, worst of all, a great grief at +Washington, haunted the girls. + +It was past two, when Jo, who stood at the window thinking how dreary +the world looked in its winding sheet of snow, heard a movement by the +bed, and turning quickly, saw Meg kneeling before their mother's easy +chair with her face hidden. A dreadful fear passed coldly over Jo, as +she thought, "Beth is dead, and Meg is afraid to tell me." + +She was back at her post in an instant, and to her excited eyes a great +change seemed to have taken place. The fever flush and the look of +pain were gone, and the beloved little face looked so pale and peaceful +in its utter repose that Jo felt no desire to weep or to lament. +Leaning low over this dearest of her sisters, she kissed the damp +forehead with her heart on her lips, and softly whispered, "Good-by, my +Beth. Good-by!" + +As if awaked by the stir, Hannah started out of her sleep, hurried to +the bed, looked at Beth, felt her hands, listened at her lips, and +then, throwing her apron over her head, sat down to rock to and fro, +exclaiming, under her breath, "The fever's turned, she's sleepin' +nat'ral, her skin's damp, and she breathes easy. Praise be given! Oh, +my goodness me!" + +Before the girls could believe the happy truth, the doctor came to +confirm it. He was a homely man, but they thought his face quite +heavenly when he smiled and said, with a fatherly look at them, "Yes, +my dears, I think the little girl will pull through this time. Keep +the house quiet, let her sleep, and when she wakes, give her..." + +What they were to give, neither heard, for both crept into the dark +hall, and, sitting on the stairs, held each other close, rejoicing with +hearts too full for words. When they went back to be kissed and +cuddled by faithful Hannah, they found Beth lying, as she used to do, +with her cheek pillowed on her hand, the dreadful pallor gone, and +breathing quietly, as if just fallen asleep. + +"If Mother would only come now!" said Jo, as the winter night began to +wane. + +"See," said Meg, coming up with a white, half-opened rose, "I thought +this would hardly be ready to lay in Beth's hand tomorrow if she--went +away from us. But it has blossomed in the night, and now I mean to put +it in my vase here, so that when the darling wakes, the first thing she +sees will be the little rose, and Mother's face." + +Never had the sun risen so beautifully, and never had the world seemed +so lovely as it did to the heavy eyes of Meg and Jo, as they looked out +in the early morning, when their long, sad vigil was done. + +"It looks like a fairy world," said Meg, smiling to herself, as she +stood behind the curtain, watching the dazzling sight. + +"Hark!" cried Jo, starting to her feet. + +Yes, there was a sound of bells at the door below, a cry from Hannah, +and then Laurie's voice saying in a joyful whisper, "Girls, she's come! +She's come!" + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN + +AMY'S WILL + +While these things were happening at home, Amy was having hard times at +Aunt March's. She felt her exile deeply, and for the first time in her +life, realized how much she was beloved and petted at home. Aunt March +never petted any one; she did not approve of it, but she meant to be +kind, for the well-behaved little girl pleased her very much, and Aunt +March had a soft place in her old heart for her nephew's children, +though she didn't think it proper to confess it. She really did her +best to make Amy happy, but, dear me, what mistakes she made. Some old +people keep young at heart in spite of wrinkles and gray hairs, can +sympathize with children's little cares and joys, make them feel at +home, and can hide wise lessons under pleasant plays, giving and +receiving friendship in the sweetest way. But Aunt March had not this +gift, and she worried Amy very much with her rules and orders, her prim +ways, and long, prosy talks. Finding the child more docile and amiable +than her sister, the old lady felt it her duty to try and counteract, +as far as possible, the bad effects of home freedom and indulgence. So +she took Amy by the hand, and taught her as she herself had been taught +sixty years ago, a process which carried dismay to Amy's soul, and made +her feel like a fly in the web of a very strict spider. + +She had to wash the cups every morning, and polish up the old-fashioned +spoons, the fat silver teapot, and the glasses till they shone. Then +she must dust the room, and what a trying job that was. Not a speck +escaped Aunt March's eye, and all the furniture had claw legs and much +carving, which was never dusted to suit. Then Polly had to be fed, the +lap dog combed, and a dozen trips upstairs and down to get things or +deliver orders, for the old lady was very lame and seldom left her big +chair. After these tiresome labors, she must do her lessons, which was +a daily trial of every virtue she possessed. Then she was allowed one +hour for exercise or play, and didn't she enjoy it? + +Laurie came every day, and wheedled Aunt March till Amy was allowed to +go out with him, when they walked and rode and had capital times. +After dinner, she had to read aloud, and sit still while the old lady +slept, which she usually did for an hour, as she dropped off over the +first page. Then patchwork or towels appeared, and Amy sewed with +outward meekness and inward rebellion till dusk, when she was allowed +to amuse herself as she liked till teatime. The evenings were the +worst of all, for Aunt March fell to telling long stories about her +youth, which were so unutterably dull that Amy was always ready to go +to bed, intending to cry over her hard fate, but usually going to sleep +before she had squeezed out more than a tear or two. + +If it had not been for Laurie, and old Esther, the maid, she felt that +she never could have got through that dreadful time. The parrot alone +was enough to drive her distracted, for he soon felt that she did not +admire him, and revenged himself by being as mischievous as possible. +He pulled her hair whenever she came near him, upset his bread and milk +to plague her when she had newly cleaned his cage, made Mop bark by +pecking at him while Madam dozed, called her names before company, and +behaved in all respects like an reprehensible old bird. Then she could +not endure the dog, a fat, cross beast who snarled and yelped at her +when she made his toilet, and who lay on his back with all his legs in +the air and a most idiotic expression of countenance when he wanted +something to eat, which was about a dozen times a day. The cook was +bad-tempered, the old coachman was deaf, and Esther the only one who +ever took any notice of the young lady. + +Esther was a Frenchwoman, who had lived with 'Madame', as she called her +mistress, for many years, and who rather tyrannized over the old lady, +who could not get along without her. Her real name was Estelle, but +Aunt March ordered her to change it, and she obeyed, on condition that +she was never asked to change her religion. She took a fancy to +Mademoiselle, and amused her very much with odd stories of her life in +France, when Amy sat with her while she got up Madame's laces. She +also allowed her to roam about the great house, and examine the curious +and pretty things stored away in the big wardrobes and the ancient +chests, for Aunt March hoarded like a magpie. Amy's chief delight was +an Indian cabinet, full of queer drawers, little pigeonholes, and +secret places, in which were kept all sorts of ornaments, some +precious, some merely curious, all more or less antique. To examine and +arrange these things gave Amy great satisfaction, especially the jewel +cases, in which on velvet cushions reposed the ornaments which had +adorned a belle forty years ago. There was the garnet set which Aunt +March wore when she came out, the pearls her father gave her on her +wedding day, her lover's diamonds, the jet mourning rings and pins, the +queer lockets, with portraits of dead friends and weeping willows made +of hair inside, the baby bracelets her one little daughter had worn, +Uncle March's big watch, with the red seal so many childish hands had +played with, and in a box all by itself lay Aunt March's wedding ring, +too small now for her fat finger, but put carefully away like the most +precious jewel of them all. + +"Which would Mademoiselle choose if she had her will?" asked Esther, +who always sat near to watch over and lock up the valuables. + +"I like the diamonds best, but there is no necklace among them, and I'm +fond of necklaces, they are so becoming. I should choose this if I +might," replied Amy, looking with great admiration at a string of gold +and ebony beads from which hung a heavy cross of the same. + +"I, too, covet that, but not as a necklace. Ah, no! To me it is a +rosary, and as such I should use it like a good catholic," said Esther, +eyeing the handsome thing wistfully. + +"Is it meant to use as you use the string of good-smelling wooden beads +hanging over your glass?" asked Amy. + +"Truly, yes, to pray with. It would be pleasing to the saints if one +used so fine a rosary as this, instead of wearing it as a vain bijou." + +"You seem to take a great deal of comfort in your prayers, Esther, and +always come down looking quiet and satisfied. I wish I could." + +"If Mademoiselle was a Catholic, she would find true comfort, but as +that is not to be, it would be well if you went apart each day to +meditate and pray, as did the good mistress whom I served before +Madame. She had a little chapel, and in it found solacement for much +trouble." + +"Would it be right for me to do so too?" asked Amy, who in her +loneliness felt the need of help of some sort, and found that she was +apt to forget her little book, now that Beth was not there to remind +her of it. + +"It would be excellent and charming, and I shall gladly arrange the +little dressing room for you if you like it. Say nothing to Madame, +but when she sleeps go you and sit alone a while to think good +thoughts, and pray the dear God preserve your sister." + +Esther was truly pious, and quite sincere in her advice, for she had an +affectionate heart, and felt much for the sisters in their anxiety. +Amy liked the idea, and gave her leave to arrange the light closet next +her room, hoping it would do her good. + +"I wish I knew where all these pretty things would go when Aunt March +dies," she said, as she slowly replaced the shining rosary and shut the +jewel cases one by one. + +"To you and your sisters. I know it, Madame confides in me. I +witnessed her will, and it is to be so," whispered Esther smiling. + + +"How nice! But I wish she'd let us have them now. Procrastination is +not agreeable," observed Amy, taking a last look at the diamonds. + +"It is too soon yet for the young ladies to wear these things. The +first one who is affianced will have the pearls, Madame has said it, +and I have a fancy that the little turquoise ring will be given to you +when you go, for Madame approves your good behavior and charming +manners." + +"Do you think so? Oh, I'll be a lamb, if I can only have that lovely +ring! It's ever so much prettier than Kitty Bryant's. I do like Aunt +March after all." And Amy tried on the blue ring with a delighted face +and a firm resolve to earn it. + +From that day she was a model of obedience, and the old lady +complacently admired the success of her training. Esther fitted up the +closet with a little table, placed a footstool before it, and over it a +picture taken from one of the shut-up rooms. She thought it was of no +great value, but, being appropriate, she borrowed it, well knowing that +Madame would never know it, nor care if she did. It was, however, a +very valuable copy of one of the famous pictures of the world, and +Amy's beauty-loving eyes were never tired of looking up at the sweet +face of the Divine Mother, while her tender thoughts of her own were +busy at her heart. On the table she laid her little testament and +hymnbook, kept a vase always full of the best flowers Laurie brought +her, and came every day to 'sit alone' thinking good thoughts, and +praying the dear God to preserve her sister. Esther had given her a +rosary of black beads with a silver cross, but Amy hung it up and did +not use it, feeling doubtful as to its fitness for Protestant prayers. + +The little girl was very sincere in all this, for being left alone +outside the safe home nest, she felt the need of some kind hand to hold +by so sorely that she instinctively turned to the strong and tender +Friend, whose fatherly love most closely surrounds His little children. +She missed her mother's help to understand and rule herself, but having +been taught where to look, she did her best to find the way and walk in +it confidingly. But, Amy was a young pilgrim, and just now her burden +seemed very heavy. She tried to forget herself, to keep cheerful, and +be satisfied with doing right, though no one saw or praised her for it. +In her first effort at being very, very good, she decided to make her +will, as Aunt March had done, so that if she did fall ill and die, her +possessions might be justly and generously divided. It cost her a pang +even to think of giving up the little treasures which in her eyes were +as precious as the old lady's jewels. + +During one of her play hours she wrote out the important document as +well as she could, with some help from Esther as to certain legal +terms, and when the good-natured Frenchwoman had signed her name, Amy +felt relieved and laid it by to show Laurie, whom she wanted as a +second witness. As it was a rainy day, she went upstairs to amuse +herself in one of the large chambers, and took Polly with her for +company. In this room there was a wardrobe full of old-fashioned +costumes with which Esther allowed her to play, and it was her favorite +amusement to array herself in the faded brocades, and parade up and +down before the long mirror, making stately curtsies, and sweeping her +train about with a rustle which delighted her ears. So busy was she on +this day that she did not hear Laurie's ring nor see his face peeping +in at her as she gravely promenaded to and fro, flirting her fan and +tossing her head, on which she wore a great pink turban, contrasting +oddly with her blue brocade dress and yellow quilted petticoat. She +was obliged to walk carefully, for she had on high-heeled shoes, and, as +Laurie told Jo afterward, it was a comical sight to see her mince along +in her gay suit, with Polly sidling and bridling just behind her, +imitating her as well as he could, and occasionally stopping to laugh +or exclaim, "Ain't we fine? Get along, you fright! Hold your tongue! +Kiss me, dear! Ha! Ha!" + +Having with difficulty restrained an explosion of merriment, lest it +should offend her majesty, Laurie tapped and was graciously received. + +"Sit down and rest while I put these things away, then I want to +consult you about a very serious matter," said Amy, when she had shown +her splendor and driven Polly into a corner. "That bird is the trial +of my life," she continued, removing the pink mountain from her head, +while Laurie seated himself astride a chair. + +"Yesterday, when Aunt was asleep and I was trying to be as still as a +mouse, Polly began to squall and flap about in his cage, so I went to +let him out, and found a big spider there. I poked it out, and it ran +under the bookcase. Polly marched straight after it, stooped down and +peeped under the bookcase, saying, in his funny way, with a cock of his +eye, 'Come out and take a walk, my dear.' I couldn't help laughing, +which made Poll swear, and Aunt woke up and scolded us both." + +"Did the spider accept the old fellow's invitation?" asked Laurie, +yawning. + +"Yes, out it came, and away ran Polly, frightened to death, and +scrambled up on Aunt's chair, calling out, 'Catch her! Catch her! Catch +her!' as I chased the spider." + +"That's a lie! Oh, lor!" cried the parrot, pecking at Laurie's toes. + +"I'd wring your neck if you were mine, you old torment," cried Laurie, +shaking his fist at the bird, who put his head on one side and gravely +croaked, "Allyluyer! bless your buttons, dear!" + +"Now I'm ready," said Amy, shutting the wardrobe and taking a piece of +paper out of her pocket. "I want you to read that, please, and tell me +if it is legal and right. I felt I ought to do it, for life is +uncertain and I don't want any ill feeling over my tomb." + +Laurie bit his lips, and turning a little from the pensive speaker, +read the following document, with praiseworthy gravity, considering the +spelling: + +MY LAST WILL AND TESTIMENT + +I, Amy Curtis March, being in my sane mind, go give and bequeethe all +my earthly property--viz. to wit:--namely + +To my father, my best pictures, sketches, maps, and works of art, +including frames. Also my $100, to do what he likes with. + +To my mother, all my clothes, except the blue apron with pockets--also +my likeness, and my medal, with much love. + +To my dear sister Margaret, I give my turkquoise ring (if I get it), +also my green box with the doves on it, also my piece of real lace for +her neck, and my sketch of her as a memorial of her 'little girl'. + +To Jo I leave my breastpin, the one mended with sealing wax, also my +bronze inkstand--she lost the cover--and my most precious plaster +rabbit, because I am sorry I burned up her story. + +To Beth (if she lives after me) I give my dolls and the little bureau, +my fan, my linen collars and my new slippers if she can wear them being +thin when she gets well. And I herewith also leave her my regret that +I ever made fun of old Joanna. + +To my friend and neighbor Theodore Laurence I bequeethe my paper mashay +portfolio, my clay model of a horse though he did say it hadn't any +neck. Also in return for his great kindness in the hour of affliction +any one of my artistic works he likes, Noter Dame is the best. + +To our venerable benefactor Mr. Laurence I leave my purple box with a +looking glass in the cover which will be nice for his pens and remind +him of the departed girl who thanks him for his favors to her family, +especially Beth. + +I wish my favorite playmate Kitty Bryant to have the blue silk apron +and my gold-bead ring with a kiss. + +To Hannah I give the bandbox she wanted and all the patchwork I leave +hoping she 'will remember me, when it you see'. + +And now having disposed of my most valuable property I hope all will be +satisfied and not blame the dead. I forgive everyone, and trust we may +all meet when the trump shall sound. Amen. + +To this will and testiment I set my hand and seal on this 20th day of +Nov. Anni Domino 1861. + +Amy Curtis March + +Witnesses: + +Estelle Valnor, Theodore Laurence. + + +The last name was written in pencil, and Amy explained that he was to +rewrite it in ink and seal it up for her properly. + +"What put it into your head? Did anyone tell you about Beth's giving +away her things?" asked Laurie soberly, as Amy laid a bit of red tape, +with sealing wax, a taper, and a standish before him. + +She explained and then asked anxiously, "What about Beth?" + +"I'm sorry I spoke, but as I did, I'll tell you. She felt so ill one +day that she told Jo she wanted to give her piano to Meg, her cats to +you, and the poor old doll to Jo, who would love it for her sake. She +was sorry she had so little to give, and left locks of hair to the rest +of us, and her best love to Grandpa. She never thought of a will." + +Laurie was signing and sealing as he spoke, and did not look up till a +great tear dropped on the paper. Amy's face was full of trouble, but +she only said, "Don't people put sort of postscripts to their wills, +sometimes?" + +"Yes, 'codicils', they call them." + +"Put one in mine then, that I wish all my curls cut off, and given +round to my friends. I forgot it, but I want it done though it will +spoil my looks." + +Laurie added it, smiling at Amy's last and greatest sacrifice. Then he +amused her for an hour, and was much interested in all her trials. But +when he came to go, Amy held him back to whisper with trembling lips, +"Is there really any danger about Beth?" + +"I'm afraid there is, but we must hope for the best, so don't cry, +dear." And Laurie put his arm about her with a brotherly gesture which +was very comforting. + +When he had gone, she went to her little chapel, and sitting in the +twilight, prayed for Beth, with streaming tears and an aching heart, +feeling that a million turquoise rings would not console her for the +loss of her gentle little sister. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY + +CONFIDENTIAL + +I don't think I have any words in which to tell the meeting of the +mother and daughters. Such hours are beautiful to live, but very hard +to describe, so I will leave it to the imagination of my readers, +merely saying that the house was full of genuine happiness, and that +Meg's tender hope was realized, for when Beth woke from that long, +healing sleep, the first objects on which her eyes fell were the little +rose and Mother's face. Too weak to wonder at anything, she only +smiled and nestled close in the loving arms about her, feeling that the +hungry longing was satisfied at last. Then she slept again, and the +girls waited upon their mother, for she would not unclasp the thin hand +which clung to hers even in sleep. + +Hannah had 'dished up' an astonishing breakfast for the traveler, +finding it impossible to vent her excitement in any other way, and Meg +and Jo fed their mother like dutiful young storks, while they listened +to her whispered account of Father's state, Mr. Brooke's promise to +stay and nurse him, the delays which the storm occasioned on the +homeward journey, and the unspeakable comfort Laurie's hopeful face had +given her when she arrived, worn out with fatigue, anxiety, and cold. + +What a strange yet pleasant day that was. So brilliant and gay +without, for all the world seemed abroad to welcome the first snow. So +quiet and reposeful within, for everyone slept, spent with watching, +and a Sabbath stillness reigned through the house, while nodding Hannah +mounted guard at the door. With a blissful sense of burdens lifted +off, Meg and Jo closed their weary eyes, and lay at rest, like +storm-beaten boats safe at anchor in a quiet harbor. Mrs. March would +not leave Beth's side, but rested in the big chair, waking often to +look at, touch, and brood over her child, like a miser over some +recovered treasure. + +Laurie meanwhile posted off to comfort Amy, and told his story so well +that Aunt March actually 'sniffed' herself, and never once said "I told +you so". Amy came out so strong on this occasion that I think the good +thoughts in the little chapel really began to bear fruit. She dried +her tears quickly, restrained her impatience to see her mother, and +never even thought of the turquoise ring, when the old lady heartily +agreed in Laurie's opinion, that she behaved 'like a capital little +woman'. Even Polly seemed impressed, for he called her a good girl, +blessed her buttons, and begged her to "come and take a walk, dear", in +his most affable tone. She would very gladly have gone out to enjoy +the bright wintry weather, but discovering that Laurie was dropping +with sleep in spite of manful efforts to conceal the fact, she +persuaded him to rest on the sofa, while she wrote a note to her +mother. She was a long time about it, and when she returned, he was +stretched out with both arms under his head, sound asleep, while Aunt +March had pulled down the curtains and sat doing nothing in an unusual +fit of benignity. + +After a while, they began to think he was not going to wake up till +night, and I'm not sure that he would, had he not been effectually +roused by Amy's cry of joy at sight of her mother. There probably were +a good many happy little girls in and about the city that day, but it +is my private opinion that Amy was the happiest of all, when she sat in +her mother's lap and told her trials, receiving consolation and +compensation in the shape of approving smiles and fond caresses. They +were alone together in the chapel, to which her mother did not object +when its purpose was explained to her. + +"On the contrary, I like it very much, dear," looking from the dusty +rosary to the well-worn little book, and the lovely picture with its +garland of evergreen. "It is an excellent plan to have some place +where we can go to be quiet, when things vex or grieve us. There are a +good many hard times in this life of ours, but we can always bear them +if we ask help in the right way. I think my little girl is learning +this." + +"Yes, Mother, and when I go home I mean to have a corner in the big +closet to put my books and the copy of that picture which I've tried to +make. The woman's face is not good, it's too beautiful for me to draw, +but the baby is done better, and I love it very much. I like to think +He was a little child once, for then I don't seem so far away, and that +helps me." + +As Amy pointed to the smiling Christ child on his Mother's knee, Mrs. +March saw something on the lifted hand that made her smile. She said +nothing, but Amy understood the look, and after a minute's pause, she +added gravely, "I wanted to speak to you about this, but I forgot it. +Aunt gave me the ring today. She called me to her and kissed me, and +put it on my finger, and said I was a credit to her, and she'd like to +keep me always. She gave that funny guard to keep the turquoise on, as +it's too big. I'd like to wear them Mother, can I?" + +"They are very pretty, but I think you're rather too young for such +ornaments, Amy," said Mrs. March, looking at the plump little hand, +with the band of sky-blue stones on the forefinger, and the quaint +guard formed of two tiny golden hands clasped together. + +"I'll try not to be vain," said Amy. "I don't think I like it only +because it's so pretty, but I want to wear it as the girl in the story +wore her bracelet, to remind me of something." + +"Do you mean Aunt March?" asked her mother, laughing. + +"No, to remind me not to be selfish." Amy looked so earnest and +sincere about it that her mother stopped laughing, and listened +respectfully to the little plan. + +"I've thought a great deal lately about my 'bundle of naughties', and +being selfish is the largest one in it, so I'm going to try hard to +cure it, if I can. Beth isn't selfish, and that's the reason everyone +loves her and feels so bad at the thoughts of losing her. People +wouldn't feel so bad about me if I was sick, and I don't deserve to +have them, but I'd like to be loved and missed by a great many friends, +so I'm going to try and be like Beth all I can. I'm apt to forget my +resolutions, but if I had something always about me to remind me, I +guess I should do better. May we try this way?" + +"Yes, but I have more faith in the corner of the big closet. Wear your +ring, dear, and do your best. I think you will prosper, for the +sincere wish to be good is half the battle. Now I must go back to +Beth. Keep up your heart, little daughter, and we will soon have you +home again." + +That evening while Meg was writing to her father to report the +traveler's safe arrival, Jo slipped upstairs into Beth's room, and +finding her mother in her usual place, stood a minute twisting her +fingers in her hair, with a worried gesture and an undecided look. + +"What is it, deary?" asked Mrs. March, holding out her hand, with a +face which invited confidence. + +"I want to tell you something, Mother." + +"About Meg?" + +"How quickly you guessed! Yes, it's about her, and though it's a +little thing, it fidgets me." + +"Beth is asleep. Speak low, and tell me all about it. That Moffat +hasn't been here, I hope?" asked Mrs. March rather sharply. + +"No. I should have shut the door in his face if he had," said Jo, +settling herself on the floor at her mother's feet. "Last summer Meg +left a pair of gloves over at the Laurences' and only one was returned. +We forgot about it, till Teddy told me that Mr. Brooke owned that he +liked Meg but didn't dare say so, she was so young and he so poor. +Now, isn't it a dreadful state of things?" + +"Do you think Meg cares for him?" asked Mrs. March, with an anxious +look. + +"Mercy me! I don't know anything about love and such nonsense!" cried +Jo, with a funny mixture of interest and contempt. "In novels, the +girls show it by starting and blushing, fainting away, growing thin, +and acting like fools. Now Meg does not do anything of the sort. She +eats and drinks and sleeps like a sensible creature, she looks straight +in my face when I talk about that man, and only blushes a little bit +when Teddy jokes about lovers. I forbid him to do it, but he doesn't +mind me as he ought." + +"Then you fancy that Meg is not interested in John?" + +"Who?" cried Jo, staring. + +"Mr. Brooke. I call him 'John' now. We fell into the way of doing so +at the hospital, and he likes it." + +"Oh, dear! I know you'll take his part. He's been good to Father, and +you won't send him away, but let Meg marry him, if she wants to. Mean +thing! To go petting Papa and helping you, just to wheedle you into +liking him." And Jo pulled her hair again with a wrathful tweak. + +"My dear, don't get angry about it, and I will tell you how it +happened. John went with me at Mr. Laurence's request, and was so +devoted to poor Father that we couldn't help getting fond of him. He +was perfectly open and honorable about Meg, for he told us he loved +her, but would earn a comfortable home before he asked her to marry +him. He only wanted our leave to love her and work for her, and the +right to make her love him if he could. He is a truly excellent young +man, and we could not refuse to listen to him, but I will not consent +to Meg's engaging herself so young." + +"Of course not. It would be idiotic! I knew there was mischief +brewing. I felt it, and now it's worse than I imagined. I just wish I +could marry Meg myself, and keep her safe in the family." + +This odd arrangement made Mrs. March smile, but she said gravely, "Jo, +I confide in you and don't wish you to say anything to Meg yet. When +John comes back, and I see them together, I can judge better of her +feelings toward him." + +"She'll see those handsome eyes that she talks about, and then it will +be all up with her. She's got such a soft heart, it will melt like +butter in the sun if anyone looks sentimentlly at her. She read the +short reports he sent more than she did your letters, and pinched me +when I spoke of it, and likes brown eyes, and doesn't think John an +ugly name, and she'll go and fall in love, and there's an end of peace +and fun, and cozy times together. I see it all! They'll go lovering +around the house, and we shall have to dodge. Meg will be absorbed and +no good to me any more. Brooke will scratch up a fortune somehow, carry +her off, and make a hole in the family, and I shall break my heart, and +everything will be abominably uncomfortable. Oh, dear me! Why weren't +we all boys, then there wouldn't be any bother." + +Jo leaned her chin on her knees in a disconsolate attitude and shook +her fist at the reprehensible John. Mrs. March sighed, and Jo looked +up with an air of relief. + +"You don't like it, Mother? I'm glad of it. Let's send him about his +business, and not tell Meg a word of it, but all be happy together as +we always have been." + +"I did wrong to sigh, Jo. It is natural and right you should all go to +homes of your own in time, but I do want to keep my girls as long as I +can, and I am sorry that this happened so soon, for Meg is only +seventeen and it will be some years before John can make a home for +her. Your father and I have agreed that she shall not bind herself in +any way, nor be married, before twenty. If she and John love one +another, they can wait, and test the love by doing so. She is +conscientious, and I have no fear of her treating him unkindly. My +pretty, tender hearted girl! I hope things will go happily with her." + +"Hadn't you rather have her marry a rich man?" asked Jo, as her +mother's voice faltered a little over the last words. + +"Money is a good and useful thing, Jo, and I hope my girls will never +feel the need of it too bitterly, nor be tempted by too much. I should +like to know that John was firmly established in some good business, +which gave him an income large enough to keep free from debt and make +Meg comfortable. I'm not ambitious for a splendid fortune, a +fashionable position, or a great name for my girls. If rank and money +come with love and virtue, also, I should accept them gratefully, and +enjoy your good fortune, but I know, by experience, how much genuine +happiness can be had in a plain little house, where the daily bread is +earned, and some privations give sweetness to the few pleasures. I am +content to see Meg begin humbly, for if I am not mistaken, she will be +rich in the possession of a good man's heart, and that is better than a +fortune." + +"I understand, Mother, and quite agree, but I'm disappointed about Meg, +for I'd planned to have her marry Teddy by-and-by and sit in the lap of +luxury all her days. Wouldn't it be nice?" asked Jo, looking up with a +brighter face. + +"He is younger than she, you know," began Mrs. March, but Jo broke in... + +"Only a little, he's old for his age, and tall, and can be quite +grown-up in his manners if he likes. Then he's rich and generous and +good, and loves us all, and I say it's a pity my plan is spoiled." + +"I'm afraid Laurie is hardly grown-up enough for Meg, and altogether +too much of a weathercock just now for anyone to depend on. Don't make +plans, Jo, but let time and their own hearts mate your friends. We +can't meddle safely in such matters, and had better not get 'romantic +rubbish' as you call it, into our heads, lest it spoil our friendship." + +"Well, I won't, but I hate to see things going all crisscross and +getting snarled up, when a pull here and a snip there would straighten +it out. I wish wearing flatirons on our heads would keep us from +growing up. But buds will be roses, and kittens cats, more's the pity!" + +"What's that about flatirons and cats?" asked Meg, as she crept into +the room with the finished letter in her hand. + +"Only one of my stupid speeches. I'm going to bed. Come, Peggy," said +Jo, unfolding herself like an animated puzzle. + +"Quite right, and beautifully written. Please add that I send my love +to John," said Mrs. March, as she glanced over the letter and gave it +back. + +"Do you call him 'John'?" asked Meg, smiling, with her innocent eyes +looking down into her mother's. + +"Yes, he has been like a son to us, and we are very fond of him," +replied Mrs. March, returning the look with a keen one. + +"I'm glad of that, he is so lonely. Good night, Mother, dear. It is +so inexpressibly comfortable to have you here," was Meg's answer. + +The kiss her mother gave her was a very tender one, and as she went +away, Mrs. March said, with a mixture of satisfaction and regret, "She +does not love John yet, but will soon learn to." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE + +LAURIE MAKES MISCHIEF, AND JO MAKES PEACE + +Jo's face was a study next day, for the secret rather weighed upon her, +and she found it hard not to look mysterious and important. Meg +observed it, but did not trouble herself to make inquiries, for she had +learned that the best way to manage Jo was by the law of contraries, so +she felt sure of being told everything if she did not ask. She was +rather surprised, therefore, when the silence remained unbroken, and Jo +assumed a patronizing air, which decidedly aggravated Meg, who in turn +assumed an air of dignified reserve and devoted herself to her mother. +This left Jo to her own devices, for Mrs. March had taken her place as +nurse, and bade her rest, exercise, and amuse herself after her long +confinement. Amy being gone, Laurie was her only refuge, and much as +she enjoyed his society, she rather dreaded him just then, for he was +an incorrigible tease, and she feared he would coax the secret from her. + +She was quite right, for the mischief-loving lad no sooner suspected a +mystery than he set himself to find it out, and led Jo a trying life of +it. He wheedled, bribed, ridiculed, threatened, and scolded; affected +indifference, that he might surprise the truth from her; declared he +knew, then that he didn't care; and at last, by dint of perseverance, +he satisfied himself that it concerned Meg and Mr. Brooke. Feeling +indignant that he was not taken into his tutor's confidence, he set his +wits to work to devise some proper retaliation for the slight. + +Meg meanwhile had apparently forgotten the matter and was absorbed in +preparations for her father's return, but all of a sudden a change +seemed to come over her, and, for a day or two, she was quite unlike +herself. She started when spoken to, blushed when looked at, was very +quiet, and sat over her sewing, with a timid, troubled look on her +face. To her mother's inquiries she answered that she was quite well, +and Jo's she silenced by begging to be let alone. + +"She feels it in the air--love, I mean--and she's going very fast. +She's got most of the symptoms--is twittery and cross, doesn't eat, +lies awake, and mopes in corners. I caught her singing that song he +gave her, and once she said 'John', as you do, and then turned as red +as a poppy. Whatever shall we do?" said Jo, looking ready for any +measures, however violent. + +"Nothing but wait. Let her alone, be kind and patient, and Father's +coming will settle everything," replied her mother. + +"Here's a note to you, Meg, all sealed up. How odd! Teddy never seals +mine," said Jo next day, as she distributed the contents of the little +post office. + +Mrs. March and Jo were deep in their own affairs, when a sound from Meg +made them look up to see her staring at her note with a frightened face. + +"My child, what is it?" cried her mother, running to her, while Jo +tried to take the paper which had done the mischief. + +"It's all a mistake, he didn't send it. Oh, Jo, how could you do it?" +and Meg hid her face in her hands, crying as if her heart were quite +broken. + +"Me! I've done nothing! What's she talking about?" cried Jo, +bewildered. + +Meg's mild eyes kindled with anger as she pulled a crumpled note from +her pocket and threw it at Jo, saying reproachfully, "You wrote it, and +that bad boy helped you. How could you be so rude, so mean, and cruel +to us both?" + +Jo hardly heard her, for she and her mother were reading the note, +which was written in a peculiar hand. + + +"My Dearest Margaret, + +"I can no longer restrain my passion, and must know my fate before I +return. I dare not tell your parents yet, but I think they would +consent if they knew that we adored one another. Mr. Laurence will +help me to some good place, and then, my sweet girl, you will make me +happy. I implore you to say nothing to your family yet, but to send +one word of hope through Laurie to, + +"Your devoted John." + + +"Oh, the little villain! That's the way he meant to pay me for keeping +my word to Mother. I'll give him a hearty scolding and bring him over +to beg pardon," cried Jo, burning to execute immediate justice. But +her mother held her back, saying, with a look she seldom wore... + +"Stop, Jo, you must clear yourself first. You have played so many +pranks that I am afraid you have had a hand in this." + +"On my word, Mother, I haven't! I never saw that note before, and +don't know anything about it, as true as I live!" said Jo, so earnestly +that they believed her. "If I had taken part in it I'd have done it +better than this, and have written a sensible note. I should think +you'd have known Mr. Brooke wouldn't write such stuff as that," she +added, scornfully tossing down the paper. + +"It's like his writing," faltered Meg, comparing it with the note in +her hand. + +"Oh, Meg, you didn't answer it?" cried Mrs. March quickly. + +"Yes, I did!" and Meg hid her face again, overcome with shame. + +"Here's a scrape! Do let me bring that wicked boy over to explain and +be lectured. I can't rest till I get hold of him." And Jo made for the +door again. + +"Hush! Let me handle this, for it is worse than I thought. Margaret, +tell me the whole story," commanded Mrs. March, sitting down by Meg, +yet keeping hold of Jo, lest she should fly off. + +"I received the first letter from Laurie, who didn't look as if he knew +anything about it," began Meg, without looking up. "I was worried at +first and meant to tell you, then I remembered how you liked Mr. +Brooke, so I thought you wouldn't mind if I kept my little secret for a +few days. I'm so silly that I liked to think no one knew, and while I +was deciding what to say, I felt like the girls in books, who have such +things to do. Forgive me, Mother, I'm paid for my silliness now. I +never can look him in the face again." + +"What did you say to him?" asked Mrs. March. + +"I only said I was too young to do anything about it yet, that I didn't +wish to have secrets from you, and he must speak to father. I was very +grateful for his kindness, and would be his friend, but nothing more, +for a long while." + +Mrs. March smiled, as if well pleased, and Jo clapped her hands, +exclaiming, with a laugh, "You are almost equal to Caroline Percy, who +was a pattern of prudence! Tell on, Meg. What did he say to that?" + +"He writes in a different way entirely, telling me that he never sent +any love letter at all, and is very sorry that my roguish sister, Jo, +should take liberties with our names. It's very kind and respectful, +but think how dreadful for me!" + +Meg leaned against her mother, looking the image of despair, and Jo +tramped about the room, calling Laurie names. All of a sudden she +stopped, caught up the two notes, and after looking at them closely, +said decidedly, "I don't believe Brooke ever saw either of these +letters. Teddy wrote both, and keeps yours to crow over me with +because I wouldn't tell him my secret." + +"Don't have any secrets, Jo. Tell it to Mother and keep out of +trouble, as I should have done," said Meg warningly. + +"Bless you, child! Mother told me." + +"That will do, Jo. I'll comfort Meg while you go and get Laurie. I +shall sift the matter to the bottom, and put a stop to such pranks at +once." + +Away ran Jo, and Mrs. March gently told Meg Mr. Brooke's real feelings. +"Now, dear, what are your own? Do you love him enough to wait till he +can make a home for you, or will you keep yourself quite free for the +present?" + +"I've been so scared and worried, I don't want to have anything to do +with lovers for a long while, perhaps never," answered Meg petulantly. +"If John doesn't know anything about this nonsense, don't tell him, and +make Jo and Laurie hold their tongues. I won't be deceived and plagued +and made a fool of. It's a shame!" + +Seeing Meg's usually gentle temper was roused and her pride hurt by +this mischievous joke, Mrs. March soothed her by promises of entire +silence and great discretion for the future. The instant Laurie's step +was heard in the hall, Meg fled into the study, and Mrs. March received +the culprit alone. Jo had not told him why he was wanted, fearing he +wouldn't come, but he knew the minute he saw Mrs. March's face, and +stood twirling his hat with a guilty air which convicted him at once. +Jo was dismissed, but chose to march up and down the hall like a +sentinel, having some fear that the prisoner might bolt. The sound of +voices in the parlor rose and fell for half an hour, but what happened +during that interview the girls never knew. + +When they were called in, Laurie was standing by their mother with such +a penitent face that Jo forgave him on the spot, but did not think it +wise to betray the fact. Meg received his humble apology, and was much +comforted by the assurance that Brooke knew nothing of the joke. + +"I'll never tell him to my dying day, wild horses shan't drag it out of +me, so you'll forgive me, Meg, and I'll do anything to show how +out-and-out sorry I am," he added, looking very much ashamed of himself. + +"I'll try, but it was a very ungentlemanly thing to do, I didn't think +you could be so sly and malicious, Laurie," replied Meg, trying to hide +her maidenly confusion under a gravely reproachful air. + +"It was altogether abominable, and I don't deserve to be spoken to for +a month, but you will, though, won't you?" And Laurie folded his hands +together with such and imploring gesture, as he spoke in his +irresistibly persuasive tone, that it was impossible to frown upon him +in spite of his scandalous behavior. + +Meg pardoned him, and Mrs. March's grave face relaxed, in spite of her +efforts to keep sober, when she heard him declare that he would atone +for his sins by all sorts of penances, and abase himself like a worm +before the injured damsel. + +Jo stood aloof, meanwhile, trying to harden her heart against him, and +succeeding only in primming up her face into an expression of entire +disapprobation. Laurie looked at her once or twice, but as she showed +no sign of relenting, he felt injured, and turned his back on her till +the others were done with him, when he made her a low bow and walked +off without a word. + +As soon as he had gone, she wished she had been more forgiving, and +when Meg and her mother went upstairs, she felt lonely and longed for +Teddy. After resisting for some time, she yielded to the impulse, and +armed with a book to return, went over to the big house. + +"Is Mr. Laurence in?" asked Jo, of a housemaid, who was coming +downstairs. + +"Yes, Miss, but I don't believe he's seeable just yet." + +"Why not? Is he ill?" + +"La, no Miss, but he's had a scene with Mr. Laurie, who is in one of +his tantrums about something, which vexes the old gentleman, so I +dursn't go nigh him." + +"Where is Laurie?" + +"Shut up in his room, and he won't answer, though I've been a-tapping. +I don't know what's to become of the dinner, for it's ready, and +there's no one to eat it." + +"I'll go and see what the matter is. I'm not afraid of either of them." + +Up went Jo, and knocked smartly on the door of Laurie's little study. + +"Stop that, or I'll open the door and make you!" called out the young +gentleman in a threatening tone. + +Jo immediately knocked again. The door flew open, and in she bounced +before Laurie could recover from his surprise. Seeing that he really +was out of temper, Jo, who knew how to manage him, assumed a contrite +expression, and going artistically down upon her knees, said meekly, +"Please forgive me for being so cross. I came to make it up, and can't +go away till I have." + +"It's all right. Get up, and don't be a goose, Jo," was the cavalier +reply to her petition. + +"Thank you, I will. Could I ask what's the matter? You don't look +exactly easy in your mind." + +"I've been shaken, and I won't bear it!" growled Laurie indignantly. + +"Who did it?" demanded Jo. + +"Grandfather. If it had been anyone else I'd have..." And the injured +youth finished his sentence by an energetic gesture of the right arm. + +"That's nothing. I often shake you, and you don't mind," said Jo +soothingly. + +"Pooh! You're a girl, and it's fun, but I'll allow no man to shake me!" + +"I don't think anyone would care to try it, if you looked as much like +a thundercloud as you do now. Why were you treated so?" + +"Just because I wouldn't say what your mother wanted me for. I'd +promised not to tell, and of course I wasn't going to break my word." + +"Couldn't you satisfy your grandpa in any other way?" + +"No, he would have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the +truth. I'd have told my part of the scrape, if I could without +bringing Meg in. As I couldn't, I held my tongue, and bore the +scolding till the old gentleman collared me. Then I bolted, for fear I +should forget myself." + +"It wasn't nice, but he's sorry, I know, so go down and make up. I'll +help you." + +"Hanged if I do! I'm not going to be lectured and pummelled by +everyone, just for a bit of a frolic. I was sorry about Meg, and +begged pardon like a man, but I won't do it again, when I wasn't in the +wrong." + +"He didn't know that." + +"He ought to trust me, and not act as if I was a baby. It's no use, +Jo, he's got to learn that I'm able to take care of myself, and don't +need anyone's apron string to hold on by." + +"What pepper pots you are!" sighed Jo. "How do you mean to settle this +affair?" + +"Well, he ought to beg pardon, and believe me when I say I can't tell +him what the fuss's about." + +"Bless you! He won't do that." + +"I won't go down till he does." + +"Now, Teddy, be sensible. Let it pass, and I'll explain what I can. +You can't stay here, so what's the use of being melodramatic?" + +"I don't intend to stay here long, anyway. I'll slip off and take a +journey somewhere, and when Grandpa misses me he'll come round fast +enough." + +"I dare say, but you ought not to go and worry him." + +"Don't preach. I'll go to Washington and see Brooke. It's gay there, +and I'll enjoy myself after the troubles." + +"What fun you'd have! I wish I could run off too," said Jo, forgetting +her part of mentor in lively visions of martial life at the capital. + +"Come on, then! Why not? You go and surprise your father, and I'll +stir up old Brooke. It would be a glorious joke. Let's do it, Jo. +We'll leave a letter saying we are all right, and trot off at once. +I've got money enough. It will do you good, and no harm, as you go to +your father." + +For a moment Jo looked as if she would agree, for wild as the plan was, +it just suited her. She was tired of care and confinement, longed for +change, and thoughts of her father blended temptingly with the novel +charms of camps and hospitals, liberty and fun. Her eyes kindled as +they turned wistfully toward the window, but they fell on the old house +opposite, and she shook her head with sorrowful decision. + +"If I was a boy, we'd run away together, and have a capital time, but +as I'm a miserable girl, I must be proper and stop at home. Don't tempt +me, Teddy, it's a crazy plan." + +"That's the fun of it," began Laurie, who had got a willful fit on him +and was possessed to break out of bounds in some way. + +"Hold your tongue!" cried Jo, covering her ears. "'Prunes and prisms' +are my doom, and I may as well make up my mind to it. I came here to +moralize, not to hear things that make me skip to think of." + +"I know Meg would wet-blanket such a proposal, but I thought you had +more spirit," began Laurie insinuatingly. + +"Bad boy, be quiet! Sit down and think of your own sins, don't go +making me add to mine. If I get your grandpa to apologize for the +shaking, will you give up running away?" asked Jo seriously. + +"Yes, but you won't do it," answered Laurie, who wished to make up, but +felt that his outraged dignity must be appeased first. + +"If I can manage the young one, I can the old one," muttered Jo, as she +walked away, leaving Laurie bent over a railroad map with his head +propped up on both hands. + +"Come in!" and Mr. Laurence's gruff voice sounded gruffer than ever, as +Jo tapped at his door. + +"It's only me, Sir, come to return a book," she said blandly, as she +entered. + +"Want any more?" asked the old gentleman, looking grim and vexed, but +trying not to show it. + +"Yes, please. I like old Sam so well, I think I'll try the second +volume," returned Jo, hoping to propitiate him by accepting a second +dose of Boswell's Johnson, as he had recommended that lively work. + +The shaggy eyebrows unbent a little as he rolled the steps toward the +shelf where the Johnsonian literature was placed. Jo skipped up, and +sitting on the top step, affected to be searching for her book, but was +really wondering how best to introduce the dangerous object of her +visit. Mr. Laurence seemed to suspect that something was brewing in +her mind, for after taking several brisk turns about the room, he faced +round on her, speaking so abruptly that Rasselas tumbled face downward +on the floor. + +"What has that boy been about? Don't try to shield him. I know he has +been in mischief by the way he acted when he came home. I can't get a +word from him, and when I threatened to shake the truth out of him he +bolted upstairs and locked himself into his room." + +"He did wrong, but we forgave him, and all promised not to say a word +to anyone," began Jo reluctantly. + +"That won't do. He shall not shelter himself behind a promise from you +softhearted girls. If he's done anything amiss, he shall confess, beg +pardon, and be punished. Out with it, Jo. I won't be kept in the dark." + +Mr. Laurence looked so alarming and spoke so sharply that Jo would have +gladly run away, if she could, but she was perched aloft on the steps, +and he stood at the foot, a lion in the path, so she had to stay and +brave it out. + +"Indeed, Sir, I cannot tell. Mother forbade it. Laurie has confessed, +asked pardon, and been punished quite enough. We don't keep silence to +shield him, but someone else, and it will make more trouble if you +interfere. Please don't. It was partly my fault, but it's all right +now. So let's forget it, and talk about the _Rambler_ or something +pleasant." + +"Hang the _Rambler!_ Come down and give me your word that this +harum-scarum boy of mine hasn't done anything ungrateful or +impertinent. If he has, after all your kindness to him, I'll thrash +him with my own hands." + +The threat sounded awful, but did not alarm Jo, for she knew the +irascible old gentleman would never lift a finger against his grandson, +whatever he might say to the contrary. She obediently descended, and +made as light of the prank as she could without betraying Meg or +forgetting the truth. + +"Hum... ha... well, if the boy held his tongue because he promised, and +not from obstinacy, I'll forgive him. He's a stubborn fellow and hard +to manage," said Mr. Laurence, rubbing up his hair till it looked as if +he had been out in a gale, and smoothing the frown from his brow with +an air of relief. + +"So am I, but a kind word will govern me when all the king's horses and +all the king's men couldn't," said Jo, trying to say a kind word for +her friend, who seemed to get out of one scrape only to fall into +another. + +"You think I'm not kind to him, hey?" was the sharp answer. + +"Oh, dear no, Sir. You are rather too kind sometimes, and then just a +trifle hasty when he tries your patience. Don't you think you are?" + +Jo was determined to have it out now, and tried to look quite placid, +though she quaked a little after her bold speech. To her great relief +and surprise, the old gentleman only threw his spectacles onto the +table with a rattle and exclaimed frankly, "You're right, girl, I am! +I love the boy, but he tries my patience past bearing, and I know how +it will end, if we go on so." + +"I'll tell you, he'll run away." Jo was sorry for that speech the +minute it was made. She meant to warn him that Laurie would not bear +much restraint, and hoped he would be more forebearing with the lad. + +Mr. Laurence's ruddy face changed suddenly, and he sat down, with a +troubled glance at the picture of a handsome man, which hung over his +table. It was Laurie's father, who had run away in his youth, and +married against the imperious old man's will. Jo fancied he remembered +and regretted the past, and she wished she had held her tongue. + +"He won't do it unless he is very much worried, and only threatens it +sometimes, when he gets tired of studying. I often think I should like +to, especially since my hair was cut, so if you ever miss us, you may +advertise for two boys and look among the ships bound for India." + +She laughed as she spoke, and Mr. Laurence looked relieved, evidently +taking the whole as a joke. + +"You hussy, how dare you talk in that way? Where's your respect for +me, and your proper bringing up? Bless the boys and girls! What +torments they are, yet we can't do without them," he said, pinching her +cheeks good-humoredly. "Go and bring that boy down to his dinner, tell +him it's all right, and advise him not to put on tragedy airs with his +grandfather. I won't bear it." + +"He won't come, Sir. He feels badly because you didn't believe him +when he said he couldn't tell. I think the shaking hurt his feelings +very much." + +Jo tried to look pathetic but must have failed, for Mr. Laurence began +to laugh, and she knew the day was won. + +"I'm sorry for that, and ought to thank him for not shaking me, I +suppose. What the dickens does the fellow expect?" and the old +gentleman looked a trifle ashamed of his own testiness. + +"If I were you, I'd write him an apology, Sir. He says he won't come +down till he has one, and talks about Washington, and goes on in an +absurd way. A formal apology will make him see how foolish he is, and +bring him down quite amiable. Try it. He likes fun, and this way is +better than talking. I'll carry it up, and teach him his duty." + +Mr. Laurence gave her a sharp look, and put on his spectacles, saying +slowly, "You're a sly puss, but I don't mind being managed by you and +Beth. Here, give me a bit of paper, and let us have done with this +nonsense." + +The note was written in the terms which one gentleman would use to +another after offering some deep insult. Jo dropped a kiss on the top +of Mr. Laurence's bald head, and ran up to slip the apology under +Laurie's door, advising him through the keyhole to be submissive, +decorous, and a few other agreeable impossibilities. Finding the door +locked again, she left the note to do its work, and was going quietly +away, when the young gentleman slid down the banisters, and waited for +her at the bottom, saying, with his most virtuous expression of +countenance, "What a good fellow you are, Jo! Did you get blown up?" he +added, laughing. + +"No, he was pretty mild, on the whole." + +"Ah! I got it all round. Even you cast me off over there, and I felt +just ready to go to the deuce," he began apologetically. + +"Don't talk that way, turn over a new leaf and begin again, Teddy, my +son." + +"I keep turning over new leaves, and spoiling them, as I used to spoil +my copybooks, and I make so many beginnings there never will be an +end," he said dolefully. + +"Go and eat your dinner, you'll feel better after it. Men always croak +when they are hungry," and Jo whisked out at the front door after that. + +"That's a 'label' on my 'sect'," answered Laurie, quoting Amy, as he +went to partake of humble pie dutifully with his grandfather, who was +quite saintly in temper and overwhelmingly respectful in manner all the +rest of the day. + +Everyone thought the matter ended and the little cloud blown over, but +the mischief was done, for though others forgot it, Meg remembered. +She never alluded to a certain person, but she thought of him a good +deal, dreamed dreams more than ever, and once Jo, rummaging her +sister's desk for stamps, found a bit of paper scribbled over with the +words, 'Mrs. John Brooke', whereat she groaned tragically and cast it +into the fire, feeling that Laurie's prank had hastened the evil day +for her. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO + +PLEASANT MEADOWS + +Like sunshine after a storm were the peaceful weeks which followed. +The invalids improved rapidly, and Mr. March began to talk of returning +early in the new year. Beth was soon able to lie on the study sofa all +day, amusing herself with the well-beloved cats at first, and in time +with doll's sewing, which had fallen sadly behind-hand. Her once +active limbs were so stiff and feeble that Jo took her for a daily +airing about the house in her strong arms. Meg cheerfully blackened +and burned her white hands cooking delicate messes for 'the dear', +while Amy, a loyal slave of the ring, celebrated her return by giving +away as many of her treasures as she could prevail on her sisters to +accept. + +As Christmas approached, the usual mysteries began to haunt the house, +and Jo frequently convulsed the family by proposing utterly impossible +or magnificently absurd ceremonies, in honor of this unusually merry +Christmas. Laurie was equally impracticable, and would have had +bonfires, skyrockets, and triumphal arches, if he had had his own way. +After many skirmishes and snubbings, the ambitious pair were considered +effectually quenched and went about with forlorn faces, which were +rather belied by explosions of laughter when the two got together. + +Several days of unusually mild weather fitly ushered in a splendid +Christmas Day. Hannah 'felt in her bones' that it was going to be an +unusually fine day, and she proved herself a true prophetess, for +everybody and everything seemed bound to produce a grand success. To +begin with, Mr. March wrote that he should soon be with them, then Beth +felt uncommonly well that morning, and, being dressed in her mother's +gift, a soft crimson merino wrapper, was borne in high triumph to the +window to behold the offering of Jo and Laurie. The Unquenchables had +done their best to be worthy of the name, for like elves they had +worked by night and conjured up a comical surprise. Out in the garden +stood a stately snow maiden, crowned with holly, bearing a basket of +fruit and flowers in one hand, a great roll of music in the other, a +perfect rainbow of an Afghan round her chilly shoulders, and a +Christmas carol issuing from her lips on a pink paper streamer. + + THE JUNGFRAU TO BETH + + God bless you, dear Queen Bess! + May nothing you dismay, + But health and peace and happiness + Be yours, this Christmas day. + + Here's fruit to feed our busy bee, + And flowers for her nose. + Here's music for her pianee, + An afghan for her toes, + + A portrait of Joanna, see, + By Raphael No. 2, + Who laboured with great industry + To make it fair and true. + + Accept a ribbon red, I beg, + For Madam Purrer's tail, + And ice cream made by lovely Peg, + A Mont Blanc in a pail. + + Their dearest love my makers laid + Within my breast of snow. + Accept it, and the Alpine maid, + From Laurie and from Jo. + +How Beth laughed when she saw it, how Laurie ran up and down to bring +in the gifts, and what ridiculous speeches Jo made as she presented +them. + +"I'm so full of happiness, that if Father was only here, I couldn't +hold one drop more," said Beth, quite sighing with contentment as Jo +carried her off to the study to rest after the excitement, and to +refresh herself with some of the delicious grapes the 'Jungfrau' had +sent her. + +"So am I," added Jo, slapping the pocket wherein reposed the +long-desired _Undine and Sintram_. + +"I'm sure I am," echoed Amy, poring over the engraved copy of the +Madonna and Child, which her mother had given her in a pretty frame. + +"Of course I am!" cried Meg, smoothing the silvery folds of her first +silk dress, for Mr. Laurence had insisted on giving it. "How can I be +otherwise?" said Mrs. March gratefully, as her eyes went from her +husband's letter to Beth's smiling face, and her hand caressed the +brooch made of gray and golden, chestnut and dark brown hair, which the +girls had just fastened on her breast. + +Now and then, in this workaday world, things do happen in the +delightful storybook fashion, and what a comfort it is. Half an hour +after everyone had said they were so happy they could only hold one +drop more, the drop came. Laurie opened the parlor door and popped his +head in very quietly. He might just as well have turned a somersault +and uttered an Indian war whoop, for his face was so full of suppressed +excitement and his voice so treacherously joyful that everyone jumped +up, though he only said, in a queer, breathless voice, "Here's another +Christmas present for the March family." + +Before the words were well out of his mouth, he was whisked away +somehow, and in his place appeared a tall man, muffled up to the eyes, +leaning on the arm of another tall man, who tried to say something and +couldn't. Of course there was a general stampede, and for several +minutes everybody seemed to lose their wits, for the strangest things +were done, and no one said a word. + +Mr. March became invisible in the embrace of four pairs of loving arms. +Jo disgraced herself by nearly fainting away, and had to be doctored by +Laurie in the china closet. Mr. Brooke kissed Meg entirely by mistake, +as he somewhat incoherently explained. And Amy, the dignified, tumbled +over a stool, and never stopping to get up, hugged and cried over her +father's boots in the most touching manner. Mrs. March was the first +to recover herself, and held up her hand with a warning, "Hush! +Remember Beth." + +But it was too late. The study door flew open, the little red wrapper +appeared on the threshold, joy put strength into the feeble limbs, and +Beth ran straight into her father's arms. Never mind what happened +just after that, for the full hearts overflowed, washing away the +bitterness of the past and leaving only the sweetness of the present. + +It was not at all romantic, but a hearty laugh set everybody straight +again, for Hannah was discovered behind the door, sobbing over the fat +turkey, which she had forgotten to put down when she rushed up from the +kitchen. As the laugh subsided, Mrs. March began to thank Mr. Brooke +for his faithful care of her husband, at which Mr. Brooke suddenly +remembered that Mr. March needed rest, and seizing Laurie, he +precipitately retired. Then the two invalids were ordered to repose, +which they did, by both sitting in one big chair and talking hard. + +Mr. March told how he had longed to surprise them, and how, when the +fine weather came, he had been allowed by his doctor to take advantage +of it, how devoted Brooke had been, and how he was altogether a most +estimable and upright young man. Why Mr. March paused a minute just +there, and after a glance at Meg, who was violently poking the fire, +looked at his wife with an inquiring lift of the eyebrows, I leave you +to imagine. Also why Mrs. March gently nodded her head and asked, +rather abruptly, if he wouldn't like to have something to eat. Jo saw +and understood the look, and she stalked grimly away to get wine and +beef tea, muttering to herself as she slammed the door, "I hate +estimable young men with brown eyes!" + +There never was such a Christmas dinner as they had that day. The fat +turkey was a sight to behold, when Hannah sent him up, stuffed, +browned, and decorated. So was the plum pudding, which melted in one's +mouth, likewise the jellies, in which Amy reveled like a fly in a +honeypot. Everything turned out well, which was a mercy, Hannah said, +"For my mind was that flustered, Mum, that it's a merrycle I didn't +roast the pudding, and stuff the turkey with raisins, let alone bilin' +of it in a cloth." + +Mr. Laurence and his grandson dined with them, also Mr. Brooke, at whom +Jo glowered darkly, to Laurie's infinite amusement. Two easy chairs +stood side by side at the head of the table, in which sat Beth and her +father, feasting modestly on chicken and a little fruit. They drank +healths, told stories, sang songs, 'reminisced', as the old folks say, +and had a thoroughly good time. A sleigh ride had been planned, but the +girls would not leave their father, so the guests departed early, and +as twilight gathered, the happy family sat together round the fire. + +"Just a year ago we were groaning over the dismal Christmas we expected +to have. Do you remember?" asked Jo, breaking a short pause which had +followed a long conversation about many things. + +"Rather a pleasant year on the whole!" said Meg, smiling at the fire, +and congratulating herself on having treated Mr. Brooke with dignity. + +"I think it's been a pretty hard one," observed Amy, watching the light +shine on her ring with thoughtful eyes. + +"I'm glad it's over, because we've got you back," whispered Beth, who +sat on her father's knee. + +"Rather a rough road for you to travel, my little pilgrims, especially +the latter part of it. But you have got on bravely, and I think the +burdens are in a fair way to tumble off very soon," said Mr. March, +looking with fatherly satisfaction at the four young faces gathered +round him. + +"How do you know? Did Mother tell you?" asked Jo. + +"Not much. Straws show which way the wind blows, and I've made several +discoveries today." + +"Oh, tell us what they are!" cried Meg, who sat beside him. + +"Here is one." And taking up the hand which lay on the arm of his +chair, he pointed to the roughened forefinger, a burn on the back, and +two or three little hard spots on the palm. "I remember a time when +this hand was white and smooth, and your first care was to keep it so. +It was very pretty then, but to me it is much prettier now, for in this +seeming blemishes I read a little history. A burnt offering has been +made to vanity, this hardened palm has earned something better than +blisters, and I'm sure the sewing done by these pricked fingers will +last a long time, so much good will went into the stitches. Meg, my +dear, I value the womanly skill which keeps home happy more than white +hands or fashionable accomplishments. I'm proud to shake this good, +industrious little hand, and hope I shall not soon be asked to give it +away." + +If Meg had wanted a reward for hours of patient labor, she received it +in the hearty pressure of her father's hand and the approving smile he +gave her. + +"What about Jo? Please say something nice, for she has tried so hard +and been so very, very good to me," said Beth in her father's ear. + +He laughed and looked across at the tall girl who sat opposite, with an +unusually mild expression in her face. + +"In spite of the curly crop, I don't see the 'son Jo' whom I left a +year ago," said Mr. March. "I see a young lady who pins her collar +straight, laces her boots neatly, and neither whistles, talks slang, +nor lies on the rug as she used to do. Her face is rather thin and +pale just now, with watching and anxiety, but I like to look at it, for +it has grown gentler, and her voice is lower. She doesn't bounce, but +moves quietly, and takes care of a certain little person in a motherly +way which delights me. I rather miss my wild girl, but if I get a +strong, helpful, tenderhearted woman in her place, I shall feel quite +satisfied. I don't know whether the shearing sobered our black sheep, +but I do know that in all Washington I couldn't find anything beautiful +enough to be bought with the five-and-twenty dollars my good girl sent +me." + +Jo's keen eyes were rather dim for a minute, and her thin face grew +rosy in the firelight as she received her father's praise, feeling that +she did deserve a portion of it. + +"Now, Beth," said Amy, longing for her turn, but ready to wait. + +"There's so little of her, I'm afraid to say much, for fear she will +slip away altogether, though she is not so shy as she used to be," +began their father cheerfully. But recollecting how nearly he had lost +her, he held her close, saying tenderly, with her cheek against his +own, "I've got you safe, my Beth, and I'll keep you so, please God." + +After a minute's silence, he looked down at Amy, who sat on the cricket +at his feet, and said, with a caress of the shining hair... + +"I observed that Amy took drumsticks at dinner, ran errands for her +mother all the afternoon, gave Meg her place tonight, and has waited on +every one with patience and good humor. I also observe that she does +not fret much nor look in the glass, and has not even mentioned a very +pretty ring which she wears, so I conclude that she has learned to +think of other people more and of herself less, and has decided to try +and mold her character as carefully as she molds her little clay +figures. I am glad of this, for though I should be very proud of a +graceful statue made by her, I shall be infinitely prouder of a lovable +daughter with a talent for making life beautiful to herself and others." + +"What are you thinking of, Beth?" asked Jo, when Amy had thanked her +father and told about her ring. + +"I read in _Pilgrim's Progress_ today how, after many troubles, +Christian and Hopeful came to a pleasant green meadow where lilies +bloomed all year round, and there they rested happily, as we do now, +before they went on to their journey's end," answered Beth, adding, as +she slipped out of her father's arms and went to the instrument, "It's +singing time now, and I want to be in my old place. I'll try to sing +the song of the shepherd boy which the Pilgrims heard. I made the +music for Father, because he likes the verses." + +So, sitting at the dear little piano, Beth softly touched the keys, and +in the sweet voice they had never thought to hear again, sang to her +own accompaniment the quaint hymn, which was a singularly fitting song +for her. + + + He that is down need fear no fall, + He that is low no pride. + He that is humble ever shall + Have God to be his guide. + + I am content with what I have, + Little be it, or much. + And, Lord! Contentment still I crave, + Because Thou savest such. + + Fulness to them a burden is, + That go on pilgrimage. + Here little, and hereafter bliss, + Is best from age to age! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE + +AUNT MARCH SETTLES THE QUESTION + +Like bees swarming after their queen, mother and daughters hovered +about Mr. March the next day, neglecting everything to look at, wait +upon, and listen to the new invalid, who was in a fair way to be killed +by kindness. As he sat propped up in a big chair by Beth's sofa, with +the other three close by, and Hannah popping in her head now and then +'to peek at the dear man', nothing seemed needed to complete their +happiness. But something was needed, and the elder ones felt it, +though none confessed the fact. Mr. and Mrs. March looked at one +another with an anxious expression, as their eyes followed Meg. Jo had +sudden fits of sobriety, and was seen to shake her fist at Mr. Brooke's +umbrella, which had been left in the hall. Meg was absent-minded, shy, +and silent, started when the bell rang, and colored when John's name +was mentioned. Amy said, "Everyone seemed waiting for something, and +couldn't settle down, which was queer, since Father was safe at home," +and Beth innocently wondered why their neighbors didn't run over as +usual. + +Laurie went by in the afternoon, and seeing Meg at the window, seemed +suddenly possessed with a melodramatic fit, for he fell down on one +knee in the snow, beat his breast, tore his hair, and clasped his hands +imploringly, as if begging some boon. And when Meg told him to behave +himself and go away, he wrung imaginary tears out of his handkerchief, +and staggered round the corner as if in utter despair. + +"What does the goose mean?" said Meg, laughing and trying to look +unconscious. + +"He's showing you how your John will go on by-and-by. Touching, isn't +it?" answered Jo scornfully. + +"Don't say my John, it isn't proper or true," but Meg's voice lingered +over the words as if they sounded pleasant to her. "Please don't +plague me, Jo, I've told you I don't care much about him, and there +isn't to be anything said, but we are all to be friendly, and go on as +before." + +"We can't, for something has been said, and Laurie's mischief has +spoiled you for me. I see it, and so does Mother. You are not like +your old self a bit, and seem ever so far away from me. I don't mean +to plague you and will bear it like a man, but I do wish it was all +settled. I hate to wait, so if you mean ever to do it, make haste and +have it over quickly," said Jo pettishly. + +"I can't say anything till he speaks, and he won't, because Father said +I was too young," began Meg, bending over her work with a queer little +smile, which suggested that she did not quite agree with her father on +that point. + +"If he did speak, you wouldn't know what to say, but would cry or +blush, or let him have his own way, instead of giving a good, decided +no." + +"I'm not so silly and weak as you think. I know just what I should +say, for I've planned it all, so I needn't be taken unawares. There's +no knowing what may happen, and I wished to be prepared." + +Jo couldn't help smiling at the important air which Meg had +unconsciously assumed and which was as becoming as the pretty color +varying in her cheeks. + +"Would you mind telling me what you'd say?" asked Jo more respectfully. + +"Not at all. You are sixteen now, quite old enough to be my confidant, +and my experience will be useful to you by-and-by, perhaps, in your own +affairs of this sort." + +"Don't mean to have any. It's fun to watch other people philander, but +I should feel like a fool doing it myself," said Jo, looking alarmed at +the thought. + +"I think not, if you liked anyone very much, and he liked you." Meg +spoke as if to herself, and glanced out at the lane where she had often +seen lovers walking together in the summer twilight. + +"I thought you were going to tell your speech to that man," said Jo, +rudely shortening her sister's little reverie. + +"Oh, I should merely say, quite calmly and decidedly, 'Thank you, Mr. +Brooke, you are very kind, but I agree with Father that I am too young +to enter into any engagement at present, so please say no more, but let +us be friends as we were.'" + +"Hum, that's stiff and cool enough! I don't believe you'll ever say +it, and I know he won't be satisfied if you do. If he goes on like the +rejected lovers in books, you'll give in, rather than hurt his +feelings." + +"No, I won't. I shall tell him I've made up my mind, and shall walk +out of the room with dignity." + +Meg rose as she spoke, and was just going to rehearse the dignified +exit, when a step in the hall made her fly into her seat and begin to +sew as fast as if her life depended on finishing that particular seam +in a given time. Jo smothered a laugh at the sudden change, and when +someone gave a modest tap, opened the door with a grim aspect which was +anything but hospitable. + +"Good afternoon. I came to get my umbrella, that is, to see how your +father finds himself today," said Mr. Brooke, getting a trifle confused +as his eyes went from one telltale face to the other. + +"It's very well, he's in the rack. I'll get him, and tell it you are +here." And having jumbled her father and the umbrella well together in +her reply, Jo slipped out of the room to give Meg a chance to make her +speech and air her dignity. But the instant she vanished, Meg began to +sidle toward the door, murmuring... + +"Mother will like to see you. Pray sit down, I'll call her." + +"Don't go. Are you afraid of me, Margaret?" and Mr. Brooke looked so +hurt that Meg thought she must have done something very rude. She +blushed up to the little curls on her forehead, for he had never called +her Margaret before, and she was surprised to find how natural and +sweet it seemed to hear him say it. Anxious to appear friendly and at +her ease, she put out her hand with a confiding gesture, and said +gratefully... + +"How can I be afraid when you have been so kind to Father? I only wish +I could thank you for it." + +"Shall I tell you how?" asked Mr. Brooke, holding the small hand fast +in both his own, and looking down at Meg with so much love in the brown +eyes that her heart began to flutter, and she both longed to run away +and to stop and listen. + +"Oh no, please don't, I'd rather not," she said, trying to withdraw her +hand, and looking frightened in spite of her denial. + +"I won't trouble you. I only want to know if you care for me a little, +Meg. I love you so much, dear," added Mr. Brooke tenderly. + +This was the moment for the calm, proper speech, but Meg didn't make +it. She forgot every word of it, hung her head, and answered, "I don't +know," so softly that John had to stoop down to catch the foolish +little reply. + +He seemed to think it was worth the trouble, for he smiled to himself +as if quite satisfied, pressed the plump hand gratefully, and said in +his most persuasive tone, "Will you try and find out? I want to know +so much, for I can't go to work with any heart until I learn whether I +am to have my reward in the end or not." + +"I'm too young," faltered Meg, wondering why she was so fluttered, yet +rather enjoying it. + +"I'll wait, and in the meantime, you could be learning to like me. +Would it be a very hard lesson, dear?" + +"Not if I chose to learn it, but. . ." + +"Please choose to learn, Meg. I love to teach, and this is easier than +German," broke in John, getting possession of the other hand, so that +she had no way of hiding her face as he bent to look into it. + +His tone was properly beseeching, but stealing a shy look at him, Meg +saw that his eyes were merry as well as tender, and that he wore the +satisfied smile of one who had no doubt of his success. This nettled +her. Annie Moffat's foolish lessons in coquetry came into her mind, +and the love of power, which sleeps in the bosoms of the best of little +women, woke up all of a sudden and took possession of her. She felt +excited and strange, and not knowing what else to do, followed a +capricious impulse, and, withdrawing her hands, said petulantly, "I +don't choose. Please go away and let me be!" + +Poor Mr. Brooke looked as if his lovely castle in the air was tumbling +about his ears, for he had never seen Meg in such a mood before, and it +rather bewildered him. + +"Do you really mean that?" he asked anxiously, following her as she +walked away. + +"Yes, I do. I don't want to be worried about such things. Father says +I needn't, it's too soon and I'd rather not." + +"Mayn't I hope you'll change your mind by-and-by? I'll wait and say +nothing till you have had more time. Don't play with me, Meg. I +didn't think that of you." + +"Don't think of me at all. I'd rather you wouldn't," said Meg, taking +a naughty satisfaction in trying her lover's patience and her own power. + +He was grave and pale now, and looked decidedly more like the novel +heroes whom she admired, but he neither slapped his forehead nor +tramped about the room as they did. He just stood looking at her so +wistfully, so tenderly, that she found her heart relenting in spite of +herself. What would have happened next I cannot say, if Aunt March had +not come hobbling in at this interesting minute. + +The old lady couldn't resist her longing to see her nephew, for she had +met Laurie as she took her airing, and hearing of Mr. March's arrival, +drove straight out to see him. The family were all busy in the back +part of the house, and she had made her way quietly in, hoping to +surprise them. She did surprise two of them so much that Meg started +as if she had seen a ghost, and Mr. Brooke vanished into the study. + +"Bless me, what's all this?" cried the old lady with a rap of her cane +as she glanced from the pale young gentleman to the scarlet young lady. + +"It's Father's friend. I'm so surprised to see you!" stammered Meg, +feeling that she was in for a lecture now. + +"That's evident," returned Aunt March, sitting down. "But what is +Father's friend saying to make you look like a peony? There's mischief +going on, and I insist upon knowing what it is," with another rap. + +"We were only talking. Mr. Brooke came for his umbrella," began Meg, +wishing that Mr. Brooke and the umbrella were safely out of the house. + +"Brooke? That boy's tutor? Ah! I understand now. I know all about +it. Jo blundered into a wrong message in one of your Father's letters, +and I made her tell me. You haven't gone and accepted him, child?" +cried Aunt March, looking scandalized. + +"Hush! He'll hear. Shan't I call Mother?" said Meg, much troubled. + +"Not yet. I've something to say to you, and I must free my mind at +once. Tell me, do you mean to marry this Cook? If you do, not one +penny of my money ever goes to you. Remember that, and be a sensible +girl," said the old lady impressively. + +Now Aunt March possessed in perfection the art of rousing the spirit of +opposition in the gentlest people, and enjoyed doing it. The best of +us have a spice of perversity in us, especially when we are young and +in love. If Aunt March had begged Meg to accept John Brooke, she would +probably have declared she couldn't think of it, but as she was +preemptorily ordered not to like him, she immediately made up her mind +that she would. Inclination as well as perversity made the decision +easy, and being already much excited, Meg opposed the old lady with +unusual spirit. + +"I shall marry whom I please, Aunt March, and you can leave your money +to anyone you like," she said, nodding her head with a resolute air. + +"Highty-tighty! Is that the way you take my advice, Miss? You'll be +sorry for it by-and-by, when you've tried love in a cottage and found +it a failure." + +"It can't be a worse one than some people find in big houses," retorted +Meg. + +Aunt March put on her glasses and took a look at the girl, for she did +not know her in this new mood. Meg hardly knew herself, she felt so +brave and independent, so glad to defend John and assert her right to +love him, if she liked. Aunt March saw that she had begun wrong, and +after a little pause, made a fresh start, saying as mildly as she +could, "Now, Meg, my dear, be reasonable and take my advice. I mean it +kindly, and don't want you to spoil your whole life by making a mistake +at the beginning. You ought to marry well and help your family. It's +your duty to make a rich match and it ought to be impressed upon you." + +"Father and Mother don't think so. They like John though he is poor." + +"Your parents, my dear, have no more worldly wisdom than a pair of +babies." + +"I'm glad of it," cried Meg stoutly. + +Aunt March took no notice, but went on with her lecture. "This Rook is +poor and hasn't got any rich relations, has he?" + +"No, but he has many warm friends." + +"You can't live on friends, try it and see how cool they'll grow. He +hasn't any business, has he?" + +"Not yet. Mr. Laurence is going to help him." + +"That won't last long. James Laurence is a crotchety old fellow and +not to be depended on. So you intend to marry a man without money, +position, or business, and go on working harder than you do now, when +you might be comfortable all your days by minding me and doing better? +I thought you had more sense, Meg." + +"I couldn't do better if I waited half my life! John is good and wise, +he's got heaps of talent, he's willing to work and sure to get on, he's +so energetic and brave. Everyone likes and respects him, and I'm proud +to think he cares for me, though I'm so poor and young and silly," said +Meg, looking prettier than ever in her earnestness. + +"He knows you have got rich relations, child. That's the secret of his +liking, I suspect." + +"Aunt March, how dare you say such a thing? John is above such +meanness, and I won't listen to you a minute if you talk so," cried Meg +indignantly, forgetting everything but the injustice of the old lady's +suspicions. "My John wouldn't marry for money, any more than I would. +We are willing to work and we mean to wait. I'm not afraid of being +poor, for I've been happy so far, and I know I shall be with him +because he loves me, and I..." + +Meg stopped there, remembering all of a sudden that she hadn't made up +her mind, that she had told 'her John' to go away, and that he might be +overhearing her inconsistent remarks. + +Aunt March was very angry, for she had set her heart on having her +pretty niece make a fine match, and something in the girl's happy young +face made the lonely old woman feel both sad and sour. + +"Well, I wash my hands of the whole affair! You are a willful child, +and you've lost more than you know by this piece of folly. No, I won't +stop. I'm disappointed in you, and haven't spirits to see your father +now. Don't expect anything from me when you are married. Your Mr. +Brooke's friends must take care of you. I'm done with you forever." + +And slamming the door in Meg's face, Aunt March drove off in high +dudgeon. She seemed to take all the girl's courage with her, for when +left alone, Meg stood for a moment, undecided whether to laugh or cry. +Before she could make up her mind, she was taken possession of by Mr. +Brooke, who said all in one breath, "I couldn't help hearing, Meg. +Thank you for defending me, and Aunt March for proving that you do care +for me a little bit." + +"I didn't know how much till she abused you," began Meg. + +"And I needn't go away, but may stay and be happy, may I, dear?" + +Here was another fine chance to make the crushing speech and the +stately exit, but Meg never thought of doing either, and disgraced +herself forever in Jo's eyes by meekly whispering, "Yes, John," and +hiding her face on Mr. Brooke's waistcoat. + +Fifteen minutes after Aunt March's departure, Jo came softly +downstairs, paused an instant at the parlor door, and hearing no sound +within, nodded and smiled with a satisfied expression, saying to +herself, "She has seen him away as we planned, and that affair is +settled. I'll go and hear the fun, and have a good laugh over it." + +But poor Jo never got her laugh, for she was transfixed upon the +threshold by a spectacle which held her there, staring with her mouth +nearly as wide open as her eyes. Going in to exult over a fallen enemy +and to praise a strong-minded sister for the banishment of an +objectionable lover, it certainly was a shock to behold the aforesaid +enemy serenely sitting on the sofa, with the strongminded sister +enthroned upon his knee and wearing an expression of the most abject +submission. Jo gave a sort of gasp, as if a cold shower bath had +suddenly fallen upon her, for such an unexpected turning of the tables +actually took her breath away. At the odd sound the lovers turned and +saw her. Meg jumped up, looking both proud and shy, but 'that man', as +Jo called him, actually laughed and said coolly, as he kissed the +astonished newcomer, "Sister Jo, congratulate us!" + +That was adding insult to injury, it was altogether too much, and +making some wild demonstration with her hands, Jo vanished without a +word. Rushing upstairs, she startled the invalids by exclaiming +tragically as she burst into the room, "Oh, do somebody go down quick! +John Brooke is acting dreadfully, and Meg likes it!" + +Mr. and Mrs. March left the room with speed, and casting herself upon +the bed, Jo cried and scolded tempestuously as she told the awful news +to Beth and Amy. The little girls, however, considered it a most +agreeable and interesting event, and Jo got little comfort from them, +so she went up to her refuge in the garret, and confided her troubles +to the rats. + +Nobody ever knew what went on in the parlor that afternoon, but a great +deal of talking was done, and quiet Mr. Brooke astonished his friends +by the eloquence and spirit with which he pleaded his suit, told his +plans, and persuaded them to arrange everything just as he wanted it. + +The tea bell rang before he had finished describing the paradise which +he meant to earn for Meg, and he proudly took her in to supper, both +looking so happy that Jo hadn't the heart to be jealous or dismal. Amy +was very much impressed by John's devotion and Meg's dignity, Beth +beamed at them from a distance, while Mr. and Mrs. March surveyed the +young couple with such tender satisfaction that it was perfectly +evident Aunt March was right in calling them as 'unworldly as a pair of +babies'. No one ate much, but everyone looked very happy, and the old +room seemed to brighten up amazingly when the first romance of the +family began there. + +"You can't say nothing pleasant ever happens now, can you, Meg?" said +Amy, trying to decide how she would group the lovers in a sketch she +was planning to make. + +"No, I'm sure I can't. How much has happened since I said that! It +seems a year ago," answered Meg, who was in a blissful dream lifted far +above such common things as bread and butter. + +"The joys come close upon the sorrows this time, and I rather think the +changes have begun," said Mrs. March. "In most families there comes, +now and then, a year full of events. This has been such a one, but it +ends well, after all." + +"Hope the next will end better," muttered Jo, who found it very hard to +see Meg absorbed in a stranger before her face, for Jo loved a few +persons very dearly and dreaded to have their affection lost or +lessened in any way. + +"I hope the third year from this will end better. I mean it shall, if +I live to work out my plans," said Mr. Brooke, smiling at Meg, as if +everything had become possible to him now. + +"Doesn't it seem very long to wait?" asked Amy, who was in a hurry for +the wedding. + +"I've got so much to learn before I shall be ready, it seems a short +time to me," answered Meg, with a sweet gravity in her face never seen +there before. + +"You have only to wait, I am to do the work," said John beginning his +labors by picking up Meg's napkin, with an expression which caused Jo +to shake her head, and then say to herself with an air of relief as the +front door banged, "Here comes Laurie. Now we shall have some sensible +conversation." + +But Jo was mistaken, for Laurie came prancing in, overflowing with good +spirits, bearing a great bridal-looking bouquet for 'Mrs. John Brooke', +and evidently laboring under the delusion that the whole affair had +been brought about by his excellent management. + +"I knew Brooke would have it all his own way, he always does, for when +he makes up his mind to accomplish anything, it's done though the sky +falls," said Laurie, when he had presented his offering and his +congratulations. + +"Much obliged for that recommendation. I take it as a good omen for +the future and invite you to my wedding on the spot," answered Mr. +Brooke, who felt at peace with all mankind, even his mischievous pupil. + +"I'll come if I'm at the ends of the earth, for the sight of Jo's face +alone on that occasion would be worth a long journey. You don't look +festive, ma'am, what's the matter?" asked Laurie, following her into a +corner of the parlor, whither all had adjourned to greet Mr. Laurence. + +"I don't approve of the match, but I've made up my mind to bear it, and +shall not say a word against it," said Jo solemnly. "You can't know +how hard it is for me to give up Meg," she continued with a little +quiver in her voice. + +"You don't give her up. You only go halves," said Laurie consolingly. + +"It can never be the same again. I've lost my dearest friend," sighed +Jo. + +"You've got me, anyhow. I'm not good for much, I know, but I'll stand +by you, Jo, all the days of my life. Upon my word I will!" and Laurie +meant what he said. + +"I know you will, and I'm ever so much obliged. You are always a great +comfort to me, Teddy," returned Jo, gratefully shaking hands. + +"Well, now, don't be dismal, there's a good fellow. It's all right you +see. Meg is happy, Brooke will fly round and get settled immediately, +Grandpa will attend to him, and it will be very jolly to see Meg in her +own little house. We'll have capital times after she is gone, for I +shall be through college before long, and then we'll go abroad on some +nice trip or other. Wouldn't that console you?" + +"I rather think it would, but there's no knowing what may happen in +three years," said Jo thoughtfully. + +"That's true. Don't you wish you could take a look forward and see +where we shall all be then? I do," returned Laurie. + +"I think not, for I might see something sad, and everyone looks so +happy now, I don't believe they could be much improved." And Jo's eyes +went slowly round the room, brightening as they looked, for the +prospect was a pleasant one. + +Father and Mother sat together, quietly reliving the first chapter of +the romance which for them began some twenty years ago. Amy was drawing +the lovers, who sat apart in a beautiful world of their own, the light +of which touched their faces with a grace the little artist could not +copy. Beth lay on her sofa, talking cheerily with her old friend, who +held her little hand as if he felt that it possessed the power to lead +him along the peaceful way she walked. Jo lounged in her favorite low +seat, with the grave quiet look which best became her, and Laurie, +leaning on the back of her chair, his chin on a level with her curly +head, smiled with his friendliest aspect, and nodded at her in the long +glass which reflected them both. + + +So the curtain falls upon Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Whether it ever +rises again, depends upon the reception given the first act of the +domestic drama called _Little Women_. + + + + + + + +LITTLE WOMEN PART 2 + +In order that we may start afresh and go to Meg's wedding... + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR + +GOSSIP + +In order that we may start afresh and go to Meg's wedding with free +minds, it will be well to begin with a little gossip about the Marches. +And here let me premise that if any of the elders think there is too +much 'lovering' in the story, as I fear they may (I'm not afraid the +young folks will make that objection), I can only say with Mrs. March, +"What can you expect when I have four gay girls in the house, and a +dashing young neighbor over the way?" + +The three years that have passed have brought but few changes to the +quiet family. The war is over, and Mr. March safely at home, busy with +his books and the small parish which found in him a minister by nature +as by grace, a quiet, studious man, rich in the wisdom that is better +than learning, the charity which calls all mankind 'brother', the piety +that blossoms into character, making it august and lovely. + +These attributes, in spite of poverty and the strict integrity which +shut him out from the more worldly successes, attracted to him many +admirable persons, as naturally as sweet herbs draw bees, and as +naturally he gave them the honey into which fifty years of hard +experience had distilled no bitter drop. Earnest young men found the +gray-headed scholar as young at heart as they; thoughtful or troubled +women instinctively brought their doubts to him, sure of finding the +gentlest sympathy, the wisest counsel. Sinners told their sins to the +pure-hearted old man and were both rebuked and saved. Gifted men found +a companion in him. Ambitious men caught glimpses of nobler ambitions +than their own, and even worldlings confessed that his beliefs were +beautiful and true, although 'they wouldn't pay'. + +To outsiders the five energetic women seemed to rule the house, and so +they did in many things, but the quiet scholar, sitting among his +books, was still the head of the family, the household conscience, +anchor, and comforter, for to him the busy, anxious women always turned +in troublous times, finding him, in the truest sense of those sacred +words, husband and father. + +The girls gave their hearts into their mother's keeping, their souls +into their father's, and to both parents, who lived and labored so +faithfully for them, they gave a love that grew with their growth and +bound them tenderly together by the sweetest tie which blesses life and +outlives death. + +Mrs. March is as brisk and cheery, though rather grayer, than when we +saw her last, and just now so absorbed in Meg's affairs that the +hospitals and homes still full of wounded 'boys' and soldiers' widows, +decidedly miss the motherly missionary's visits. + +John Brooke did his duty manfully for a year, got wounded, was sent +home, and not allowed to return. He received no stars or bars, but he +deserved them, for he cheerfully risked all he had, and life and love +are very precious when both are in full bloom. Perfectly resigned to +his discharge, he devoted himself to getting well, preparing for +business, and earning a home for Meg. With the good sense and sturdy +independence that characterized him, he refused Mr. Laurence's more +generous offers, and accepted the place of bookkeeper, feeling better +satisfied to begin with an honestly earned salary than by running any +risks with borrowed money. + +Meg had spent the time in working as well as waiting, growing womanly +in character, wise in housewifely arts, and prettier than ever, for +love is a great beautifier. She had her girlish ambitions and hopes, +and felt some disappointment at the humble way in which the new life +must begin. Ned Moffat had just married Sallie Gardiner, and Meg +couldn't help contrasting their fine house and carriage, many gifts, +and splendid outfit with her own, and secretly wishing she could have +the same. But somehow envy and discontent soon vanished when she +thought of all the patient love and labor John had put into the little +home awaiting her, and when they sat together in the twilight, talking +over their small plans, the future always grew so beautiful and bright +that she forgot Sallie's splendor and felt herself the richest, +happiest girl in Christendom. + +Jo never went back to Aunt March, for the old lady took such a fancy to +Amy that she bribed her with the offer of drawing lessons from one of +the best teachers going, and for the sake of this advantage, Amy would +have served a far harder mistress. So she gave her mornings to duty, +her afternoons to pleasure, and prospered finely. Jo meantime devoted +herself to literature and Beth, who remained delicate long after the +fever was a thing of the past. Not an invalid exactly, but never again +the rosy, healthy creature she had been, yet always hopeful, happy, and +serene, and busy with the quiet duties she loved, everyone's friend, +and an angel in the house, long before those who loved her most had +learned to know it. + +As long as _The Spread Eagle_ paid her a dollar a column for her +'rubbish', as she called it, Jo felt herself a woman of means, and spun +her little romances diligently. But great plans fermented in her busy +brain and ambitious mind, and the old tin kitchen in the garret held a +slowly increasing pile of blotted manuscript, which was one day to +place the name of March upon the roll of fame. + +Laurie, having dutifully gone to college to please his grandfather, was +now getting through it in the easiest possible manner to please +himself. A universal favorite, thanks to money, manners, much talent, +and the kindest heart that ever got its owner into scrapes by trying to +get other people out of them, he stood in great danger of being +spoiled, and probably would have been, like many another promising boy, +if he had not possessed a talisman against evil in the memory of the +kind old man who was bound up in his success, the motherly friend who +watched over him as if he were her son, and last, but not least by any +means, the knowledge that four innocent girls loved, admired, and +believed in him with all their hearts. + +Being only 'a glorious human boy', of course he frolicked and flirted, +grew dandified, aquatic, sentimental, or gymnastic, as college fashions +ordained, hazed and was hazed, talked slang, and more than once came +perilously near suspension and expulsion. But as high spirits and the +love of fun were the causes of these pranks, he always managed to save +himself by frank confession, honorable atonement, or the irresistible +power of persuasion which he possessed in perfection. In fact, he +rather prided himself on his narrow escapes, and liked to thrill the +girls with graphic accounts of his triumphs over wrathful tutors, +dignified professors, and vanquished enemies. The 'men of my class', +were heroes in the eyes of the girls, who never wearied of the exploits +of 'our fellows', and were frequently allowed to bask in the smiles of +these great creatures, when Laurie brought them home with him. + +Amy especially enjoyed this high honor, and became quite a belle among +them, for her ladyship early felt and learned to use the gift of +fascination with which she was endowed. Meg was too much absorbed in +her private and particular John to care for any other lords of +creation, and Beth too shy to do more than peep at them and wonder how +Amy dared to order them about so, but Jo felt quite in her own element, +and found it very difficult to refrain from imitating the gentlemanly +attitudes, phrases, and feats, which seemed more natural to her than +the decorums prescribed for young ladies. They all liked Jo immensely, +but never fell in love with her, though very few escaped without paying +the tribute of a sentimental sigh or two at Amy's shrine. And speaking +of sentiment brings us very naturally to the 'Dovecote'. + +That was the name of the little brown house Mr. Brooke had prepared for +Meg's first home. Laurie had christened it, saying it was highly +appropriate to the gentle lovers who 'went on together like a pair of +turtledoves, with first a bill and then a coo'. It was a tiny house, +with a little garden behind and a lawn about as big as a pocket +handkerchief in the front. Here Meg meant to have a fountain, +shrubbery, and a profusion of lovely flowers, though just at present +the fountain was represented by a weather-beaten urn, very like a +dilapidated slopbowl, the shrubbery consisted of several young larches, +undecided whether to live or die, and the profusion of flowers was +merely hinted by regiments of sticks to show where seeds were planted. +But inside, it was altogether charming, and the happy bride saw no +fault from garret to cellar. To be sure, the hall was so narrow it was +fortunate that they had no piano, for one never could have been got in +whole, the dining room was so small that six people were a tight fit, +and the kitchen stairs seemed built for the express purpose of +precipitating both servants and china pell-mell into the coalbin. But +once get used to these slight blemishes and nothing could be more +complete, for good sense and good taste had presided over the +furnishing, and the result was highly satisfactory. There were no +marble-topped tables, long mirrors, or lace curtains in the little +parlor, but simple furniture, plenty of books, a fine picture or two, a +stand of flowers in the bay window, and, scattered all about, the +pretty gifts which came from friendly hands and were the fairer for the +loving messages they brought. + +I don't think the Parian Psyche Laurie gave lost any of its beauty +because John put up the bracket it stood upon, that any upholsterer +could have draped the plain muslin curtains more gracefully than Amy's +artistic hand, or that any store-room was ever better provided with +good wishes, merry words, and happy hopes than that in which Jo and her +mother put away Meg's few boxes, barrels, and bundles, and I am morally +certain that the spandy new kitchen never could have looked so cozy and +neat if Hannah had not arranged every pot and pan a dozen times over, +and laid the fire all ready for lighting the minute 'Mis. Brooke came +home'. I also doubt if any young matron ever began life with so rich a +supply of dusters, holders, and piece bags, for Beth made enough to +last till the silver wedding came round, and invented three different +kinds of dishcloths for the express service of the bridal china. + +People who hire all these things done for them never know what they +lose, for the homeliest tasks get beautified if loving hands do them, +and Meg found so many proofs of this that everything in her small nest, +from the kitchen roller to the silver vase on her parlor table, was +eloquent of home love and tender forethought. + +What happy times they had planning together, what solemn shopping +excursions, what funny mistakes they made, and what shouts of laughter +arose over Laurie's ridiculous bargains. In his love of jokes, this +young gentleman, though nearly through college, was a much of a boy as +ever. His last whim had been to bring with him on his weekly visits +some new, useful, and ingenious article for the young housekeeper. Now +a bag of remarkable clothespins, next, a wonderful nutmeg grater which +fell to pieces at the first trial, a knife cleaner that spoiled all the +knives, or a sweeper that picked the nap neatly off the carpet and left +the dirt, labor-saving soap that took the skin off one's hands, +infallible cements which stuck firmly to nothing but the fingers of the +deluded buyer, and every kind of tinware, from a toy savings bank for +odd pennies, to a wonderful boiler which would wash articles in its own +steam with every prospect of exploding in the process. + +In vain Meg begged him to stop. John laughed at him, and Jo called him +'Mr. Toodles'. He was possessed with a mania for patronizing Yankee +ingenuity, and seeing his friends fitly furnished forth. So each week +beheld some fresh absurdity. + +Everything was done at last, even to Amy's arranging different colored +soaps to match the different colored rooms, and Beth's setting the +table for the first meal. + +"Are you satisfied? Does it seem like home, and do you feel as if you +should be happy here?" asked Mrs. March, as she and her daughter went +through the new kingdom arm in arm, for just then they seemed to cling +together more tenderly than ever. + +"Yes, Mother, perfectly satisfied, thanks to you all, and so happy that +I can't talk about it," with a look that was far better than words. + +"If she only had a servant or two it would be all right," said Amy, +coming out of the parlor, where she had been trying to decide whether +the bronze Mercury looked best on the whatnot or the mantlepiece. + +"Mother and I have talked that over, and I have made up my mind to try +her way first. There will be so little to do that with Lotty to run my +errands and help me here and there, I shall only have enough work to +keep me from getting lazy or homesick," answered Meg tranquilly. + +"Sallie Moffat has four," began Amy. + +"If Meg had four, the house wouldn't hold them, and master and missis +would have to camp in the garden," broke in Jo, who, enveloped in a big +blue pinafore, was giving the last polish to the door handles. + +"Sallie isn't a poor man's wife, and many maids are in keeping with her +fine establishment. Meg and John begin humbly, but I have a feeling +that there will be quite as much happiness in the little house as in +the big one. It's a great mistake for young girls like Meg to leave +themselves nothing to do but dress, give orders, and gossip. When I +was first married, I used to long for my new clothes to wear out or get +torn, so that I might have the pleasure of mending them, for I got +heartily sick of doing fancywork and tending my pocket handkerchief." + +"Why didn't you go into the kitchen and make messes, as Sallie says she +does to amuse herself, though they never turn out well and the servants +laugh at her," said Meg. + +"I did after a while, not to 'mess' but to learn of Hannah how things +should be done, that my servants need not laugh at me. It was play +then, but there came a time when I was truly grateful that I not only +possessed the will but the power to cook wholesome food for my little +girls, and help myself when I could no longer afford to hire help. You +begin at the other end, Meg, dear, but the lessons you learn now will +be of use to you by-and-by when John is a richer man, for the mistress +of a house, however splendid, should know how work ought to be done, if +she wishes to be well and honestly served." + +"Yes, Mother, I'm sure of that," said Meg, listening respectfully to +the little lecture, for the best of women will hold forth upon the all +absorbing subject of house keeping. "Do you know I like this room most +of all in my baby house," added Meg, a minute after, as they went +upstairs and she looked into her well-stored linen closet. + +Beth was there, laying the snowy piles smoothly on the shelves and +exulting over the goodly array. All three laughed as Meg spoke, for +that linen closet was a joke. You see, having said that if Meg married +'that Brooke' she shouldn't have a cent of her money, Aunt March was +rather in a quandary when time had appeased her wrath and made her +repent her vow. She never broke her word, and was much exercised in +her mind how to get round it, and at last devised a plan whereby she +could satisfy herself. Mrs. Carrol, Florence's mamma, was ordered to +buy, have made, and marked a generous supply of house and table linen, +and send it as her present, all of which was faithfully done, but the +secret leaked out, and was greatly enjoyed by the family, for Aunt +March tried to look utterly unconscious, and insisted that she could +give nothing but the old-fashioned pearls long promised to the first +bride. + +"That's a housewifely taste which I am glad to see. I had a young +friend who set up housekeeping with six sheets, but she had finger +bowls for company and that satisfied her," said Mrs. March, patting the +damask tablecloths, with a truly feminine appreciation of their +fineness. + +"I haven't a single finger bowl, but this is a setout that will last me +all my days, Hannah says." And Meg looked quite contented, as well she +might. + +A tall, broad-shouldered young fellow, with a cropped head, a felt +basin of a hat, and a flyaway coat, came tramping down the road at a +great pace, walked over the low fence without stopping to open the +gate, straight up to Mrs. March, with both hands out and a hearty... + +"Here I am, Mother! Yes, it's all right." + +The last words were in answer to the look the elder lady gave him, a +kindly questioning look which the handsome eyes met so frankly that the +little ceremony closed, as usual, with a motherly kiss. + +"For Mrs. John Brooke, with the maker's congratulations and +compliments. Bless you, Beth! What a refreshing spectacle you are, +Jo. Amy, you are getting altogether too handsome for a single lady." + +As Laurie spoke, he delivered a brown paper parcel to Meg, pulled +Beth's hair ribbon, stared at Jo's big pinafore, and fell into an +attitude of mock rapture before Amy, then shook hands all round, and +everyone began to talk. + +"Where is John?" asked Meg anxiously. + +"Stopped to get the license for tomorrow, ma'am." + +"Which side won the last match, Teddy?" inquired Jo, who persisted in +feeling an interest in manly sports despite her nineteen years. + +"Ours, of course. Wish you'd been there to see." + +"How is the lovely Miss Randal?" asked Amy with a significant smile. + +"More cruel than ever. Don't you see how I'm pining away?" and Laurie +gave his broad chest a sounding slap and heaved a melodramatic sigh. + +"What's the last joke? Undo the bundle and see, Meg," said Beth, eying +the knobby parcel with curiosity. + +"It's a useful thing to have in the house in case of fire or thieves," +observed Laurie, as a watchman's rattle appeared, amid the laughter of +the girls. + +"Any time when John is away and you get frightened, Mrs. Meg, just +swing that out of the front window, and it will rouse the neighborhood +in a jiffy. Nice thing, isn't it?" and Laurie gave them a sample of +its powers that made them cover up their ears. + +"There's gratitude for you! And speaking of gratitude reminds me to +mention that you may thank Hannah for saving your wedding cake from +destruction. I saw it going into your house as I came by, and if she +hadn't defended it manfully I'd have had a pick at it, for it looked +like a remarkably plummy one." + +"I wonder if you will ever grow up, Laurie," said Meg in a matronly +tone. + +"I'm doing my best, ma'am, but can't get much higher, I'm afraid, as +six feet is about all men can do in these degenerate days," responded +the young gentleman, whose head was about level with the little +chandelier. + +"I suppose it would be profanation to eat anything in this +spick-and-span bower, so as I'm tremendously hungry, I propose an +adjournment," he added presently. + +"Mother and I are going to wait for John. There are some last things +to settle," said Meg, bustling away. + +"Beth and I are going over to Kitty Bryant's to get more flowers for +tomorrow," added Amy, tying a picturesque hat over her picturesque +curls, and enjoying the effect as much as anybody. + +"Come, Jo, don't desert a fellow. I'm in such a state of exhaustion I +can't get home without help. Don't take off your apron, whatever you +do, it's peculiarly becoming," said Laurie, as Jo bestowed his especial +aversion in her capacious pocket and offered her arm to support his +feeble steps. + +"Now, Teddy, I want to talk seriously to you about tomorrow," began Jo, +as they strolled away together. "You must promise to behave well, and +not cut up any pranks, and spoil our plans." + +"Not a prank." + +"And don't say funny things when we ought to be sober." + +"I never do. You are the one for that." + +"And I implore you not to look at me during the ceremony. I shall +certainly laugh if you do." + +"You won't see me, you'll be crying so hard that the thick fog round +you will obscure the prospect." + +"I never cry unless for some great affliction." + +"Such as fellows going to college, hey?" cut in Laurie, with suggestive +laugh. + +"Don't be a peacock. I only moaned a trifle to keep the girls company." + +"Exactly. I say, Jo, how is Grandpa this week? Pretty amiable?" + +"Very. Why, have you got into a scrape and want to know how he'll take +it?" asked Jo rather sharply. + +"Now, Jo, do you think I'd look your mother in the face and say 'All +right', if it wasn't?" and Laurie stopped short, with an injured air. + +"No, I don't." + +"Then don't go and be suspicious. I only want some money," said +Laurie, walking on again, appeased by her hearty tone. + +"You spend a great deal, Teddy." + +"Bless you, I don't spend it, it spends itself somehow, and is gone +before I know it." + +"You are so generous and kind-hearted that you let people borrow, and +can't say 'No' to anyone. We heard about Henshaw and all you did for +him. If you always spent money in that way, no one would blame you," +said Jo warmly. + +"Oh, he made a mountain out of a molehill. You wouldn't have me let +that fine fellow work himself to death just for want of a little help, +when he is worth a dozen of us lazy chaps, would you?" + +"Of course not, but I don't see the use of your having seventeen +waistcoats, endless neckties, and a new hat every time you come home. I +thought you'd got over the dandy period, but every now and then it +breaks out in a new spot. Just now it's the fashion to be hideous, to +make your head look like a scrubbing brush, wear a strait jacket, +orange gloves, and clumping square-toed boots. If it was cheap +ugliness, I'd say nothing, but it costs as much as the other, and I +don't get any satisfaction out of it." + +Laurie threw back his head, and laughed so heartily at this attack, +that the felt hat fell off, and Jo walked on it, which insult only +afforded him an opportunity for expatiating on the advantages of a +rough-and-ready costume, as he folded up the maltreated hat, and +stuffed it into his pocket. + +"Don't lecture any more, there's a good soul! I have enough all +through the week, and like to enjoy myself when I come home. I'll get +myself up regardless of expense tomorrow and be a satisfaction to my +friends." + +"I'll leave you in peace if you'll only let your hair grow. I'm not +aristocratic, but I do object to being seen with a person who looks +like a young prize fighter," observed Jo severely. + +"This unassuming style promotes study, that's why we adopt it," +returned Laurie, who certainly could not be accused of vanity, having +voluntarily sacrificed a handsome curly crop to the demand for +quarter-inch-long stubble. + +"By the way, Jo, I think that little Parker is really getting desperate +about Amy. He talks of her constantly, writes poetry, and moons about +in a most suspicious manner. He'd better nip his little passion in the +bud, hadn't he?" added Laurie, in a confidential, elder brotherly tone, +after a minute's silence. + +"Of course he had. We don't want any more marrying in this family for +years to come. Mercy on us, what are the children thinking of?" and Jo +looked as much scandalized as if Amy and little Parker were not yet in +their teens. + +"It's a fast age, and I don't know what we are coming to, ma'am. You +are a mere infant, but you'll go next, Jo, and we'll be left +lamenting," said Laurie, shaking his head over the degeneracy of the +times. + +"Don't be alarmed. I'm not one of the agreeable sort. Nobody will +want me, and it's a mercy, for there should always be one old maid in a +family." + +"You won't give anyone a chance," said Laurie, with a sidelong glance +and a little more color than before in his sunburned face. "You won't +show the soft side of your character, and if a fellow gets a peep at it +by accident and can't help showing that he likes it, you treat him as +Mrs. Gummidge did her sweetheart, throw cold water over him, and get so +thorny no one dares touch or look at you." + +"I don't like that sort of thing. I'm too busy to be worried with +nonsense, and I think it's dreadful to break up families so. Now don't +say any more about it. Meg's wedding has turned all our heads, and we +talk of nothing but lovers and such absurdities. I don't wish to get +cross, so let's change the subject;" and Jo looked quite ready to +fling cold water on the slightest provocation. + +Whatever his feelings might have been, Laurie found a vent for them in +a long low whistle and the fearful prediction as they parted at the +gate, "Mark my words, Jo, you'll go next." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE + +THE FIRST WEDDING + +The June roses over the porch were awake bright and early on that +morning, rejoicing with all their hearts in the cloudless sunshine, +like friendly little neighbors, as they were. Quite flushed with +excitement were their ruddy faces, as they swung in the wind, +whispering to one another what they had seen, for some peeped in at the +dining room windows where the feast was spread, some climbed up to nod +and smile at the sisters as they dressed the bride, others waved a +welcome to those who came and went on various errands in garden, porch, +and hall, and all, from the rosiest full-blown flower to the palest +baby bud, offered their tribute of beauty and fragrance to the gentle +mistress who had loved and tended them so long. + +Meg looked very like a rose herself, for all that was best and sweetest +in heart and soul seemed to bloom into her face that day, making it +fair and tender, with a charm more beautiful than beauty. Neither silk, +lace, nor orange flowers would she have. "I don't want a fashionable +wedding, but only those about me whom I love, and to them I wish to +look and be my familiar self." + +So she made her wedding gown herself, sewing into it the tender hopes +and innocent romances of a girlish heart. Her sisters braided up her +pretty hair, and the only ornaments she wore were the lilies of the +valley, which 'her John' liked best of all the flowers that grew. + +"You do look just like our own dear Meg, only so very sweet and lovely +that I should hug you if it wouldn't crumple your dress," cried Amy, +surveying her with delight when all was done. + +"Then I am satisfied. But please hug and kiss me, everyone, and don't +mind my dress. I want a great many crumples of this sort put into it +today," and Meg opened her arms to her sisters, who clung about her +with April faces for a minute, feeling that the new love had not +changed the old. + +"Now I'm going to tie John's cravat for him, and then to stay a few +minutes with Father quietly in the study," and Meg ran down to perform +these little ceremonies, and then to follow her mother wherever she +went, conscious that in spite of the smiles on the motherly face, there +was a secret sorrow hid in the motherly heart at the flight of the +first bird from the nest. + +As the younger girls stand together, giving the last touches to their +simple toilet, it may be a good time to tell of a few changes which +three years have wrought in their appearance, for all are looking their +best just now. + +Jo's angles are much softened, she has learned to carry herself with +ease, if not grace. The curly crop has lengthened into a thick coil, +more becoming to the small head atop of the tall figure. There is a +fresh collar in her brown cheeks, a soft shine in her eyes, and only +gentle words fall from her sharp tongue today. + +Beth has grown slender, pale, and more quiet than ever. The beautiful, +kind eyes are larger, and in them lies an expression that saddens one, +although it is not sad itself. It is the shadow of pain which touches +the young face with such pathetic patience, but Beth seldom complains +and always speaks hopefully of 'being better soon'. + +Amy is with truth considered 'the flower of the family', for at sixteen +she has the air and bearing of a full-grown woman, not beautiful, but +possessed of that indescribable charm called grace. One saw it in the +lines of her figure, the make and motion of her hands, the flow of her +dress, the droop of her hair, unconscious yet harmonious, and as +attractive to many as beauty itself. Amy's nose still afflicted her, +for it never would grow Grecian, so did her mouth, being too wide, and +having a decided chin. These offending features gave character to her +whole face, but she never could see it, and consoled herself with her +wonderfully fair complexion, keen blue eyes, and curls more golden and +abundant than ever. + +All three wore suits of thin silver gray (their best gowns for the +summer), with blush roses in hair and bosom, and all three looked just +what they were, fresh-faced, happy-hearted girls, pausing a moment in +their busy lives to read with wistful eyes the sweetest chapter in the +romance of womanhood. + +There were to be no ceremonious performances, everything was to be as +natural and homelike as possible, so when Aunt March arrived, she was +scandalized to see the bride come running to welcome and lead her in, +to find the bridegroom fastening up a garland that had fallen down, and +to catch a glimpse of the paternal minister marching upstairs with a +grave countenance and a wine bottle under each arm. + +"Upon my word, here's a state of things!" cried the old lady, taking +the seat of honor prepared for her, and settling the folds of her +lavender moire with a great rustle. "You oughtn't to be seen till the +last minute, child." + +"I'm not a show, Aunty, and no one is coming to stare at me, to +criticize my dress, or count the cost of my luncheon. I'm too happy to +care what anyone says or thinks, and I'm going to have my little +wedding just as I like it. John, dear, here's your hammer." And away +went Meg to help 'that man' in his highly improper employment. + +Mr. Brooke didn't even say, "Thank you," but as he stooped for the +unromantic tool, he kissed his little bride behind the folding door, +with a look that made Aunt March whisk out her pocket handkerchief with +a sudden dew in her sharp old eyes. + +A crash, a cry, and a laugh from Laurie, accompanied by the indecorous +exclamation, "Jupiter Ammon! Jo's upset the cake again!" caused a +momentary flurry, which was hardly over when a flock of cousins +arrived, and 'the party came in', as Beth used to say when a child. + +"Don't let that young giant come near me, he worries me worse than +mosquitoes," whispered the old lady to Amy, as the rooms filled and +Laurie's black head towered above the rest. + +"He has promised to be very good today, and he can be perfectly elegant +if he likes," returned Amy, and gliding away to warn Hercules to beware +of the dragon, which warning caused him to haunt the old lady with a +devotion that nearly distracted her. + +There was no bridal procession, but a sudden silence fell upon the room +as Mr. March and the young couple took their places under the green +arch. Mother and sisters gathered close, as if loath to give Meg up. +The fatherly voice broke more than once, which only seemed to make the +service more beautiful and solemn. The bridegroom's hand trembled +visibly, and no one heard his replies. But Meg looked straight up in +her husband's eyes, and said, "I will!" with such tender trust in her +own face and voice that her mother's heart rejoiced and Aunt March +sniffed audibly. + +Jo did not cry, though she was very near it once, and was only saved +from a demonstration by the consciousness that Laurie was staring +fixedly at her, with a comical mixture of merriment and emotion in his +wicked black eyes. Beth kept her face hidden on her mother's shoulder, +but Amy stood like a graceful statue, with a most becoming ray of +sunshine touching her white forehead and the flower in her hair. + +It wasn't at all the thing, I'm afraid, but the minute she was fairly +married, Meg cried, "The first kiss for Marmee!" and turning, gave it +with her heart on her lips. During the next fifteen minutes she looked +more like a rose than ever, for everyone availed themselves of their +privileges to the fullest extent, from Mr. Laurence to old Hannah, who, +adorned with a headdress fearfully and wonderfully made, fell upon her +in the hall, crying with a sob and a chuckle, "Bless you, deary, a +hundred times! The cake ain't hurt a mite, and everything looks +lovely." + +Everybody cleared up after that, and said something brilliant, or tried +to, which did just as well, for laughter is ready when hearts are +light. There was no display of gifts, for they were already in the +little house, nor was there an elaborate breakfast, but a plentiful +lunch of cake and fruit, dressed with flowers. Mr. Laurence and Aunt +March shrugged and smiled at one another when water, lemonade, and +coffee were found to be to only sorts of nectar which the three Hebes +carried round. No one said anything, till Laurie, who insisted on +serving the bride, appeared before her, with a loaded salver in his +hand and a puzzled expression on his face. + +"Has Jo smashed all the bottles by accident?" he whispered, "or am I +merely laboring under a delusion that I saw some lying about loose this +morning?" + +"No, your grandfather kindly offered us his best, and Aunt March +actually sent some, but Father put away a little for Beth, and +dispatched the rest to the Soldier's Home. You know he thinks that +wine should be used only in illness, and Mother says that neither she +nor her daughters will ever offer it to any young man under her roof." + +Meg spoke seriously and expected to see Laurie frown or laugh, but he +did neither, for after a quick look at her, he said, in his impetuous +way, "I like that! For I've seen enough harm done to wish other women +would think as you do." + +"You are not made wise by experience, I hope?" and there was an anxious +accent in Meg's voice. + +"No. I give you my word for it. Don't think too well of me, either, +this is not one of my temptations. Being brought up where wine is as +common as water and almost as harmless, I don't care for it, but when a +pretty girl offers it, one doesn't like to refuse, you see." + +"But you will, for the sake of others, if not for your own. Come, +Laurie, promise, and give me one more reason to call this the happiest +day of my life." + +A demand so sudden and so serious made the young man hesitate a moment, +for ridicule is often harder to bear than self-denial. Meg knew that if +he gave the promise he would keep it at all costs, and feeling her +power, used it as a woman may for her friend's good. She did not speak, +but she looked up at him with a face made very eloquent by happiness, +and a smile which said, "No one can refuse me anything today." + +Laurie certainly could not, and with an answering smile, he gave her +his hand, saying heartily, "I promise, Mrs. Brooke!" + +"I thank you, very, very much." + +"And I drink 'long life to your resolution', Teddy," cried Jo, +baptizing him with a splash of lemonade, as she waved her glass and +beamed approvingly upon him. + +So the toast was drunk, the pledge made and loyally kept in spite of +many temptations, for with instinctive wisdom, the girls seized a happy +moment to do their friend a service, for which he thanked them all his +life. + +After lunch, people strolled about, by twos and threes, through the +house and garden, enjoying the sunshine without and within. Meg and +John happened to be standing together in the middle of the grass plot, +when Laurie was seized with an inspiration which put the finishing +touch to this unfashionable wedding. + +"All the married people take hands and dance round the new-made husband +and wife, as the Germans do, while we bachelors and spinsters prance in +couples outside!" cried Laurie, promenading down the path with Amy, +with such infectious spirit and skill that everyone else followed their +example without a murmur. Mr. and Mrs. March, Aunt and Uncle Carrol +began it, others rapidly joined in, even Sallie Moffat, after a +moment's hesitation, threw her train over her arm and whisked Ned into +the ring. But the crowning joke was Mr. Laurence and Aunt March, for +when the stately old gentleman chasseed solemnly up to the old lady, +she just tucked her cane under her arm, and hopped briskly away to join +hands with the rest and dance about the bridal pair, while the young +folks pervaded the garden like butterflies on a midsummer day. + +Want of breath brought the impromptu ball to a close, and then people +began to go. + +"I wish you well, my dear, I heartily wish you well, but I think you'll +be sorry for it," said Aunt March to Meg, adding to the bridegroom, as +he led her to the carriage, "You've got a treasure, young man, see that +you deserve it." + +"That is the prettiest wedding I've been to for an age, Ned, and I +don't see why, for there wasn't a bit of style about it," observed Mrs. +Moffat to her husband, as they drove away. + +"Laurie, my lad, if you ever want to indulge in this sort of thing, get +one of those little girls to help you, and I shall be perfectly +satisfied," said Mr. Laurence, settling himself in his easy chair to +rest after the excitement of the morning. + +"I'll do my best to gratify you, Sir," was Laurie's unusually dutiful +reply, as he carefully unpinned the posy Jo had put in his buttonhole. + +The little house was not far away, and the only bridal journey Meg had +was the quiet walk with John from the old home to the new. When she +came down, looking like a pretty Quakeress in her dove-colored suit and +straw bonnet tied with white, they all gathered about her to say +'good-by', as tenderly as if she had been going to make the grand tour. + +"Don't feel that I am separated from you, Marmee dear, or that I love +you any the less for loving John so much," she said, clinging to her +mother, with full eyes for a moment. "I shall come every day, Father, +and expect to keep my old place in all your hearts, though I am +married. Beth is going to be with me a great deal, and the other girls +will drop in now and then to laugh at my housekeeping struggles. Thank +you all for my happy wedding day. Good-by, good-by!" + +They stood watching her, with faces full of love and hope and tender +pride as she walked away, leaning on her husband's arm, with her hands +full of flowers and the June sunshine brightening her happy face--and +so Meg's married life began. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX + +ARTISTIC ATTEMPTS + +It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and +genius, especially ambitious young men and women. Amy was learning +this distinction through much tribulation, for mistaking enthusiasm for +inspiration, she attempted every branch of art with youthful audacity. +For a long time there was a lull in the 'mud-pie' business, and she +devoted herself to the finest pen-and-ink drawing, in which she showed +such taste and skill that her graceful handiwork proved both pleasant +and profitable. But over-strained eyes caused pen and ink to be laid +aside for a bold attempt at poker-sketching. While this attack lasted, +the family lived in constant fear of a conflagration, for the odor of +burning wood pervaded the house at all hours, smoke issued from attic +and shed with alarming frequency, red-hot pokers lay about +promiscuously, and Hannah never went to bed without a pail of water and +the dinner bell at her door in case of fire. Raphael's face was found +boldly executed on the underside of the moulding board, and Bacchus on +the head of a beer barrel. A chanting cherub adorned the cover of the +sugar bucket, and attempts to portray Romeo and Juliet supplied +kindling for some time. + +From fire to oil was a natural transition for burned fingers, and Amy +fell to painting with undiminished ardor. An artist friend fitted her +out with his castoff palettes, brushes, and colors, and she daubed +away, producing pastoral and marine views such as were never seen on +land or sea. Her monstrosities in the way of cattle would have taken +prizes at an agricultural fair, and the perilous pitching of her +vessels would have produced seasickness in the most nautical observer, +if the utter disregard to all known rules of shipbuilding and rigging +had not convulsed him with laughter at the first glance. Swarthy boys +and dark-eyed Madonnas, staring at you from one corner of the studio, +suggested Murillo; oily brown shadows of faces with a lurid streak in +the wrong place, meant Rembrandt; buxom ladies and dropiscal infants, +Rubens; and Turner appeared in tempests of blue thunder, orange +lightning, brown rain, and purple clouds, with a tomato-colored splash +in the middle, which might be the sun or a bouy, a sailor's shirt or a +king's robe, as the spectator pleased. + +Charcoal portraits came next, and the entire family hung in a row, +looking as wild and crocky as if just evoked from a coalbin. Softened +into crayon sketches, they did better, for the likenesses were good, +and Amy's hair, Jo's nose, Meg's mouth, and Laurie's eyes were +pronounced 'wonderfully fine'. A return to clay and plaster followed, +and ghostly casts of her acquaintances haunted corners of the house, or +tumbled off closet shelves onto people's heads. Children were enticed +in as models, till their incoherent accounts of her mysterious doings +caused Miss Amy to be regarded in the light of a young ogress. Her +efforts in this line, however, were brought to an abrupt close by an +untoward accident, which quenched her ardor. Other models failing her +for a time, she undertook to cast her own pretty foot, and the family +were one day alarmed by an unearthly bumping and screaming and running +to the rescue, found the young enthusiast hopping wildly about the shed +with her foot held fast in a pan full of plaster, which had hardened +with unexpected rapidity. With much difficulty and some danger she was +dug out, for Jo was so overcome with laughter while she excavated that +her knife went too far, cut the poor foot, and left a lasting memorial +of one artistic attempt, at least. + +After this Amy subsided, till a mania for sketching from nature set her +to haunting river, field, and wood, for picturesque studies, and +sighing for ruins to copy. She caught endless colds sitting on damp +grass to book 'a delicious bit', composed of a stone, a stump, one +mushroom, and a broken mullein stalk, or 'a heavenly mass of clouds', +that looked like a choice display of featherbeds when done. She +sacrificed her complexion floating on the river in the midsummer sun to +study light and shade, and got a wrinkle over her nose trying after +'points of sight', or whatever the squint-and-string performance is +called. + +If 'genius is eternal patience', as Michelangelo affirms, Amy had some +claim to the divine attribute, for she persevered in spite of all +obstacles, failures, and discouragements, firmly believing that in time +she should do something worthy to be called 'high art'. + +She was learning, doing, and enjoying other things, meanwhile, for she +had resolved to be an attractive and accomplished woman, even if she +never became a great artist. Here she succeeded better, for she was +one of those happily created beings who please without effort, make +friends everywhere, and take life so gracefully and easily that less +fortunate souls are tempted to believe that such are born under a lucky +star. Everybody liked her, for among her good gifts was tact. She had +an instinctive sense of what was pleasing and proper, always said the +right thing to the right person, did just what suited the time and +place, and was so self-possessed that her sisters used to say, "If Amy +went to court without any rehearsal beforehand, she'd know exactly what +to do." + +One of her weaknesses was a desire to move in 'our best society', +without being quite sure what the best really was. Money, position, +fashionable accomplishments, and elegant manners were most desirable +things in her eyes, and she liked to associate with those who possessed +them, often mistaking the false for the true, and admiring what was not +admirable. Never forgetting that by birth she was a gentlewoman, she +cultivated her aristocratic tastes and feelings, so that when the +opportunity came she might be ready to take the place from which +poverty now excluded her. + +"My lady," as her friends called her, sincerely desired to be a genuine +lady, and was so at heart, but had yet to learn that money cannot buy +refinement of nature, that rank does not always confer nobility, and +that true breeding makes itself felt in spite of external drawbacks. + +"I want to ask a favor of you, Mamma," Amy said, coming in with an +important air one day. + +"Well, little girl, what is it?" replied her mother, in whose eyes the +stately young lady still remained 'the baby'. + +"Our drawing class breaks up next week, and before the girls separate +for the summer, I want to ask them out here for a day. They are wild +to see the river, sketch the broken bridge, and copy some of the things +they admire in my book. They have been very kind to me in many ways, +and I am grateful, for they are all rich and I know I am poor, yet they +never made any difference." + +"Why should they?" and Mrs. March put the question with what the girls +called her 'Maria Theresa air'. + +"You know as well as I that it does make a difference with nearly +everyone, so don't ruffle up like a dear, motherly hen, when your +chickens get pecked by smarter birds. The ugly duckling turned out a +swan, you know." and Amy smiled without bitterness, for she possessed +a happy temper and hopeful spirit. + +Mrs. March laughed, and smoothed down her maternal pride as she asked, +"Well, my swan, what is your plan?" + +"I should like to ask the girls out to lunch next week, to take them +for a drive to the places they want to see, a row on the river, +perhaps, and make a little artistic fete for them." + +"That looks feasible. What do you want for lunch? Cake, sandwiches, +fruit, and coffee will be all that is necessary, I suppose?" + +"Oh, dear, no! We must have cold tongue and chicken, French chocolate +and ice cream, besides. The girls are used to such things, and I want +my lunch to be proper and elegant, though I do work for my living." + +"How many young ladies are there?" asked her mother, beginning to look +sober. + +"Twelve or fourteen in the class, but I dare say they won't all come." + +"Bless me, child, you will have to charter an omnibus to carry them +about." + +"Why, Mother, how can you think of such a thing? Not more than six or +eight will probably come, so I shall hire a beach wagon and borrow Mr. +Laurence's cherry-bounce." (Hannah's pronunciation of char-a-banc.) + +"All of this will be expensive, Amy." + +"Not very. I've calculated the cost, and I'll pay for it myself." + +"Don't you think, dear, that as these girls are used to such things, +and the best we can do will be nothing new, that some simpler plan +would be pleasanter to them, as a change if nothing more, and much +better for us than buying or borrowing what we don't need, and +attempting a style not in keeping with our circumstances?" + +"If I can't have it as I like, I don't care to have it at all. I know +that I can carry it out perfectly well, if you and the girls will help +a little, and I don't see why I can't if I'm willing to pay for it," +said Amy, with the decision which opposition was apt to change into +obstinacy. + +Mrs. March knew that experience was an excellent teacher, and when it +was possible she left her children to learn alone the lessons which she +would gladly have made easier, if they had not objected to taking +advice as much as they did salts and senna. + +"Very well, Amy, if your heart is set upon it, and you see your way +through without too great an outlay of money, time, and temper, I'll +say no more. Talk it over with the girls, and whichever way you +decide, I'll do my best to help you." + +"Thanks, Mother, you are always so kind." and away went Amy to lay her +plan before her sisters. + +Meg agreed at once, and promised her aid, gladly offering anything she +possessed, from her little house itself to her very best saltspoons. +But Jo frowned upon the whole project and would have nothing to do with +it at first. + +"Why in the world should you spend your money, worry your family, and +turn the house upside down for a parcel of girls who don't care a +sixpence for you? I thought you had too much pride and sense to +truckle to any mortal woman just because she wears French boots and +rides in a coupe," said Jo, who, being called from the tragic climax of +her novel, was not in the best mood for social enterprises. + +"I don't truckle, and I hate being patronized as much as you do!" +returned Amy indignantly, for the two still jangled when such questions +arose. "The girls do care for me, and I for them, and there's a great +deal of kindness and sense and talent among them, in spite of what you +call fashionable nonsense. You don't care to make people like you, to +go into good society, and cultivate your manners and tastes. I do, and +I mean to make the most of every chance that comes. You can go through +the world with your elbows out and your nose in the air, and call it +independence, if you like. That's not my way." + +When Amy had whetted her tongue and freed her mind she usually got the +best of it, for she seldom failed to have common sense on her side, +while Jo carried her love of liberty and hate of conventionalities to +such an unlimited extent that she naturally found herself worsted in an +argument. Amy's definition of Jo's idea of independence was such a +good hit that both burst out laughing, and the discussion took a more +amiable turn. Much against her will, Jo at length consented to +sacrifice a day to Mrs. Grundy, and help her sister through what she +regarded as 'a nonsensical business'. + +The invitations were sent, nearly all accepted, and the following +Monday was set apart for the grand event. Hannah was out of humor +because her week's work was deranged, and prophesied that "ef the +washin' and ironin' warn't done reg'lar, nothin' would go well +anywheres". This hitch in the mainspring of the domestic machinery had +a bad effect upon the whole concern, but Amy's motto was 'Nil +desperandum', and having made up her mind what to do, she proceeded to +do it in spite of all obstacles. To begin with, Hannah's cooking +didn't turn out well. The chicken was tough, the tongue too salty, and +the chocolate wouldn't froth properly. Then the cake and ice cost more +than Amy expected, so did the wagon, and various other expenses, which +seemed trifling at the outset, counted up rather alarmingly afterward. +Beth got a cold and took to her bed. Meg had an unusual number of +callers to keep her at home, and Jo was in such a divided state of mind +that her breakages, accidents, and mistakes were uncommonly numerous, +serious, and trying. + +If it was not fair on Monday, the young ladies were to come on Tuesday, +an arrangement which aggravated Jo and Hannah to the last degree. On +Monday morning the weather was in that undecided state which is more +exasperating than a steady pour. It drizzled a little, shone a little, +blew a little, and didn't make up its mind till it was too late for +anyone else to make up theirs. Amy was up at dawn, hustling people out +of their beds and through their breakfasts, that the house might be got +in order. The parlor struck her as looking uncommonly shabby, but +without stopping to sigh for what she had not, she skillfully made the +best of what she had, arranging chairs over the worn places in the +carpet, covering stains on the walls with homemade statuary, which gave +an artistic air to the room, as did the lovely vases of flowers Jo +scattered about. + +The lunch looked charming, and as she surveyed it, she sincerely hoped +it would taste well, and that the borrowed glass, china, and silver +would get safely home again. The carriages were promised, Meg and +Mother were all ready to do the honors, Beth was able to help Hannah +behind the scenes, Jo had engaged to be as lively and amiable as an +absent mind, and aching head, and a very decided disapproval of +everybody and everything would allow, and as she wearily dressed, Amy +cheered herself with anticipations of the happy moment when, lunch +safely over, she should drive away with her friends for an afternoon of +artistic delights, for the 'cherry bounce' and the broken bridge were +her strong points. + +Then came the hours of suspense, during which she vibrated from parlor +to porch, while public opinion varied like the weathercock. A smart +shower at eleven had evidently quenched the enthusiasm of the young +ladies who were to arrive at twelve, for nobody came, and at two the +exhausted family sat down in a blaze of sunshine to consume the +perishable portions of the feast, that nothing might be lost. + +"No doubt about the weather today, they will certainly come, so we must +fly round and be ready for them," said Amy, as the sun woke her next +morning. She spoke briskly, but in her secret soul she wished she had +said nothing about Tuesday, for her interest like her cake was getting +a little stale. + +"I can't get any lobsters, so you will have to do without salad today," +said Mr. March, coming in half an hour later, with an expression of +placid despair. + +"Use the chicken then, the toughness won't matter in a salad," advised +his wife. + +"Hannah left it on the kitchen table a minute, and the kittens got at +it. I'm very sorry, Amy," added Beth, who was still a patroness of +cats. + +"Then I must have a lobster, for tongue alone won't do," said Amy +decidedly. + +"Shall I rush into town and demand one?" asked Jo, with the magnanimity +of a martyr. + +"You'd come bringing it home under your arm without any paper, just to +try me. I'll go myself," answered Amy, whose temper was beginning to +fail. + +Shrouded in a thick veil and armed with a genteel traveling basket, she +departed, feeling that a cool drive would soothe her ruffled spirit and +fit her for the labors of the day. After some delay, the object of her +desire was procured, likewise a bottle of dressing to prevent further +loss of time at home, and off she drove again, well pleased with her +own forethought. + +As the omnibus contained only one other passenger, a sleepy old lady, +Amy pocketed her veil and beguiled the tedium of the way by trying to +find out where all her money had gone to. So busy was she with her +card full of refractory figures that she did not observe a newcomer, +who entered without stopping the vehicle, till a masculine voice said, +"Good morning, Miss March," and, looking up, she beheld one of Laurie's +most elegant college friends. Fervently hoping that he would get out +before she did, Amy utterly ignored the basket at her feet, and +congratulating herself that she had on her new traveling dress, +returned the young man's greeting with her usual suavity and spirit. + +They got on excellently, for Amy's chief care was soon set at rest by +learning that the gentleman would leave first, and she was chatting +away in a peculiarly lofty strain, when the old lady got out. In +stumbling to the door, she upset the basket, and--oh horror!--the +lobster, in all its vulgar size and brilliancy, was revealed to the +highborn eyes of a Tudor! + +"By Jove, she's forgotten her dinner!" cried the unconscious youth, +poking the scarlet monster into its place with his cane, and preparing +to hand out the basket after the old lady. + +"Please don't--it's--it's mine," murmured Amy, with a face nearly as +red as her fish. + +"Oh, really, I beg pardon. It's an uncommonly fine one, isn't it?" +said Tudor, with great presence of mind, and an air of sober interest +that did credit to his breeding. + +Amy recovered herself in a breath, set her basket boldly on the seat, +and said, laughing, "Don't you wish you were to have some of the salad +he's going to make, and to see the charming young ladies who are to eat +it?" + +Now that was tact, for two of the ruling foibles of the masculine mind +were touched. The lobster was instantly surrounded by a halo of +pleasing reminiscences, and curiosity about 'the charming young ladies' +diverted his mind from the comical mishap. + +"I suppose he'll laugh and joke over it with Laurie, but I shan't see +them, that's a comfort," thought Amy, as Tudor bowed and departed. + +She did not mention this meeting at home (though she discovered that, +thanks to the upset, her new dress was much damaged by the rivulets of +dressing that meandered down the skirt), but went through with the +preparations which now seemed more irksome than before, and at twelve +o'clock all was ready again. Feeling that the neighbors were +interested in her movements, she wished to efface the memory of +yesterday's failure by a grand success today, so she ordered the +'cherry bounce', and drove away in state to meet and escort her guests +to the banquet. + +"There's the rumble, they're coming! I'll go onto the porch and meet +them. It looks hospitable, and I want the poor child to have a good +time after all her trouble," said Mrs. March, suiting the action to the +word. But after one glance, she retired, with an indescribable +expression, for looking quite lost in the big carriage, sat Amy and one +young lady. + +"Run, Beth, and help Hannah clear half the things off the table. It +will be too absurd to put a luncheon for twelve before a single girl," +cried Jo, hurrying away to the lower regions, too excited to stop even +for a laugh. + +In came Amy, quite calm and delightfully cordial to the one guest who +had kept her promise. The rest of the family, being of a dramatic +turn, played their parts equally well, and Miss Eliott found them a +most hilarious set, for it was impossible to control entirely the +merriment which possessed them. The remodeled lunch being gaily +partaken of, the studio and garden visited, and art discussed with +enthusiasm, Amy ordered a buggy (alas for the elegant cherry-bounce), +and drove her friend quietly about the neighborhood till sunset, when +'the party went out'. + +As she came walking in, looking very tired but as composed as ever, she +observed that every vestige of the unfortunate fete had disappeared, +except a suspicious pucker about the corners of Jo's mouth. + +"You've had a lovely afternoon for your drive, dear," said her mother, +as respectfully as if the whole twelve had come. + +"Miss Eliott is a very sweet girl, and seemed to enjoy herself, I +thought," observed Beth, with unusual warmth. + +"Could you spare me some of your cake? I really need some, I have so +much company, and I can't make such delicious stuff as yours," asked +Meg soberly. + +"Take it all. I'm the only one here who likes sweet things, and it +will mold before I can dispose of it," answered Amy, thinking with a +sigh of the generous store she had laid in for such an end as this. + +"It's a pity Laurie isn't here to help us," began Jo, as they sat down +to ice cream and salad for the second time in two days. + +A warning look from her mother checked any further remarks, and the +whole family ate in heroic silence, till Mr. March mildly observed, +"salad was one of the favorite dishes of the ancients, and Evelyn..." +Here a general explosion of laughter cut short the 'history of salads', +to the great surprise of the learned gentleman. + +"Bundle everything into a basket and send it to the Hummels. Germans +like messes. I'm sick of the sight of this, and there's no reason you +should all die of a surfeit because I've been a fool," cried Amy, +wiping her eyes. + +"I thought I should have died when I saw you two girls rattling about +in the what-you-call-it, like two little kernels in a very big +nutshell, and Mother waiting in state to receive the throng," sighed +Jo, quite spent with laughter. + +"I'm very sorry you were disappointed, dear, but we all did our best to +satisfy you," said Mrs. March, in a tone full of motherly regret. + +"I am satisfied. I've done what I undertook, and it's not my fault +that it failed. I comfort myself with that," said Amy with a little +quiver in her voice. "I thank you all very much for helping me, and +I'll thank you still more if you won't allude to it for a month, at +least." + +No one did for several months, but the word 'fete' always produced a +general smile, and Laurie's birthday gift to Amy was a tiny coral +lobster in the shape of a charm for her watch guard. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN + +LITERARY LESSONS + +Fortune suddenly smiled upon Jo, and dropped a good luck penny in her +path. Not a golden penny, exactly, but I doubt if half a million would +have given more real happiness then did the little sum that came to her +in this wise. + +Every few weeks she would shut herself up in her room, put on her +scribbling suit, and 'fall into a vortex', as she expressed it, writing +away at her novel with all her heart and soul, for till that was +finished she could find no peace. Her 'scribbling suit' consisted of a +black woolen pinafore on which she could wipe her pen at will, and a +cap of the same material, adorned with a cheerful red bow, into which +she bundled her hair when the decks were cleared for action. This cap +was a beacon to the inquiring eyes of her family, who during these +periods kept their distance, merely popping in their heads +semi-occasionally to ask, with interest, "Does genius burn, Jo?" They +did not always venture even to ask this question, but took an +observation of the cap, and judged accordingly. If this expressive +article of dress was drawn low upon the forehead, it was a sign that +hard work was going on, in exciting moments it was pushed rakishly +askew, and when despair seized the author it was plucked wholly off, +and cast upon the floor. At such times the intruder silently withdrew, +and not until the red bow was seen gaily erect upon the gifted brow, +did anyone dare address Jo. + +She did not think herself a genius by any means, but when the writing +fit came on, she gave herself up to it with entire abandon, and led a +blissful life, unconscious of want, care, or bad weather, while she sat +safe and happy in an imaginary world, full of friends almost as real +and dear to her as any in the flesh. Sleep forsook her eyes, meals +stood untasted, day and night were all too short to enjoy the happiness +which blessed her only at such times, and made these hours worth +living, even if they bore no other fruit. The divine afflatus usually +lasted a week or two, and then she emerged from her 'vortex', hungry, +sleepy, cross, or despondent. + +She was just recovering from one of these attacks when she was +prevailed upon to escort Miss Crocker to a lecture, and in return for +her virtue was rewarded with a new idea. It was a People's Course, the +lecture on the Pyramids, and Jo rather wondered at the choice of such a +subject for such an audience, but took it for granted that some great +social evil would be remedied or some great want supplied by unfolding +the glories of the Pharaohs to an audience whose thoughts were busy +with the price of coal and flour, and whose lives were spent in trying +to solve harder riddles than that of the Sphinx. + +They were early, and while Miss Crocker set the heel of her stocking, +Jo amused herself by examining the faces of the people who occupied the +seat with them. On her left were two matrons, with massive foreheads +and bonnets to match, discussing Women's Rights and making tatting. +Beyond sat a pair of humble lovers, artlessly holding each other by the +hand, a somber spinster eating peppermints out of a paper bag, and an +old gentleman taking his preparatory nap behind a yellow bandanna. On +her right, her only neighbor was a studious looking lad absorbed in a +newspaper. + +It was a pictorial sheet, and Jo examined the work of art nearest her, +idly wondering what fortuitous concatenation of circumstances needed +the melodramatic illustration of an Indian in full war costume, +tumbling over a precipice with a wolf at his throat, while two +infuriated young gentlemen, with unnaturally small feet and big eyes, +were stabbing each other close by, and a disheveled female was flying +away in the background with her mouth wide open. Pausing to turn a +page, the lad saw her looking and, with boyish good nature offered half +his paper, saying bluntly, "want to read it? That's a first-rate story." + +Jo accepted it with a smile, for she had never outgrown her liking for +lads, and soon found herself involved in the usual labyrinth of love, +mystery, and murder, for the story belonged to that class of light +literature in which the passions have a holiday, and when the author's +invention fails, a grand catastrophe clears the stage of one half the +dramatis personae, leaving the other half to exult over their downfall. + +"Prime, isn't it?" asked the boy, as her eye went down the last +paragraph of her portion. + +"I think you and I could do as well as that if we tried," returned Jo, +amused at his admiration of the trash. + +"I should think I was a pretty lucky chap if I could. She makes a good +living out of such stories, they say." and he pointed to the name of +Mrs. S.L.A.N.G. Northbury, under the title of the tale. + +"Do you know her?" asked Jo, with sudden interest. + +"No, but I read all her pieces, and I know a fellow who works in the +office where this paper is printed." + +"Do you say she makes a good living out of stories like this?" and Jo +looked more respectfully at the agitated group and thickly sprinkled +exclamation points that adorned the page. + +"Guess she does! She knows just what folks like, and gets paid well +for writing it." + +Here the lecture began, but Jo heard very little of it, for while +Professor Sands was prosing away about Belzoni, Cheops, scarabei, and +hieroglyphics, she was covertly taking down the address of the paper, +and boldly resolving to try for the hundred-dollar prize offered in its +columns for a sensational story. By the time the lecture ended and the +audience awoke, she had built up a splendid fortune for herself (not +the first founded on paper), and was already deep in the concoction of +her story, being unable to decide whether the duel should come before +the elopement or after the murder. + +She said nothing of her plan at home, but fell to work next day, much +to the disquiet of her mother, who always looked a little anxious when +'genius took to burning'. Jo had never tried this style before, +contenting herself with very mild romances for _The Spread Eagle_. Her +experience and miscellaneous reading were of service now, for they gave +her some idea of dramatic effect, and supplied plot, language, and +costumes. Her story was as full of desperation and despair as her +limited acquaintance with those uncomfortable emotions enabled her to +make it, and having located it in Lisbon, she wound up with an +earthquake, as a striking and appropriate denouement. The manuscript +was privately dispatched, accompanied by a note, modestly saying that +if the tale didn't get the prize, which the writer hardly dared expect, +she would be very glad to receive any sum it might be considered worth. + +Six weeks is a long time to wait, and a still longer time for a girl to +keep a secret, but Jo did both, and was just beginning to give up all +hope of ever seeing her manuscript again, when a letter arrived which +almost took her breath away, for on opening it, a check for a hundred +dollars fell into her lap. For a minute she stared at it as if it had +been a snake, then she read her letter and began to cry. If the +amiable gentleman who wrote that kindly note could have known what +intense happiness he was giving a fellow creature, I think he would +devote his leisure hours, if he has any, to that amusement, for Jo +valued the letter more than the money, because it was encouraging, and +after years of effort it was so pleasant to find that she had learned +to do something, though it was only to write a sensation story. + +A prouder young woman was seldom seen than she, when, having composed +herself, she electrified the family by appearing before them with the +letter in one hand, the check in the other, announcing that she had won +the prize. Of course there was a great jubilee, and when the story +came everyone read and praised it, though after her father had told her +that the language was good, the romance fresh and hearty, and the +tragedy quite thrilling, he shook his head, and said in his unworldly +way... + +"You can do better than this, Jo. Aim at the highest, and never mind +the money." + +"I think the money is the best part of it. What will you do with such +a fortune?" asked Amy, regarding the magic slip of paper with a +reverential eye. + +"Send Beth and Mother to the seaside for a month or two," answered Jo +promptly. + +To the seaside they went, after much discussion, and though Beth didn't +come home as plump and rosy as could be desired, she was much better, +while Mrs. March declared she felt ten years younger. So Jo was +satisfied with the investment of her prize money, and fell to work with +a cheery spirit, bent on earning more of those delightful checks. She +did earn several that year, and began to feel herself a power in the +house, for by the magic of a pen, her 'rubbish' turned into comforts +for them all. The Duke's Daughter paid the butcher's bill, A Phantom +Hand put down a new carpet, and the Curse of the Coventrys proved the +blessing of the Marches in the way of groceries and gowns. + +Wealth is certainly a most desirable thing, but poverty has its sunny +side, and one of the sweet uses of adversity is the genuine +satisfaction which comes from hearty work of head or hand, and to the +inspiration of necessity, we owe half the wise, beautiful, and useful +blessings of the world. Jo enjoyed a taste of this satisfaction, and +ceased to envy richer girls, taking great comfort in the knowledge that +she could supply her own wants, and need ask no one for a penny. + +Little notice was taken of her stories, but they found a market, and +encouraged by this fact, she resolved to make a bold stroke for fame +and fortune. Having copied her novel for the fourth time, read it to +all her confidential friends, and submitted it with fear and trembling +to three publishers, she at last disposed of it, on condition that she +would cut it down one third, and omit all the parts which she +particularly admired. + +"Now I must either bundle it back in to my tin kitchen to mold, pay for +printing it myself, or chop it up to suit purchasers and get what I can +for it. Fame is a very good thing to have in the house, but cash is +more convenient, so I wish to take the sense of the meeting on this +important subject," said Jo, calling a family council. + +"Don't spoil your book, my girl, for there is more in it than you know, +and the idea is well worked out. Let it wait and ripen," was her +father's advice, and he practiced what he preached, having waited +patiently thirty years for fruit of his own to ripen, and being in no +haste to gather it even now when it was sweet and mellow. + +"It seems to me that Jo will profit more by taking the trial than by +waiting," said Mrs. March. "Criticism is the best test of such work, +for it will show her both unsuspected merits and faults, and help her +to do better next time. We are too partial, but the praise and blame +of outsiders will prove useful, even if she gets but little money." + +"Yes," said Jo, knitting her brows, "that's just it. I've been fussing +over the thing so long, I really don't know whether it's good, bad, or +indifferent. It will be a great help to have cool, impartial persons +take a look at it, and tell me what they think of it." + +"I wouldn't leave a word out of it. You'll spoil it if you do, for the +interest of the story is more in the minds than in the actions of the +people, and it will be all a muddle if you don't explain as you go on," +said Meg, who firmly believed that this book was the most remarkable +novel ever written. + +"But Mr. Allen says, 'Leave out the explanations, make it brief and +dramatic, and let the characters tell the story'," interrupted Jo, +turning to the publisher's note. + +"Do as he tells you. He knows what will sell, and we don't. Make a +good, popular book, and get as much money as you can. By-and-by, when +you've got a name, you can afford to digress, and have philosophical +and metaphysical people in your novels," said Amy, who took a strictly +practical view of the subject. + +"Well," said Jo, laughing, "if my people are 'philosophical and +metaphysical', it isn't my fault, for I know nothing about such things, +except what I hear father say, sometimes. If I've got some of his wise +ideas jumbled up with my romance, so much the better for me. Now, +Beth, what do you say?" + +"I should so like to see it printed soon," was all Beth said, and +smiled in saying it. But there was an unconscious emphasis on the last +word, and a wistful look in the eyes that never lost their childlike +candor, which chilled Jo's heart for a minute with a forboding fear, +and decided her to make her little venture 'soon'. + +So, with Spartan firmness, the young authoress laid her first-born on +her table, and chopped it up as ruthlessly as any ogre. In the hope of +pleasing everyone, she took everyone's advice, and like the old man and +his donkey in the fable suited nobody. + +Her father liked the metaphysical streak which had unconsciously got +into it, so that was allowed to remain though she had her doubts about +it. Her mother thought that there was a trifle too much description. +Out, therefore it came, and with it many necessary links in the story. +Meg admired the tragedy, so Jo piled up the agony to suit her, while +Amy objected to the fun, and, with the best intentions in life, Jo +quenched the spritly scenes which relieved the somber character of the +story. Then, to complicate the ruin, she cut it down one third, and +confidingly sent the poor little romance, like a picked robin, out into +the big, busy world to try its fate. + +Well, it was printed, and she got three hundred dollars for it, +likewise plenty of praise and blame, both so much greater than she +expected that she was thrown into a state of bewilderment from which it +took her some time to recover. + +"You said, Mother, that criticism would help me. But how can it, when +it's so contradictory that I don't know whether I've written a +promising book or broken all the ten commandments?" cried poor Jo, +turning over a heap of notices, the perusal of which filled her with +pride and joy one minute, wrath and dismay the next. "This man says, +'An exquisite book, full of truth, beauty, and earnestness.' 'All is +sweet, pure, and healthy.'" continued the perplexed authoress. "The +next, 'The theory of the book is bad, full of morbid fancies, +spiritualistic ideas, and unnatural characters.' Now, as I had no +theory of any kind, don't believe in Spiritualism, and copied my +characters from life, I don't see how this critic can be right. +Another says, 'It's one of the best American novels which has appeared +for years.' (I know better than that), and the next asserts that +'Though it is original, and written with great force and feeling, it is +a dangerous book.' 'Tisn't! Some make fun of it, some overpraise, and +nearly all insist that I had a deep theory to expound, when I only +wrote it for the pleasure and the money. I wish I'd printed the whole +or not at all, for I do hate to be so misjudged." + +Her family and friends administered comfort and commendation liberally. +Yet it was a hard time for sensitive, high-spirited Jo, who meant so +well and had apparently done so ill. But it did her good, for those +whose opinion had real value gave her the criticism which is an +author's best education, and when the first soreness was over, she +could laugh at her poor little book, yet believe in it still, and feel +herself the wiser and stronger for the buffeting she had received. + +"Not being a genius, like Keats, it won't kill me," she said stoutly, +"and I've got the joke on my side, after all, for the parts that were +taken straight out of real life are denounced as impossible and absurd, +and the scenes that I made up out of my own silly head are pronounced +'charmingly natural, tender, and true'. So I'll comfort myself with +that, and when I'm ready, I'll up again and take another." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT + +DOMESTIC EXPERIENCES + +Like most other young matrons, Meg began her married life with the +determination to be a model housekeeper. John should find home a +paradise, he should always see a smiling face, should fare sumptuously +every day, and never know the loss of a button. She brought so much +love, energy, and cheerfulness to the work that she could not but +succeed, in spite of some obstacles. Her paradise was not a tranquil +one, for the little woman fussed, was over-anxious to please, and +bustled about like a true Martha, cumbered with many cares. She was +too tired, sometimes, even to smile, John grew dyspeptic after a course +of dainty dishes and ungratefully demanded plain fare. As for buttons, +she soon learned to wonder where they went, to shake her head over the +carelessness of men, and to threaten to make him sew them on himself, +and see if his work would stand impatient and clumsy fingers any better +than hers. + +They were very happy, even after they discovered that they couldn't +live on love alone. John did not find Meg's beauty diminished, though +she beamed at him from behind the familiar coffee pot. Nor did Meg +miss any of the romance from the daily parting, when her husband +followed up his kiss with the tender inquiry, "Shall I send some veal +or mutton for dinner, darling?" The little house ceased to be a +glorified bower, but it became a home, and the young couple soon felt +that it was a change for the better. At first they played keep-house, +and frolicked over it like children. Then John took steadily to +business, feeling the cares of the head of a family upon his shoulders, +and Meg laid by her cambric wrappers, put on a big apron, and fell to +work, as before said, with more energy than discretion. + +While the cooking mania lasted she went through Mrs. Cornelius's +Receipt Book as if it were a mathematical exercise, working out the +problems with patience and care. Sometimes her family were invited in +to help eat up a too bounteous feast of successes, or Lotty would be +privately dispatched with a batch of failures, which were to be +concealed from all eyes in the convenient stomachs of the little +Hummels. An evening with John over the account books usually produced +a temporary lull in the culinary enthusiasm, and a frugal fit would +ensue, during which the poor man was put through a course of bread +pudding, hash, and warmed-over coffee, which tried his soul, although +he bore it with praiseworthy fortitude. Before the golden mean was +found, however, Meg added to her domestic possessions what young +couples seldom get on long without, a family jar. + +Fired with a housewifely wish to see her storeroom stocked with +homemade preserves, she undertook to put up her own currant jelly. John +was requested to order home a dozen or so of little pots and an extra +quantity of sugar, for their own currants were ripe and were to be +attended to at once. As John firmly believed that 'my wife' was equal +to anything, and took a natural pride in her skill, he resolved that +she should be gratified, and their only crop of fruit laid by in a most +pleasing form for winter use. Home came four dozen delightful little +pots, half a barrel of sugar, and a small boy to pick the currants for +her. With her pretty hair tucked into a little cap, arms bared to the +elbow, and a checked apron which had a coquettish look in spite of the +bib, the young housewife fell to work, feeling no doubts about her +success, for hadn't she seen Hannah do it hundreds of times? The array +of pots rather amazed her at first, but John was so fond of jelly, and +the nice little jars would look so well on the top shelf, that Meg +resolved to fill them all, and spent a long day picking, boiling, +straining, and fussing over her jelly. She did her best, she asked +advice of Mrs. Cornelius, she racked her brain to remember what Hannah +did that she left undone, she reboiled, resugared, and restrained, but +that dreadful stuff wouldn't 'jell'. + +She longed to run home, bib and all, and ask Mother to lend her a hand, +but John and she had agreed that they would never annoy anyone with +their private worries, experiments, or quarrels. They had laughed over +that last word as if the idea it suggested was a most preposterous one, +but they had held to their resolve, and whenever they could get on +without help they did so, and no one interfered, for Mrs. March had +advised the plan. So Meg wrestled alone with the refractory sweetmeats +all that hot summer day, and at five o'clock sat down in her +topsy-turvey kitchen, wrung her bedaubed hands, lifted up her voice and +wept. + +Now, in the first flush of the new life, she had often said, "My +husband shall always feel free to bring a friend home whenever he +likes. I shall always be prepared. There shall be no flurry, no +scolding, no discomfort, but a neat house, a cheerful wife, and a good +dinner. John, dear, never stop to ask my leave, invite whom you +please, and be sure of a welcome from me." + +How charming that was, to be sure! John quite glowed with pride to +hear her say it, and felt what a blessed thing it was to have a +superior wife. But, although they had had company from time to time, +it never happened to be unexpected, and Meg had never had an +opportunity to distinguish herself till now. It always happens so in +this vale of tears, there is an inevitability about such things which +we can only wonder at, deplore, and bear as we best can. + +If John had not forgotten all about the jelly, it really would have +been unpardonable in him to choose that day, of all the days in the +year, to bring a friend home to dinner unexpectedly. Congratulating +himself that a handsome repast had been ordered that morning, feeling +sure that it would be ready to the minute, and indulging in pleasant +anticipations of the charming effect it would produce, when his pretty +wife came running out to meet him, he escorted his friend to his +mansion, with the irrepressible satisfaction of a young host and +husband. + +It is a world of disappointments, as John discovered when he reached +the Dovecote. The front door usually stood hospitably open. Now it was +not only shut, but locked, and yesterday's mud still adorned the steps. +The parlor windows were closed and curtained, no picture of the pretty +wife sewing on the piazza, in white, with a distracting little bow in +her hair, or a bright-eyed hostess, smiling a shy welcome as she +greeted her guest. Nothing of the sort, for not a soul appeared but a +sanginary-looking boy asleep under the current bushes. + +"I'm afraid something has happened. Step into the garden, Scott, while +I look up Mrs. Brooke," said John, alarmed at the silence and solitude. + +Round the house he hurried, led by a pungent smell of burned sugar, and +Mr. Scott strolled after him, with a queer look on his face. He paused +discreetly at a distance when Brooke disappeared, but he could both see +and hear, and being a bachelor, enjoyed the prospect mightily. + +In the kitchen reigned confusion and despair. One edition of jelly was +trickled from pot to pot, another lay upon the floor, and a third was +burning gaily on the stove. Lotty, with Teutonic phlegm, was calmly +eating bread and currant wine, for the jelly was still in a hopelessly +liquid state, while Mrs. Brooke, with her apron over her head, sat +sobbing dismally. + +"My dearest girl, what is the matter?" cried John, rushing in, with +awful visions of scalded hands, sudden news of affliction, and secret +consternation at the thought of the guest in the garden. + +"Oh, John, I am so tired and hot and cross and worried! I've been at +it till I'm all worn out. Do come and help me or I shall die!" and the +exhausted housewife cast herself upon his breast, giving him a sweet +welcome in every sense of the word, for her pinafore had been baptized +at the same time as the floor. + +"What worries you dear? Has anything dreadful happened?" asked the +anxious John, tenderly kissing the crown of the little cap, which was +all askew. + +"Yes," sobbed Meg despairingly. + +"Tell me quick, then. Don't cry. I can bear anything better than +that. Out with it, love." + +"The... The jelly won't jell and I don't know what to do!" + +John Brooke laughed then as he never dared to laugh afterward, and the +derisive Scott smiled involuntarily as he heard the hearty peal, which +put the finishing stroke to poor Meg's woe. + +"Is that all? Fling it out of the window, and don't bother any more +about it. I'll buy you quarts if you want it, but for heaven's sake +don't have hysterics, for I've brought Jack Scott home to dinner, +and..." + +John got no further, for Meg cast him off, and clasped her hands with a +tragic gesture as she fell into a chair, exclaiming in a tone of +mingled indignation, reproach, and dismay... + +"A man to dinner, and everything in a mess! John Brooke, how could you +do such a thing?" + +"Hush, he's in the garden! I forgot the confounded jelly, but it can't +be helped now," said John, surveying the prospect with an anxious eye. + +"You ought to have sent word, or told me this morning, and you ought to +have remembered how busy I was," continued Meg petulantly, for even +turtledoves will peck when ruffled. + +"I didn't know it this morning, and there was no time to send word, for +I met him on the way out. I never thought of asking leave, when you +have always told me to do as I liked. I never tried it before, and +hang me if I ever do again!" added John, with an aggrieved air. + +"I should hope not! Take him away at once. I can't see him, and there +isn't any dinner." + +"Well, I like that! Where's the beef and vegetables I sent home, and +the pudding you promised?" cried John, rushing to the larder. + +"I hadn't time to cook anything. I meant to dine at Mother's. I'm +sorry, but I was so busy," and Meg's tears began again. + +John was a mild man, but he was human, and after a long day's work to +come home tired, hungry, and hopeful, to find a chaotic house, an empty +table, and a cross wife was not exactly conducive to repose of mind or +manner. He restrained himself however, and the little squall would +have blown over, but for one unlucky word. + +"It's a scrape, I acknowledge, but if you will lend a hand, we'll pull +through and have a good time yet. Don't cry, dear, but just exert +yourself a bit, and fix us up something to eat. We're both as hungry +as hunters, so we shan't mind what it is. Give us the cold meat, and +bread and cheese. We won't ask for jelly." + +He meant it to be a good-natured joke, but that one word sealed his +fate. Meg thought it was too cruel to hint about her sad failure, and +the last atom of patience vanished as he spoke. + +"You must get yourself out of the scrape as you can. I'm too used up +to 'exert' myself for anyone. It's like a man to propose a bone and +vulgar bread and cheese for company. I won't have anything of the sort +in my house. Take that Scott up to Mother's, and tell him I'm away, +sick, dead, anything. I won't see him, and you two can laugh at me and +my jelly as much as you like. You won't have anything else here." and +having delivered her defiance all on one breath, Meg cast away her +pinafore and precipitately left the field to bemoan herself in her own +room. + +What those two creatures did in her absence, she never knew, but Mr. +Scott was not taken 'up to Mother's', and when Meg descended, after +they had strolled away together, she found traces of a promiscuous +lunch which filled her with horror. Lotty reported that they had eaten +"a much, and greatly laughed, and the master bid her throw away all the +sweet stuff, and hide the pots." + +Meg longed to go and tell Mother, but a sense of shame at her own +short-comings, of loyalty to John, "who might be cruel, but nobody +should know it," restrained her, and after a summary cleaning up, she +dressed herself prettily, and sat down to wait for John to come and be +forgiven. + +Unfortunately, John didn't come, not seeing the matter in that light. +He had carried it off as a good joke with Scott, excused his little +wife as well as he could, and played the host so hospitably that his +friend enjoyed the impromptu dinner, and promised to come again, but +John was angry, though he did not show it, he felt that Meg had +deserted him in his hour of need. "It wasn't fair to tell a man to +bring folks home any time, with perfect freedom, and when he took you +at your word, to flame up and blame him, and leave him in the lurch, to +be laughed at or pitied. No, by George, it wasn't! And Meg must know +it." + +He had fumed inwardly during the feast, but when the flurry was over +and he strolled home after seeing Scott off, a milder mood came over +him. "Poor little thing! It was hard upon her when she tried so +heartily to please me. She was wrong, of course, but then she was +young. I must be patient and teach her." He hoped she had not gone +home--he hated gossip and interference. For a minute he was ruffled +again at the mere thought of it, and then the fear that Meg would cry +herself sick softened his heart, and sent him on at a quicker pace, +resolving to be calm and kind, but firm, quite firm, and show her where +she had failed in her duty to her spouse. + +Meg likewise resolved to be 'calm and kind, but firm', and show him his +duty. She longed to run to meet him, and beg pardon, and be kissed and +comforted, as she was sure of being, but, of course, she did nothing of +the sort, and when she saw John coming, began to hum quite naturally, +as she rocked and sewed, like a lady of leisure in her best parlor. + +John was a little disappointed not to find a tender Niobe, but feeling +that his dignity demanded the first apology, he made none, only came +leisurely in and laid himself upon the sofa with the singularly +relevant remark, "We are going to have a new moon, my dear." + +"I've no objection," was Meg's equally soothing remark. A few other +topics of general interest were introduced by Mr. Brooke and +wet-blanketed by Mrs. Brooke, and conversation languished. John went +to one window, unfolded his paper, and wrapped himself in it, +figuratively speaking. Meg went to the other window, and sewed as if +new rosettes for slippers were among the necessaries of life. Neither +spoke. Both looked quite 'calm and firm', and both felt desperately +uncomfortable. + +"Oh, dear," thought Meg, "married life is very trying, and does need +infinite patience as well as love, as Mother says." The word 'Mother' +suggested other maternal counsels given long ago, and received with +unbelieving protests. + +"John is a good man, but he has his faults, and you must learn to see +and bear with them, remembering your own. He is very decided, but +never will be obstinate, if you reason kindly, not oppose impatiently. +He is very accurate, and particular about the truth--a good trait, +though you call him 'fussy'. Never deceive him by look or word, Meg, +and he will give you the confidence you deserve, the support you need. +He has a temper, not like ours--one flash and then all over--but the +white, still anger that is seldom stirred, but once kindled is hard to +quench. Be careful, be very careful, not to wake his anger against +yourself, for peace and happiness depend on keeping his respect. Watch +yourself, be the first to ask pardon if you both err, and guard against +the little piques, misunderstandings, and hasty words that often pave +the way for bitter sorrow and regret." + +These words came back to Meg, as she sat sewing in the sunset, +especially the last. This was the first serious disagreement, her own +hasty speeches sounded both silly and unkind, as she recalled them, her +own anger looked childish now, and thoughts of poor John coming home to +such a scene quite melted her heart. She glanced at him with tears in +her eyes, but he did not see them. She put down her work and got up, +thinking, "I will be the first to say, 'Forgive me'", but he did not +seem to hear her. She went very slowly across the room, for pride was +hard to swallow, and stood by him, but he did not turn his head. For a +minute she felt as if she really couldn't do it, then came the thought, +"This is the beginning. I'll do my part, and have nothing to reproach +myself with," and stooping down, she softly kissed her husband on the +forehead. Of course that settled it. The penitent kiss was better than +a world of words, and John had her on his knee in a minute, saying +tenderly... + +"It was too bad to laugh at the poor little jelly pots. Forgive me, +dear. I never will again!" + +But he did, oh bless you, yes, hundreds of times, and so did Meg, both +declaring that it was the sweetest jelly they ever made, for family +peace was preserved in that little family jar. + +After this, Meg had Mr. Scott to dinner by special invitation, and +served him up a pleasant feast without a cooked wife for the first +course, on which occasion she was so gay and gracious, and made +everything go off so charmingly, that Mr. Scott told John he was a +lucky fellow, and shook his head over the hardships of bachelorhood all +the way home. + +In the autumn, new trials and experiences came to Meg. Sallie Moffat +renewed her friendship, was always running out for a dish of gossip at +the little house, or inviting 'that poor dear' to come in and spend the +day at the big house. It was pleasant, for in dull weather Meg often +felt lonely. All were busy at home, John absent till night, and +nothing to do but sew, or read, or potter about. So it naturally fell +out that Meg got into the way of gadding and gossiping with her friend. +Seeing Sallie's pretty things made her long for such, and pity herself +because she had not got them. Sallie was very kind, and often offered +her the coveted trifles, but Meg declined them, knowing that John +wouldn't like it, and then this foolish little woman went and did what +John disliked even worse. + +She knew her husband's income, and she loved to feel that he trusted +her, not only with his happiness, but what some men seem to value +more--his money. She knew where it was, was free to take what she +liked, and all he asked was that she should keep account of every +penny, pay bills once a month, and remember that she was a poor man's +wife. Till now she had done well, been prudent and exact, kept her +little account books neatly, and showed them to him monthly without +fear. But that autumn the serpent got into Meg's paradise, and tempted +her like many a modern Eve, not with apples, but with dress. Meg +didn't like to be pitied and made to feel poor. It irritated her, but +she was ashamed to confess it, and now and then she tried to console +herself by buying something pretty, so that Sallie needn't think she +had to economize. She always felt wicked after it, for the pretty +things were seldom necessaries, but then they cost so little, it wasn't +worth worrying about, so the trifles increased unconsciously, and in +the shopping excursions she was no longer a passive looker-on. + +But the trifles cost more than one would imagine, and when she cast up +her accounts at the end of the month the sum total rather scared her. +John was busy that month and left the bills to her, the next month he +was absent, but the third he had a grand quarterly settling up, and Meg +never forgot it. A few days before she had done a dreadful thing, and +it weighed upon her conscience. Sallie had been buying silks, and Meg +longed for a new one, just a handsome light one for parties, her black +silk was so common, and thin things for evening wear were only proper +for girls. Aunt March usually gave the sisters a present of +twenty-five dollars apiece at New Year's. That was only a month to +wait, and here was a lovely violet silk going at a bargain, and she had +the money, if she only dared to take it. John always said what was his +was hers, but would he think it right to spend not only the prospective +five-and-twenty, but another five-and-twenty out of the household fund? +That was the question. Sallie had urged her to do it, had offered to +lend the money, and with the best intentions in life had tempted Meg +beyond her strength. In an evil moment the shopman held up the lovely, +shimmering folds, and said, "A bargain, I assure, you, ma'am." She +answered, "I'll take it," and it was cut off and paid for, and Sallie +had exulted, and she had laughed as if it were a thing of no +consequence, and driven away, feeling as if she had stolen something, +and the police were after her. + +When she got home, she tried to assuage the pangs of remorse by +spreading forth the lovely silk, but it looked less silvery now, didn't +become her, after all, and the words 'fifty dollars' seemed stamped +like a pattern down each breadth. She put it away, but it haunted her, +not delightfully as a new dress should, but dreadfully like the ghost +of a folly that was not easily laid. When John got out his books that +night, Meg's heart sank, and for the first time in her married life, +she was afraid of her husband. The kind, brown eyes looked as if they +could be stern, and though he was unusually merry, she fancied he had +found her out, but didn't mean to let her know it. The house bills +were all paid, the books all in order. John had praised her, and was +undoing the old pocketbook which they called the 'bank', when Meg, +knowing that it was quite empty, stopped his hand, saying nervously... + +"You haven't seen my private expense book yet." + +John never asked to see it, but she always insisted on his doing so, +and used to enjoy his masculine amazement at the queer things women +wanted, and made him guess what piping was, demand fiercely the meaning +of a hug-me-tight, or wonder how a little thing composed of three +rosebuds, a bit of velvet, and a pair of strings, could possibly be a +bonnet, and cost six dollars. That night he looked as if he would like +the fun of quizzing her figures and pretending to be horrified at her +extravagance, as he often did, being particularly proud of his prudent +wife. + +The little book was brought slowly out and laid down before him. Meg +got behind his chair under pretense of smoothing the wrinkles out of +his tired forehead, and standing there, she said, with her panic +increasing with every word... + +"John, dear, I'm ashamed to show you my book, for I've really been +dreadfully extravagant lately. I go about so much I must have things, +you know, and Sallie advised my getting it, so I did, and my New Year's +money will partly pay for it, but I was sorry after I had done it, for +I knew you'd think it wrong in me." + +John laughed, and drew her round beside him, saying goodhumoredly, +"Don't go and hide. I won't beat you if you have got a pair of killing +boots. I'm rather proud of my wife's feet, and don't mind if she does +pay eight or nine dollars for her boots, if they are good ones." + +That had been one of her last 'trifles', and John's eye had fallen on +it as he spoke. "Oh, what will he say when he comes to that awful +fifty dollars!" thought Meg, with a shiver. + +"It's worse than boots, it's a silk dress," she said, with the calmness +of desperation, for she wanted the worst over. + +"Well, dear, what is the 'dem'd total', as Mr. Mantalini says?" + +That didn't sound like John, and she knew he was looking up at her with +the straightforward look that she had always been ready to meet and +answer with one as frank till now. She turned the page and her head at +the same time, pointing to the sum which would have been bad enough +without the fifty, but which was appalling to her with that added. For +a minute the room was very still, then John said slowly--but she could +feel it cost him an effort to express no displeasure--. . . + +"Well, I don't know that fifty is much for a dress, with all the +furbelows and notions you have to have to finish it off these days." + +"It isn't made or trimmed," sighed Meg, faintly, for a sudden +recollection of the cost still to be incurred quite overwhelmed her. + +"Twenty-five yards of silk seems a good deal to cover one small woman, +but I've no doubt my wife will look as fine as Ned Moffat's when she +gets it on," said John dryly. + +"I know you are angry, John, but I can't help it. I don't mean to +waste your money, and I didn't think those little things would count up +so. I can't resist them when I see Sallie buying all she wants, and +pitying me because I don't. I try to be contented, but it is hard, and +I'm tired of being poor." + +The last words were spoken so low she thought he did not hear them, but +he did, and they wounded him deeply, for he had denied himself many +pleasures for Meg's sake. She could have bitten her tongue out the +minute she had said it, for John pushed the books away and got up, +saying with a little quiver in his voice, "I was afraid of this. I do +my best, Meg." If he had scolded her, or even shaken her, it would not +have broken her heart like those few words. She ran to him and held +him close, crying, with repentant tears, "Oh, John, my dear, kind, +hard-working boy. I didn't mean it! It was so wicked, so untrue and +ungrateful, how could I say it! Oh, how could I say it!" + +He was very kind, forgave her readily, and did not utter one reproach, +but Meg knew that she had done and said a thing which would not be +forgotten soon, although he might never allude to it again. She had +promised to love him for better or worse, and then she, his wife, had +reproached him with his poverty, after spending his earnings +recklessly. It was dreadful, and the worst of it was John went on so +quietly afterward, just as if nothing had happened, except that he +stayed in town later, and worked at night when she had gone to cry +herself to sleep. A week of remorse nearly made Meg sick, and the +discovery that John had countermanded the order for his new greatcoat +reduced her to a state of despair which was pathetic to behold. He had +simply said, in answer to her surprised inquiries as to the change, "I +can't afford it, my dear." + +Meg said no more, but a few minutes after he found her in the hall with +her face buried in the old greatcoat, crying as if her heart would +break. + +They had a long talk that night, and Meg learned to love her husband +better for his poverty, because it seemed to have made a man of him, +given him the strength and courage to fight his own way, and taught him +a tender patience with which to bear and comfort the natural longings +and failures of those he loved. + +Next day she put her pride in her pocket, went to Sallie, told the +truth, and asked her to buy the silk as a favor. The good-natured Mrs. +Moffat willingly did so, and had the delicacy not to make her a present +of it immediately afterward. Then Meg ordered home the greatcoat, and +when John arrived, she put it on, and asked him how he liked her new +silk gown. One can imagine what answer he made, how he received his +present, and what a blissful state of things ensued. John came home +early, Meg gadded no more, and that greatcoat was put on in the morning +by a very happy husband, and taken off at night by a most devoted +little wife. So the year rolled round, and at midsummer there came to +Meg a new experience, the deepest and tenderest of a woman's life. + +Laurie came sneaking into the kitchen of the Dovecote one Saturday, +with an excited face, and was received with the clash of cymbals, for +Hannah clapped her hands with a saucepan in one and the cover in the +other. + +"How's the little mamma? Where is everybody? Why didn't you tell me +before I came home?" began Laurie in a loud whisper. + +"Happy as a queen, the dear! Every soul of 'em is upstairs a +worshipin'. We didn't want no hurrycanes round. Now you go into the +parlor, and I'll send 'em down to you," with which somewhat involved +reply Hannah vanished, chuckling ecstatically. + +Presently Jo appeared, proudly bearing a flannel bundle laid forth upon +a large pillow. Jo's face was very sober, but her eyes twinkled, and +there was an odd sound in her voice of repressed emotion of some sort. + +"Shut your eyes and hold out your arms," she said invitingly. + +Laurie backed precipitately into a corner, and put his hands behind him +with an imploring gesture. "No, thank you. I'd rather not. I shall +drop it or smash it, as sure as fate." + +"Then you shan't see your nevvy," said Jo decidedly, turning as if to +go. + +"I will, I will! Only you must be responsible for damages." and +obeying orders, Laurie heroically shut his eyes while something was put +into his arms. A peal of laughter from Jo, Amy, Mrs. March, Hannah, +and John caused him to open them the next minute, to find himself +invested with two babies instead of one. + +No wonder they laughed, for the expression of his face was droll enough +to convulse a Quaker, as he stood and stared wildly from the +unconscious innocents to the hilarious spectators with such dismay that +Jo sat down on the floor and screamed. + +"Twins, by Jupiter!" was all he said for a minute, then turning to the +women with an appealing look that was comically piteous, he added, +"Take 'em quick, somebody! I'm going to laugh, and I shall drop 'em." + +Jo rescued his babies, and marched up and down, with one on each arm, +as if already initiated into the mysteries of babytending, while Laurie +laughed till the tears ran down his cheeks. + +"It's the best joke of the season, isn't it? I wouldn't have told you, +for I set my heart on surprising you, and I flatter myself I've done +it," said Jo, when she got her breath. + +"I never was more staggered in my life. Isn't it fun? Are they boys? +What are you going to name them? Let's have another look. Hold me up, +Jo, for upon my life it's one too many for me," returned Laurie, +regarding the infants with the air of a big, benevolent Newfoundland +looking at a pair of infantile kittens. + +"Boy and girl. Aren't they beauties?" said the proud papa, beaming +upon the little red squirmers as if they were unfledged angels. + +"Most remarkable children I ever saw. Which is which?" and Laurie bent +like a well-sweep to examine the prodigies. + +"Amy put a blue ribbon on the boy and a pink on the girl, French +fashion, so you can always tell. Besides, one has blue eyes and one +brown. Kiss them, Uncle Teddy," said wicked Jo. + +"I'm afraid they mightn't like it," began Laurie, with unusual timidity +in such matters. + +"Of course they will, they are used to it now. Do it this minute, +sir!" commanded Jo, fearing he might propose a proxy. + +Laurie screwed up his face and obeyed with a gingerly peck at each +little cheek that produced another laugh, and made the babies squeal. + +"There, I knew they didn't like it! That's the boy, see him kick, he +hits out with his fists like a good one. Now then, young Brooke, pitch +into a man of your own size, will you?" cried Laurie, delighted with a +poke in the face from a tiny fist, flapping aimlessly about. + +"He's to be named John Laurence, and the girl Margaret, after mother +and grandmother. We shall call her Daisey, so as not to have two Megs, +and I suppose the mannie will be Jack, unless we find a better name," +said Amy, with aunt-like interest. + +"Name him Demijohn, and call him Demi for short," said Laurie. + +"Daisy and Demi, just the thing! I knew Teddy would do it," cried Jo +clapping her hands. + +Teddy certainly had done it that time, for the babies were 'Daisy' and +'Demi' to the end of the chapter. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE + +CALLS + +"Come, Jo, it's time." + +"For what?" + +"You don't mean to say you have forgotten that you promised to make +half a dozen calls with me today?" + +"I've done a good many rash and foolish things in my life, but I don't +think I ever was mad enough to say I'd make six calls in one day, when +a single one upsets me for a week." + +"Yes, you did, it was a bargain between us. I was to finish the crayon +of Beth for you, and you were to go properly with me, and return our +neighbors' visits." + +"If it was fair, that was in the bond, and I stand to the letter of my +bond, Shylock. There is a pile of clouds in the east, it's not fair, +and I don't go." + +"Now, that's shirking. It's a lovely day, no prospect of rain, and you +pride yourself on keeping promises, so be honorable, come and do your +duty, and then be at peace for another six months." + +At that minute Jo was particularly absorbed in dressmaking, for she was +mantua-maker general to the family, and took especial credit to herself +because she could use a needle as well as a pen. It was very provoking +to be arrested in the act of a first trying-on, and ordered out to make +calls in her best array on a warm July day. She hated calls of the +formal sort, and never made any till Amy compelled her with a bargain, +bribe, or promise. In the present instance there was no escape, and +having clashed her scissors rebelliously, while protesting that she +smelled thunder, she gave in, put away her work, and taking up her hat +and gloves with an air of resignation, told Amy the victim was ready. + +"Jo March, you are perverse enough to provoke a saint! You don't +intend to make calls in that state, I hope," cried Amy, surveying her +with amazement. + +"Why not? I'm neat and cool and comfortable, quite proper for a dusty +walk on a warm day. If people care more for my clothes than they do +for me, I don't wish to see them. You can dress for both, and be as +elegant as you please. It pays for you to be fine. It doesn't for me, +and furbelows only worry me." + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Amy, "now she's in a contrary fit, and will drive me +distracted before I can get her properly ready. I'm sure it's no +pleasure to me to go today, but it's a debt we owe society, and there's +no one to pay it but you and me. I'll do anything for you, Jo, if +you'll only dress yourself nicely, and come and help me do the civil. +You can talk so well, look so aristocratic in your best things, and +behave so beautifully, if you try, that I'm proud of you. I'm afraid +to go alone, do come and take care of me." + +"You're an artful little puss to flatter and wheedle your cross old +sister in that way. The idea of my being aristocratic and well-bred, +and your being afraid to go anywhere alone! I don't know which is the +most absurd. Well, I'll go if I must, and do my best. You shall be +commander of the expedition, and I'll obey blindly, will that satisfy +you?" said Jo, with a sudden change from perversity to lamblike +submission. + +"You're a perfect cherub! Now put on all your best things, and I'll +tell you how to behave at each place, so that you will make a good +impression. I want people to like you, and they would if you'd only +try to be a little more agreeable. Do your hair the pretty way, and +put the pink rose in your bonnet. It's becoming, and you look too +sober in your plain suit. Take your light gloves and the embroidered +handkerchief. We'll stop at Meg's, and borrow her white sunshade, and +then you can have my dove-colored one." + +While Amy dressed, she issued her orders, and Jo obeyed them, not +without entering her protest, however, for she sighed as she rustled +into her new organdie, frowned darkly at herself as she tied her bonnet +strings in an irreproachable bow, wrestled viciously with pins as she +put on her collar, wrinkled up her features generally as she shook out +the handkerchief, whose embroidery was as irritating to her nose as the +present mission was to her feelings, and when she had squeezed her +hands into tight gloves with three buttons and a tassel, as the last +touch of elegance, she turned to Amy with an imbecile expression of +countenance, saying meekly... + +"I'm perfectly miserable, but if you consider me presentable, I die +happy." + +"You're highly satisfactory. Turn slowly round, and let me get a +careful view." Jo revolved, and Amy gave a touch here and there, then +fell back, with her head on one side, observing graciously, "Yes, +you'll do. Your head is all I could ask, for that white bonnet with +the rose is quite ravishing. Hold back your shoulders, and carry your +hands easily, no matter if your gloves do pinch. There's one thing you +can do well, Jo, that is, wear a shawl. I can't, but it's very nice to +see you, and I'm so glad Aunt March gave you that lovely one. It's +simple, but handsome, and those folds over the arm are really artistic. +Is the point of my mantle in the middle, and have I looped my dress +evenly? I like to show my boots, for my feet are pretty, though my nose +isn't." + +"You are a thing of beauty and a joy forever," said Jo, looking through +her hand with the air of a connoisseur at the blue feather against the +golden hair. "Am I to drag my best dress through the dust, or loop it +up, please, ma'am?" + +"Hold it up when you walk, but drop it in the house. The sweeping +style suits you best, and you must learn to trail your skirts +gracefully. You haven't half buttoned one cuff, do it at once. You'll +never look finished if you are not careful about the little details, +for they make up the pleasing whole." + +Jo sighed, and proceeded to burst the buttons off her glove, in doing +up her cuff, but at last both were ready, and sailed away, looking as +'pretty as picters', Hannah said, as she hung out of the upper window +to watch them. + +"Now, Jo dear, the Chesters consider themselves very elegant people, so +I want you to put on your best deportment. Don't make any of your +abrupt remarks, or do anything odd, will you? Just be calm, cool, and +quiet, that's safe and ladylike, and you can easily do it for fifteen +minutes," said Amy, as they approached the first place, having borrowed +the white parasol and been inspected by Meg, with a baby on each arm. + +"Let me see. 'Calm, cool, and quiet', yes, I think I can promise that. +I've played the part of a prim young lady on the stage, and I'll try it +off. My powers are great, as you shall see, so be easy in your mind, +my child." + +Amy looked relieved, but naughty Jo took her at her word, for during +the first call she sat with every limb gracefully composed, every fold +correctly draped, calm as a summer sea, cool as a snowbank, and as +silent as the sphinx. In vain Mrs. Chester alluded to her 'charming +novel', and the Misses Chester introduced parties, picnics, the opera, +and the fashions. Each and all were answered by a smile, a bow, and a +demure "Yes" or "No" with the chill on. In vain Amy telegraphed the +word 'talk', tried to draw her out, and administered covert pokes with +her foot. Jo sat as if blandly unconscious of it all, with deportment +like Maud's face, 'icily regular, splendidly null'. + +"What a haughty, uninteresting creature that oldest Miss March is!" was +the unfortunately audible remark of one of the ladies, as the door +closed upon their guests. Jo laughed noiselessly all through the hall, +but Amy looked disgusted at the failure of her instructions, and very +naturally laid the blame upon Jo. + +"How could you mistake me so? I merely meant you to be properly +dignified and composed, and you made yourself a perfect stock and +stone. Try to be sociable at the Lambs'. Gossip as other girls do, +and be interested in dress and flirtations and whatever nonsense comes +up. They move in the best society, are valuable persons for us to +know, and I wouldn't fail to make a good impression there for anything." + +"I'll be agreeable. I'll gossip and giggle, and have horrors and +raptures over any trifle you like. I rather enjoy this, and now I'll +imitate what is called 'a charming girl'. I can do it, for I have May +Chester as a model, and I'll improve upon her. See if the Lambs don't +say, 'What a lively, nice creature that Jo March is!" + +Amy felt anxious, as well she might, for when Jo turned freakish there +was no knowing where she would stop. Amy's face was a study when she +saw her sister skim into the next drawing room, kiss all the young +ladies with effusion, beam graciously upon the young gentlemen, and +join in the chat with a spirit which amazed the beholder. Amy was taken +possession of by Mrs. Lamb, with whom she was a favorite, and forced to +hear a long account of Lucretia's last attack, while three delightful +young gentlemen hovered near, waiting for a pause when they might rush +in and rescue her. So situated, she was powerless to check Jo, who +seemed possessed by a spirit of mischief, and talked away as volubly as +the lady. A knot of heads gathered about her, and Amy strained her +ears to hear what was going on, for broken sentences filled her with +curiosity, and frequent peals of laughter made her wild to share the +fun. One may imagine her suffering on overhearing fragments of this +sort of conversation. + +"She rides splendidly. Who taught her?" + +"No one. She used to practice mounting, holding the reins, and sitting +straight on an old saddle in a tree. Now she rides anything, for she +doesn't know what fear is, and the stableman lets her have horses cheap +because she trains them to carry ladies so well. She has such a +passion for it, I often tell her if everything else fails, she can be a +horsebreaker, and get her living so." + +At this awful speech Amy contained herself with difficulty, for the +impression was being given that she was rather a fast young lady, which +was her especial aversion. But what could she do? For the old lady +was in the middle of her story, and long before it was done, Jo was off +again, making more droll revelations and committing still more fearful +blunders. + +"Yes, Amy was in despair that day, for all the good beasts were gone, +and of three left, one was lame, one blind, and the other so balky that +you had to put dirt in his mouth before he would start. Nice animal for +a pleasure party, wasn't it?" + +"Which did she choose?" asked one of the laughing gentlemen, who +enjoyed the subject. + +"None of them. She heard of a young horse at the farm house over the +river, and though a lady had never ridden him, she resolved to try, +because he was handsome and spirited. Her struggles were really +pathetic. There was no one to bring the horse to the saddle, so she +took the saddle to the horse. My dear creature, she actually rowed it +over the river, put it on her head, and marched up to the barn to the +utter amazement of the old man!" + +"Did she ride the horse?" + +"Of course she did, and had a capital time. I expected to see her +brought home in fragments, but she managed him perfectly, and was the +life of the party." + +"Well, I call that plucky!" and young Mr. Lamb turned an approving +glance upon Amy, wondering what his mother could be saying to make the +girl look so red and uncomfortable. + +She was still redder and more uncomfortable a moment after, when a +sudden turn in the conversation introduced the subject of dress. One +of the young ladies asked Jo where she got the pretty drab hat she wore +to the picnic and stupid Jo, instead of mentioning the place where it +was bought two years ago, must needs answer with unnecessary frankness, +"Oh, Amy painted it. You can't buy those soft shades, so we paint ours +any color we like. It's a great comfort to have an artistic sister." + +"Isn't that an original idea?" cried Miss Lamb, who found Jo great fun. + +"That's nothing compared to some of her brilliant performances. There's +nothing the child can't do. Why, she wanted a pair of blue boots for +Sallie's party, so she just painted her soiled white ones the loveliest +shade of sky blue you ever saw, and they looked exactly like satin," +added Jo, with an air of pride in her sister's accomplishments that +exasperated Amy till she felt that it would be a relief to throw her +cardcase at her. + +"We read a story of yours the other day, and enjoyed it very much," +observed the elder Miss Lamb, wishing to compliment the literary lady, +who did not look the character just then, it must be confessed. + +Any mention of her 'works' always had a bad effect upon Jo, who either +grew rigid and looked offended, or changed the subject with a brusque +remark, as now. "Sorry you could find nothing better to read. I write +that rubbish because it sells, and ordinary people like it. Are you +going to New York this winter?" + +As Miss Lamb had 'enjoyed' the story, this speech was not exactly +grateful or complimentary. The minute it was made Jo saw her mistake, +but fearing to make the matter worse, suddenly remembered that it was +for her to make the first move toward departure, and did so with an +abruptness that left three people with half-finished sentences in their +mouths. + +"Amy, we must go. Good-by, dear, do come and see us. We are pining +for a visit. I don't dare to ask you, Mr. Lamb, but if you should +come, I don't think I shall have the heart to send you away." + +Jo said this with such a droll imitation of May Chester's gushing style +that Amy got out of the room as rapidly as possible, feeling a strong +desire to laugh and cry at the same time. + +"Didn't I do well?" asked Jo, with a satisfied air as they walked away. + +"Nothing could have been worse," was Amy's crushing reply. "What +possessed you to tell those stories about my saddle, and the hats and +boots, and all the rest of it?" + +"Why, it's funny, and amuses people. They know we are poor, so it's no +use pretending that we have grooms, buy three or four hats a season, +and have things as easy and fine as they do." + +"You needn't go and tell them all our little shifts, and expose our +poverty in that perfectly unnecessary way. You haven't a bit of proper +pride, and never will learn when to hold your tongue and when to +speak," said Amy despairingly. + +Poor Jo looked abashed, and silently chafed the end of her nose with +the stiff handkerchief, as if performing a penance for her misdemeanors. + +"How shall I behave here?" she asked, as they approached the third +mansion. + +"Just as you please. I wash my hands of you," was Amy's short answer. + +"Then I'll enjoy myself. The boys are at home, and we'll have a +comfortable time. Goodness knows I need a little change, for elegance +has a bad effect upon my constitution," returned Jo gruffly, being +disturbed by her failure to suit. + +An enthusiastic welcome from three big boys and several pretty children +speedily soothed her ruffled feelings, and leaving Amy to entertain the +hostess and Mr. Tudor, who happened to be calling likewise, Jo devoted +herself to the young folks and found the change refreshing. She +listened to college stories with deep interest, caressed pointers and +poodles without a murmur, agreed heartily that "Tom Brown was a brick," +regardless of the improper form of praise, and when one lad proposed a +visit to his turtle tank, she went with an alacrity which caused Mamma +to smile upon her, as that motherly lady settled the cap which was left +in a ruinous condition by filial hugs, bearlike but affectionate, and +dearer to her than the most faultless coiffure from the hands of an +inspired Frenchwoman. + +Leaving her sister to her own devices, Amy proceeded to enjoy herself +to her heart's content. Mr. Tudor's uncle had married an English lady +who was third cousin to a living lord, and Amy regarded the whole +family with great respect, for in spite of her American birth and +breeding, she possessed that reverence for titles which haunts the best +of us--that unacknowledged loyalty to the early faith in kings which +set the most democratic nation under the sun in ferment at the coming +of a royal yellow-haired laddie, some years ago, and which still has +something to do with the love the young country bears the old, like +that of a big son for an imperious little mother, who held him while +she could, and let him go with a farewell scolding when he rebelled. +But even the satisfaction of talking with a distant connection of the +British nobility did not render Amy forgetful of time, and when the +proper number of minutes had passed, she reluctantly tore herself from +this aristocratic society, and looked about for Jo, fervently hoping +that her incorrigible sister would not be found in any position which +should bring disgrace upon the name of March. + +It might have been worse, but Amy considered it bad. For Jo sat on the +grass, with an encampment of boys about her, and a dirty-footed dog +reposing on the skirt of her state and festival dress, as she related +one of Laurie's pranks to her admiring audience. One small child was +poking turtles with Amy's cherished parasol, a second was eating +gingerbread over Jo's best bonnet, and a third playing ball with her +gloves, but all were enjoying themselves, and when Jo collected her +damaged property to go, her escort accompanied her, begging her to come +again, "It was such fun to hear about Laurie's larks." + +"Capital boys, aren't they? I feel quite young and brisk again after +that." said Jo, strolling along with her hands behind her, partly from +habit, partly to conceal the bespattered parasol. + +"Why do you always avoid Mr. Tudor?" asked Amy, wisely refraining from +any comment upon Jo's dilapidated appearance. + +"Don't like him, he puts on airs, snubs his sisters, worries his +father, and doesn't speak respectfully of his mother. Laurie says he +is fast, and I don't consider him a desirable acquaintance, so I let +him alone." + +"You might treat him civilly, at least. You gave him a cool nod, and +just now you bowed and smiled in the politest way to Tommy Chamberlain, +whose father keeps a grocery store. If you had just reversed the nod +and the bow, it would have been right," said Amy reprovingly. + +"No, it wouldn't," returned Jo, "I neither like, respect, nor admire +Tudor, though his grandfather's uncle's nephew's niece was a third +cousin to a lord. Tommy is poor and bashful and good and very clever. +I think well of him, and like to show that I do, for he is a gentleman +in spite of the brown paper parcels." + +"It's no use trying to argue with you," began Amy. + +"Not the least, my dear," interrupted Jo, "so let us look amiable, and +drop a card here, as the Kings are evidently out, for which I'm deeply +grateful." + +The family cardcase having done its duty the girls walked on, and Jo +uttered another thanksgiving on reaching the fifth house, and being +told that the young ladies were engaged. + +"Now let us go home, and never mind Aunt March today. We can run down +there any time, and it's really a pity to trail through the dust in our +best bibs and tuckers, when we are tired and cross." + +"Speak for yourself, if you please. Aunt March likes to have us pay +her the compliment of coming in style, and making a formal call. It's a +little thing to do, but it gives her pleasure, and I don't believe it +will hurt your things half so much as letting dirty dogs and clumping +boys spoil them. Stoop down, and let me take the crumbs off of your +bonnet." + +"What a good girl you are, Amy!" said Jo, with a repentant glance from +her own damaged costume to that of her sister, which was fresh and +spotless still. "I wish it was as easy for me to do little things to +please people as it is for you. I think of them, but it takes too much +time to do them, so I wait for a chance to confer a great favor, and +let the small ones slip, but they tell best in the end, I fancy." + +Amy smiled and was mollified at once, saying with a maternal air, +"Women should learn to be agreeable, particularly poor ones, for they +have no other way of repaying the kindnesses they receive. If you'd +remember that, and practice it, you'd be better liked than I am, +because there is more of you." + +"I'm a crotchety old thing, and always shall be, but I'm willing to own +that you are right, only it's easier for me to risk my life for a +person than to be pleasant to him when I don't feel like it. It's a +great misfortune to have such strong likes and dislikes, isn't it?" + +"It's a greater not to be able to hide them. I don't mind saying that +I don't approve of Tudor any more than you do, but I'm not called upon +to tell him so. Neither are you, and there is no use in making +yourself disagreeable because he is." + +"But I think girls ought to show when they disapprove of young men, and +how can they do it except by their manners? Preaching does not do any +good, as I know to my sorrow, since I've had Teddie to manage. But +there are many little ways in which I can influence him without a word, +and I say we ought to do it to others if we can." + +"Teddy is a remarkable boy, and can't be taken as a sample of other +boys," said Amy, in a tone of solemn conviction, which would have +convulsed the 'remarkable boy' if he had heard it. "If we were belles, +or women of wealth and position, we might do something, perhaps, but +for us to frown at one set of young gentlemen because we don't approve +of them, and smile upon another set because we do, wouldn't have a +particle of effect, and we should only be considered odd and +puritanical." + +"So we are to countenance things and people which we detest, merely +because we are not belles and millionaires, are we? That's a nice sort +of morality." + +"I can't argue about it, I only know that it's the way of the world, +and people who set themselves against it only get laughed at for their +pains. I don't like reformers, and I hope you never try to be one." + +"I do like them, and I shall be one if I can, for in spite of the +laughing the world would never get on without them. We can't agree +about that, for you belong to the old set, and I to the new. You will +get on the best, but I shall have the liveliest time of it. I should +rather enjoy the brickbats and hooting, I think." + +"Well, compose yourself now, and don't worry Aunt with your new ideas." + +"I'll try not to, but I'm always possessed to burst out with some +particularly blunt speech or revolutionary sentiment before her. It's +my doom, and I can't help it." + +They found Aunt Carrol with the old lady, both absorbed in some very +interesting subject, but they dropped it as the girls came in, with a +conscious look which betrayed that they had been talking about their +nieces. Jo was not in a good humor, and the perverse fit returned, but +Amy, who had virtuously done her duty, kept her temper and pleased +everybody, was in a most angelic frame of mind. This amiable spirit +was felt at once, and both aunts 'my deared' her affectionately, +looking what they afterward said emphatically, "That child improves +every day." + +"Are you going to help about the fair, dear?" asked Mrs. Carrol, as Amy +sat down beside her with the confiding air elderly people like so well +in the young. + +"Yes, Aunt. Mrs. Chester asked me if I would, and I offered to tend a +table, as I have nothing but my time to give." + +"I'm not," put in Jo decidedly. "I hate to be patronized, and the +Chesters think it's a great favor to allow us to help with their highly +connected fair. I wonder you consented, Amy, they only want you to +work." + +"I am willing to work. It's for the freedmen as well as the Chesters, +and I think it very kind of them to let me share the labor and the fun. +Patronage does not trouble me when it is well meant." + +"Quite right and proper. I like your grateful spirit, my dear. It's a +pleasure to help people who appreciate our efforts. Some do not, and +that is trying," observed Aunt March, looking over her spectacles at +Jo, who sat apart, rocking herself, with a somewhat morose expression. + +If Jo had only known what a great happiness was wavering in the balance +for one of them, she would have turned dove-like in a minute, but +unfortunately, we don't have windows in our breasts, and cannot see +what goes on in the minds of our friends. Better for us that we cannot +as a general thing, but now and then it would be such a comfort, such a +saving of time and temper. By her next speech, Jo deprived herself of +several years of pleasure, and received a timely lesson in the art of +holding her tongue. + +"I don't like favors, they oppress and make me feel like a slave. I'd +rather do everything for myself, and be perfectly independent." + +"Ahem!" coughed Aunt Carrol softly, with a look at Aunt March. + +"I told you so," said Aunt March, with a decided nod to Aunt Carrol. + +Mercifully unconscious of what she had done, Jo sat with her nose in +the air, and a revolutionary aspect which was anything but inviting. + +"Do you speak French, dear?" asked Mrs. Carrol, laying a hand on Amy's. + +"Pretty well, thanks to Aunt March, who lets Esther talk to me as often +as I like," replied Amy, with a grateful look, which caused the old +lady to smile affably. + +"How are you about languages?" asked Mrs. Carrol of Jo. + +"Don't know a word. I'm very stupid about studying anything, can't +bear French, it's such a slippery, silly sort of language," was the +brusque reply. + +Another look passed between the ladies, and Aunt March said to Amy, +"You are quite strong and well now, dear, I believe? Eyes don't +trouble you any more, do they?" + +"Not at all, thank you, ma'am. I'm very well, and mean to do great +things next winter, so that I may be ready for Rome, whenever that +joyful time arrives." + +"Good girl! You deserve to go, and I'm sure you will some day," said +Aunt March, with an approving pat on the head, as Amy picked up her +ball for her. + + Crosspatch, draw the latch, + Sit by the fire and spin, + +squalled Polly, bending down from his perch on the back of her chair to +peep into Jo's face, with such a comical air of impertinent inquiry +that it was impossible to help laughing. + +"Most observing bird," said the old lady. + +"Come and take a walk, my dear?" cried Polly, hopping toward the china +closet, with a look suggestive of a lump of sugar. + +"Thank you, I will. Come Amy." and Jo brought the visit to an end, +feeling more strongly than ever that calls did have a bad effect upon +her constitution. She shook hands in a gentlemanly manner, but Amy +kissed both the aunts, and the girls departed, leaving behind them the +impression of shadow and sunshine, which impression caused Aunt March +to say, as they vanished... + +"You'd better do it, Mary. I'll supply the money." and Aunt Carrol to +reply decidedly, "I certainly will, if her father and mother consent." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY + +CONSEQUENCES + +Mrs. Chester's fair was so very elegant and select that it was +considered a great honor by the young ladies of the neighborhood to be +invited to take a table, and everyone was much interested in the +matter. Amy was asked, but Jo was not, which was fortunate for all +parties, as her elbows were decidedly akimbo at this period of her +life, and it took a good many hard knocks to teach her how to get on +easily. The 'haughty, uninteresting creature' was let severely alone, +but Amy's talent and taste were duly complimented by the offer of the +art table, and she exerted herself to prepare and secure appropriate +and valuable contributions to it. + +Everything went on smoothly till the day before the fair opened, then +there occurred one of the little skirmishes which it is almost +impossible to avoid, when some five-and-twenty women, old and young, +with all their private piques and prejudices, try to work together. + +May Chester was rather jealous of Amy because the latter was a greater +favorite than herself, and just at this time several trifling +circumstances occurred to increase the feeling. Amy's dainty +pen-and-ink work entirely eclipsed May's painted vases--that was one +thorn. Then the all conquering Tudor had danced four times with Amy at +a late party and only once with May--that was thorn number two. But +the chief grievance that rankled in her soul, and gave an excuse for +her unfriendly conduct, was a rumor which some obliging gossip had +whispered to her, that the March girls had made fun of her at the +Lambs'. All the blame of this should have fallen upon Jo, for her +naughty imitation had been too lifelike to escape detection, and the +frolicsome Lambs had permitted the joke to escape. No hint of this had +reached the culprits, however, and Amy's dismay can be imagined, when, +the very evening before the fair, as she was putting the last touches +to her pretty table, Mrs. Chester, who, of course, resented the +supposed ridicule of her daughter, said, in a bland tone, but with a +cold look... + +"I find, dear, that there is some feeling among the young ladies about +my giving this table to anyone but my girls. As this is the most +prominent, and some say the most attractive table of all, and they are +the chief getters-up of the fair, it is thought best for them to take +this place. I'm sorry, but I know you are too sincerely interested in +the cause to mind a little personal disappointment, and you shall have +another table if you like." + +Mrs. Chester fancied beforehand that it would be easy to deliver this +little speech, but when the time came, she found it rather difficult to +utter it naturally, with Amy's unsuspicious eyes looking straight at +her full of surprise and trouble. + +Amy felt that there was something behind this, but could not guess +what, and said quietly, feeling hurt, and showing that she did, +"Perhaps you had rather I took no table at all?" + +"Now, my dear, don't have any ill feeling, I beg. It's merely a matter +of expediency, you see, my girls will naturally take the lead, and this +table is considered their proper place. I think it very appropriate to +you, and feel very grateful for your efforts to make it so pretty, but +we must give up our private wishes, of course, and I will see that you +have a good place elsewhere. Wouldn't you like the flower table? The +little girls undertook it, but they are discouraged. You could make a +charming thing of it, and the flower table is always attractive you +know." + +"Especially to gentlemen," added May, with a look which enlightened Amy +as to one cause of her sudden fall from favor. She colored angrily, +but took no other notice of that girlish sarcasm, and answered with +unexpected amiability... + +"It shall be as you please, Mrs. Chester. I'll give up my place here +at once, and attend to the flowers, if you like." + +"You can put your own things on your own table, if you prefer," began +May, feeling a little conscience-stricken, as she looked at the pretty +racks, the painted shells, and quaint illuminations Amy had so +carefully made and so gracefully arranged. She meant it kindly, but +Amy mistook her meaning, and said quickly... + +"Oh, certainly, if they are in your way," and sweeping her +contributions into her apron, pell-mell, she walked off, feeling that +herself and her works of art had been insulted past forgiveness. + +"Now she's mad. Oh, dear, I wish I hadn't asked you to speak, Mama," +said May, looking disconsolately at the empty spaces on her table. + +"Girls' quarrels are soon over," returned her mother, feeling a trifle +ashamed of her own part in this one, as well she might. + +The little girls hailed Amy and her treasures with delight, which +cordial reception somewhat soothed her perturbed spirit, and she fell +to work, determined to succeed florally, if she could not artistically. +But everything seemed against her. It was late, and she was tired. +Everyone was too busy with their own affairs to help her, and the +little girls were only hindrances, for the dears fussed and chattered +like so many magpies, making a great deal of confusion in their artless +efforts to preserve the most perfect order. The evergreen arch +wouldn't stay firm after she got it up, but wiggled and threatened to +tumble down on her head when the hanging baskets were filled. Her best +tile got a splash of water, which left a sepia tear on the Cupid's +cheek. She bruised her hands with hammering, and got cold working in a +draft, which last affliction filled her with apprehensions for the +morrow. Any girl reader who has suffered like afflictions will +sympathize with poor Amy and wish her well through her task. + +There was great indignation at home when she told her story that +evening. Her mother said it was a shame, but told her she had done +right. Beth declared she wouldn't go to the fair at all, and Jo +demanded why she didn't take all her pretty things and leave those mean +people to get on without her. + +"Because they are mean is no reason why I should be. I hate such +things, and though I think I've a right to be hurt, I don't intend to +show it. They will feel that more than angry speeches or huffy +actions, won't they, Marmee?" + +"That's the right spirit, my dear. A kiss for a blow is always best, +though it's not very easy to give it sometimes," said her mother, with +the air of one who had learned the difference between preaching and +practicing. + +In spite of various very natural temptations to resent and retaliate, +Amy adhered to her resolution all the next day, bent on conquering her +enemy by kindness. She began well, thanks to a silent reminder that +came to her unexpectedly, but most opportunely. As she arranged her +table that morning, while the little girls were in the anteroom filling +the baskets, she took up her pet production, a little book, the antique +cover of which her father had found among his treasures, and in which +on leaves of vellum she had beautifully illuminated different texts. +As she turned the pages rich in dainty devices with very pardonable +pride, her eye fell upon one verse that made her stop and think. +Framed in a brilliant scrollwork of scarlet, blue and gold, with little +spirits of good will helping one another up and down among the thorns +and flowers, were the words, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." + +"I ought, but I don't," thought Amy, as her eye went from the bright +page to May's discontented face behind the big vases, that could not +hide the vacancies her pretty work had once filled. Amy stood a +minute, turning the leaves in her hand, reading on each some sweet +rebuke for all heartburnings and uncharitableness of spirit. Many wise +and true sermons are preached us every day by unconscious ministers in +street, school, office, or home. Even a fair table may become a +pulpit, if it can offer the good and helpful words which are never out +of season. Amy's conscience preached her a little sermon from that +text, then and there, and she did what many of us do not always do, +took the sermon to heart, and straightway put it in practice. + +A group of girls were standing about May's table, admiring the pretty +things, and talking over the change of saleswomen. They dropped their +voices, but Amy knew they were speaking of her, hearing one side of the +story and judging accordingly. It was not pleasant, but a better +spirit had come over her, and presently a chance offered for proving +it. She heard May say sorrowfully... + +"It's too bad, for there is no time to make other things, and I don't +want to fill up with odds and ends. The table was just complete then. +Now it's spoiled." + +"I dare say she'd put them back if you asked her," suggested someone. + +"How could I after all the fuss?" began May, but she did not finish, +for Amy's voice came across the hall, saying pleasantly... + +"You may have them, and welcome, without asking, if you want them. I +was just thinking I'd offer to put them back, for they belong to your +table rather than mine. Here they are, please take them, and forgive +me if I was hasty in carrying them away last night." + +As she spoke, Amy returned her contribution, with a nod and a smile, +and hurried away again, feeling that it was easier to do a friendly +thing than it was to stay and be thanked for it. + +"Now, I call that lovely of her, don't you?" cried one girl. + +May's answer was inaudible, but another young lady, whose temper was +evidently a little soured by making lemonade, added, with a +disagreeable laugh, "Very lovely, for she knew she wouldn't sell them +at her own table." + +Now, that was hard. When we make little sacrifices we like to have +them appreciated, at least, and for a minute Amy was sorry she had done +it, feeling that virtue was not always its own reward. But it is, as +she presently discovered, for her spirits began to rise, and her table +to blossom under her skillful hands, the girls were very kind, and that +one little act seemed to have cleared the atmosphere amazingly. + +It was a very long day and a hard one for Amy, as she sat behind her +table, often quite alone, for the little girls deserted very soon. Few +cared to buy flowers in summer, and her bouquets began to droop long +before night. + +The art table was the most attractive in the room. There was a crowd +about it all day long, and the tenders were constantly flying to and +fro with important faces and rattling money boxes. Amy often looked +wistfully across, longing to be there, where she felt at home and +happy, instead of in a corner with nothing to do. It might seem no +hardship to some of us, but to a pretty, blithe young girl, it was not +only tedious, but very trying, and the thought of Laurie and his +friends made it a real martyrdom. + +She did not go home till night, and then she looked so pale and quiet +that they knew the day had been a hard one, though she made no +complaint, and did not even tell what she had done. Her mother gave +her an extra cordial cup of tea. Beth helped her dress, and made a +charming little wreath for her hair, while Jo astonished her family by +getting herself up with unusual care, and hinting darkly that the +tables were about to be turned. + +"Don't do anything rude, pray Jo; I won't have any fuss made, so let it +all pass and behave yourself," begged Amy, as she departed early, +hoping to find a reinforcement of flowers to refresh her poor little +table. + +"I merely intend to make myself entrancingly agreeable to every one I +know, and to keep them in your corner as long as possible. Teddy and +his boys will lend a hand, and we'll have a good time yet." returned +Jo, leaning over the gate to watch for Laurie. Presently the familiar +tramp was heard in the dusk, and she ran out to meet him. + +"Is that my boy?" + +"As sure as this is my girl!" and Laurie tucked her hand under his arm +with the air of a man whose every wish was gratified. + +"Oh, Teddy, such doings!" and Jo told Amy's wrongs with sisterly zeal. + +"A flock of our fellows are going to drive over by-and-by, and I'll be +hanged if I don't make them buy every flower she's got, and camp down +before her table afterward," said Laurie, espousing her cause with +warmth. + +"The flowers are not at all nice, Amy says, and the fresh ones may not +arrive in time. I don't wish to be unjust or suspicious, but I +shouldn't wonder if they never came at all. When people do one mean +thing they are very likely to do another," observed Jo in a disgusted +tone. + +"Didn't Hayes give you the best out of our gardens? I told him to." + +"I didn't know that, he forgot, I suppose, and, as your grandpa was +poorly, I didn't like to worry him by asking, though I did want some." + +"Now, Jo, how could you think there was any need of asking? They are +just as much yours as mine. Don't we always go halves in everything?" +began Laurie, in the tone that always made Jo turn thorny. + +"Gracious, I hope not! Half of some of your things wouldn't suit me at +all. But we mustn't stand philandering here. I've got to help Amy, so +you go and make yourself splendid, and if you'll be so very kind as to +let Hayes take a few nice flowers up to the Hall, I'll bless you +forever." + +"Couldn't you do it now?" asked Laurie, so suggestively that Jo shut +the gate in his face with inhospitable haste, and called through the +bars, "Go away, Teddy, I'm busy." + +Thanks to the conspirators, the tables were turned that night, for +Hayes sent up a wilderness of flowers, with a lovely basket arranged +in his best manner for a centerpiece. Then the March family turned out +en masse, and Jo exerted herself to some purpose, for people not only +came, but stayed, laughing at her nonsense, admiring Amy's taste, and +apparently enjoying themselves very much. Laurie and his friends +gallantly threw themselves into the breach, bought up the bouquets, +encamped before the table, and made that corner the liveliest spot in +the room. Amy was in her element now, and out of gratitude, if nothing +more, was as spritely and gracious as possible, coming to the +conclusion, about that time, that virtue was its own reward, after all. + +Jo behaved herself with exemplary propriety, and when Amy was happily +surrounded by her guard of honor, Jo circulated about the Hall, picking +up various bits of gossip, which enlightened her upon the subject of +the Chester change of base. She reproached herself for her share of +the ill feeling and resolved to exonerate Amy as soon as possible. She +also discovered what Amy had done about the things in the morning, and +considered her a model of magnanimity. As she passed the art table, +she glanced over it for her sister's things, but saw no sign of them. +"Tucked away out of sight, I dare say," thought Jo, who could forgive +her own wrongs, but hotly resented any insult offered her family. + +"Good evening, Miss Jo. How does Amy get on?" asked May with a +conciliatory air, for she wanted to show that she also could be +generous. + +"She has sold everything she had that was worth selling, and now she is +enjoying herself. The flower table is always attractive, you know, +'especially to gentlemen'." Jo couldn't resist giving that little slap, +but May took it so meekly she regretted it a minute after, and fell to +praising the great vases, which still remained unsold. + +"Is Amy's illumination anywhere about? I took a fancy to buy that for +Father," said Jo, very anxious to learn the fate of her sister's work. + +"Everything of Amy's sold long ago. I took care that the right people +saw them, and they made a nice little sum of money for us," returned +May, who had overcome sundry small temptations, as well as Amy had, +that day. + +Much gratified, Jo rushed back to tell the good news, and Amy looked +both touched and surprised by the report of May's word and manner. + +"Now, gentlemen, I want you to go and do your duty by the other tables +as generously as you have by mine, especially the art table," she said, +ordering out 'Teddy's own', as the girls called the college friends. + +"'Charge, Chester, charge!' is the motto for that table, but do your +duty like men, and you'll get your money's worth of art in every sense +of the word," said the irrepressible Jo, as the devoted phalanx +prepared to take the field. + +"To hear is to obey, but March is fairer far than May," said little +Parker, making a frantic effort to be both witty and tender, and +getting promptly quenched by Laurie, who said... + +"Very well, my son, for a small boy!" and walked him off, with a +paternal pat on the head. + +"Buy the vases," whispered Amy to Laurie, as a final heaping of coals +of fire on her enemy's head. + +To May's great delight, Mr. Laurence not only bought the vases, but +pervaded the hall with one under each arm. The other gentlemen +speculated with equal rashness in all sorts of frail trifles, and +wandered helplessly about afterward, burdened with wax flowers, painted +fans, filigree portfolios, and other useful and appropriate purchases. + +Aunt Carrol was there, heard the story, looked pleased, and said +something to Mrs. March in a corner, which made the latter lady beam +with satisfaction, and watch Amy with a face full of mingled pride and +anxiety, though she did not betray the cause of her pleasure till +several days later. + +The fair was pronounced a success, and when May bade Amy goodnight, she +did not gush as usual, but gave her an affectionate kiss, and a look +which said 'forgive and forget'. That satisfied Amy, and when she got +home she found the vases paraded on the parlor chimney piece with a +great bouquet in each. "The reward of merit for a magnanimous March," +as Laurie announced with a flourish. + +"You've a deal more principle and generosity and nobleness of character +than I ever gave you credit for, Amy. You've behaved sweetly, and I +respect you with all my heart," said Jo warmly, as they brushed their +hair together late that night. + +"Yes, we all do, and love her for being so ready to forgive. It must +have been dreadfully hard, after working so long and setting your heart +on selling your own pretty things. I don't believe I could have done +it as kindly as you did," added Beth from her pillow. + +"Why, girls, you needn't praise me so. I only did as I'd be done by. +You laugh at me when I say I want to be a lady, but I mean a true +gentlewoman in mind and manners, and I try to do it as far as I know +how. I can't explain exactly, but I want to be above the little +meannesses and follies and faults that spoil so many women. I'm far +from it now, but I do my best, and hope in time to be what Mother is." + +Amy spoke earnestly, and Jo said, with a cordial hug, "I understand now +what you mean, and I'll never laugh at you again. You are getting on +faster than you think, and I'll take lessons of you in true politeness, +for you've learned the secret, I believe. Try away, deary, you'll get +your reward some day, and no one will be more delighted than I shall." + +A week later Amy did get her reward, and poor Jo found it hard to be +delighted. A letter came from Aunt Carrol, and Mrs. March's face was +illuminated to such a degree when she read it that Jo and Beth, who +were with her, demanded what the glad tidings were. + +"Aunt Carrol is going abroad next month, and wants..." + +"Me to go with her!" burst in Jo, flying out of her chair in an +uncontrollable rapture. + +"No, dear, not you. It's Amy." + +"Oh, Mother! She's too young, it's my turn first. I've wanted it so +long. It would do me so much good, and be so altogether splendid. I +must go!" + +"I'm afraid it's impossible, Jo. Aunt says Amy, decidedly, and it is +not for us to dictate when she offers such a favor." + +"It's always so. Amy has all the fun and I have all the work. It isn't +fair, oh, it isn't fair!" cried Jo passionately. + +"I'm afraid it's partly your own fault, dear. When Aunt spoke to me +the other day, she regretted your blunt manners and too independent +spirit, and here she writes, as if quoting something you had said--'I +planned at first to ask Jo, but as 'favors burden her', and she 'hates +French', I think I won't venture to invite her. Amy is more docile, +will make a good companion for Flo, and receive gratefully any help the +trip may give her." + +"Oh, my tongue, my abominable tongue! Why can't I learn to keep it +quiet?" groaned Jo, remembering words which had been her undoing. When +she had heard the explanation of the quoted phrases, Mrs. March said +sorrowfully... + +"I wish you could have gone, but there is no hope of it this time, so +try to bear it cheerfully, and don't sadden Amy's pleasure by +reproaches or regrets." + +"I'll try," said Jo, winking hard as she knelt down to pick up the +basket she had joyfully upset. "I'll take a leaf out of her book, and +try not only to seem glad, but to be so, and not grudge her one minute +of happiness. But it won't be easy, for it is a dreadful +disappointment," and poor Jo bedewed the little fat pincushion she held +with several very bitter tears. + +"Jo, dear, I'm very selfish, but I couldn't spare you, and I'm glad you +are not going quite yet," whispered Beth, embracing her, basket and +all, with such a clinging touch and loving face that Jo felt comforted +in spite of the sharp regret that made her want to box her own ears, +and humbly beg Aunt Carrol to burden her with this favor, and see how +gratefully she would bear it. + +By the time Amy came in, Jo was able to take her part in the family +jubilation, not quite as heartily as usual, perhaps, but without +repinings at Amy's good fortune. The young lady herself received the +news as tidings of great joy, went about in a solemn sort of rapture, +and began to sort her colors and pack her pencils that evening, leaving +such trifles as clothes, money, and passports to those less absorbed in +visions of art than herself. + +"It isn't a mere pleasure trip to me, girls," she said impressively, as +she scraped her best palette. "It will decide my career, for if I have +any genius, I shall find it out in Rome, and will do something to prove +it." + +"Suppose you haven't?" said Jo, sewing away, with red eyes, at the new +collars which were to be handed over to Amy. + +"Then I shall come home and teach drawing for my living," replied the +aspirant for fame, with philosophic composure. But she made a wry face +at the prospect, and scratched away at her palette as if bent on +vigorous measures before she gave up her hopes. + +"No, you won't. You hate hard work, and you'll marry some rich man, +and come home to sit in the lap of luxury all your days," said Jo. + +"Your predictions sometimes come to pass, but I don't believe that one +will. I'm sure I wish it would, for if I can't be an artist myself, I +should like to be able to help those who are," said Amy, smiling, as if +the part of Lady Bountiful would suit her better than that of a poor +drawing teacher. + +"Hum!" said Jo, with a sigh. "If you wish it you'll have it, for your +wishes are always granted--mine never." + +"Would you like to go?" asked Amy, thoughtfully patting her nose with +her knife. + +"Rather!" + +"Well, in a year or two I'll send for you, and we'll dig in the Forum +for relics, and carry out all the plans we've made so many times." + +"Thank you. I'll remind you of your promise when that joyful day +comes, if it ever does," returned Jo, accepting the vague but +magnificent offer as gratefully as she could. + +There was not much time for preparation, and the house was in a ferment +till Amy was off. Jo bore up very well till the last flutter of blue +ribbon vanished, when she retired to her refuge, the garret, and cried +till she couldn't cry any more. Amy likewise bore up stoutly till the +steamer sailed. Then just as the gangway was about to be withdrawn, it +suddenly came over her that a whole ocean was soon to roll between her +and those who loved her best, and she clung to Laurie, the last +lingerer, saying with a sob... + +"Oh, take care of them for me, and if anything should happen..." + +"I will, dear, I will, and if anything happens, I'll come and comfort +you," whispered Laurie, little dreaming that he would be called upon to +keep his word. + +So Amy sailed away to find the Old World, which is always new and +beautiful to young eyes, while her father and friend watched her from +the shore, fervently hoping that none but gentle fortunes would befall +the happy-hearted girl, who waved her hand to them till they could see +nothing but the summer sunshine dazzling on the sea. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE + +OUR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT + +London + +Dearest People, Here I really sit at a front window of the Bath Hotel, +Piccadilly. It's not a fashionable place, but Uncle stopped here years +ago, and won't go anywhere else. However, we don't mean to stay long, +so it's no great matter. Oh, I can't begin to tell you how I enjoy it +all! I never can, so I'll only give you bits out of my notebook, for +I've done nothing but sketch and scribble since I started. + +I sent a line from Halifax, when I felt pretty miserable, but after +that I got on delightfully, seldom ill, on deck all day, with plenty of +pleasant people to amuse me. Everyone was very kind to me, especially +the officers. Don't laugh, Jo, gentlemen really are very necessary +aboard ship, to hold on to, or to wait upon one, and as they have +nothing to do, it's a mercy to make them useful, otherwise they would +smoke themselves to death, I'm afraid. + +Aunt and Flo were poorly all the way, and liked to be let alone, so +when I had done what I could for them, I went and enjoyed myself. Such +walks on deck, such sunsets, such splendid air and waves! It was +almost as exciting as riding a fast horse, when we went rushing on so +grandly. I wish Beth could have come, it would have done her so much +good. As for Jo, she would have gone up and sat on the maintop jib, or +whatever the high thing is called, made friends with the engineers, and +tooted on the captain's speaking trumpet, she'd have been in such a +state of rapture. + +It was all heavenly, but I was glad to see the Irish coast, and found +it very lovely, so green and sunny, with brown cabins here and there, +ruins on some of the hills, and gentlemen's countryseats in the +valleys, with deer feeding in the parks. It was early in the morning, +but I didn't regret getting up to see it, for the bay was full of +little boats, the shore so picturesque, and a rosy sky overhead. I +never shall forget it. + +At Queenstown one of my new acquaintances left us, Mr. Lennox, and when +I said something about the Lakes of Killarney, he sighed, and sung, +with a look at me... + + "Oh, have you e'er heard of Kate Kearney? + She lives on the banks of Killarney; + From the glance of her eye, + Shun danger and fly, + For fatal's the glance of Kate Kearney." + +Wasn't that nonsensical? + +We only stopped at Liverpool a few hours. It's a dirty, noisy place, +and I was glad to leave it. Uncle rushed out and bought a pair of +dogskin gloves, some ugly, thick shoes, and an umbrella, and got shaved +_a la_ mutton chop, the first thing. Then he flattered himself that he +looked like a true Briton, but the first time he had the mud cleaned +off his shoes, the little bootblack knew that an American stood in +them, and said, with a grin, "There yer har, sir. I've given 'em the +latest Yankee shine." It amused Uncle immensely. Oh, I must tell you +what that absurd Lennox did! He got his friend Ward, who came on with +us, to order a bouquet for me, and the first thing I saw in my room was +a lovely one, with "Robert Lennox's compliments," on the card. Wasn't +that fun, girls? I like traveling. + +I never shall get to London if I don't hurry. The trip was like riding +through a long picture gallery, full of lovely landscapes. The +farmhouses were my delight, with thatched roofs, ivy up to the eaves, +latticed windows, and stout women with rosy children at the doors. The +very cattle looked more tranquil than ours, as they stood knee-deep in +clover, and the hens had a contented cluck, as if they never got +nervous like Yankee biddies. Such perfect color I never saw, the grass +so green, sky so blue, grain so yellow, woods so dark, I was in a +rapture all the way. So was Flo, and we kept bouncing from one side to +the other, trying to see everything while we were whisking along at the +rate of sixty miles an hour. Aunt was tired and went to sleep, but +Uncle read his guidebook, and wouldn't be astonished at anything. This +is the way we went on. Amy, flying up--"Oh, that must be Kenilworth, +that gray place among the trees!" Flo, darting to my window--"How +sweet! We must go there sometime, won't we Papa?" Uncle, calmly +admiring his boots--"No, my dear, not unless you want beer, that's a +brewery." + +A pause--then Flo cried out, "Bless me, there's a gallows and a man +going up." "Where, where?" shrieks Amy, staring out at two tall posts +with a crossbeam and some dangling chains. "A colliery," remarks +Uncle, with a twinkle of the eye. "Here's a lovely flock of lambs all +lying down," says Amy. "See, Papa, aren't they pretty?" added Flo +sentimentally. "Geese, young ladies," returns Uncle, in a tone that +keeps us quiet till Flo settles down to enjoy the _Flirtations of +Captain Cavendish_, and I have the scenery all to myself. + +Of course it rained when we got to London, and there was nothing to be +seen but fog and umbrellas. We rested, unpacked, and shopped a little +between the showers. Aunt Mary got me some new things, for I came off +in such a hurry I wasn't half ready. A white hat and blue feather, a +muslin dress to match, and the loveliest mantle you ever saw. Shopping +in Regent Street is perfectly splendid. Things seem so cheap, nice +ribbons only sixpence a yard. I laid in a stock, but shall get my +gloves in Paris. Doesn't that sound sort of elegant and rich? + +Flo and I, for the fun of it, ordered a hansom cab, while Aunt and +Uncle were out, and went for a drive, though we learned afterward that +it wasn't the thing for young ladies to ride in them alone. It was so +droll! For when we were shut in by the wooden apron, the man drove so +fast that Flo was frightened, and told me to stop him, but he was up +outside behind somewhere, and I couldn't get at him. He didn't hear me +call, nor see me flap my parasol in front, and there we were, quite +helpless, rattling away, and whirling around corners at a breakneck +pace. At last, in my despair, I saw a little door in the roof, and on +poking it open, a red eye appeared, and a beery voice said... + +"Now, then, mum?" + +I gave my order as soberly as I could, and slamming down the door, with +an "Aye, aye, mum," the man made his horse walk, as if going to a +funeral. I poked again and said, "A little faster," then off he went, +helter-skelter as before, and we resigned ourselves to our fate. + +Today was fair, and we went to Hyde Park, close by, for we are more +aristocratic than we look. The Duke of Devonshire lives near. I often +see his footmen lounging at the back gate, and the Duke of Wellington's +house is not far off. Such sights as I saw, my dear! It was as good +as Punch, for there were fat dowagers rolling about in their red and +yellow coaches, with gorgeous Jeameses in silk stockings and velvet +coats, up behind, and powdered coachmen in front. Smart maids, with +the rosiest children I ever saw, handsome girls, looking half asleep, +dandies in queer English hats and lavender kids lounging about, and +tall soldiers, in short red jackets and muffin caps stuck on one side, +looking so funny I longed to sketch them. + +Rotten Row means 'Route de Roi', or the king's way, but now it's more +like a riding school than anything else. The horses are splendid, and +the men, especially the grooms, ride well, but the women are stiff, and +bounce, which isn't according to our rules. I longed to show them a +tearing American gallop, for they trotted solemnly up and down, in +their scant habits and high hats, looking like the women in a toy +Noah's Ark. Everyone rides--old men, stout ladies, little +children--and the young folks do a deal of flirting here, I saw a pair +exchange rose buds, for it's the thing to wear one in the button-hole, +and I thought it rather a nice little idea. + +In the P.M. to Westminster Abbey, but don't expect me to describe it, +that's impossible, so I'll only say it was sublime! This evening we are +going to see Fechter, which will be an appropriate end to the happiest +day of my life. + +It's very late, but I can't let my letter go in the morning without +telling you what happened last evening. Who do you think came in, as +we were at tea? Laurie's English friends, Fred and Frank Vaughn! I +was so surprised, for I shouldn't have known them but for the cards. +Both are tall fellows with whiskers, Fred handsome in the English +style, and Frank much better, for he only limps slightly, and uses no +crutches. They had heard from Laurie where we were to be, and came to +ask us to their house, but Uncle won't go, so we shall return the call, +and see them as we can. They went to the theater with us, and we did +have such a good time, for Frank devoted himself to Flo, and Fred and I +talked over past, present, and future fun as if we had known each other +all our days. Tell Beth Frank asked for her, and was sorry to hear of +her ill health. Fred laughed when I spoke of Jo, and sent his +'respectful compliments to the big hat'. Neither of them had forgotten +Camp Laurence, or the fun we had there. What ages ago it seems, +doesn't it? + +Aunt is tapping on the wall for the third time, so I must stop. I +really feel like a dissipated London fine lady, writing here so late, +with my room full of pretty things, and my head a jumble of parks, +theaters, new gowns, and gallant creatures who say "Ah!" and twirl +their blond mustaches with the true English lordliness. I long to see +you all, and in spite of my nonsense am, as ever, your loving... + +AMY + + +PARIS + +Dear girls, + +In my last I told you about our London visit, how kind the Vaughns +were, and what pleasant parties they made for us. I enjoyed the trips +to Hampton Court and the Kensington Museum more than anything else, for +at Hampton I saw Raphael's cartoons, and at the Museum, rooms full of +pictures by Turner, Lawrence, Reynolds, Hogarth, and the other great +creatures. The day in Richmond Park was charming, for we had a regular +English picnic, and I had more splendid oaks and groups of deer than I +could copy, also heard a nightingale, and saw larks go up. We 'did' +London to our heart's content, thanks to Fred and Frank, and were sorry +to go away, for though English people are slow to take you in, when +they once make up their minds to do it they cannot be outdone in +hospitality, I think. The Vaughns hope to meet us in Rome next winter, +and I shall be dreadfully disappointed if they don't, for Grace and I +are great friends, and the boys very nice fellows, especially Fred. + +Well, we were hardly settled here, when he turned up again, saying he +had come for a holiday, and was going to Switzerland. Aunt looked sober +at first, but he was so cool about it she couldn't say a word. And now +we get on nicely, and are very glad he came, for he speaks French like +a native, and I don't know what we should do without him. Uncle +doesn't know ten words, and insists on talking English very loud, as if +it would make people understand him. Aunt's pronunciation is +old-fashioned, and Flo and I, though we flattered ourselves that we +knew a good deal, find we don't, and are very grateful to have Fred do +the '_parley vooing_', as Uncle calls it. + +Such delightful times as we are having! Sight-seeing from morning till +night, stopping for nice lunches in the gay _cafes_, and meeting with +all sorts of droll adventures. Rainy days I spend in the Louvre, +revelling in pictures. Jo would turn up her naughty nose at some of +the finest, because she has no soul for art, but I have, and I'm +cultivating eye and taste as fast as I can. She would like the relics +of great people better, for I've seen her Napoleon's cocked hat and +gray coat, his baby's cradle and his old toothbrush, also Marie +Antoinette's little shoe, the ring of Saint Denis, Charlemagne's sword, +and many other interesting things. I'll talk for hours about them when +I come, but haven't time to write. + +The Palais Royale is a heavenly place, so full of _bijouterie_ and +lovely things that I'm nearly distracted because I can't buy them. +Fred wanted to get me some, but of course I didn't allow it. Then the +Bois and Champs Elysees are _tres magnifique_. I've seen the imperial +family several times, the emperor an ugly, hard-looking man, the +empress pale and pretty, but dressed in bad taste, I thought--purple +dress, green hat, and yellow gloves. Little Nap is a handsome boy, who +sits chatting to his tutor, and kisses his hand to the people as he +passes in his four-horse barouche, with postilions in red satin jackets +and a mounted guard before and behind. + +We often walk in the Tuileries Gardens, for they are lovely, though the +antique Luxembourg Gardens suit me better. Pere la Chaise is very +curious, for many of the tombs are like small rooms, and looking in, +one sees a table, with images or pictures of the dead, and chairs for +the mourners to sit in when they come to lament. That is so Frenchy. + +Our rooms are on the Rue de Rivoli, and sitting on the balcony, we look +up and down the long, brilliant street. It is so pleasant that we +spend our evenings talking there when too tired with our day's work to +go out. Fred is very entertaining, and is altogether the most +agreeable young man I ever knew--except Laurie, whose manners are more +charming. I wish Fred was dark, for I don't fancy light men, however, +the Vaughns are very rich and come of an excellent family, so I won't +find fault with their yellow hair, as my own is yellower. + +Next week we are off to Germany and Switzerland, and as we shall travel +fast, I shall only be able to give you hasty letters. I keep my diary, +and try to 'remember correctly and describe clearly all that I see and +admire', as Father advised. It is good practice for me, and with my +sketchbook will give you a better idea of my tour than these scribbles. + +Adieu, I embrace you tenderly. _"Votre Amie."_ + + +HEIDELBERG + +My dear Mamma, + +Having a quiet hour before we leave for Berne, I'll try to tell you +what has happened, for some of it is very important, as you will see. + +The sail up the Rhine was perfect, and I just sat and enjoyed it with +all my might. Get Father's old guidebooks and read about it. I +haven't words beautiful enough to describe it. At Coblentz we had a +lovely time, for some students from Bonn, with whom Fred got acquainted +on the boat, gave us a serenade. It was a moonlight night, and about +one o'clock Flo and I were waked by the most delicious music under our +windows. We flew up, and hid behind the curtains, but sly peeps showed +us Fred and the students singing away down below. It was the most +romantic thing I ever saw--the river, the bridge of boats, the great +fortress opposite, moonlight everywhere, and music fit to melt a heart +of stone. + +When they were done we threw down some flowers, and saw them scramble +for them, kiss their hands to the invisible ladies, and go laughing +away, to smoke and drink beer, I suppose. Next morning Fred showed me +one of the crumpled flowers in his vest pocket, and looked very +sentimental. I laughed at him, and said I didn't throw it, but Flo, +which seemed to disgust him, for he tossed it out of the window, and +turned sensible again. I'm afraid I'm going to have trouble with that +boy, it begins to look like it. + +The baths at Nassau were very gay, so was Baden-Baden, where Fred lost +some money, and I scolded him. He needs someone to look after him when +Frank is not with him. Kate said once she hoped he'd marry soon, and I +quite agree with her that it would be well for him. Frankfurt was +delightful. I saw Goethe's house, Schiller's statue, and Dannecker's +famous 'Ariadne.' It was very lovely, but I should have enjoyed it +more if I had known the story better. I didn't like to ask, as +everyone knew it or pretended they did. I wish Jo would tell me all +about it. I ought to have read more, for I find I don't know anything, +and it mortifies me. + +Now comes the serious part, for it happened here, and Fred has just +gone. He has been so kind and jolly that we all got quite fond of him. +I never thought of anything but a traveling friendship till the +serenade night. Since then I've begun to feel that the moonlight +walks, balcony talks, and daily adventures were something more to him +than fun. I haven't flirted, Mother, truly, but remembered what you +said to me, and have done my very best. I can't help it if people like +me. I don't try to make them, and it worries me if I don't care for +them, though Jo says I haven't got any heart. Now I know Mother will +shake her head, and the girls say, "Oh, the mercenary little wretch!", +but I've made up my mind, and if Fred asks me, I shall accept him, +though I'm not madly in love. I like him, and we get on comfortably +together. He is handsome, young, clever enough, and very rich--ever so +much richer than the Laurences. I don't think his family would object, +and I should be very happy, for they are all kind, well-bred, generous +people, and they like me. Fred, as the eldest twin, will have the +estate, I suppose, and such a splendid one it is! A city house in a +fashionable street, not so showy as our big houses, but twice as +comfortable and full of solid luxury, such as English people believe +in. I like it, for it's genuine. I've seen the plate, the family +jewels, the old servants, and pictures of the country place, with its +park, great house, lovely grounds, and fine horses. Oh, it would be +all I should ask! And I'd rather have it than any title such as girls +snap up so readily, and find nothing behind. I may be mercenary, but I +hate poverty, and don't mean to bear it a minute longer than I can +help. One of us _must_ marry well. Meg didn't, Jo won't, Beth can't +yet, so I shall, and make everything okay all round. I wouldn't marry +a man I hated or despised. You may be sure of that, and though Fred is +not my model hero, he does very well, and in time I should get fond +enough of him if he was very fond of me, and let me do just as I liked. +So I've been turning the matter over in my mind the last week, for it +was impossible to help seeing that Fred liked me. He said nothing, but +little things showed it. He never goes with Flo, always gets on my +side of the carriage, table, or promenade, looks sentimental when we +are alone, and frowns at anyone else who ventures to speak to me. +Yesterday at dinner, when an Austrian officer stared at us and then +said something to his friend, a rakish-looking baron, about '_ein +wonderschones Blondchen'_, Fred looked as fierce as a lion, and cut his +meat so savagely it nearly flew off his plate. He isn't one of the +cool, stiff Englishmen, but is rather peppery, for he has Scotch blood +in him, as one might guess from his bonnie blue eyes. + +Well, last evening we went up to the castle about sunset, at least all +of us but Fred, who was to meet us there after going to the Post +Restante for letters. We had a charming time poking about the ruins, +the vaults where the monster tun is, and the beautiful gardens made by +the elector long ago for his English wife. I liked the great terrace +best, for the view was divine, so while the rest went to see the rooms +inside, I sat there trying to sketch the gray stone lion's head on the +wall, with scarlet woodbine sprays hanging round it. I felt as if I'd +got into a romance, sitting there, watching the Neckar rolling through +the valley, listening to the music of the Austrian band below, and +waiting for my lover, like a real storybook girl. I had a feeling that +something was going to happen and I was ready for it. I didn't feel +blushy or quakey, but quite cool and only a little excited. + +By-and-by I heard Fred's voice, and then he came hurrying through the +great arch to find me. He looked so troubled that I forgot all about +myself, and asked what the matter was. He said he'd just got a letter +begging him to come home, for Frank was very ill. So he was going at +once on the night train and only had time to say good-by. I was very +sorry for him, and disappointed for myself, but only for a minute +because he said, as he shook hands, and said it in a way that I could +not mistake, "I shall soon come back, you won't forget me, Amy?" + +I didn't promise, but I looked at him, and he seemed satisfied, and +there was no time for anything but messages and good-byes, for he was +off in an hour, and we all miss him very much. I know he wanted to +speak, but I think, from something he once hinted, that he had promised +his father not to do anything of the sort yet a while, for he is a rash +boy, and the old gentleman dreads a foreign daughter-in-law. We shall +soon meet in Rome, and then, if I don't change my mind, I'll say "Yes, +thank you," when he says "Will you, please?" + +Of course this is all _very private_, but I wished you to know what was +going on. Don't be anxious about me, remember I am your 'prudent Amy', +and be sure I will do nothing rashly. Send me as much advice as you +like. I'll use it if I can. I wish I could see you for a good talk, +Marmee. Love and trust me. + +Ever your AMY + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO + +TENDER TROUBLES + +"Jo, I'm anxious about Beth." + +"Why, Mother, she has seemed unusually well since the babies came." + +"It's not her health that troubles me now, it's her spirits. I'm sure +there is something on her mind, and I want you to discover what it is." + +"What makes you think so, Mother?" + +"She sits alone a good deal, and doesn't talk to her father as much as +she used. I found her crying over the babies the other day. When she +sings, the songs are always sad ones, and now and then I see a look in +her face that I don't understand. This isn't like Beth, and it worries +me." + +"Have you asked her about it?" + +"I have tried once or twice, but she either evaded my questions or +looked so distressed that I stopped. I never force my children's +confidence, and I seldom have to wait for long." + +Mrs. March glanced at Jo as she spoke, but the face opposite seemed +quite unconscious of any secret disquietude but Beth's, and after +sewing thoughtfully for a minute, Jo said, "I think she is growing up, +and so begins to dream dreams, and have hopes and fears and fidgets, +without knowing why or being able to explain them. Why, Mother, Beth's +eighteen, but we don't realize it, and treat her like a child, +forgetting she's a woman." + +"So she is. Dear heart, how fast you do grow up," returned her mother +with a sigh and a smile. + +"Can't be helped, Marmee, so you must resign yourself to all sorts of +worries, and let your birds hop out of the nest, one by one. I promise +never to hop very far, if that is any comfort to you." + +"It's a great comfort, Jo. I always feel strong when you are at home, +now Meg is gone. Beth is too feeble and Amy too young to depend upon, +but when the tug comes, you are always ready." + +"Why, you know I don't mind hard jobs much, and there must always be +one scrub in a family. Amy is splendid in fine works and I'm not, but +I feel in my element when all the carpets are to be taken up, or half +the family fall sick at once. Amy is distinguishing herself abroad, but +if anything is amiss at home, I'm your man." + +"I leave Beth to your hands, then, for she will open her tender little +heart to her Jo sooner than to anyone else. Be very kind, and don't +let her think anyone watches or talks about her. If she only would get +quite strong and cheerful again, I shouldn't have a wish in the world." + +"Happy woman! I've got heaps." + +"My dear, what are they?" + +"I'll settle Bethy's troubles, and then I'll tell you mine. They are +not very wearing, so they'll keep." and Jo stitched away, with a wise +nod which set her mother's heart at rest about her for the present at +least. + +While apparently absorbed in her own affairs, Jo watched Beth, and +after many conflicting conjectures, finally settled upon one which +seemed to explain the change in her. A slight incident gave Jo the +clue to the mystery, she thought, and lively fancy, loving heart did +the rest. She was affecting to write busily one Saturday afternoon, +when she and Beth were alone together. Yet as she scribbled, she kept +her eye on her sister, who seemed unusually quiet. Sitting at the +window, Beth's work often dropped into her lap, and she leaned her head +upon her hand, in a dejected attitude, while her eyes rested on the +dull, autumnal landscape. Suddenly some one passed below, whistling +like an operatic blackbird, and a voice called out, "All serene! Coming +in tonight." + +Beth started, leaned forward, smiled and nodded, watched the passer-by +till his quick tramp died away, then said softly as if to herself, "How +strong and well and happy that dear boy looks." + +"Hum!" said Jo, still intent upon her sister's face, for the bright +color faded as quickly as it came, the smile vanished, and presently a +tear lay shining on the window ledge. Beth whisked it off, and in her +half-averted face read a tender sorrow that made her own eyes fill. +Fearing to betray herself, she slipped away, murmuring something about +needing more paper. + +"Mercy on me, Beth loves Laurie!" she said, sitting down in her own +room, pale with the shock of the discovery which she believed she had +just made. "I never dreamed of such a thing. What will Mother say? I +wonder if her..." there Jo stopped and turned scarlet with a sudden +thought. "If he shouldn't love back again, how dreadful it would be. +He must. I'll make him!" and she shook her head threateningly at the +picture of the mischievous-looking boy laughing at her from the wall. +"Oh dear, we are growing up with a vengeance. Here's Meg married and a +mamma, Amy flourishing away at Paris, and Beth in love. I'm the only +one that has sense enough to keep out of mischief." Jo thought intently +for a minute with her eyes fixed on the picture, then she smoothed out +her wrinkled forehead and said, with a decided nod at the face +opposite, "No thank you, sir, you're very charming, but you've no more +stability than a weathercock. So you needn't write touching notes and +smile in that insinuating way, for it won't do a bit of good, and I +won't have it." + +Then she sighed, and fell into a reverie from which she did not wake +till the early twilight sent her down to take new observations, which +only confirmed her suspicion. Though Laurie flirted with Amy and joked +with Jo, his manner to Beth had always been peculiarly kind and gentle, +but so was everybody's. Therefore, no one thought of imagining that he +cared more for her than for the others. Indeed, a general impression +had prevailed in the family of late that 'our boy' was getting fonder +than ever of Jo, who, however, wouldn't hear a word upon the subject +and scolded violently if anyone dared to suggest it. If they had known +the various tender passages which had been nipped in the bud, they +would have had the immense satisfaction of saying, "I told you so." +But Jo hated 'philandering', and wouldn't allow it, always having a +joke or a smile ready at the least sign of impending danger. + +When Laurie first went to college, he fell in love about once a month, +but these small flames were as brief as ardent, did no damage, and much +amused Jo, who took great interest in the alternations of hope, +despair, and resignation, which were confided to her in their weekly +conferences. But there came a time when Laurie ceased to worship at +many shrines, hinted darkly at one all-absorbing passion, and indulged +occasionally in Byronic fits of gloom. Then he avoided the tender +subject altogether, wrote philosophical notes to Jo, turned studious, +and gave out that he was going to 'dig', intending to graduate in a +blaze of glory. This suited the young lady better than twilight +confidences, tender pressures of the hand, and eloquent glances of the +eye, for with Jo, brain developed earlier than heart, and she preferred +imaginary heroes to real ones, because when tired of them, the former +could be shut up in the tin kitchen till called for, and the latter +were less manageable. + +Things were in this state when the grand discovery was made, and Jo +watched Laurie that night as she had never done before. If she had not +got the new idea into her head, she would have seen nothing unusual in +the fact that Beth was very quiet, and Laurie very kind to her. But +having given the rein to her lively fancy, it galloped away with her at +a great pace, and common sense, being rather weakened by a long course +of romance writing, did not come to the rescue. As usual Beth lay on +the sofa and Laurie sat in a low chair close by, amusing her with all +sorts of gossip, for she depended on her weekly 'spin', and he never +disappointed her. But that evening Jo fancied that Beth's eyes rested +on the lively, dark face beside her with peculiar pleasure, and that +she listened with intense interest to an account of some exciting +cricket match, though the phrases, 'caught off a tice', 'stumped off +his ground', and 'the leg hit for three', were as intelligible to her +as Sanskrit. She also fancied, having set her heart upon seeing it, +that she saw a certain increase of gentleness in Laurie's manner, that +he dropped his voice now and then, laughed less than usual, was a +little absent-minded, and settled the afghan over Beth's feet with an +assiduity that was really almost tender. + +"Who knows? Stranger things have happened," thought Jo, as she fussed +about the room. "She will make quite an angel of him, and he will make +life delightfully easy and pleasant for the dear, if they only love +each other. I don't see how he can help it, and I do believe he would +if the rest of us were out of the way." + +As everyone was out of the way but herself, Jo began to feel that she +ought to dispose of herself with all speed. But where should she go? +And burning to lay herself upon the shrine of sisterly devotion, she +sat down to settle that point. + +Now, the old sofa was a regular patriarch of a sofa--long, broad, +well-cushioned, and low, a trifle shabby, as well it might be, for the +girls had slept and sprawled on it as babies, fished over the back, +rode on the arms, and had menageries under it as children, and rested +tired heads, dreamed dreams, and listened to tender talk on it as young +women. They all loved it, for it was a family refuge, and one corner +had always been Jo's favorite lounging place. Among the many pillows +that adorned the venerable couch was one, hard, round, covered with +prickly horsehair, and furnished with a knobby button at each end. +This repulsive pillow was her especial property, being used as a weapon +of defense, a barricade, or a stern preventive of too much slumber. + +Laurie knew this pillow well, and had cause to regard it with deep +aversion, having been unmercifully pummeled with it in former days when +romping was allowed, and now frequently debarred by it from the seat he +most coveted next to Jo in the sofa corner. If 'the sausage' as they +called it, stood on end, it was a sign that he might approach and +repose, but if it lay flat across the sofa, woe to man, woman, or child +who dared disturb it! That evening Jo forgot to barricade her corner, +and had not been in her seat five minutes, before a massive form +appeared beside her, and with both arms spread over the sofa back, both +long legs stretched out before him, Laurie exclaimed, with a sigh of +satisfaction... + +"Now, this is filling at the price." + +"No slang," snapped Jo, slamming down the pillow. But it was too late, +there was no room for it, and coasting onto the floor, it disappeared +in a most mysterious manner. + +"Come, Jo, don't be thorny. After studying himself to a skeleton all +the week, a fellow deserves petting and ought to get it." + +"Beth will pet you. I'm busy." + +"No, she's not to be bothered with me, but you like that sort of thing, +unless you've suddenly lost your taste for it. Have you? Do you hate +your boy, and want to fire pillows at him?" + +Anything more wheedlesome than that touching appeal was seldom heard, +but Jo quenched 'her boy' by turning on him with a stern query, "How +many bouquets have you sent Miss Randal this week?" + +"Not one, upon my word. She's engaged. Now then." + +"I'm glad of it, that's one of your foolish extravagances, sending +flowers and things to girls for whom you don't care two pins," +continued Jo reprovingly. + +"Sensible girls for whom I do care whole papers of pins won't let me +send them 'flowers and things', so what can I do? My feelings need a +'vent'." + +"Mother doesn't approve of flirting even in fun, and you do flirt +desperately, Teddy." + +"I'd give anything if I could answer, 'So do you'. As I can't, I'll +merely say that I don't see any harm in that pleasant little game, if +all parties understand that it's only play." + +"Well, it does look pleasant, but I can't learn how it's done. I've +tried, because one feels awkward in company not to do as everybody else +is doing, but I don't seem to get on", said Jo, forgetting to play +mentor. + +"Take lessons of Amy, she has a regular talent for it." + +"Yes, she does it very prettily, and never seems to go too far. I +suppose it's natural to some people to please without trying, and +others to always say and do the wrong thing in the wrong place." + +"I'm glad you can't flirt. It's really refreshing to see a sensible, +straightforward girl, who can be jolly and kind without making a fool +of herself. Between ourselves, Jo, some of the girls I know really do +go on at such a rate I'm ashamed of them. They don't mean any harm, I'm +sure, but if they knew how we fellows talked about them afterward, +they'd mend their ways, I fancy." + +"They do the same, and as their tongues are the sharpest, you fellows +get the worst of it, for you are as silly as they, every bit. If you +behaved properly, they would, but knowing you like their nonsense, they +keep it up, and then you blame them." + +"Much you know about it, ma'am," said Laurie in a superior tone. "We +don't like romps and flirts, though we may act as if we did sometimes. +The pretty, modest girls are never talked about, except respectfully, +among gentleman. Bless your innocent soul! If you could be in my place +for a month you'd see things that would astonish you a trifle. Upon my +word, when I see one of those harum-scarum girls, I always want to say +with our friend Cock Robin... + + "Out upon you, fie upon you, + Bold-faced jig!" + +It was impossible to help laughing at the funny conflict between +Laurie's chivalrous reluctance to speak ill of womankind, and his very +natural dislike of the unfeminine folly of which fashionable society +showed him many samples. Jo knew that 'young Laurence' was regarded as +a most eligible parti by worldly mamas, was much smiled upon by their +daughters, and flattered enough by ladies of all ages to make a coxcomb +of him, so she watched him rather jealously, fearing he would be +spoiled, and rejoiced more than she confessed to find that he still +believed in modest girls. Returning suddenly to her admonitory tone, +she said, dropping her voice, "If you must have a 'vent', Teddy, go and +devote yourself to one of the 'pretty, modest girls' whom you do +respect, and not waste your time with the silly ones." + +"You really advise it?" and Laurie looked at her with an odd mixture of +anxiety and merriment in his face. + +"Yes, I do, but you'd better wait till you are through college, on the +whole, and be fitting yourself for the place meantime. You're not half +good enough for--well, whoever the modest girl may be." and Jo looked a +little queer likewise, for a name had almost escaped her. + +"That I'm not!" acquiesced Laurie, with an expression of humility quite +new to him, as he dropped his eyes and absently wound Jo's apron tassel +round his finger. + +"Mercy on us, this will never do," thought Jo, adding aloud, "Go and +sing to me. I'm dying for some music, and always like yours." + +"I'd rather stay here, thank you." + +"Well, you can't, there isn't room. Go and make yourself useful, since +you are too big to be ornamental. I thought you hated to be tied to a +woman's apron string?" retorted Jo, quoting certain rebellious words of +his own. + +"Ah, that depends on who wears the apron!" and Laurie gave an audacious +tweak at the tassel. + +"Are you going?" demanded Jo, diving for the pillow. + +He fled at once, and the minute it was well, "Up with the bonnets of +bonnie Dundee," she slipped away to return no more till the young +gentleman departed in high dudgeon. + +Jo lay long awake that night, and was just dropping off when the sound +of a stifled sob made her fly to Beth's bedside, with the anxious +inquiry, "What is it, dear?" + +"I thought you were asleep," sobbed Beth. + +"Is it the old pain, my precious?" + +"No, it's a new one, but I can bear it," and Beth tried to check her +tears. + +"Tell me all about it, and let me cure it as I often did the other." + +"You can't, there is no cure." There Beth's voice gave way, and +clinging to her sister, she cried so despairingly that Jo was +frightened. + +"Where is it? Shall I call Mother?" + +"No, no, don't call her, don't tell her. I shall be better soon. Lie +down here and 'poor' my head. I'll be quiet and go to sleep, indeed I +will." + +Jo obeyed, but as her hand went softly to and fro across Beth's hot +forehead and wet eyelids, her heart was very full and she longed to +speak. But young as she was, Jo had learned that hearts, like flowers, +cannot be rudely handled, but must open naturally, so though she +believed she knew the cause of Beth's new pain, she only said, in her +tenderest tone, "Does anything trouble you, deary?" + +"Yes, Jo," after a long pause. + +"Wouldn't it comfort you to tell me what it is?" + +"Not now, not yet." + +"Then I won't ask, but remember, Bethy, that Mother and Jo are always +glad to hear and help you, if they can." + +"I know it. I'll tell you by-and-by." + +"Is the pain better now?" + +"Oh, yes, much better, you are so comfortable, Jo." + +"Go to sleep, dear. I'll stay with you." + +So cheek to cheek they fell asleep, and on the morrow Beth seemed quite +herself again, for at eighteen neither heads nor hearts ache long, and +a loving word can medicine most ills. + +But Jo had made up her mind, and after pondering over a project for +some days, she confided it to her mother. + +"You asked me the other day what my wishes were. I'll tell you one of +them, Marmee," she began, as they sat along together. "I want to go +away somewhere this winter for a change." + +"Why, Jo?" and her mother looked up quickly, as if the words suggested +a double meaning. + +With her eyes on her work Jo answered soberly, "I want something new. +I feel restless and anxious to be seeing, doing, and learning more than +I am. I brood too much over my own small affairs, and need stirring +up, so as I can be spared this winter, I'd like to hop a little way and +try my wings." + +"Where will you hop?" + +"To New York. I had a bright idea yesterday, and this is it. You know +Mrs. Kirke wrote to you for some respectable young person to teach her +children and sew. It's rather hard to find just the thing, but I think +I should suit if I tried." + +"My dear, go out to service in that great boarding house!" and Mrs. +March looked surprised, but not displeased. + +"It's not exactly going out to service, for Mrs. Kirke is your +friend--the kindest soul that ever lived--and would make things +pleasant for me, I know. Her family is separate from the rest, and no +one knows me there. Don't care if they do. It's honest work, and I'm +not ashamed of it." + +"Nor I. But your writing?" + +"All the better for the change. I shall see and hear new things, get +new ideas, and even if I haven't much time there, I shall bring home +quantities of material for my rubbish." + +"I have no doubt of it, but are these your only reasons for this sudden +fancy?" + +"No, Mother." + +"May I know the others?" + +Jo looked up and Jo looked down, then said slowly, with sudden color in +her cheeks. "It may be vain and wrong to say it, but--I'm +afraid--Laurie is getting too fond of me." + +"Then you don't care for him in the way it is evident he begins to care +for you?" and Mrs. March looked anxious as she put the question. + +"Mercy, no! I love the dear boy, as I always have, and am immensely +proud of him, but as for anything more, it's out of the question." + +"I'm glad of that, Jo." + +"Why, please?" + +"Because, dear, I don't think you suited to one another. As friends +you are very happy, and your frequent quarrels soon blow over, but I +fear you would both rebel if you were mated for life. You are too much +alike and too fond of freedom, not to mention hot tempers and strong +wills, to get on happily together, in a relation which needs infinite +patience and forbearance, as well as love." + +"That's just the feeling I had, though I couldn't express it. I'm glad +you think he is only beginning to care for me. It would trouble me +sadly to make him unhappy, for I couldn't fall in love with the dear +old fellow merely out of gratitude, could I?" + +"You are sure of his feeling for you?" + +The color deepened in Jo's cheeks as she answered, with the look of +mingled pleasure, pride, and pain which young girls wear when speaking +of first lovers, "I'm afraid it is so, Mother. He hasn't said +anything, but he looks a great deal. I think I had better go away +before it comes to anything." + +"I agree with you, and if it can be managed you shall go." + +Jo looked relieved, and after a pause, said, smiling, "How Mrs. Moffat +would wonder at your want of management, if she knew, and how she will +rejoice that Annie may still hope." + +"Ah, Jo, mothers may differ in their management, but the hope is the +same in all--the desire to see their children happy. Meg is so, and I +am content with her success. You I leave to enjoy your liberty till +you tire of it, for only then will you find that there is something +sweeter. Amy is my chief care now, but her good sense will help her. +For Beth, I indulge no hopes except that she may be well. By the way, +she seems brighter this last day or two. Have you spoken to her?' + +"Yes, she owned she had a trouble, and promised to tell me by-and-by. +I said no more, for I think I know it," and Jo told her little story. + +Mrs. March shook her head, and did not take so romantic a view of the +case, but looked grave, and repeated her opinion that for Laurie's sake +Jo should go away for a time. + +"Let us say nothing about it to him till the plan is settled, then I'll +run away before he can collect his wits and be tragic. Beth must think +I'm going to please myself, as I am, for I can't talk about Laurie to +her. But she can pet and comfort him after I'm gone, and so cure him +of this romantic notion. He's been through so many little trials of +the sort, he's used to it, and will soon get over his lovelornity." + +Jo spoke hopefully, but could not rid herself of the foreboding fear +that this 'little trial' would be harder than the others, and that +Laurie would not get over his 'lovelornity' as easily as heretofore. + +The plan was talked over in a family council and agreed upon, for Mrs. +Kirke gladly accepted Jo, and promised to make a pleasant home for her. +The teaching would render her independent, and such leisure as she got +might be made profitable by writing, while the new scenes and society +would be both useful and agreeable. Jo liked the prospect and was +eager to be gone, for the home nest was growing too narrow for her +restless nature and adventurous spirit. When all was settled, with +fear and trembling she told Laurie, but to her surprise he took it very +quietly. He had been graver than usual of late, but very pleasant, and +when jokingly accused of turning over a new leaf, he answered soberly, +"So I am, and I mean this one shall stay turned." + +Jo was very much relieved that one of his virtuous fits should come on +just then, and made her preparations with a lightened heart, for Beth +seemed more cheerful, and hoped she was doing the best for all. + +"One thing I leave in your especial care," she said, the night before +she left. + +"You mean your papers?" asked Beth. + +"No, my boy. Be very good to him, won't you?" + +"Of course I will, but I can't fill your place, and he'll miss you +sadly." + +"It won't hurt him, so remember, I leave him in your charge, to plague, +pet, and keep in order." + +"I'll do my best, for your sake," promised Beth, wondering why Jo +looked at her so queerly. + +When Laurie said good-by, he whispered significantly, "It won't do a +bit of good, Jo. My eye is on you, so mind what you do, or I'll come +and bring you home." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE + +JO'S JOURNAL + +New York, November + +Dear Marmee and Beth, + +I'm going to write you a regular volume, for I've got heaps to tell, +though I'm not a fine young lady traveling on the continent. When I +lost sight of Father's dear old face, I felt a trifle blue, and might +have shed a briny drop or two, if an Irish lady with four small +children, all crying more or less, hadn't diverted my mind, for I +amused myself by dropping gingerbread nuts over the seat every time +they opened their mouths to roar. + +Soon the sun came out, and taking it as a good omen, I cleared up +likewise and enjoyed my journey with all my heart. + +Mrs. Kirke welcomed me so kindly I felt at home at once, even in that +big house full of strangers. She gave me a funny little sky +parlor--all she had, but there is a stove in it, and a nice table in a +sunny window, so I can sit here and write whenever I like. A fine view +and a church tower opposite atone for the many stairs, and I took a +fancy to my den on the spot. The nursery, where I am to teach and sew, +is a pleasant room next Mrs. Kirke's private parlor, and the two little +girls are pretty children, rather spoiled, I fancy, but they took to me +after telling them The Seven Bad Pigs, and I've no doubt I shall make a +model governess. + +I am to have my meals with the children, if I prefer it to the great +table, and for the present I do, for I am bashful, though no one will +believe it. + +"Now, my dear, make yourself at home," said Mrs. K. in her motherly +way, "I'm on the drive from morning to night, as you may suppose with +such a family, but a great anxiety will be off my mind if I know the +children are safe with you. My rooms are always open to you, and your +own shall be as comfortable as I can make it. There are some pleasant +people in the house if you feel sociable, and your evenings are always +free. Come to me if anything goes wrong, and be as happy as you can. +There's the tea bell, I must run and change my cap." And off she +bustled, leaving me to settle myself in my new nest. + +As I went downstairs soon after, I saw something I liked. The flights +are very long in this tall house, and as I stood waiting at the head of +the third one for a little servant girl to lumber up, I saw a gentleman +come along behind her, take the heavy hod of coal out of her hand, +carry it all the way up, put it down at a door near by, and walk away, +saying, with a kind nod and a foreign accent, "It goes better so. The +little back is too young to haf such heaviness." + +Wasn't it good of him? I like such things, for as Father says, trifles +show character. When I mentioned it to Mrs. K., that evening, she +laughed, and said, "That must have been Professor Bhaer, he's always +doing things of that sort." + +Mrs. K. told me he was from Berlin, very learned and good, but poor as +a church mouse, and gives lessons to support himself and two little +orphan nephews whom he is educating here, according to the wishes of +his sister, who married an American. Not a very romantic story, but it +interested me, and I was glad to hear that Mrs. K. lends him her +parlor for some of his scholars. There is a glass door between it and +the nursery, and I mean to peep at him, and then I'll tell you how he +looks. He's almost forty, so it's no harm, Marmee. + +After tea and a go-to-bed romp with the little girls, I attacked the +big workbasket, and had a quiet evening chatting with my new friend. I +shall keep a journal-letter, and send it once a week, so goodnight, and +more tomorrow. + +Tuesday Eve + +Had a lively time in my seminary this morning, for the children acted +like Sancho, and at one time I really thought I should shake them all +round. Some good angel inspired me to try gymnastics, and I kept it up +till they were glad to sit down and keep still. After luncheon, the +girl took them out for a walk, and I went to my needlework like little +Mabel 'with a willing mind'. I was thanking my stars that I'd learned +to make nice buttonholes, when the parlor door opened and shut, and +someone began to hum, Kennst Du Das Land, like a big bumblebee. It was +dreadfully improper, I know, but I couldn't resist the temptation, and +lifting one end of the curtain before the glass door, I peeped in. +Professor Bhaer was there, and while he arranged his books, I took a +good look at him. A regular German--rather stout, with brown hair +tumbled all over his head, a bushy beard, good nose, the kindest eyes I +ever saw, and a splendid big voice that does one's ears good, after our +sharp or slipshod American gabble. His clothes were rusty, his hands +were large, and he hadn't a really handsome feature in his face, except +his beautiful teeth, yet I liked him, for he had a fine head, his linen +was very nice, and he looked like a gentleman, though two buttons were +off his coat and there was a patch on one shoe. He looked sober in +spite of his humming, till he went to the window to turn the hyacinth +bulbs toward the sun, and stroke the cat, who received him like an old +friend. Then he smiled, and when a tap came at the door, called out in +a loud, brisk tone, "Herein!" + +I was just going to run, when I caught sight of a morsel of a child +carrying a big book, and stopped, to see what was going on. + +"Me wants me Bhaer," said the mite, slamming down her book and running +to meet him. + +"Thou shalt haf thy Bhaer. Come, then, and take a goot hug from him, +my Tina," said the Professor, catching her up with a laugh, and holding +her so high over his head that she had to stoop her little face to kiss +him. + +"Now me mus tuddy my lessin," went on the funny little thing. So he +put her up at the table, opened the great dictionary she had brought, +and gave her a paper and pencil, and she scribbled away, turning a leaf +now and then, and passing her little fat finger down the page, as if +finding a word, so soberly that I nearly betrayed myself by a laugh, +while Mr. Bhaer stood stroking her pretty hair with a fatherly look +that made me think she must be his own, though she looked more French +than German. + +Another knock and the appearance of two young ladies sent me back to my +work, and there I virtuously remained through all the noise and +gabbling that went on next door. One of the girls kept laughing +affectedly, and saying, "Now Professor," in a coquettish tone, and the +other pronounced her German with an accent that must have made it hard +for him to keep sober. + +Both seemed to try his patience sorely, for more than once I heard him +say emphatically, "No, no, it is not so, you haf not attend to what I +say," and once there was a loud rap, as if he struck the table with his +book, followed by the despairing exclamation, "Prut! It all goes bad +this day." + +Poor man, I pitied him, and when the girls were gone, took just one +more peep to see if he survived it. He seemed to have thrown himself +back in his chair, tired out, and sat there with his eyes shut till the +clock struck two, when he jumped up, put his books in his pocket, as if +ready for another lesson, and taking little Tina who had fallen asleep +on the sofa in his arms, he carried her quietly away. I fancy he has a +hard life of it. Mrs. Kirke asked me if I wouldn't go down to the five +o'clock dinner, and feeling a little bit homesick, I thought I would, +just to see what sort of people are under the same roof with me. So I +made myself respectable and tried to slip in behind Mrs. Kirke, but as +she is short and I'm tall, my efforts at concealment were rather a +failure. She gave me a seat by her, and after my face cooled off, I +plucked up courage and looked about me. The long table was full, and +every one intent on getting their dinner, the gentlemen especially, who +seemed to be eating on time, for they bolted in every sense of the +word, vanishing as soon as they were done. There was the usual +assortment of young men absorbed in themselves, young couples absorbed +in each other, married ladies in their babies, and old gentlemen in +politics. I don't think I shall care to have much to do with any of +them, except one sweetfaced maiden lady, who looks as if she had +something in her. + +Cast away at the very bottom of the table was the Professor, shouting +answers to the questions of a very inquisitive, deaf old gentleman on +one side, and talking philosophy with a Frenchman on the other. If Amy +had been here, she'd have turned her back on him forever because, sad +to relate, he had a great appetite, and shoveled in his dinner in a +manner which would have horrified 'her ladyship'. I didn't mind, for I +like 'to see folks eat with a relish', as Hannah says, and the poor man +must have needed a deal of food after teaching idiots all day. + +As I went upstairs after dinner, two of the young men were settling +their hats before the hall mirror, and I heard one say low to the +other, "Who's the new party?" + +"Governess, or something of that sort." + +"What the deuce is she at our table for?" + +"Friend of the old lady's." + +"Handsome head, but no style." + +"Not a bit of it. Give us a light and come on." + +I felt angry at first, and then I didn't care, for a governess is as +good as a clerk, and I've got sense, if I haven't style, which is more +than some people have, judging from the remarks of the elegant beings +who clattered away, smoking like bad chimneys. I hate ordinary people! + + +Thursday + +Yesterday was a quiet day spent in teaching, sewing, and writing in my +little room, which is very cozy, with a light and fire. I picked up a +few bits of news and was introduced to the Professor. It seems that +Tina is the child of the Frenchwoman who does the fine ironing in the +laundry here. The little thing has lost her heart to Mr. Bhaer, and +follows him about the house like a dog whenever he is at home, which +delights him, as he is very fond of children, though a 'bacheldore'. +Kitty and Minnie Kirke likewise regard him with affection, and tell all +sorts of stories about the plays he invents, the presents he brings, +and the splendid tales he tells. The younger men quiz him, it seems, +call him Old Fritz, Lager Beer, Ursa Major, and make all manner of +jokes on his name. But he enjoys it like a boy, Mrs. Kirke says, and +takes it so good-naturedly that they all like him in spite of his +foreign ways. + +The maiden lady is a Miss Norton, rich, cultivated, and kind. She +spoke to me at dinner today (for I went to table again, it's such fun +to watch people), and asked me to come and see her at her room. She +has fine books and pictures, knows interesting persons, and seems +friendly, so I shall make myself agreeable, for I do want to get into +good society, only it isn't the same sort that Amy likes. + +I was in our parlor last evening when Mr. Bhaer came in with some +newspapers for Mrs. Kirke. She wasn't there, but Minnie, who is a +little old woman, introduced me very prettily. "This is Mamma's friend, +Miss March." + +"Yes, and she's jolly and we like her lots," added Kitty, who is an +'enfant terrible'. + +We both bowed, and then we laughed, for the prim introduction and the +blunt addition were rather a comical contrast. + +"Ah, yes, I hear these naughty ones go to vex you, Mees Marsch. If so +again, call at me and I come," he said, with a threatening frown that +delighted the little wretches. + +I promised I would, and he departed, but it seems as if I was doomed to +see a good deal of him, for today as I passed his door on my way out, +by accident I knocked against it with my umbrella. It flew open, and +there he stood in his dressing gown, with a big blue sock on one hand +and a darning needle in the other. He didn't seem at all ashamed of +it, for when I explained and hurried on, he waved his hand, sock and +all, saying in his loud, cheerful way... + +"You haf a fine day to make your walk. Bon voyage, Mademoiselle." + +I laughed all the way downstairs, but it was a little pathetic, also to +think of the poor man having to mend his own clothes. The German +gentlemen embroider, I know, but darning hose is another thing and not +so pretty. + + +Saturday + +Nothing has happened to write about, except a call on Miss Norton, who +has a room full of pretty things, and who was very charming, for she +showed me all her treasures, and asked me if I would sometimes go with +her to lectures and concerts, as her escort, if I enjoyed them. She +put it as a favor, but I'm sure Mrs. Kirke has told her about us, and +she does it out of kindness to me. I'm as proud as Lucifer, but such +favors from such people don't burden me, and I accepted gratefully. + +When I got back to the nursery there was such an uproar in the parlor +that I looked in, and there was Mr. Bhaer down on his hands and knees, +with Tina on his back, Kitty leading him with a jump rope, and Minnie +feeding two small boys with seedcakes, as they roared and ramped in +cages built of chairs. + +"We are playing nargerie," explained Kitty. + +"Dis is mine effalunt!" added Tina, holding on by the Professor's hair. + +"Mamma always allows us to do what we like Saturday afternoon, when +Franz and Emil come, doesn't she, Mr. Bhaer?" said Minnie. + +The 'effalunt' sat up, looking as much in earnest as any of them, and +said soberly to me, "I gif you my wort it is so, if we make too large a +noise you shall say Hush! to us, and we go more softly." + +I promised to do so, but left the door open and enjoyed the fun as much +as they did, for a more glorious frolic I never witnessed. They played +tag and soldiers, danced and sang, and when it began to grow dark they +all piled onto the sofa about the Professor, while he told charming +fairy stories of the storks on the chimney tops, and the little +'koblods', who ride the snowflakes as they fall. I wish Americans were +as simple and natural as Germans, don't you? + +I'm so fond of writing, I should go spinning on forever if motives of +economy didn't stop me, for though I've used thin paper and written +fine, I tremble to think of the stamps this long letter will need. +Pray forward Amy's as soon as you can spare them. My small news will +sound very flat after her splendors, but you will like them, I know. +Is Teddy studying so hard that he can't find time to write to his +friends? Take good care of him for me, Beth, and tell me all about the +babies, and give heaps of love to everyone. From your faithful Jo. + +P.S. On reading over my letter, it strikes me as rather Bhaery, but I +am always interested in odd people, and I really had nothing else to +write about. Bless you! + +DECEMBER + +My Precious Betsey, + +As this is to be a scribble-scrabble letter, I direct it to you, for it +may amuse you, and give you some idea of my goings on, for though +quiet, they are rather amusing, for which, oh, be joyful! After what +Amy would call Herculaneum efforts, in the way of mental and moral +agriculture, my young ideas begin to shoot and my little twigs to bend +as I could wish. They are not so interesting to me as Tina and the +boys, but I do my duty by them, and they are fond of me. Franz and +Emil are jolly little lads, quite after my own heart, for the mixture +of German and American spirit in them produces a constant state of +effervescence. Saturday afternoons are riotous times, whether spent in +the house or out, for on pleasant days they all go to walk, like a +seminary, with the Professor and myself to keep order, and then such +fun! + +We are very good friends now, and I've begun to take lessons. I really +couldn't help it, and it all came about in such a droll way that I must +tell you. To begin at the beginning, Mrs. Kirke called to me one day +as I passed Mr. Bhaer's room where she was rummaging. + +"Did you ever see such a den, my dear? Just come and help me put these +books to rights, for I've turned everything upside down, trying to +discover what he has done with the six new handkerchiefs I gave him not +long ago." + +I went in, and while we worked I looked about me, for it was 'a den' to +be sure. Books and papers everywhere, a broken meerschaum, and an old +flute over the mantlepiece as if done with, a ragged bird without any +tail chirped on one window seat, and a box of white mice adorned the +other. Half-finished boats and bits of string lay among the +manuscripts. Dirty little boots stood drying before the fire, and +traces of the dearly beloved boys, for whom he makes a slave of +himself, were to be seen all over the room. After a grand rummage +three of the missing articles were found, one over the bird cage, one +covered with ink, and a third burned brown, having been used as a +holder. + +"Such a man!" laughed good-natured Mrs. K., as she put the relics in +the rag bag. "I suppose the others are torn up to rig ships, bandage +cut fingers, or make kite tails. It's dreadful, but I can't scold him. +He's so absent-minded and goodnatured, he lets those boys ride over him +roughshod. I agreed to do his washing and mending, but he forgets to +give out his things and I forget to look them over, so he comes to a +sad pass sometimes." + +"Let me mend them," said I. "I don't mind it, and he needn't know. +I'd like to, he's so kind to me about bringing my letters and lending +books." + +So I have got his things in order, and knit heels into two pairs of the +socks, for they were boggled out of shape with his queer darns. +Nothing was said, and I hoped he wouldn't find it out, but one day last +week he caught me at it. Hearing the lessons he gives to others has +interested and amused me so much that I took a fancy to learn, for Tina +runs in and out, leaving the door open, and I can hear. I had been +sitting near this door, finishing off the last sock, and trying to +understand what he said to a new scholar, who is as stupid as I am. +The girl had gone, and I thought he had also, it was so still, and I +was busily gabbling over a verb, and rocking to and fro in a most +absurd way, when a little crow made me look up, and there was Mr. Bhaer +looking and laughing quietly, while he made signs to Tina not to betray +him. + +"So!" he said, as I stopped and stared like a goose, "you peep at me, I +peep at you, and this is not bad, but see, I am not pleasanting when I +say, haf you a wish for German?" + +"Yes, but you are too busy. I am too stupid to learn," I blundered +out, as red as a peony. + +"Prut! We will make the time, and we fail not to find the sense. At +efening I shall gif a little lesson with much gladness, for look you, +Mees Marsch, I haf this debt to pay." And he pointed to my work 'Yes,' +they say to one another, these so kind ladies, 'he is a stupid old +fellow, he will see not what we do, he will never observe that his sock +heels go not in holes any more, he will think his buttons grow out new +when they fall, and believe that strings make theirselves.' "Ah! But I +haf an eye, and I see much. I haf a heart, and I feel thanks for this. +Come, a little lesson then and now, or--no more good fairy works for me +and mine." + +Of course I couldn't say anything after that, and as it really is a +splendid opportunity, I made the bargain, and we began. I took four +lessons, and then I stuck fast in a grammatical bog. The Professor was +very patient with me, but it must have been torment to him, and now and +then he'd look at me with such an expression of mild despair that it +was a toss-up with me whether to laugh or cry. I tried both ways, and +when it came to a sniff or utter mortification and woe, he just threw +the grammar on to the floor and marched out of the room. I felt myself +disgraced and deserted forever, but didn't blame him a particle, and +was scrambling my papers together, meaning to rush upstairs and shake +myself hard, when in he came, as brisk and beaming as if I'd covered +myself in glory. + +"Now we shall try a new way. You and I will read these pleasant little +_marchen_ together, and dig no more in that dry book, that goes in the +corner for making us trouble." + +He spoke so kindly, and opened Hans Anderson's fairy tales so +invitingly before me, that I was more ashamed than ever, and went at my +lesson in a neck-or-nothing style that seemed to amuse him immensely. +I forgot my bashfulness, and pegged away (no other word will express +it) with all my might, tumbling over long words, pronouncing according +to inspiration of the minute, and doing my very best. When I finished +reading my first page, and stopped for breath, he clapped his hands and +cried out in his hearty way, "Das ist gut! Now we go well! My turn. I +do him in German, gif me your ear." And away he went, rumbling out the +words with his strong voice and a relish which was good to see as well +as hear. Fortunately the story was _The Constant Tin Soldier_, which +is droll, you know, so I could laugh, and I did, though I didn't +understand half he read, for I couldn't help it, he was so earnest, I +so excited, and the whole thing so comical. + +After that we got on better, and now I read my lessons pretty well, for +this way of studying suits me, and I can see that the grammar gets +tucked into the tales and poetry as one gives pills in jelly. I like +it very much, and he doesn't seem tired of it yet, which is very good +of him, isn't it? I mean to give him something on Christmas, for I +dare not offer money. Tell me something nice, Marmee. + +I'm glad Laurie seems so happy and busy, that he has given up smoking +and lets his hair grow. You see Beth manages him better than I did. +I'm not jealous, dear, do your best, only don't make a saint of him. +I'm afraid I couldn't like him without a spice of human naughtiness. +Read him bits of my letters. I haven't time to write much, and that +will do just as well. Thank Heaven Beth continues so comfortable. + +JANUARY + +A Happy New Year to you all, my dearest family, which of course +includes Mr. L. and a young man by the name of Teddy. I can't tell you +how much I enjoyed your Christmas bundle, for I didn't get it till +night and had given up hoping. Your letter came in the morning, but +you said nothing about a parcel, meaning it for a surprise, so I was +disappointed, for I'd had a 'kind of feeling' that you wouldn't forget +me. I felt a little low in my mind as I sat up in my room after tea, +and when the big, muddy, battered-looking bundle was brought to me, I +just hugged it and pranced. It was so homey and refreshing that I sat +down on the floor and read and looked and ate and laughed and cried, in +my usual absurd way. The things were just what I wanted, and all the +better for being made instead of bought. Beth's new 'ink bib' was +capital, and Hannah's box of hard gingerbread will be a treasure. I'll +be sure and wear the nice flannels you sent, Marmee, and read carefully +the books Father has marked. Thank you all, heaps and heaps! + +Speaking of books reminds me that I'm getting rich in that line, for on +New Year's Day Mr. Bhaer gave me a fine Shakespeare. It is one he +values much, and I've often admired it, set up in the place of honor +with his German Bible, Plato, Homer, and Milton, so you may imagine how +I felt when he brought it down, without its cover, and showed me my own +name in it, "from my friend Friedrich Bhaer". + +"You say often you wish a library. Here I gif you one, for between +these lids (he meant covers) is many books in one. Read him well, and +he will help you much, for the study of character in this book will +help you to read it in the world and paint it with your pen." + +I thanked him as well as I could, and talk now about 'my library', as +if I had a hundred books. I never knew how much there was in +Shakespeare before, but then I never had a Bhaer to explain it to me. +Now don't laugh at his horrid name. It isn't pronounced either Bear or +Beer, as people will say it, but something between the two, as only +Germans can give it. I'm glad you both like what I tell you about him, +and hope you will know him some day. Mother would admire his warm +heart, Father his wise head. I admire both, and feel rich in my new +'friend Friedrich Bhaer'. + +Not having much money, or knowing what he'd like, I got several little +things, and put them about the room, where he would find them +unexpectedly. They were useful, pretty, or funny, a new standish on +his table, a little vase for his flower, he always has one, or a bit of +green in a glass, to keep him fresh, he says, and a holder for his +blower, so that he needn't burn up what Amy calls 'mouchoirs'. I made +it like those Beth invented, a big butterfly with a fat body, and black +and yellow wings, worsted feelers, and bead eyes. It took his fancy +immensely, and he put it on his mantlepiece as an article of virtue, so +it was rather a failure after all. Poor as he is, he didn't forget a +servant or a child in the house, and not a soul here, from the French +laundrywoman to Miss Norton forgot him. I was so glad of that. + +They got up a masquerade, and had a gay time New Year's Eve. I didn't +mean to go down, having no dress. But at the last minute, Mrs. Kirke +remembered some old brocades, and Miss Norton lent me lace and +feathers. So I dressed up as Mrs. Malaprop, and sailed in with a mask +on. No one knew me, for I disguised my voice, and no one dreamed of +the silent, haughty Miss March (for they think I am very stiff and +cool, most of them, and so I am to whippersnappers) could dance and +dress, and burst out into a 'nice derangement of epitaphs, like an +allegory on the banks of the Nile'. I enjoyed it very much, and when +we unmasked it was fun to see them stare at me. I heard one of the +young men tell another that he knew I'd been an actress, in fact, he +thought he remembered seeing me at one of the minor theaters. Meg will +relish that joke. Mr. Bhaer was Nick Bottom, and Tina was Titania, a +perfect little fairy in his arms. To see them dance was 'quite a +landscape', to use a Teddyism. + +I had a very happy New Year, after all, and when I thought it over in +my room, I felt as if I was getting on a little in spite of my many +failures, for I'm cheerful all the time now, work with a will, and take +more interest in other people than I used to, which is satisfactory. +Bless you all! Ever your loving... Jo + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR + +FRIEND + +Though very happy in the social atmosphere about her, and very busy +with the daily work that earned her bread and made it sweeter for the +effort, Jo still found time for literary labors. The purpose which now +took possession of her was a natural one to a poor and ambitious girl, +but the means she took to gain her end were not the best. She saw that +money conferred power, money and power, therefore, she resolved to +have, not to be used for herself alone, but for those whom she loved +more than life. The dream of filling home with comforts, giving Beth +everything she wanted, from strawberries in winter to an organ in her +bedroom, going abroad herself, and always having more than enough, so +that she might indulge in the luxury of charity, had been for years +Jo's most cherished castle in the air. + +The prize-story experience had seemed to open a way which might, after +long traveling and much uphill work, lead to this delightful chateau en +Espagne. But the novel disaster quenched her courage for a time, for +public opinion is a giant which has frightened stouter-hearted Jacks on +bigger beanstalks than hers. Like that immortal hero, she reposed +awhile after the first attempt, which resulted in a tumble and the +least lovely of the giant's treasures, if I remember rightly. But the +'up again and take another' spirit was as strong in Jo as in Jack, so +she scrambled up on the shady side this time and got more booty, but +nearly left behind her what was far more precious than the moneybags. + +She took to writing sensation stories, for in those dark ages, even +all-perfect America read rubbish. She told no one, but concocted a +'thrilling tale', and boldly carried it herself to Mr. Dashwood, editor +of the Weekly Volcano. She had never read Sartor Resartus, but she had +a womanly instinct that clothes possess an influence more powerful over +many than the worth of character or the magic of manners. So she +dressed herself in her best, and trying to persuade herself that she +was neither excited nor nervous, bravely climbed two pairs of dark and +dirty stairs to find herself in a disorderly room, a cloud of cigar +smoke, and the presence of three gentlemen, sitting with their heels +rather higher than their hats, which articles of dress none of them +took the trouble to remove on her appearance. Somewhat daunted by this +reception, Jo hesitated on the threshold, murmuring in much +embarrassment... + +"Excuse me, I was looking for the Weekly Volcano office. I wished to +see Mr. Dashwood." + +Down went the highest pair of heels, up rose the smokiest gentleman, +and carefully cherishing his cigar between his fingers, he advanced +with a nod and a countenance expressive of nothing but sleep. Feeling +that she must get through the matter somehow, Jo produced her +manuscript and, blushing redder and redder with each sentence, +blundered out fragments of the little speech carefully prepared for the +occasion. + +"A friend of mine desired me to offer--a story--just as an +experiment--would like your opinion--be glad to write more if this +suits." + +While she blushed and blundered, Mr. Dashwood had taken the manuscript, +and was turning over the leaves with a pair of rather dirty fingers, +and casting critical glances up and down the neat pages. + +"Not a first attempt, I take it?" observing that the pages were +numbered, covered only on one side, and not tied up with a ribbon--sure +sign of a novice. + +"No, sir. She has had some experience, and got a prize for a tale in +the _Blarneystone Banner_." + +"Oh, did she?" and Mr. Dashwood gave Jo a quick look, which seemed to +take note of everything she had on, from the bow in her bonnet to the +buttons on her boots. "Well, you can leave it, if you like. We've +more of this sort of thing on hand than we know what to do with at +present, but I'll run my eye over it, and give you an answer next week." + +Now, Jo did _not_ like to leave it, for Mr. Dashwood didn't suit her at +all, but, under the circumstances, there was nothing for her to do but +bow and walk away, looking particularly tall and dignified, as she was +apt to do when nettled or abashed. Just then she was both, for it was +perfectly evident from the knowing glances exchanged among the +gentlemen that her little fiction of 'my friend' was considered a good +joke, and a laugh, produced by some inaudible remark of the editor, as +he closed the door, completed her discomfiture. Half resolving never +to return, she went home, and worked off her irritation by stitching +pinafores vigorously, and in an hour or two was cool enough to laugh +over the scene and long for next week. + +When she went again, Mr. Dashwood was alone, whereat she rejoiced. Mr. +Dashwood was much wider awake than before, which was agreeable, and Mr. +Dashwood was not too deeply absorbed in a cigar to remember his +manners, so the second interview was much more comfortable than the +first. + +"We'll take this (editors never say I), if you don't object to a few +alterations. It's too long, but omitting the passages I've marked will +make it just the right length," he said, in a businesslike tone. + +Jo hardly knew her own MS. again, so crumpled and underscored were its +pages and paragraphs, but feeling as a tender parent might on being +asked to cut off her baby's legs in order that it might fit into a new +cradle, she looked at the marked passages and was surprised to find +that all the moral reflections--which she had carefully put in as +ballast for much romance--had been stricken out. + +"But, Sir, I thought every story should have some sort of a moral, so I +took care to have a few of my sinners repent." + +Mr. Dashwoods's editorial gravity relaxed into a smile, for Jo had +forgotten her 'friend', and spoken as only an author could. + +"People want to be amused, not preached at, you know. Morals don't +sell nowadays." Which was not quite a correct statement, by the way. + +"You think it would do with these alterations, then?" + +"Yes, it's a new plot, and pretty well worked up--language good, and so +on," was Mr. Dashwood's affable reply. + +"What do you--that is, what compensation--" began Jo, not exactly +knowing how to express herself. + +"Oh, yes, well, we give from twenty-five to thirty for things of this +sort. Pay when it comes out," returned Mr. Dashwood, as if that point +had escaped him. Such trifles do escape the editorial mind, it is said. + +"Very well, you can have it," said Jo, handing back the story with a +satisfied air, for after the dollar-a-column work, even twenty-five +seemed good pay. + +"Shall I tell my friend you will take another if she has one better +than this?" asked Jo, unconscious of her little slip of the tongue, and +emboldened by her success. + +"Well, we'll look at it. Can't promise to take it. Tell her to make +it short and spicy, and never mind the moral. What name would your +friend like to put on it?" in a careless tone. + +"None at all, if you please, she doesn't wish her name to appear and +has no nom de plume," said Jo, blushing in spite of herself. + +"Just as she likes, of course. The tale will be out next week. Will +you call for the money, or shall I send it?" asked Mr. Dashwood, who +felt a natural desire to know who his new contributor might be. + +"I'll call. Good morning, Sir." + +As she departed, Mr. Dashwood put up his feet, with the graceful +remark, "Poor and proud, as usual, but she'll do." + +Following Mr. Dashwood's directions, and making Mrs. Northbury her +model, Jo rashly took a plunge into the frothy sea of sensational +literature, but thanks to the life preserver thrown her by a friend, +she came up again not much the worse for her ducking. + +Like most young scribblers, she went abroad for her characters and +scenery, and banditti, counts, gypsies, nuns, and duchesses appeared +upon her stage, and played their parts with as much accuracy and spirit +as could be expected. Her readers were not particular about such +trifles as grammar, punctuation, and probability, and Mr. Dashwood +graciously permitted her to fill his columns at the lowest prices, not +thinking it necessary to tell her that the real cause of his +hospitality was the fact that one of his hacks, on being offered higher +wages, had basely left him in the lurch. + +She soon became interested in her work, for her emaciated purse grew +stout, and the little hoard she was making to take Beth to the +mountains next summer grew slowly but surely as the weeks passed. One +thing disturbed her satisfaction, and that was that she did not tell +them at home. She had a feeling that Father and Mother would not +approve, and preferred to have her own way first, and beg pardon +afterward. It was easy to keep her secret, for no name appeared with +her stories. Mr. Dashwood had of course found it out very soon, but +promised to be dumb, and for a wonder kept his word. + +She thought it would do her no harm, for she sincerely meant to write +nothing of which she would be ashamed, and quieted all pricks of +conscience by anticipations of the happy minute when she should show +her earnings and laugh over her well-kept secret. + +But Mr. Dashwood rejected any but thrilling tales, and as thrills could +not be produced except by harrowing up the souls of the readers, +history and romance, land and sea, science and art, police records and +lunatic asylums, had to be ransacked for the purpose. Jo soon found +that her innocent experience had given her but few glimpses of the +tragic world which underlies society, so regarding it in a business +light, she set about supplying her deficiencies with characteristic +energy. Eager to find material for stories, and bent on making them +original in plot, if not masterly in execution, she searched newspapers +for accidents, incidents, and crimes. She excited the suspicions of +public librarians by asking for works on poisons. She studied faces in +the street, and characters, good, bad, and indifferent, all about her. +She delved in the dust of ancient times for facts or fictions so old +that they were as good as new, and introduced herself to folly, sin, +and misery, as well as her limited opportunities allowed. She thought +she was prospering finely, but unconsciously she was beginning to +desecrate some of the womanliest attributes of a woman's character. +She was living in bad society, and imaginary though it was, its +influence affected her, for she was feeding heart and fancy on +dangerous and unsubstantial food, and was fast brushing the innocent +bloom from her nature by a premature acquaintance with the darker side +of life, which comes soon enough to all of us. + +She was beginning to feel rather than see this, for much describing of +other people's passions and feelings set her to studying and +speculating about her own, a morbid amusement in which healthy young +minds do not voluntarily indulge. Wrongdoing always brings its own +punishment, and when Jo most needed hers, she got it. + +I don't know whether the study of Shakespeare helped her to read +character, or the natural instinct of a woman for what was honest, +brave, and strong, but while endowing her imaginary heroes with every +perfection under the sun, Jo was discovering a live hero, who +interested her in spite of many human imperfections. Mr. Bhaer, in one +of their conversations, had advised her to study simple, true, and +lovely characters, wherever she found them, as good training for a +writer. Jo took him at his word, for she coolly turned round and +studied him--a proceeding which would have much surprised him, had he +known it, for the worthy Professor was very humble in his own conceit. + +Why everybody liked him was what puzzled Jo, at first. He was neither +rich nor great, young nor handsome, in no respect what is called +fascinating, imposing, or brilliant, and yet he was as attractive as a +genial fire, and people seemed to gather about him as naturally as +about a warm hearth. He was poor, yet always appeared to be giving +something away; a stranger, yet everyone was his friend; no longer +young, but as happy-hearted as a boy; plain and peculiar, yet his face +looked beautiful to many, and his oddities were freely forgiven for his +sake. Jo often watched him, trying to discover the charm, and at last +decided that it was benevolence which worked the miracle. If he had +any sorrow, 'it sat with its head under its wing', and he turned only +his sunny side to the world. There were lines upon his forehead, but +Time seemed to have touched him gently, remembering how kind he was to +others. The pleasant curves about his mouth were the memorials of many +friendly words and cheery laughs, his eyes were never cold or hard, and +his big hand had a warm, strong grasp that was more expressive than +words. + +His very clothes seemed to partake of the hospitable nature of the +wearer. They looked as if they were at ease, and liked to make him +comfortable. His capacious waistcoat was suggestive of a large heart +underneath. His rusty coat had a social air, and the baggy pockets +plainly proved that little hands often went in empty and came out full. +His very boots were benevolent, and his collars never stiff and raspy +like other people's. + +"That's it!" said Jo to herself, when she at length discovered that +genuine good will toward one's fellow men could beautify and dignify +even a stout German teacher, who shoveled in his dinner, darned his own +socks, and was burdened with the name of Bhaer. + +Jo valued goodness highly, but she also possessed a most feminine +respect for intellect, and a little discovery which she made about the +Professor added much to her regard for him. He never spoke of himself, +and no one ever knew that in his native city he had been a man much +honored and esteemed for learning and integrity, till a countryman came +to see him. He never spoke of himself, and in a conversation with Miss +Norton divulged the pleasing fact. From her Jo learned it, and liked +it all the better because Mr. Bhaer had never told it. She felt proud +to know that he was an honored Professor in Berlin, though only a poor +language-master in America, and his homely, hard-working life was much +beautified by the spice of romance which this discovery gave it. +Another and a better gift than intellect was shown her in a most +unexpected manner. Miss Norton had the entree into most society, which +Jo would have had no chance of seeing but for her. The solitary woman +felt an interest in the ambitious girl, and kindly conferred many +favors of this sort both on Jo and the Professor. She took them with +her one night to a select symposium, held in honor of several +celebrities. + +Jo went prepared to bow down and adore the mighty ones whom she had +worshiped with youthful enthusiasm afar off. But her reverence for +genius received a severe shock that night, and it took her some time to +recover from the discovery that the great creatures were only men and +women after all. Imagine her dismay, on stealing a glance of timid +admiration at the poet whose lines suggested an ethereal being fed on +'spirit, fire, and dew', to behold him devouring his supper with an +ardor which flushed his intellectual countenance. Turning as from a +fallen idol, she made other discoveries which rapidly dispelled her +romantic illusions. The great novelist vibrated between two decanters +with the regularity of a pendulum; the famous divine flirted openly +with one of the Madame de Staels of the age, who looked daggers at +another Corinne, who was amiably satirizing her, after outmaneuvering +her in efforts to absorb the profound philosopher, who imbibed tea +Johnsonianly and appeared to slumber, the loquacity of the lady +rendering speech impossible. The scientific celebrities, forgetting +their mollusks and glacial periods, gossiped about art, while devoting +themselves to oysters and ices with characteristic energy; the young +musician, who was charming the city like a second Orpheus, talked +horses; and the specimen of the British nobility present happened to be +the most ordinary man of the party. + +Before the evening was half over, Jo felt so completely disillusioned, +that she sat down in a corner to recover herself. Mr. Bhaer soon joined +her, looking rather out of his element, and presently several of the +philosophers, each mounted on his hobby, came ambling up to hold an +intellectual tournament in the recess. The conversations were miles +beyond Jo's comprehension, but she enjoyed it, though Kant and Hegel +were unknown gods, the Subjective and Objective unintelligible terms, +and the only thing 'evolved from her inner consciousness' was a bad +headache after it was all over. It dawned upon her gradually that the +world was being picked to pieces, and put together on new and, +according to the talkers, on infinitely better principles than before, +that religion was in a fair way to be reasoned into nothingness, and +intellect was to be the only God. Jo knew nothing about philosophy or +metaphysics of any sort, but a curious excitement, half pleasurable, +half painful, came over her as she listened with a sense of being +turned adrift into time and space, like a young balloon out on a +holiday. + +She looked round to see how the Professor liked it, and found him +looking at her with the grimmest expression she had ever seen him wear. +He shook his head and beckoned her to come away, but she was fascinated +just then by the freedom of Speculative Philosophy, and kept her seat, +trying to find out what the wise gentlemen intended to rely upon after +they had annihilated all the old beliefs. + +Now, Mr. Bhaer was a diffident man and slow to offer his own opinions, +not because they were unsettled, but too sincere and earnest to be +lightly spoken. As he glanced from Jo to several other young people, +attracted by the brilliancy of the philosophic pyrotechnics, he knit +his brows and longed to speak, fearing that some inflammable young soul +would be led astray by the rockets, to find when the display was over +that they had only an empty stick or a scorched hand. + +He bore it as long as he could, but when he was appealed to for an +opinion, he blazed up with honest indignation and defended religion +with all the eloquence of truth--an eloquence which made his broken +English musical and his plain face beautiful. He had a hard fight, for +the wise men argued well, but he didn't know when he was beaten and +stood to his colors like a man. Somehow, as he talked, the world got +right again to Jo. The old beliefs, that had lasted so long, seemed +better than the new. God was not a blind force, and immortality was +not a pretty fable, but a blessed fact. She felt as if she had solid +ground under her feet again, and when Mr. Bhaer paused, outtalked but +not one whit convinced, Jo wanted to clap her hands and thank him. + +She did neither, but she remembered the scene, and gave the Professor +her heartiest respect, for she knew it cost him an effort to speak out +then and there, because his conscience would not let him be silent. +She began to see that character is a better possession than money, +rank, intellect, or beauty, and to feel that if greatness is what a +wise man has defined it to be, 'truth, reverence, and good will', then +her friend Friedrich Bhaer was not only good, but great. + +This belief strengthened daily. She valued his esteem, she coveted his +respect, she wanted to be worthy of his friendship, and just when the +wish was sincerest, she came near to losing everything. It all grew +out of a cocked hat, for one evening the Professor came in to give Jo +her lesson with a paper soldier cap on his head, which Tina had put +there and he had forgotten to take off. + +"It's evident he doesn't look in his glass before coming down," thought +Jo, with a smile, as he said "Goot efening," and sat soberly down, +quite unconscious of the ludicrous contrast between his subject and his +headgear, for he was going to read her the Death of Wallenstein. + +She said nothing at first, for she liked to hear him laugh out his big, +hearty laugh when anything funny happened, so she left him to discover +it for himself, and presently forgot all about it, for to hear a German +read Schiller is rather an absorbing occupation. After the reading +came the lesson, which was a lively one, for Jo was in a gay mood that +night, and the cocked hat kept her eyes dancing with merriment. The +Professor didn't know what to make of her, and stopped at last to ask +with an air of mild surprise that was irresistible. . . + +"Mees Marsch, for what do you laugh in your master's face? Haf you no +respect for me, that you go on so bad?" + +"How can I be respectful, Sir, when you forget to take your hat off?" +said Jo. + +Lifting his hand to his head, the absent-minded Professor gravely felt +and removed the little cocked hat, looked at it a minute, and then +threw back his head and laughed like a merry bass viol. + +"Ah! I see him now, it is that imp Tina who makes me a fool with my +cap. Well, it is nothing, but see you, if this lesson goes not well, +you too shall wear him." + +But the lesson did not go at all for a few minutes because Mr. Bhaer +caught sight of a picture on the hat, and unfolding it, said with great +disgust, "I wish these papers did not come in the house. They are not +for children to see, nor young people to read. It is not well, and I +haf no patience with those who make this harm." + +Jo glanced at the sheet and saw a pleasing illustration composed of a +lunatic, a corpse, a villain, and a viper. She did not like it, but +the impulse that made her turn it over was not one of displeasure but +fear, because for a minute she fancied the paper was the Volcano. It +was not, however, and her panic subsided as she remembered that even if +it had been and one of her own tales in it, there would have been no +name to betray her. She had betrayed herself, however, by a look and a +blush, for though an absent man, the Professor saw a good deal more +than people fancied. He knew that Jo wrote, and had met her down among +the newspaper offices more than once, but as she never spoke of it, he +asked no questions in spite of a strong desire to see her work. Now it +occurred to him that she was doing what she was ashamed to own, and it +troubled him. He did not say to himself, "It is none of my business. +I've no right to say anything," as many people would have done. He +only remembered that she was young and poor, a girl far away from +mother's love and father's care, and he was moved to help her with an +impulse as quick and natural as that which would prompt him to put out +his hand to save a baby from a puddle. All this flashed through his +mind in a minute, but not a trace of it appeared in his face, and by +the time the paper was turned, and Jo's needle threaded, he was ready +to say quite naturally, but very gravely... + +"Yes, you are right to put it from you. I do not think that good young +girls should see such things. They are made pleasant to some, but I +would more rather give my boys gunpowder to play with than this bad +trash." + +"All may not be bad, only silly, you know, and if there is a demand for +it, I don't see any harm in supplying it. Many very respectable people +make an honest living out of what are called sensation stories," said +Jo, scratching gathers so energetically that a row of little slits +followed her pin. + +"There is a demand for whisky, but I think you and I do not care to +sell it. If the respectable people knew what harm they did, they would +not feel that the living was honest. They haf no right to put poison +in the sugarplum, and let the small ones eat it. No, they should think +a little, and sweep mud in the street before they do this thing." + +Mr. Bhaer spoke warmly, and walked to the fire, crumpling the paper in +his hands. Jo sat still, looking as if the fire had come to her, for +her cheeks burned long after the cocked hat had turned to smoke and +gone harmlessly up the chimney. + +"I should like much to send all the rest after him," muttered the +Professor, coming back with a relieved air. + +Jo thought what a blaze her pile of papers upstairs would make, and her +hard-earned money lay rather heavily on her conscience at that minute. +Then she thought consolingly to herself, "Mine are not like that, they +are only silly, never bad, so I won't be worried," and taking up her +book, she said, with a studious face, "Shall we go on, Sir? I'll be +very good and proper now." + +"I shall hope so," was all he said, but he meant more than she +imagined, and the grave, kind look he gave her made her feel as if the +words Weekly Volcano were printed in large type on her forehead. + +As soon as she went to her room, she got out her papers, and carefully +reread every one of her stories. Being a little shortsighted, Mr. +Bhaer sometimes used eye glasses, and Jo had tried them once, smiling +to see how they magnified the fine print of her book. Now she seemed +to have on the Professor's mental or moral spectacles also, for the +faults of these poor stories glared at her dreadfully and filled her +with dismay. + +"They are trash, and will soon be worse trash if I go on, for each is +more sensational than the last. I've gone blindly on, hurting myself +and other people, for the sake of money. I know it's so, for I can't +read this stuff in sober earnest without being horribly ashamed of it, +and what should I do if they were seen at home or Mr. Bhaer got hold of +them?" + +Jo turned hot at the bare idea, and stuffed the whole bundle into her +stove, nearly setting the chimney afire with the blaze. + +"Yes, that's the best place for such inflammable nonsense. I'd better +burn the house down, I suppose, than let other people blow themselves +up with my gunpowder," she thought as she watched the Demon of the Jura +whisk away, a little black cinder with fiery eyes. + +But when nothing remained of all her three month's work except a heap +of ashes and the money in her lap, Jo looked sober, as she sat on the +floor, wondering what she ought to do about her wages. + +"I think I haven't done much harm yet, and may keep this to pay for my +time," she said, after a long meditation, adding impatiently, "I almost +wish I hadn't any conscience, it's so inconvenient. If I didn't care +about doing right, and didn't feel uncomfortable when doing wrong, I +should get on capitally. I can't help wishing sometimes, that Mother +and Father hadn't been so particular about such things." + +Ah, Jo, instead of wishing that, thank God that 'Father and Mother were +particular', and pity from your heart those who have no such guardians +to hedge them round with principles which may seem like prison walls to +impatient youth, but which will prove sure foundations to build +character upon in womanhood. + +Jo wrote no more sensational stories, deciding that the money did not +pay for her share of the sensation, but going to the other extreme, as +is the way with people of her stamp, she took a course of Mrs. +Sherwood, Miss Edgeworth, and Hannah More, and then produced a tale +which might have been more properly called an essay or a sermon, so +intensely moral was it. She had her doubts about it from the +beginning, for her lively fancy and girlish romance felt as ill at ease +in the new style as she would have done masquerading in the stiff and +cumbrous costume of the last century. She sent this didactic gem to +several markets, but it found no purchaser, and she was inclined to +agree with Mr. Dashwood that morals didn't sell. + +Then she tried a child's story, which she could easily have disposed of +if she had not been mercenary enough to demand filthy lucre for it. +The only person who offered enough to make it worth her while to try +juvenile literature was a worthy gentleman who felt it his mission to +convert all the world to his particular belief. But much as she liked +to write for children, Jo could not consent to depict all her naughty +boys as being eaten by bears or tossed by mad bulls because they did +not go to a particular Sabbath school, nor all the good infants who did +go as rewarded by every kind of bliss, from gilded gingerbread to +escorts of angels when they departed this life with psalms or sermons +on their lisping tongues. So nothing came of these trials, and Jo +corked up her inkstand, and said in a fit of very wholesome humility... + +"I don't know anything. I'll wait until I do before I try again, and +meantime, 'sweep mud in the street' if I can't do better, that's +honest, at least." Which decision proved that her second tumble down +the beanstalk had done her some good. + +While these internal revolutions were going on, her external life had +been as busy and uneventful as usual, and if she sometimes looked +serious or a little sad no one observed it but Professor Bhaer. He did +it so quietly that Jo never knew he was watching to see if she would +accept and profit by his reproof, but she stood the test, and he was +satisfied, for though no words passed between them, he knew that she +had given up writing. Not only did he guess it by the fact that the +second finger of her right hand was no longer inky, but she spent her +evenings downstairs now, was met no more among newspaper offices, and +studied with a dogged patience, which assured him that she was bent on +occupying her mind with something useful, if not pleasant. + +He helped her in many ways, proving himself a true friend, and Jo was +happy, for while her pen lay idle, she was learning other lessons +besides German, and laying a foundation for the sensation story of her +own life. + +It was a pleasant winter and a long one, for she did not leave Mrs. +Kirke till June. Everyone seemed sorry when the time came. The +children were inconsolable, and Mr. Bhaer's hair stuck straight up all +over his head, for he always rumpled it wildly when disturbed in mind. + +"Going home? Ah, you are happy that you haf a home to go in," he said, +when she told him, and sat silently pulling his beard in the corner, +while she held a little levee on that last evening. + +She was going early, so she bade them all goodbye overnight, and when +his turn came, she said warmly, "Now, Sir, you won't forget to come and +see us, if you ever travel our way, will you? I'll never forgive you if +you do, for I want them all to know my friend." + +"Do you? Shall I come?" he asked, looking down at her with an eager +expression which she did not see. + +"Yes, come next month. Laurie graduates then, and you'd enjoy +commencement as something new." + +"That is your best friend, of whom you speak?" he said in an altered +tone. + +"Yes, my boy Teddy. I'm very proud of him and should like you to see +him." + +Jo looked up then, quite unconscious of anything but her own pleasure +in the prospect of showing them to one another. Something in Mr. +Bhaer's face suddenly recalled the fact that she might find Laurie more +than a 'best friend', and simply because she particularly wished not to +look as if anything was the matter, she involuntarily began to blush, +and the more she tried not to, the redder she grew. If it had not been +for Tina on her knee. She didn't know what would have become of her. +Fortunately the child was moved to hug her, so she managed to hide her +face an instant, hoping the Professor did not see it. But he did, and +his own changed again from that momentary anxiety to its usual +expression, as he said cordially... + +"I fear I shall not make the time for that, but I wish the friend much +success, and you all happiness. Gott bless you!" And with that, he +shook hands warmly, shouldered Tina, and went away. + +But after the boys were abed, he sat long before his fire with the +tired look on his face and the 'heimweh', or homesickness, lying heavy +at his heart. Once, when he remembered Jo as she sat with the little +child in her lap and that new softness in her face, he leaned his head +on his hands a minute, and then roamed about the room, as if in search +of something that he could not find. + +"It is not for me, I must not hope it now," he said to himself, with a +sigh that was almost a groan. Then, as if reproaching himself for the +longing that he could not repress, he went and kissed the two tousled +heads upon the pillow, took down his seldom-used meerschaum, and opened +his Plato. + +He did his best and did it manfully, but I don't think he found that a +pair of rampant boys, a pipe, or even the divine Plato, were very +satisfactory substitutes for wife and child at home. + +Early as it was, he was at the station next morning to see Jo off, and +thanks to him, she began her solitary journey with the pleasant memory +of a familiar face smiling its farewell, a bunch of violets to keep her +company, and best of all, the happy thought, "Well, the winter's gone, +and I've written no books, earned no fortune, but I've made a friend +worth having and I'll try to keep him all my life." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE + +HEARTACHE + +Whatever his motive might have been, Laurie studied to some purpose +that year, for he graduated with honor, and gave the Latin oration with +the grace of a Phillips and the eloquence of a Demosthenes, so his +friends said. They were all there, his grandfather--oh, so proud--Mr. +and Mrs. March, John and Meg, Jo and Beth, and all exulted over him +with the sincere admiration which boys make light of at the time, but +fail to win from the world by any after-triumphs. + +"I've got to stay for this confounded supper, but I shall be home early +tomorrow. You'll come and meet me as usual, girls?" Laurie said, as he +put the sisters into the carriage after the joys of the day were over. +He said 'girls', but he meant Jo, for she was the only one who kept up +the old custom. She had not the heart to refuse her splendid, +successful boy anything, and answered warmly... + +"I'll come, Teddy, rain or shine, and march before you, playing 'Hail +the conquering hero comes' on a jew's-harp." + +Laurie thanked her with a look that made her think in a sudden panic, +"Oh, deary me! I know he'll say something, and then what shall I do?" + +Evening meditation and morning work somewhat allayed her fears, and +having decided that she wouldn't be vain enough to think people were +going to propose when she had given them every reason to know what her +answer would be, she set forth at the appointed time, hoping Teddy +wouldn't do anything to make her hurt his poor feelings. A call at +Meg's, and a refreshing sniff and sip at the Daisy and Demijohn, still +further fortified her for the tete-a-tete, but when she saw a stalwart +figure looming in the distance, she had a strong desire to turn about +and run away. + +"Where's the jew's-harp, Jo?" cried Laurie, as soon as he was within +speaking distance. + +"I forgot it." And Jo took heart again, for that salutation could not +be called lover-like. + +She always used to take his arm on these occasions, now she did not, +and he made no complaint, which was a bad sign, but talked on rapidly +about all sorts of faraway subjects, till they turned from the road +into the little path that led homeward through the grove. Then he +walked more slowly, suddenly lost his fine flow of language, and now +and then a dreadful pause occurred. To rescue the conversation from +one of the wells of silence into which it kept falling, Jo said +hastily, "Now you must have a good long holiday!" + +"I intend to." + +Something in his resolute tone made Jo look up quickly to find him +looking down at her with an expression that assured her the dreaded +moment had come, and made her put out her hand with an imploring, "No, +Teddy. Please don't!" + +"I will, and you must hear me. It's no use, Jo, we've got to have it +out, and the sooner the better for both of us," he answered, getting +flushed and excited all at once. + +"Say what you like then. I'll listen," said Jo, with a desperate sort +of patience. + +Laurie was a young lover, but he was in earnest, and meant to 'have it +out', if he died in the attempt, so he plunged into the subject with +characteristic impetuousity, saying in a voice that would get choky now +and then, in spite of manful efforts to keep it steady... + +"I've loved you ever since I've known you, Jo, couldn't help it, you've +been so good to me. I've tried to show it, but you wouldn't let me. +Now I'm going to make you hear, and give me an answer, for I can't go +on so any longer." + +"I wanted to save you this. I thought you'd understand..." began Jo, +finding it a great deal harder than she expected. + +"I know you did, but the girls are so queer you never know what they +mean. They say no when they mean yes, and drive a man out of his wits +just for the fun of it," returned Laurie, entrenching himself behind an +undeniable fact. + +"I don't. I never wanted to make you care for me so, and I went away +to keep you from it if I could." + +"I thought so. It was like you, but it was no use. I only loved you +all the more, and I worked hard to please you, and I gave up billiards +and everything you didn't like, and waited and never complained, for I +hoped you'd love me, though I'm not half good enough..." Here there was +a choke that couldn't be controlled, so he decapitated buttercups while +he cleared his 'confounded throat'. + +"You, you are, you're a great deal too good for me, and I'm so grateful +to you, and so proud and fond of you, I don't know why I can't love you +as you want me to. I've tried, but I can't change the feeling, and it +would be a lie to say I do when I don't." + +"Really, truly, Jo?" + +He stopped short, and caught both her hands as he put his question with +a look that she did not soon forget. + +"Really, truly, dear." + +They were in the grove now, close by the stile, and when the last words +fell reluctantly from Jo's lips, Laurie dropped her hands and turned as +if to go on, but for once in his life the fence was too much for him. +So he just laid his head down on the mossy post, and stood so still +that Jo was frightened. + +"Oh, Teddy, I'm sorry, so desperately sorry, I could kill myself if it +would do any good! I wish you wouldn't take it so hard, I can't help +it. You know it's impossible for people to make themselves love other +people if they don't," cried Jo inelegantly but remorsefully, as she +softly patted his shoulder, remembering the time when he had comforted +her so long ago. + +"They do sometimes," said a muffled voice from the post. "I don't +believe it's the right sort of love, and I'd rather not try it," was +the decided answer. + +There was a long pause, while a blackbird sung blithely on the willow +by the river, and the tall grass rustled in the wind. Presently Jo said +very soberly, as she sat down on the step of the stile, "Laurie, I want +to tell you something." + +He started as if he had been shot, threw up his head, and cried out in +a fierce tone, "Don't tell me that, Jo, I can't bear it now!" + +"Tell what?" she asked, wondering at his violence. + +"That you love that old man." + +"What old man?" demanded Jo, thinking he must mean his grandfather. + +"That devilish Professor you were always writing about. If you say you +love him, I know I shall do something desperate;" and he looked as if +he would keep his word, as he clenched his hands with a wrathful spark +in his eyes. + +Jo wanted to laugh, but restrained herself and said warmly, for she +too, was getting excited with all this, "Don't swear, Teddy! He isn't +old, nor anything bad, but good and kind, and the best friend I've got, +next to you. Pray, don't fly into a passion. I want to be kind, but I +know I shall get angry if you abuse my Professor. I haven't the least +idea of loving him or anybody else." + +"But you will after a while, and then what will become of me?" + +"You'll love someone else too, like a sensible boy, and forget all this +trouble." + +"I can't love anyone else, and I'll never forget you, Jo, Never! +Never!" with a stamp to emphasize his passionate words. + +"What shall I do with him?" sighed Jo, finding that emotions were more +unmanagable than she expected. "You haven't heard what I wanted to +tell you. Sit down and listen, for indeed I want to do right and make +you happy," she said, hoping to soothe him with a little reason, which +proved that she knew nothing about love. + +Seeing a ray of hope in that last speech, Laurie threw himself down on +the grass at her feet, leaned his arm on the lower step of the stile, +and looked up at her with an expectant face. Now that arrangement was +not conducive to calm speech or clear thought on Jo's part, for how +could she say hard things to her boy while he watched her with eyes +full of love and longing, and lashes still wet with the bitter drop or +two her hardness of heart had wrung from him? She gently turned his +head away, saying, as she stroked the wavy hair which had been allowed +to grow for her sake--how touching that was, to be sure! "I agree with +Mother that you and I are not suited to each other, because our quick +tempers and strong wills would probably make us very miserable, if we +were so foolish as to..." Jo paused a little over the last word, but +Laurie uttered it with a rapturous expression. + +"Marry--no we shouldn't! If you loved me, Jo, I should be a perfect +saint, for you could make me anything you like." + +"No, I can't. I've tried and failed, and I won't risk our happiness by +such a serious experiment. We don't agree and we never shall, so we'll +be good friends all our lives, but we won't go and do anything rash." + +"Yes, we will if we get the chance," muttered Laurie rebelliously. + +"Now do be reasonable, and take a sensible view of the case," implored +Jo, almost at her wit's end. + +"I won't be reasonable. I don't want to take what you call 'a sensible +view'. It won't help me, and it only makes it harder. I don't believe +you've got any heart." + +"I wish I hadn't." + +There was a little quiver in Jo's voice, and thinking it a good omen, +Laurie turned round, bringing all his persuasive powers to bear as he +said, in the wheedlesome tone that had never been so dangerously +wheedlesome before, "Don't disappoint us, dear! Everyone expects it. +Grandpa has set his heart upon it, your people like it, and I can't get +on without you. Say you will, and let's be happy. Do, do!" + +Not until months afterward did Jo understand how she had the strength +of mind to hold fast to the resolution she had made when she decided +that she did not love her boy, and never could. It was very hard to +do, but she did it, knowing that delay was both useless and cruel. + +"I can't say 'yes' truly, so I won't say it at all. You'll see that +I'm right, by-and-by, and thank me for it..." she began solemnly. + +"I'll be hanged if I do!" and Laurie bounced up off the grass, burning +with indignation at the very idea. + +"Yes, you will!" persisted Jo. "You'll get over this after a while, +and find some lovely accomplished girl, who will adore you, and make a +fine mistress for your fine house. I shouldn't. I'm homely and awkward +and odd and old, and you'd be ashamed of me, and we should quarrel--we +can't help it even now, you see--and I shouldn't like elegant society +and you would, and you'd hate my scribbling, and I couldn't get on +without it, and we should be unhappy, and wish we hadn't done it, and +everything would be horrid!" + +"Anything more?" asked Laurie, finding it hard to listen patiently to +this prophetic burst. + +"Nothing more, except that I don't believe I shall ever marry. I'm +happy as I am, and love my liberty too well to be in a hurry to give it +up for any mortal man." + +"I know better!" broke in Laurie. "You think so now, but there'll come +a time when you will care for somebody, and you'll love him +tremendously, and live and die for him. I know you will, it's your +way, and I shall have to stand by and see it," and the despairing lover +cast his hat upon the ground with a gesture that would have seemed +comical, if his face had not been so tragic. + +"Yes, I will live and die for him, if he ever comes and makes me love +him in spite of myself, and you must do the best you can!" cried Jo, +losing patience with poor Teddy. "I've done my best, but you won't be +reasonable, and it's selfish of you to keep teasing for what I can't +give. I shall always be fond of you, very fond indeed, as a friend, +but I'll never marry you, and the sooner you believe it the better for +both of us--so now!" + +That speech was like gunpowder. Laurie looked at her a minute as if he +did not quite know what to do with himself, then turned sharply away, +saying in a desperate sort of tone, "You'll be sorry some day, Jo." + +"Oh, where are you going?" she cried, for his face frightened her. + +"To the devil!" was the consoling answer. + +For a minute Jo's heart stood still, as he swung himself down the bank +toward the river, but it takes much folly, sin or misery to send a +young man to a violent death, and Laurie was not one of the weak sort +who are conquered by a single failure. He had no thought of a +melodramatic plunge, but some blind instinct led him to fling hat and +coat into his boat, and row away with all his might, making better time +up the river than he had done in any race. Jo drew a long breath and +unclasped her hands as she watched the poor fellow trying to outstrip +the trouble which he carried in his heart. + +"That will do him good, and he'll come home in such a tender, penitent +state of mind, that I shan't dare to see him," she said, adding, as she +went slowly home, feeling as if she had murdered some innocent thing, +and buried it under the leaves. "Now I must go and prepare Mr. +Laurence to be very kind to my poor boy. I wish he'd love Beth, +perhaps he may in time, but I begin to think I was mistaken about her. +Oh dear! How can girls like to have lovers and refuse them? I think +it's dreadful." + +Being sure that no one could do it so well as herself, she went +straight to Mr. Laurence, told the hard story bravely through, and then +broke down, crying so dismally over her own insensibility that the kind +old gentleman, though sorely disappointed, did not utter a reproach. +He found it difficult to understand how any girl could help loving +Laurie, and hoped she would change her mind, but he knew even better +than Jo that love cannot be forced, so he shook his head sadly and +resolved to carry his boy out of harm's way, for Young Impetuosity's +parting words to Jo disturbed him more than he would confess. + +When Laurie came home, dead tired but quite composed, his grandfather +met him as if he knew nothing, and kept up the delusion very +successfully for an hour or two. But when they sat together in the +twilight, the time they used to enjoy so much, it was hard work for the +old man to ramble on as usual, and harder still for the young one to +listen to praises of the last year's success, which to him now seemed +like love's labor lost. He bore it as long as he could, then went to +his piano and began to play. The windows were open, and Jo, walking +in the garden with Beth, for once understood music better than her +sister, for he played the '_Sonata Pathetique_', and played it as he +never did before. + +"That's very fine, I dare say, but it's sad enough to make one cry. +Give us something gayer, lad," said Mr. Laurence, whose kind old heart +was full of sympathy, which he longed to show but knew not how. + +Laurie dashed into a livelier strain, played stormily for several +minutes, and would have got through bravely, if in a momentary lull +Mrs. March's voice had not been heard calling, "Jo, dear, come in. I +want you." + +Just what Laurie longed to say, with a different meaning! As he +listened, he lost his place, the music ended with a broken chord, and +the musician sat silent in the dark. + +"I can't stand this," muttered the old gentleman. Up he got, groped +his way to the piano, laid a kind hand on either of the broad +shoulders, and said, as gently as a woman, "I know, my boy, I know." + +No answer for an instant, then Laurie asked sharply, "Who told you?" + +"Jo herself." + +"Then there's an end of it!" And he shook off his grandfather's hands +with an impatient motion, for though grateful for the sympathy, his +man's pride could not bear a man's pity. + +"Not quite. I want to say one thing, and then there shall be an end of +it," returned Mr. Laurence with unusual mildness. "You won't care to +stay at home now, perhaps?" + +"I don't intend to run away from a girl. Jo can't prevent my seeing +her, and I shall stay and do it as long as I like," interrupted Laurie +in a defiant tone. + +"Not if you are the gentleman I think you. I'm disappointed, but the +girl can't help it, and the only thing left for you to do is to go away +for a time. Where will you go?" + +"Anywhere. I don't care what becomes of me," and Laurie got up with a +reckless laugh that grated on his grandfather's ear. + +"Take it like a man, and don't do anything rash, for God's sake. Why +not go abroad, as you planned, and forget it?" + +"I can't." + +"But you've been wild to go, and I promised you should when you got +through college." + +"Ah, but I didn't mean to go alone!" and Laurie walked fast through the +room with an expression which it was well his grandfather did not see. + +"I don't ask you to go alone. There's someone ready and glad to go +with you, anywhere in the world." + +"Who, Sir?" stopping to listen. + +"Myself." + +Laurie came back as quickly as he went, and put out his hand, saying +huskily, "I'm a selfish brute, but--you know--Grandfather--" + +"Lord help me, yes, I do know, for I've been through it all before, +once in my own young days, and then with your father. Now, my dear boy, +just sit quietly down and hear my plan. It's all settled, and can be +carried out at once," said Mr. Laurence, keeping hold of the young man, +as if fearful that he would break away as his father had done before +him. + +"Well, sir, what is it?" and Laurie sat down, without a sign of +interest in face or voice. + +"There is business in London that needs looking after. I meant you +should attend to it, but I can do it better myself, and things here +will get on very well with Brooke to manage them. My partners do +almost everything, I'm merely holding on until you take my place, and +can be off at any time." + +"But you hate traveling, Sir. I can't ask it of you at your age," +began Laurie, who was grateful for the sacrifice, but much preferred to +go alone, if he went at all. + +The old gentleman knew that perfectly well, and particularly desired to +prevent it, for the mood in which he found his grandson assured him +that it would not be wise to leave him to his own devices. So, +stifling a natural regret at the thought of the home comforts he would +leave behind him, he said stoutly, "Bless your soul, I'm not +superannuated yet. I quite enjoy the idea. It will do me good, and my +old bones won't suffer, for traveling nowadays is almost as easy as +sitting in a chair." + +A restless movement from Laurie suggested that his chair was not easy, +or that he did not like the plan, and made the old man add hastily, "I +don't mean to be a marplot or a burden. I go because I think you'd feel +happier than if I was left behind. I don't intend to gad about with +you, but leave you free to go where you like, while I amuse myself in +my own way. I've friends in London and Paris, and should like to visit +them. Meantime you can go to Italy, Germany, Switzerland, where you +will, and enjoy pictures, music, scenery, and adventures to your +heart's content." + +Now, Laurie felt just then that his heart was entirely broken and the +world a howling wilderness, but at the sound of certain words which the +old gentleman artfully introduced into his closing sentence, the broken +heart gave an unexpected leap, and a green oasis or two suddenly +appeared in the howling wilderness. He sighed, and then said, in a +spiritless tone, "Just as you like, Sir. It doesn't matter where I go +or what I do." + +"It does to me, remember that, my lad. I give you entire liberty, but +I trust you to make an honest use of it. Promise me that, Laurie." + +"Anything you like, Sir." + +"Good," thought the old gentleman. "You don't care now, but there'll +come a time when that promise will keep you out of mischief, or I'm +much mistaken." + +Being an energetic individual, Mr. Laurence struck while the iron was +hot, and before the blighted being recovered spirit enough to rebel, +they were off. During the time necessary for preparation, Laurie bore +himself as young gentleman usually do in such cases. He was moody, +irritable, and pensive by turns, lost his appetite, neglected his dress +and devoted much time to playing tempestuously on his piano, avoided +Jo, but consoled himself by staring at her from his window, with a +tragic face that haunted her dreams by night and oppressed her with a +heavy sense of guilt by day. Unlike some sufferers, he never spoke of +his unrequited passion, and would allow no one, not even Mrs. March, to +attempt consolation or offer sympathy. On some accounts, this was a +relief to his friends, but the weeks before his departure were very +uncomfortable, and everyone rejoiced that the 'poor, dear fellow was +going away to forget his trouble, and come home happy'. Of course, he +smiled darkly at their delusion, but passed it by with the sad +superiority of one who knew that his fidelity like his love was +unalterable. + +When the parting came he affected high spirits, to conceal certain +inconvenient emotions which seemed inclined to assert themselves. This +gaiety did not impose upon anybody, but they tried to look as if it did +for his sake, and he got on very well till Mrs. March kissed him, with +a whisper full of motherly solicitude. Then feeling that he was going +very fast, he hastily embraced them all round, not forgetting the +afflicted Hannah, and ran downstairs as if for his life. Jo followed a +minute after to wave her hand to him if he looked round. He did look +round, came back, put his arms about her as she stood on the step above +him, and looked up at her with a face that made his short appeal +eloquent and pathetic. + +"Oh, Jo, can't you?" + +"Teddy, dear, I wish I could!" + +That was all, except a little pause. Then Laurie straightened himself +up, said, "It's all right, never mind," and went away without another +word. Ah, but it wasn't all right, and Jo did mind, for while the +curly head lay on her arm a minute after her hard answer, she felt as +if she had stabbed her dearest friend, and when he left her without a +look behind him, she knew that the boy Laurie never would come again. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX + +BETH'S SECRET + +When Jo came home that spring, she had been struck with the change in +Beth. No one spoke of it or seemed aware of it, for it had come too +gradually to startle those who saw her daily, but to eyes sharpened by +absence, it was very plain and a heavy weight fell on Jo's heart as she +saw her sister's face. It was no paler and but littler thinner than in +the autumn, yet there was a strange, transparent look about it, as if +the mortal was being slowly refined away, and the immortal shining +through the frail flesh with an indescribably pathetic beauty. Jo saw +and felt it, but said nothing at the time, and soon the first +impression lost much of its power, for Beth seemed happy, no one +appeared to doubt that she was better, and presently in other cares Jo +for a time forgot her fear. + +But when Laurie was gone, and peace prevailed again, the vague anxiety +returned and haunted her. She had confessed her sins and been +forgiven, but when she showed her savings and proposed a mountain trip, +Beth had thanked her heartily, but begged not to go so far away from +home. Another little visit to the seashore would suit her better, and +as Grandma could not be prevailed upon to leave the babies, Jo took +Beth down to the quiet place, where she could live much in the open +air, and let the fresh sea breezes blow a little color into her pale +cheeks. + +It was not a fashionable place, but even among the pleasant people +there, the girls made few friends, preferring to live for one another. +Beth was too shy to enjoy society, and Jo too wrapped up in her to care +for anyone else. So they were all in all to each other, and came and +went, quite unconscious of the interest they excited in those about +them, who watched with sympathetic eyes the strong sister and the +feeble one, always together, as if they felt instinctively that a long +separation was not far away. + +They did feel it, yet neither spoke of it, for often between ourselves +and those nearest and dearest to us there exists a reserve which it is +very hard to overcome. Jo felt as if a veil had fallen between her +heart and Beth's, but when she put out her hand to lift it up, there +seemed something sacred in the silence, and she waited for Beth to +speak. She wondered, and was thankful also, that her parents did not +seem to see what she saw, and during the quiet weeks when the shadows +grew so plain to her, she said nothing of it to those at home, +believing that it would tell itself when Beth came back no better. She +wondered still more if her sister really guessed the hard truth, and +what thoughts were passing through her mind during the long hours when +she lay on the warm rocks with her head in Jo's lap, while the winds +blew healthfully over her and the sea made music at her feet. + +One day Beth told her. Jo thought she was asleep, she lay so still, +and putting down her book, sat looking at her with wistful eyes, trying +to see signs of hope in the faint color on Beth's cheeks. But she +could not find enough to satisfy her, for the cheeks were very thin, +and the hands seemed too feeble to hold even the rosy little shells +they had been collecting. It came to her then more bitterly than ever +that Beth was slowly drifting away from her, and her arms instinctively +tightened their hold upon the dearest treasure she possessed. For a +minute her eyes were too dim for seeing, and when they cleared, Beth +was looking up at her so tenderly that there was hardly any need for +her to say, "Jo, dear, I'm glad you know it. I've tried to tell you, +but I couldn't." + +There was no answer except her sister's cheek against her own, not even +tears, for when most deeply moved, Jo did not cry. She was the weaker +then, and Beth tried to comfort and sustain her, with her arms about +her and the soothing words she whispered in her ear. + +"I've known it for a good while, dear, and now I'm used to it, it isn't +hard to think of or to bear. Try to see it so and don't be troubled +about me, because it's best, indeed it is." + +"Is this what made you so unhappy in the autumn, Beth? You did not feel +it then, and keep it to yourself so long, did you?" asked Jo, refusing +to see or say that it was best, but glad to know that Laurie had no +part in Beth's trouble. + +"Yes, I gave up hoping then, but I didn't like to own it. I tried to +think it was a sick fancy, and would not let it trouble anyone. But +when I saw you all so well and strong and full of happy plans, it was +hard to feel that I could never be like you, and then I was miserable, +Jo." + +"Oh, Beth, and you didn't tell me, didn't let me comfort and help you? +How could you shut me out, bear it all alone?" + +Jo's voice was full of tender reproach, and her heart ached to think of +the solitary struggle that must have gone on while Beth learned to say +goodbye to health, love, and life, and take up her cross so cheerfully. + +"Perhaps it was wrong, but I tried to do right. I wasn't sure, no one +said anything, and I hoped I was mistaken. It would have been selfish +to frighten you all when Marmee was so anxious about Meg, and Amy away, +and you so happy with Laurie--at least I thought so then." + +"And I thought you loved him, Beth, and I went away because I +couldn't," cried Jo, glad to say all the truth. + +Beth looked so amazed at the idea that Jo smiled in spite of her pain, +and added softly, "Then you didn't, dearie? I was afraid it was so, and +imagined your poor little heart full of lovelornity all that while." + +"Why, Jo, how could I, when he was so fond of you?" asked Beth, as +innocently as a child. "I do love him dearly. He is so good to me, +how can I help It? But he could never be anything to me but my +brother. I hope he truly will be, sometime." + +"Not through me," said Jo decidedly. "Amy is left for him, and they +would suit excellently, but I have no heart for such things, now. I +don't care what becomes of anybody but you, Beth. You must get well." + +"I want to, oh, so much! I try, but every day I lose a little, and +feel more sure that I shall never gain it back. It's like the tide, +Jo, when it turns, it goes slowly, but it can't be stopped." + +"It shall be stopped, your tide must not turn so soon, nineteen is too +young, Beth. I can't let you go. I'll work and pray and fight against +it. I'll keep you in spite of everything. There must be ways, it +can't be too late. God won't be so cruel as to take you from me," +cried poor Jo rebelliously, for her spirit was far less piously +submissive than Beth's. + +Simple, sincere people seldom speak much of their piety. It shows +itself in acts rather than in words, and has more influence than +homilies or protestations. Beth could not reason upon or explain the +faith that gave her courage and patience to give up life, and +cheerfully wait for death. Like a confiding child, she asked no +questions, but left everything to God and nature, Father and Mother of +us all, feeling sure that they, and they only, could teach and +strengthen heart and spirit for this life and the life to come. She +did not rebuke Jo with saintly speeches, only loved her better for her +passionate affection, and clung more closely to the dear human love, +from which our Father never means us to be weaned, but through which He +draws us closer to Himself. She could not say, "I'm glad to go," for +life was very sweet for her. She could only sob out, "I try to be +willing," while she held fast to Jo, as the first bitter wave of this +great sorrow broke over them together. + +By and by Beth said, with recovered serenity, "You'll tell them this +when we go home?" + +"I think they will see it without words," sighed Jo, for now it seemed +to her that Beth changed every day. + +"Perhaps not. I've heard that the people who love best are often +blindest to such things. If they don't see it, you will tell them for +me. I don't want any secrets, and it's kinder to prepare them. Meg +has John and the babies to comfort her, but you must stand by Father +and Mother, won't you Jo?" + +"If I can. But, Beth, I don't give up yet. I'm going to believe that +it is a sick fancy, and not let you think it's true." said Jo, trying +to speak cheerfully. + +Beth lay a minute thinking, and then said in her quiet way, "I don't +know how to express myself, and shouldn't try to anyone but you, +because I can't speak out except to my Jo. I only mean to say that I +have a feeling that it never was intended I should live long. I'm not +like the rest of you. I never made any plans about what I'd do when I +grew up. I never thought of being married, as you all did. I couldn't +seem to imagine myself anything but stupid little Beth, trotting about +at home, of no use anywhere but there. I never wanted to go away, and +the hard part now is the leaving you all. I'm not afraid, but it seems +as if I should be homesick for you even in heaven." + +Jo could not speak, and for several minutes there was no sound but the +sigh of the wind and the lapping of the tide. A white-winged gull flew +by, with the flash of sunshine on its silvery breast. Beth watched it +till it vanished, and her eyes were full of sadness. A little +gray-coated sand bird came tripping over the beach 'peeping' softly to +itself, as if enjoying the sun and sea. It came quite close to Beth, +and looked at her with a friendly eye and sat upon a warm stone, +dressing its wet feathers, quite at home. Beth smiled and felt +comforted, for the tiny thing seemed to offer its small friendship and +remind her that a pleasant world was still to be enjoyed. + +"Dear little bird! See, Jo, how tame it is. I like peeps better than +the gulls. They are not so wild and handsome, but they seem happy, +confiding little things. I used to call them my birds last summer, and +Mother said they reminded her of me--busy, quaker-colored creatures, +always near the shore, and always chirping that contented little song +of theirs. You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm +and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone. Meg is the +turtledove, and Amy is like the lark she writes about, trying to get up +among the clouds, but always dropping down into its nest again. Dear +little girl! She's so ambitious, but her heart is good and tender, and +no matter how high she flies, she never will forget home. I hope I +shall see her again, but she seems so far away." + +"She is coming in the spring, and I mean that you shall be all ready to +see and enjoy her. I'm going to have you well and rosy by that time," +began Jo, feeling that of all the changes in Beth, the talking change +was the greatest, for it seemed to cost no effort now, and she thought +aloud in a way quite unlike bashful Beth. + +"Jo, dear, don't hope any more. It won't do any good. I'm sure of +that. We won't be miserable, but enjoy being together while we wait. +We'll have happy times, for I don't suffer much, and I think the tide +will go out easily, if you help me." + +Jo leaned down to kiss the tranquil face, and with that silent kiss, +she dedicated herself soul and body to Beth. + +She was right. There was no need of any words when they got home, for +Father and Mother saw plainly now what they had prayed to be saved from +seeing. Tired with her short journey, Beth went at once to bed, saying +how glad she was to be home, and when Jo went down, she found that she +would be spared the hard task of telling Beth's secret. Her father +stood leaning his head on the mantelpiece and did not turn as she came +in, but her mother stretched out her arms as if for help, and Jo went +to comfort her without a word. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN + +NEW IMPRESSIONS + +At three o'clock in the afternoon, all the fashionable world at Nice +may be seen on the Promenade des Anglais--a charming place, for the +wide walk, bordered with palms, flowers, and tropical shrubs, is +bounded on one side by the sea, on the other by the grand drive, lined +with hotels and villas, while beyond lie orange orchards and the hills. +Many nations are represented, many languages spoken, many costumes +worn, and on a sunny day the spectacle is as gay and brilliant as a +carnival. Haughty English, lively French, sober Germans, handsome +Spaniards, ugly Russians, meek Jews, free-and-easy Americans, all +drive, sit, or saunter here, chatting over the news, and criticizing +the latest celebrity who has arrived--Ristori or Dickens, Victor +Emmanuel or the Queen of the Sandwich Islands. The equipages are as +varied as the company and attract as much attention, especially the low +basket barouches in which ladies drive themselves, with a pair of +dashing ponies, gay nets to keep their voluminous flounces from +overflowing the diminutive vehicles, and little grooms on the perch +behind. + +Along this walk, on Christmas Day, a tall young man walked slowly, with +his hands behind him, and a somewhat absent expression of countenance. +He looked like an Italian, was dressed like an Englishman, and had the +independent air of an American--a combination which caused sundry pairs +of feminine eyes to look approvingly after him, and sundry dandies in +black velvet suits, with rose-colored neckties, buff gloves, and orange +flowers in their buttonholes, to shrug their shoulders, and then envy +him his inches. There were plenty of pretty faces to admire, but the +young man took little notice of them, except to glance now and then at +some blonde girl in blue. Presently he strolled out of the promenade +and stood a moment at the crossing, as if undecided whether to go and +listen to the band in the Jardin Publique, or to wander along the beach +toward Castle Hill. The quick trot of ponies' feet made him look up, +as one of the little carriages, containing a single young lady, came +rapidly down the street. The lady was young, blonde, and dressed in +blue. He stared a minute, then his whole face woke up, and, waving his +hat like a boy, he hurried forward to meet her. + +"Oh, Laurie, is it really you? I thought you'd never come!" cried Amy, +dropping the reins and holding out both hands, to the great +scandalization of a French mamma, who hastened her daughter's steps, +lest she should be demoralized by beholding the free manners of these +'mad English'. + +"I was detained by the way, but I promised to spend Christmas with you, +and here I am." + +"How is your grandfather? When did you come? Where are you staying?" + +"Very well--last night--at the Chauvain. I called at your hotel, but +you were out." + +"I have so much to say, I don't know where to begin! Get in and we can +talk at our ease. I was going for a drive and longing for company. +Flo's saving up for tonight." + +"What happens then, a ball?" + +"A Christmas party at our hotel. There are many Americans there, and +they give it in honor of the day. You'll go with us, of course? Aunt +will be charmed." + +"Thank you. Where now?" asked Laurie, leaning back and folding his +arms, a proceeding which suited Amy, who preferred to drive, for her +parasol whip and blue reins over the white ponies' backs afforded her +infinite satisfaction. + +"I'm going to the bankers first for letters, and then to Castle Hill. +The view is so lovely, and I like to feed the peacocks. Have you ever +been there?" + +"Often, years ago, but I don't mind having a look at it." + +"Now tell me all about yourself. The last I heard of you, your +grandfather wrote that he expected you from Berlin." + +"Yes, I spent a month there and then joined him in Paris, where he has +settled for the winter. He has friends there and finds plenty to amuse +him, so I go and come, and we get on capitally." + +"That's a sociable arrangement," said Amy, missing something in +Laurie's manner, though she couldn't tell what. + +"Why, you see, he hates to travel, and I hate to keep still, so we each +suit ourselves, and there is no trouble. I am often with him, and he +enjoys my adventures, while I like to feel that someone is glad to see +me when I get back from my wanderings. Dirty old hole, isn't it?" he +added, with a look of disgust as they drove along the boulevard to the +Place Napoleon in the old city. + +"The dirt is picturesque, so I don't mind. The river and the hills are +delicious, and these glimpses of the narrow cross streets are my +delight. Now we shall have to wait for that procession to pass. It's +going to the Church of St. John." + +While Laurie listlessly watched the procession of priests under their +canopies, white-veiled nuns bearing lighted tapers, and some +brotherhood in blue chanting as they walked, Amy watched him, and felt +a new sort of shyness steal over her, for he was changed, and she could +not find the merry-faced boy she left in the moody-looking man beside +her. He was handsomer than ever and greatly improved, she thought, but +now that the flush of pleasure at meeting her was over, he looked tired +and spiritless--not sick, nor exactly unhappy, but older and graver +than a year or two of prosperous life should have made him. She +couldn't understand it and did not venture to ask questions, so she +shook her head and touched up her ponies, as the procession wound away +across the arches of the Paglioni bridge and vanished in the church. + +"Que pensez-vous?" she said, airing her French, which had improved in +quantity, if not in quality, since she came abroad. + +"That mademoiselle has made good use of her time, and the result is +charming," replied Laurie, bowing with his hand on his heart and an +admiring look. + +She blushed with pleasure, but somehow the compliment did not satisfy +her like the blunt praises he used to give her at home, when he +promenaded round her on festival occasions, and told her she was +'altogether jolly', with a hearty smile and an approving pat on the +head. She didn't like the new tone, for though not blase, it sounded +indifferent in spite of the look. + +"If that's the way he's going to grow up, I wish he'd stay a boy," she +thought, with a curious sense of disappointment and discomfort, trying +meantime to seem quite easy and gay. + +At Avigdor's she found the precious home letters and, giving the reins +to Laurie, read them luxuriously as they wound up the shady road +between green hedges, where tea roses bloomed as freshly as in June. + +"Beth is very poorly, Mother says. I often think I ought to go home, +but they all say 'stay'. So I do, for I shall never have another +chance like this," said Amy, looking sober over one page. + +"I think you are right, there. You could do nothing at home, and it is +a great comfort to them to know that you are well and happy, and +enjoying so much, my dear." + +He drew a little nearer, and looked more like his old self as he said +that, and the fear that sometimes weighed on Amy's heart was lightened, +for the look, the act, the brotherly 'my dear', seemed to assure her +that if any trouble did come, she would not be alone in a strange land. +Presently she laughed and showed him a small sketch of Jo in her +scribbling suit, with the bow rampantly erect upon her cap, and issuing +from her mouth the words, 'Genius burns!'. + +Laurie smiled, took it, put it in his vest pocket 'to keep it from +blowing away', and listened with interest to the lively letter Amy read +him. + +"This will be a regularly merry Christmas to me, with presents in the +morning, you and letters in the afternoon, and a party at night," said +Amy, as they alighted among the ruins of the old fort, and a flock of +splendid peacocks came trooping about them, tamely waiting to be fed. +While Amy stood laughing on the bank above him as she scattered crumbs +to the brilliant birds, Laurie looked at her as she had looked at him, +with a natural curiosity to see what changes time and absence had +wrought. He found nothing to perplex or disappoint, much to admire and +approve, for overlooking a few little affectations of speech and +manner, she was as sprightly and graceful as ever, with the addition of +that indescribable something in dress and bearing which we call +elegance. Always mature for her age, she had gained a certain aplomb +in both carriage and conversation, which made her seem more of a woman +of the world than she was, but her old petulance now and then showed +itself, her strong will still held its own, and her native frankness +was unspoiled by foreign polish. + +Laurie did not read all this while he watched her feed the peacocks, +but he saw enough to satisfy and interest him, and carried away a +pretty little picture of a bright-faced girl standing in the sunshine, +which brought out the soft hue of her dress, the fresh collar of her +cheeks, the golden gloss of her hair, and made her a prominent figure +in the pleasant scene. + +As they came up onto the stone plateau that crowns the hill, Amy waved +her hand as if welcoming him to her favorite haunt, and said, pointing +here and there, "Do you remember the Cathedral and the Corso, the +fishermen dragging their nets in the bay, and the lovely road to Villa +Franca, Schubert's Tower, just below, and best of all, that speck far +out to sea which they say is Corsica?" + +"I remember. It's not much changed," he answered without enthusiasm. + +"What Jo would give for a sight of that famous speck!" said Amy, +feeling in good spirits and anxious to see him so also. + +"Yes," was all he said, but he turned and strained his eyes to see the +island which a greater usurper than even Napoleon now made interesting +in his sight. + +"Take a good look at it for her sake, and then come and tell me what +you have been doing with yourself all this while," said Amy, seating +herself, ready for a good talk. + +But she did not get it, for though he joined her and answered all her +questions freely, she could only learn that he had roved about the +Continent and been to Greece. So after idling away an hour, they drove +home again, and having paid his respects to Mrs. Carrol, Laurie left +them, promising to return in the evening. + +It must be recorded of Amy that she deliberately prinked that night. +Time and absence had done its work on both the young people. She had +seen her old friend in a new light, not as 'our boy', but as a handsome +and agreeable man, and she was conscious of a very natural desire to +find favor in his sight. Amy knew her good points, and made the most +of them with the taste and skill which is a fortune to a poor and +pretty woman. + +Tarlatan and tulle were cheap at Nice, so she enveloped herself in them +on such occasions, and following the sensible English fashion of simple +dress for young girls, got up charming little toilettes with fresh +flowers, a few trinkets, and all manner of dainty devices, which were +both inexpensive and effective. It must be confessed that the artist +sometimes got possession of the woman, and indulged in antique +coiffures, statuesque attitudes, and classic draperies. But, dear +heart, we all have our little weaknesses, and find it easy to pardon +such in the young, who satisfy our eyes with their comeliness, and keep +our hearts merry with their artless vanities. + +"I do want him to think I look well, and tell them so at home," said +Amy to herself, as she put on Flo's old white silk ball dress, and +covered it with a cloud of fresh illusion, out of which her white +shoulders and golden head emerged with a most artistic effect. Her hair +she had the sense to let alone, after gathering up the thick waves and +curls into a Hebe-like knot at the back of her head. + +"It's not the fashion, but it's becoming, and I can't afford to make a +fright of myself," she used to say, when advised to frizzle, puff, or +braid, as the latest style commanded. + +Having no ornaments fine enough for this important occasion, Amy looped +her fleecy skirts with rosy clusters of azalea, and framed the white +shoulders in delicate green vines. Remembering the painted boots, she +surveyed her white satin slippers with girlish satisfaction, and +chasseed down the room, admiring her aristocratic feet all by herself. + +"My new fan just matches my flowers, my gloves fit to a charm, and the +real lace on Aunt's mouchoir gives an air to my whole dress. If I only +had a classical nose and mouth I should be perfectly happy," she said, +surveying herself with a critical eye and a candle in each hand. + +In spite of this affliction, she looked unusually gay and graceful as +she glided away. She seldom ran--it did not suit her style, she +thought, for being tall, the stately and Junoesque was more appropriate +than the sportive or piquante. She walked up and down the long saloon +while waiting for Laurie, and once arranged herself under the +chandelier, which had a good effect upon her hair, then she thought +better of it, and went away to the other end of the room, as if ashamed +of the girlish desire to have the first view a propitious one. It so +happened that she could not have done a better thing, for Laurie came +in so quietly she did not hear him, and as she stood at the distant +window, with her head half turned and one hand gathering up her dress, +the slender, white figure against the red curtains was as effective as +a well-placed statue. + +"Good evening, Diana!" said Laurie, with the look of satisfaction she +liked to see in his eyes when they rested on her. + +"Good evening, Apollo!" she answered, smiling back at him, for he too +looked unusually debonair, and the thought of entering the ballroom on +the arm of such a personable man caused Amy to pity the four plain +Misses Davis from the bottom of her heart. + +"Here are your flowers. I arranged them myself, remembering that you +didn't like what Hannah calls a 'sot-bookay'," said Laurie, handing her +a delicate nosegay, in a holder that she had long coveted as she daily +passed it in Cardiglia's window. + +"How kind you are!" she exclaimed gratefully. "If I'd known you were +coming I'd have had something ready for you today, though not as pretty +as this, I'm afraid." + +"Thank you. It isn't what it should be, but you have improved it," he +added, as she snapped the silver bracelet on her wrist. + +"Please don't." + +"I thought you liked that sort of thing." + +"Not from you, it doesn't sound natural, and I like your old bluntness +better." + +"I'm glad of it," he answered, with a look of relief, then buttoned her +gloves for her, and asked if his tie was straight, just as he used to +do when they went to parties together at home. + +The company assembled in the long salle a manger, that evening, was +such as one sees nowhere but on the Continent. The hospitable +Americans had invited every acquaintance they had in Nice, and having +no prejudice against titles, secured a few to add luster to their +Christmas ball. + +A Russian prince condescended to sit in a corner for an hour and talk +with a massive lady, dressed like Hamlet's mother in black velvet with +a pearl bridle under her chin. A Polish count, aged eighteen, devoted +himself to the ladies, who pronounced him, 'a fascinating dear', and a +German Serene Something, having come to supper alone, roamed vaguely +about, seeking what he might devour. Baron Rothschild's private +secretary, a large-nosed Jew in tight boots, affably beamed upon the +world, as if his master's name crowned him with a golden halo. A stout +Frenchman, who knew the Emperor, came to indulge his mania for dancing, +and Lady de Jones, a British matron, adorned the scene with her little +family of eight. Of course, there were many light-footed, +shrill-voiced American girls, handsome, lifeless-looking English ditto, +and a few plain but piquante French demoiselles, likewise the usual set +of traveling young gentlemen who disported themselves gaily, while +mammas of all nations lined the walls and smiled upon them benignly +when they danced with their daughters. + +Any young girl can imagine Amy's state of mind when she 'took the +stage' that night, leaning on Laurie's arm. She knew she looked well, +she loved to dance, she felt that her foot was on her native heath in a +ballroom, and enjoyed the delightful sense of power which comes when +young girls first discover the new and lovely kingdom they are born to +rule by virtue of beauty, youth, and womanhood. She did pity the Davis +girls, who were awkward, plain, and destitute of escort, except a grim +papa and three grimmer maiden aunts, and she bowed to them in her +friendliest manner as she passed, which was good of her, as it +permitted them to see her dress, and burn with curiosity to know who +her distinguished-looking friend might be. With the first burst of the +band, Amy's color rose, her eyes began to sparkle, and her feet to tap +the floor impatiently, for she danced well and wanted Laurie to know +it. Therefore the shock she received can better be imagined than +described, when he said in a perfectly tranquil tone, "Do you care to +dance?" + +"One usually does at a ball." + +Her amazed look and quick answer caused Laurie to repair his error as +fast as possible. + +"I meant the first dance. May I have the honor?" + +"I can give you one if I put off the Count. He dances divinely, but he +will excuse me, as you are an old friend," said Amy, hoping that the +name would have a good effect, and show Laurie that she was not to be +trifled with. + +"Nice little boy, but rather a short Pole to support... + + A daughter of the gods, + Divinely tall, and most divinely fair," + +was all the satisfaction she got, however. + +The set in which they found themselves was composed of English, and Amy +was compelled to walk decorously through a cotillion, feeling all the +while as if she could dance the tarantella with relish. Laurie +resigned her to the 'nice little boy', and went to do his duty to Flo, +without securing Amy for the joys to come, which reprehensible want of +forethought was properly punished, for she immediately engaged herself +till supper, meaning to relent if he then gave any signs penitence. She +showed him her ball book with demure satisfaction when he strolled +instead of rushed up to claim her for the next, a glorious polka +redowa. But his polite regrets didn't impose upon her, and when she +galloped away with the Count, she saw Laurie sit down by her aunt with +an actual expression of relief. + +That was unpardonable, and Amy took no more notice of him for a long +while, except a word now and then when she came to her chaperon between +the dances for a necessary pin or a moment's rest. Her anger had a +good effect, however, for she hid it under a smiling face, and seemed +unusually blithe and brilliant. Laurie's eyes followed her with +pleasure, for she neither romped nor sauntered, but danced with spirit +and grace, making the delightsome pastime what it should be. He very +naturally fell to studying her from this new point of view, and before +the evening was half over, had decided that 'little Amy was going to +make a very charming woman'. + +It was a lively scene, for soon the spirit of the social season took +possession of everyone, and Christmas merriment made all faces shine, +hearts happy, and heels light. The musicians fiddled, tooted, and +banged as if they enjoyed it, everybody danced who could, and those who +couldn't admired their neighbors with uncommon warmth. The air was +dark with Davises, and many Joneses gamboled like a flock of young +giraffes. The golden secretary darted through the room like a meteor +with a dashing French-woman who carpeted the floor with her pink satin +train. The serene Teuton found the supper-table and was happy, eating +steadily through the bill of fare, and dismayed the garcons by the +ravages he committed. But the Emperor's friend covered himself with +glory, for he danced everything, whether he knew it or not, and +introduced impromptu pirouettes when the figures bewildered him. The +boyish abandon of that stout man was charming to behold, for though he +'carried weight', he danced like an India-rubber ball. He ran, he +flew, he pranced, his face glowed, his bald head shown, his coattails +waved wildly, his pumps actually twinkled in the air, and when the +music stopped, he wiped the drops from his brow, and beamed upon his +fellow men like a French Pickwick without glasses. + +Amy and her Pole distinguished themselves by equal enthusiasm but more +graceful agility, and Laurie found himself involuntarily keeping time +to the rhythmic rise and fall of the white slippers as they flew by as +indefatigably as if winged. When little Vladimir finally relinquished +her, with assurances that he was 'desolated to leave so early', she was +ready to rest, and see how her recreant knight had borne his punishment. + +It had been successful, for at three-and-twenty, blighted affections +find a balm in friendly society, and young nerves will thrill, young +blood dance, and healthy young spirits rise, when subjected to the +enchantment of beauty, light, music, and motion. Laurie had a waked-up +look as he rose to give her his seat, and when he hurried away to bring +her some supper, she said to herself, with a satisfied smile, "Ah, I +thought that would do him good!" + +"You look like Balzac's '_Femme Peinte Par Elle-Meme_'," he said, as he +fanned her with one hand and held her coffee cup in the other. + +"My rouge won't come off." and Amy rubbed her brilliant cheek, and +showed him her white glove with a sober simplicity that made him laugh +outright. + +"What do you call this stuff?" he asked, touching a fold of her dress +that had blown over his knee. + +"Illusion." + +"Good name for it. It's very pretty--new thing, isn't it?" + +"It's as old as the hills. You have seen it on dozens of girls, and +you never found out that it was pretty till now--stupide!" + +"I never saw it on you before, which accounts for the mistake, you see." + +"None of that, it is forbidden. I'd rather take coffee than +compliments just now. No, don't lounge, it makes me nervous." + +Laurie sat bold upright, and meekly took her empty plate feeling an odd +sort of pleasure in having 'little Amy' order him about, for she had +lost her shyness now, and felt an irrestible desire to trample on him, +as girls have a delightful way of doing when lords of creation show any +signs of subjection. + +"Where did you learn all this sort of thing?" he asked with a quizzical +look. + +"As 'this sort of thing' is rather a vague expression, would you kindly +explain?" returned Amy, knowing perfectly well what he meant, but +wickedly leaving him to describe what is indescribable. + +"Well--the general air, the style, the self-possession, +the--the--illusion--you know", laughed Laurie, breaking down and +helping himself out of his quandary with the new word. + +Amy was gratified, but of course didn't show it, and demurely answered, +"Foreign life polishes one in spite of one's self. I study as well as +play, and as for this"--with a little gesture toward her dress--"why, +tulle is cheap, posies to be had for nothing, and I am used to making +the most of my poor little things." + +Amy rather regretted that last sentence, fearing it wasn't in good +taste, but Laurie liked her better for it, and found himself both +admiring and respecting the brave patience that made the most of +opportunity, and the cheerful spirit that covered poverty with flowers. +Amy did not know why he looked at her so kindly, nor why he filled up +her book with his own name, and devoted himself to her for the rest of +the evening in the most delightful manner; but the impulse that wrought +this agreeable change was the result of one of the new impressions +which both of them were unconsciously giving and receiving. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT + +ON THE SHELF + +In France the young girls have a dull time of it till they are married, +when 'Vive la liberte!' becomes their motto. In America, as everyone +knows, girls early sign the declaration of independence, and enjoy +their freedom with republican zest, but the young matrons usually +abdicate with the first heir to the throne and go into a seclusion +almost as close as a French nunnery, though by no means as quiet. +Whether they like it or not, they are virtually put upon the shelf as +soon as the wedding excitement is over, and most of them might exclaim, +as did a very pretty woman the other day, "I'm as handsome as ever, but +no one takes any notice of me because I'm married." + +Not being a belle or even a fashionable lady, Meg did not experience +this affliction till her babies were a year old, for in her little +world primitive customs prevailed, and she found herself more admired +and beloved than ever. + +As she was a womanly little woman, the maternal instinct was very +strong, and she was entirely absorbed in her children, to the utter +exclusion of everything and everybody else. Day and night she brooded +over them with tireless devotion and anxiety, leaving John to the +tender mercies of the help, for an Irish lady now presided over the +kitchen department. Being a domestic man, John decidedly missed the +wifely attentions he had been accustomed to receive, but as he adored +his babies, he cheerfully relinquished his comfort for a time, +supposing with masculine ignorance that peace would soon be restored. +But three months passed, and there was no return of repose. Meg looked +worn and nervous, the babies absorbed every minute of her time, the +house was neglected, and Kitty, the cook, who took life 'aisy', kept +him on short commons. When he went out in the morning he was +bewildered by small commissions for the captive mamma, if he came gaily +in at night, eager to embrace his family, he was quenched by a "Hush! +They are just asleep after worrying all day." If he proposed a little +amusement at home, "No, it would disturb the babies." If he hinted at +a lecture or a concert, he was answered with a reproachful look, and a +decided--"Leave my children for pleasure, never!" His sleep was broken +by infant wails and visions of a phantom figure pacing noiselessly to +and fro in the watches of the night. His meals were interrupted by the +frequent flight of the presiding genius, who deserted him, half-helped, +if a muffled chirp sounded from the nest above. And when he read his +paper of an evening, Demi's colic got into the shipping list and +Daisy's fall affected the price of stocks, for Mrs. Brooke was only +interested in domestic news. + +The poor man was very uncomfortable, for the children had bereft him of +his wife, home was merely a nursery and the perpetual 'hushing' made +him feel like a brutal intruder whenever he entered the sacred +precincts of Babyland. He bore it very patiently for six months, and +when no signs of amendment appeared, he did what other paternal exiles +do--tried to get a little comfort elsewhere. Scott had married and +gone to housekeeping not far off, and John fell into the way of running +over for an hour or two of an evening, when his own parlor was empty, +and his own wife singing lullabies that seemed to have no end. Mrs. +Scott was a lively, pretty girl, with nothing to do but be agreeable, +and she performed her mission most successfully. The parlor was always +bright and attractive, the chessboard ready, the piano in tune, plenty +of gay gossip, and a nice little supper set forth in tempting style. + +John would have preferred his own fireside if it had not been so +lonely, but as it was he gratefully took the next best thing and +enjoyed his neighbor's society. + +Meg rather approved of the new arrangement at first, and found it a +relief to know that John was having a good time instead of dozing in +the parlor, or tramping about the house and waking the children. But +by-and-by, when the teething worry was over and the idols went to sleep +at proper hours, leaving Mamma time to rest, she began to miss John, +and find her workbasket dull company, when he was not sitting opposite +in his old dressing gown, comfortably scorching his slippers on the +fender. She would not ask him to stay at home, but felt injured +because he did not know that she wanted him without being told, +entirely forgetting the many evenings he had waited for her in vain. +She was nervous and worn out with watching and worry, and in that +unreasonable frame of mind which the best of mothers occasionally +experience when domestic cares oppress them. Want of exercise robs +them of cheerfulness, and too much devotion to that idol of American +women, the teapot, makes them feel as if they were all nerve and no +muscle. + +"Yes," she would say, looking in the glass, "I'm getting old and ugly. +John doesn't find me interesting any longer, so he leaves his faded +wife and goes to see his pretty neighbor, who has no incumbrances. +Well, the babies love me, they don't care if I am thin and pale and +haven't time to crimp my hair, they are my comfort, and some day John +will see what I've gladly sacrificed for them, won't he, my precious?" + +To which pathetic appeal Daisy would answer with a coo, or Demi with a +crow, and Meg would put by her lamentations for a maternal revel, which +soothed her solitude for the time being. But the pain increased as +politics absorbed John, who was always running over to discuss +interesting points with Scott, quite unconscious that Meg missed him. +Not a word did she say, however, till her mother found her in tears one +day, and insisted on knowing what the matter was, for Meg's drooping +spirits had not escaped her observation. + +"I wouldn't tell anyone except you, Mother, but I really do need +advice, for if John goes on much longer I might as well be widowed," +replied Mrs. Brooke, drying her tears on Daisy's bib with an injured +air. + +"Goes on how, my dear?" asked her mother anxiously. + +"He's away all day, and at night when I want to see him, he is +continually going over to the Scotts'. It isn't fair that I should +have the hardest work, and never any amusement. Men are very selfish, +even the best of them." + +"So are women. Don't blame John till you see where you are wrong +yourself." + +"But it can't be right for him to neglect me." + +"Don't you neglect him?" + +"Why, Mother, I thought you'd take my part!" + +"So I do, as far as sympathizing goes, but I think the fault is yours, +Meg." + +"I don't see how." + +"Let me show you. Did John ever neglect you, as you call it, while you +made it a point to give him your society of an evening, his only +leisure time?" + +"No, but I can't do it now, with two babies to tend." + +"I think you could, dear, and I think you ought. May I speak quite +freely, and will you remember that it's Mother who blames as well as +Mother who sympathizes?" + +"Indeed I will! Speak to me as if I were little Meg again. I often +feel as if I needed teaching more than ever since these babies look to +me for everything." + +Meg drew her low chair beside her mother's, and with a little +interruption in either lap, the two women rocked and talked lovingly +together, feeling that the tie of motherhood made them more one than +ever. + +"You have only made the mistake that most young wives make--forgotten +your duty to your husband in your love for your children. A very +natural and forgivable mistake, Meg, but one that had better be +remedied before you take to different ways, for children should draw +you nearer than ever, not separate you, as if they were all yours, and +John had nothing to do but support them. I've seen it for some weeks, +but have not spoken, feeling sure it would come right in time." + +"I'm afraid it won't. If I ask him to stay, he'll think I'm jealous, +and I wouldn't insult him by such an idea. He doesn't see that I want +him, and I don't know how to tell him without words." + +"Make it so pleasant he won't want to go away. My dear, he's longing +for his little home, but it isn't home without you, and you are always +in the nursery." + +"Oughtn't I to be there?" + +"Not all the time, too much confinement makes you nervous, and then you +are unfitted for everything. Besides, you owe something to John as +well as to the babies. Don't neglect husband for children, don't shut +him out of the nursery, but teach him how to help in it. His place is +there as well as yours, and the children need him. Let him feel that +he has a part to do, and he will do it gladly and faithfully, and it +will be better for you all." + +"You really think so, Mother?" + +"I know it, Meg, for I've tried it, and I seldom give advice unless +I've proved its practicability. When you and Jo were little, I went on +just as you are, feeling as if I didn't do my duty unless I devoted +myself wholly to you. Poor Father took to his books, after I had +refused all offers of help, and left me to try my experiment alone. I +struggled along as well as I could, but Jo was too much for me. I +nearly spoiled her by indulgence. You were poorly, and I worried about +you till I fell sick myself. Then Father came to the rescue, quietly +managed everything, and made himself so helpful that I saw my mistake, +and never have been able to get on without him since. That is the +secret of our home happiness. He does not let business wean him from +the little cares and duties that affect us all, and I try not to let +domestic worries destroy my interest in his pursuits. Each do our part +alone in many things, but at home we work together, always." + +"It is so, Mother, and my great wish is to be to my husband and +children what you have been to yours. Show me how, I'll do anything +you say." + +"You always were my docile daughter. Well, dear, if I were you, I'd +let John have more to do with the management of Demi, for the boy needs +training, and it's none too soon to begin. Then I'd do what I have +often proposed, let Hannah come and help you. She is a capital nurse, +and you may trust the precious babies to her while you do more +housework. You need the exercise, Hannah would enjoy the rest, and +John would find his wife again. Go out more, keep cheerful as well as +busy, for you are the sunshine-maker of the family, and if you get +dismal there is no fair weather. Then I'd try to take an interest in +whatever John likes--talk with him, let him read to you, exchange +ideas, and help each other in that way. Don't shut yourself up in a +bandbox because you are a woman, but understand what is going on, and +educate yourself to take your part in the world's work, for it all +affects you and yours." + +"John is so sensible, I'm afraid he will think I'm stupid if I ask +questions about politics and things." + +"I don't believe he would. Love covers a multitude of sins, and of +whom could you ask more freely than of him? Try it, and see if he +doesn't find your society far more agreeable than Mrs. Scott's suppers." + +"I will. Poor John! I'm afraid I have neglected him sadly, but I +thought I was right, and he never said anything." + +"He tried not to be selfish, but he has felt rather forlorn, I fancy. +This is just the time, Meg, when young married people are apt to grow +apart, and the very time when they ought to be most together, for the +first tenderness soon wears off, unless care is taken to preserve it. +And no time is so beautiful and precious to parents as the first years +of the little lives given to them to train. Don't let John be a +stranger to the babies, for they will do more to keep him safe and +happy in this world of trial and temptation than anything else, and +through them you will learn to know and love one another as you should. +Now, dear, good-by. Think over Mother's preachment, act upon it if it +seems good, and God bless you all." + +Meg did think it over, found it good, and acted upon it, though the +first attempt was not made exactly as she planned to have it. Of +course the children tyrannized over her, and ruled the house as soon as +they found out that kicking and squalling brought them whatever they +wanted. Mamma was an abject slave to their caprices, but Papa was not +so easily subjugated, and occasionally afflicted his tender spouse by +an attempt at paternal discipline with his obstreperous son. For Demi +inherited a trifle of his sire's firmness of character, we won't call +it obstinacy, and when he made up his little mind to have or to do +anything, all the king's horses and all the king's men could not change +that pertinacious little mind. Mamma thought the dear too young to be +taught to conquer his prejudices, but Papa believed that it never was +too soon to learn obedience. So Master Demi early discovered that when +he undertook to 'wrastle' with 'Parpar', he always got the worst of it, +yet like the Englishman, baby respected the man who conquered him, and +loved the father whose grave "No, no," was more impressive than all +Mamma's love pats. + +A few days after the talk with her mother, Meg resolved to try a social +evening with John, so she ordered a nice supper, set the parlor in +order, dressed herself prettily, and put the children to bed early, +that nothing should interfere with her experiment. But unfortunately +Demi's most unconquerable prejudice was against going to bed, and that +night he decided to go on a rampage. So poor Meg sang and rocked, told +stories and tried every sleep-prevoking wile she could devise, but all +in vain, the big eyes wouldn't shut, and long after Daisy had gone to +byelow, like the chubby little bunch of good nature she was, naughty +Demi lay staring at the light, with the most discouragingly wide-awake +expression of countenance. + +"Will Demi lie still like a good boy, while Mamma runs down and gives +poor Papa his tea?" asked Meg, as the hall door softly closed, and the +well-known step went tip-toeing into the dining room. + +"Me has tea!" said Demi, preparing to join in the revel. + +"No, but I'll save you some little cakies for breakfast, if you'll go +bye-bye like Daisy. Will you, lovey?" + +"Iss!" and Demi shut his eyes tight, as if to catch sleep and hurry the +desired day. + +Taking advantage of the propitious moment, Meg slipped away and ran +down to greet her husband with a smiling face and the little blue bow +in her hair which was his especial admiration. He saw it at once and +said with pleased surprise, "Why, little mother, how gay we are +tonight. Do you expect company?" + +"Only you, dear." + +"Is it a birthday, anniversary, or anything?" + +"No, I'm tired of being dowdy, so I dressed up as a change. You always +make yourself nice for table, no matter how tired you are, so why +shouldn't I when I have the time?" + +"I do it out of respect for you, my dear," said old-fashioned John. + +"Ditto, ditto, Mr. Brooke," laughed Meg, looking young and pretty +again, as she nodded to him over the teapot. + +"Well, it's altogether delightful, and like old times. This tastes +right. I drink your health, dear." and John sipped his tea with an air +of reposeful rapture, which was of very short duration however, for as +he put down his cup, the door handle rattled mysteriously, and a little +voice was heard, saying impatiently... + +"Opy doy. Me's tummin!" + +"It's that naughty boy. I told him to go to sleep alone, and here he +is, downstairs, getting his death a-cold pattering over that canvas," +said Meg, answering the call. + +"Mornin' now," announced Demi in joyful tone as he entered, with his +long nightgown gracefully festooned over his arm and every curl bobbing +gayly as he pranced about the table, eyeing the 'cakies' with loving +glances. + +"No, it isn't morning yet. You must go to bed, and not trouble poor +Mamma. Then you can have the little cake with sugar on it." + +"Me loves Parpar," said the artful one, preparing to climb the paternal +knee and revel in forbidden joys. But John shook his head, and said to +Meg... + +"If you told him to stay up there, and go to sleep alone, make him do +it, or he will never learn to mind you." + +"Yes, of course. Come, Demi," and Meg led her son away, feeling a +strong desire to spank the little marplot who hopped beside her, +laboring under the delusion that the bribe was to be administered as +soon as they reached the nursery. + +Nor was he disappointed, for that shortsighted woman actually gave him +a lump of sugar, tucked him into his bed, and forbade any more +promenades till morning. + +"Iss!" said Demi the perjured, blissfully sucking his sugar, and +regarding his first attempt as eminently successful. + +Meg returned to her place, and supper was progressing pleasantly, when +the little ghost walked again, and exposed the maternal delinquencies +by boldly demanding, "More sudar, Marmar." + +"Now this won't do," said John, hardening his heart against the +engaging little sinner. "We shall never know any peace till that child +learns to go to bed properly. You have made a slave of yourself long +enough. Give him one lesson, and then there will be an end of it. Put +him in his bed and leave him, Meg." + +"He won't stay there, he never does unless I sit by him." + +"I'll manage him. Demi, go upstairs, and get into your bed, as Mamma +bids you." + +"S'ant!" replied the young rebel, helping himself to the coveted +'cakie', and beginning to eat the same with calm audacity. + +"You must never say that to Papa. I shall carry you if you don't go +yourself." + +"Go 'way, me don't love Parpar." and Demi retired to his mother's +skirts for protection. + +But even that refuge proved unavailing, for he was delivered over to +the enemy, with a "Be gentle with him, John," which struck the culprit +with dismay, for when Mamma deserted him, then the judgment day was at +hand. Bereft of his cake, defrauded of his frolic, and borne away by a +strong hand to that detested bed, poor Demi could not restrain his +wrath, but openly defied Papa, and kicked and screamed lustily all the +way upstairs. The minute he was put into bed on one side, he rolled +out on the other, and made for the door, only to be ignominiously +caught up by the tail of his little toga and put back again, which +lively performance was kept up till the young man's strength gave out, +when he devoted himself to roaring at the top of his voice. This vocal +exercise usually conquered Meg, but John sat as unmoved as the post +which is popularly believed to be deaf. No coaxing, no sugar, no +lullaby, no story, even the light was put out and only the red glow of +the fire enlivened the 'big dark' which Demi regarded with curiosity +rather than fear. This new order of things disgusted him, and he +howled dismally for 'Marmar', as his angry passions subsided, and +recollections of his tender bondwoman returned to the captive autocrat. +The plaintive wail which succeeded the passionate roar went to Meg's +heart, and she ran up to say beseechingly... + +"Let me stay with him, he'll be good now, John." + +"No, my dear. I've told him he must go to sleep, as you bid him, and +he must, if I stay here all night." + +"But he'll cry himself sick," pleaded Meg, reproaching herself for +deserting her boy. + +"No, he won't, he's so tired he will soon drop off and then the matter +is settled, for he will understand that he has got to mind. Don't +interfere, I'll manage him." + +"He's my child, and I can't have his spirit broken by harshness." + +"He's my child, and I won't have his temper spoiled by indulgence. Go +down, my dear, and leave the boy to me." + +When John spoke in that masterful tone, Meg always obeyed, and never +regretted her docility. + +"Please let me kiss him once, John?" + +"Certainly. Demi, say good night to Mamma, and let her go and rest, +for she is very tired with taking care of you all day." + +Meg always insisted upon it that the kiss won the victory, for after it +was given, Demi sobbed more quietly, and lay quite still at the bottom +of the bed, whither he had wriggled in his anguish of mind. + +"Poor little man, he's worn out with sleep and crying. I'll cover him +up, and then go and set Meg's heart at rest," thought John, creeping to +the bedside, hoping to find his rebellious heir asleep. + +But he wasn't, for the moment his father peeped at him, Demi's eyes +opened, his little chin began to quiver, and he put up his arms, saying +with a penitent hiccough, "Me's dood, now." + +Sitting on the stairs outside Meg wondered at the long silence which +followed the uproar, and after imagining all sorts of impossible +accidents, she slipped into the room to set her fears at rest. Demi +lay fast asleep, not in his usual spreadeagle attitude, but in a +subdued bunch, cuddled close in the circle of his father's arm and +holding his father's finger, as if he felt that justice was tempered +with mercy, and had gone to sleep a sadder and wiser baby. So held, +John had waited with a womanly patience till the little hand relaxed +its hold, and while waiting had fallen asleep, more tired by that +tussle with his son than with his whole day's work. + +As Meg stood watching the two faces on the pillow, she smiled to +herself, and then slipped away again, saying in a satisfied tone, "I +never need fear that John will be too harsh with my babies. He does +know how to manage them, and will be a great help, for Demi is getting +too much for me." + +When John came down at last, expecting to find a pensive or reproachful +wife, he was agreeably surprised to find Meg placidly trimming a +bonnet, and to be greeted with the request to read something about the +election, if he was not too tired. John saw in a minute that a +revolution of some kind was going on, but wisely asked no questions, +knowing that Meg was such a transparent little person, she couldn't +keep a secret to save her life, and therefore the clue would soon +appear. He read a long debate with the most amiable readiness and then +explained it in his most lucid manner, while Meg tried to look deeply +interested, to ask intelligent questions, and keep her thoughts from +wandering from the state of the nation to the state of her bonnet. In +her secret soul, however, she decided that politics were as bad as +mathematics, and that the mission of politicians seemed to be calling +each other names, but she kept these feminine ideas to herself, and +when John paused, shook her head and said with what she thought +diplomatic ambiguity, "Well, I really don't see what we are coming to." + +John laughed, and watched her for a minute, as she poised a pretty +little preparation of lace and flowers on her hand, and regarded it +with the genuine interest which his harangue had failed to waken. + +"She is trying to like politics for my sake, so I'll try and like +millinery for hers, that's only fair," thought John the Just, adding +aloud, "That's very pretty. Is it what you call a breakfast cap?" + +"My dear man, it's a bonnet! My very best go-to-concert-and-theater +bonnet." + +"I beg your pardon, it was so small, I naturally mistook it for one of +the flyaway things you sometimes wear. How do you keep it on?" + +"These bits of lace are fastened under the chin with a rosebud, so," +and Meg illustrated by putting on the bonnet and regarding him with an +air of calm satisfaction that was irresistible. + +"It's a love of a bonnet, but I prefer the face inside, for it looks +young and happy again," and John kissed the smiling face, to the great +detriment of the rosebud under the chin. + +"I'm glad you like it, for I want you to take me to one of the new +concerts some night. I really need some music to put me in tune. Will +you, please?" + +"Of course I will, with all my heart, or anywhere else you like. You +have been shut up so long, it will do you no end of good, and I shall +enjoy it, of all things. What put it into your head, little mother?" + +"Well, I had a talk with Marmee the other day, and told her how nervous +and cross and out of sorts I felt, and she said I needed change and +less care, so Hannah is to help me with the children, and I'm to see to +things about the house more, and now and then have a little fun, just +to keep me from getting to be a fidgety, broken-down old woman before +my time. It's only an experiment, John, and I want to try it for your +sake as much as for mine, because I've neglected you shamefully lately, +and I'm going to make home what it used to be, if I can. You don't +object, I hope?" + +Never mind what John said, or what a very narrow escape the little +bonnet had from utter ruin. All that we have any business to know is +that John did not appear to object, judging from the changes which +gradually took place in the house and its inmates. It was not all +Paradise by any means, but everyone was better for the division of +labor system. The children throve under the paternal rule, for +accurate, steadfast John brought order and obedience into Babydom, while +Meg recovered her spirits and composed her nerves by plenty of +wholesome exercise, a little pleasure, and much confidential +conversation with her sensible husband. Home grew homelike again, and +John had no wish to leave it, unless he took Meg with him. The Scotts +came to the Brookes' now, and everyone found the little house a +cheerful place, full of happiness, content, and family love. Even +Sallie Moffatt liked to go there. "It is always so quiet and pleasant +here, it does me good, Meg," she used to say, looking about her with +wistful eyes, as if trying to discover the charm, that she might use it +in her great house, full of splendid loneliness, for there were no +riotous, sunny-faced babies there, and Ned lived in a world of his own, +where there was no place for her. + +This household happiness did not come all at once, but John and Meg had +found the key to it, and each year of married life taught them how to +use it, unlocking the treasuries of real home love and mutual +helpfulness, which the poorest may possess, and the richest cannot buy. +This is the sort of shelf on which young wives and mothers may consent +to be laid, safe from the restless fret and fever of the world, finding +loyal lovers in the little sons and daughters who cling to them, +undaunted by sorrow, poverty, or age, walking side by side, through +fair and stormy weather, with a faithful friend, who is, in the true +sense of the good old Saxon word, the 'house-band', and learning, as +Meg learned, that a woman's happiest kingdom is home, her highest honor +the art of ruling it not as a queen, but as a wise wife and mother. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE + +LAZY LAURENCE + +Laurie went to Nice intending to stay a week, and remained a month. He +was tired of wandering about alone, and Amy's familiar presence seemed +to give a homelike charm to the foreign scenes in which she bore a +part. He rather missed the 'petting' he used to receive, and enjoyed a +taste of it again, for no attentions, however flattering, from +strangers, were half so pleasant as the sisterly adoration of the girls +at home. Amy never would pet him like the others, but she was very +glad to see him now, and quite clung to him, feeling that he was the +representative of the dear family for whom she longed more than she +would confess. They naturally took comfort in each other's society and +were much together, riding, walking, dancing, or dawdling, for at Nice +no one can be very industrious during the gay season. But, while +apparently amusing themselves in the most careless fashion, they were +half-consciously making discoveries and forming opinions about each +other. Amy rose daily in the estimation of her friend, but he sank in +hers, and each felt the truth before a word was spoken. Amy tried to +please, and succeeded, for she was grateful for the many pleasures he +gave her, and repaid him with the little services to which womanly +women know how to lend an indescribable charm. Laurie made no effort +of any kind, but just let himself drift along as comfortably as +possible, trying to forget, and feeling that all women owed him a kind +word because one had been cold to him. It cost him no effort to be +generous, and he would have given Amy all the trinkets in Nice if she +would have taken them, but at the same time he felt that he could not +change the opinion she was forming of him, and he rather dreaded the +keen blue eyes that seemed to watch him with such half-sorrowful, +half-scornful surprise. + +"All the rest have gone to Monaco for the day. I preferred to stay at +home and write letters. They are done now, and I am going to Valrosa +to sketch, will you come?" said Amy, as she joined Laurie one lovely +day when he lounged in as usual, about noon. + +"Well, yes, but isn't it rather warm for such a long walk?" he answered +slowly, for the shaded salon looked inviting after the glare without. + +"I'm going to have the little carriage, and Baptiste can drive, so +you'll have nothing to do but hold your umbrella, and keep your gloves +nice," returned Amy, with a sarcastic glance at the immaculate kids, +which were a weak point with Laurie. + +"Then I'll go with pleasure." and he put out his hand for her +sketchbook. But she tucked it under her arm with a sharp... + +"Don't trouble yourself. It's no exertion to me, but you don't look +equal to it." + +Laurie lifted his eyebrows and followed at a leisurely pace as she ran +downstairs, but when they got into the carriage he took the reins +himself, and left little Baptiste nothing to do but fold his arms and +fall asleep on his perch. + +The two never quarreled. Amy was too well-bred, and just now Laurie +was too lazy, so in a minute he peeped under her hatbrim with an +inquiring air. She answered him with a smile, and they went on +together in the most amicable manner. + +It was a lovely drive, along winding roads rich in the picturesque +scenes that delight beauty-loving eyes. Here an ancient monastery, +whence the solemn chanting of the monks came down to them. There a +bare-legged shepherd, in wooden shoes, pointed hat, and rough jacket +over one shoulder, sat piping on a stone while his goats skipped among +the rocks or lay at his feet. Meek, mouse-colored donkeys, laden with +panniers of freshly cut grass passed by, with a pretty girl in a +capaline sitting between the green piles, or an old woman spinning with +a distaff as she went. Brown, soft-eyed children ran out from the +quaint stone hovels to offer nosegays, or bunches of oranges still on +the bough. Gnarled olive trees covered the hills with their dusky +foliage, fruit hung golden in the orchard, and great scarlet anemones +fringed the roadside, while beyond green slopes and craggy heights, the +Maritime Alps rose sharp and white against the blue Italian sky. + +Valrosa well deserved its name, for in that climate of perpetual summer +roses blossomed everywhere. They overhung the archway, thrust +themselves between the bars of the great gate with a sweet welcome to +passers-by, and lined the avenue, winding through lemon trees and +feathery palms up to the villa on the hill. Every shadowy nook, where +seats invited one to stop and rest, was a mass of bloom, every cool +grotto had its marble nymph smiling from a veil of flowers and every +fountain reflected crimson, white, or pale pink roses, leaning down to +smile at their own beauty. Roses covered the walls of the house, draped +the cornices, climbed the pillars, and ran riot over the balustrade of +the wide terrace, whence one looked down on the sunny Mediterranean, +and the white-walled city on its shore. + +"This is a regular honeymoon paradise, isn't it? Did you ever see such +roses?" asked Amy, pausing on the terrace to enjoy the view, and a +luxurious whiff of perfume that came wandering by. + +"No, nor felt such thorns," returned Laurie, with his thumb in his +mouth, after a vain attempt to capture a solitary scarlet flower that +grew just beyond his reach. + +"Try lower down, and pick those that have no thorns," said Amy, +gathering three of the tiny cream-colored ones that starred the wall +behind her. She put them in his buttonhole as a peace offering, and he +stood a minute looking down at them with a curious expression, for in +the Italian part of his nature there was a touch of superstition, and +he was just then in that state of half-sweet, half-bitter melancholy, +when imaginative young men find significance in trifles and food for +romance everywhere. He had thought of Jo in reaching after the thorny +red rose, for vivid flowers became her, and she had often worn ones +like that from the greenhouse at home. The pale roses Amy gave him +were the sort that the Italians lay in dead hands, never in bridal +wreaths, and for a moment he wondered if the omen was for Jo or for +himself, but the next instant his American common sense got the better +of sentimentality, and he laughed a heartier laugh than Amy had heard +since he came. + +"It's good advice, you'd better take it and save your fingers," she +said, thinking her speech amused him. + +"Thank you, I will," he answered in jest, and a few months later he did +it in earnest. + +"Laurie, when are you going to your grandfather?" she asked presently, +as she settled herself on a rustic seat. + +"Very soon." + +"You have said that a dozen times within the last three weeks." + +"I dare say, short answers save trouble." + +"He expects you, and you really ought to go." + +"Hospitable creature! I know it." + +"Then why don't you do it?" + +"Natural depravity, I suppose." + +"Natural indolence, you mean. It's really dreadful!" and Amy looked +severe. + +"Not so bad as it seems, for I should only plague him if I went, so I +might as well stay and plague you a little longer, you can bear it +better, in fact I think it agrees with you excellently," and Laurie +composed himself for a lounge on the broad ledge of the balustrade. + +Amy shook her head and opened her sketchbook with an air of +resignation, but she had made up her mind to lecture 'that boy' and in +a minute she began again. + +"What are you doing just now?" + +"Watching lizards." + +"No, no. I mean what do you intend and wish to do?" + +"Smoke a cigarette, if you'll allow me." + +"How provoking you are! I don't approve of cigars and I will only +allow it on condition that you let me put you into my sketch. I need a +figure." + +"With all the pleasure in life. How will you have me, full length or +three-quarters, on my head or my heels? I should respectfully suggest +a recumbent posture, then put yourself in also and call it 'Dolce far +niente'." + +"Stay as you are, and go to sleep if you like. I intend to work hard," +said Amy in her most energetic tone. + +"What delightful enthusiasm!" and he leaned against a tall urn with an +air of entire satisfaction. + +"What would Jo say if she saw you now?" asked Amy impatiently, hoping +to stir him up by the mention of her still more energetic sister's name. + +"As usual, 'Go away, Teddy. I'm busy!'" He laughed as he spoke, but +the laugh was not natural, and a shade passed over his face, for the +utterance of the familiar name touched the wound that was not healed +yet. Both tone and shadow struck Amy, for she had seen and heard them +before, and now she looked up in time to catch a new expression on +Laurie's face--a hard bitter look, full of pain, dissatisfaction, and +regret. It was gone before she could study it and the listless +expression back again. She watched him for a moment with artistic +pleasure, thinking how like an Italian he looked, as he lay basking in +the sun with uncovered head and eyes full of southern dreaminess, for +he seemed to have forgotten her and fallen into a reverie. + +"You look like the effigy of a young knight asleep on his tomb," she +said, carefully tracing the well-cut profile defined against the dark +stone. + +"Wish I was!" + +"That's a foolish wish, unless you have spoiled your life. You are so +changed, I sometimes think--" there Amy stopped, with a half-timid, +half-wistful look, more significant than her unfinished speech. + +Laurie saw and understood the affectionate anxiety which she hesitated +to express, and looking straight into her eyes, said, just as he used +to say it to her mother, "It's all right, ma'am." + +That satisfied her and set at rest the doubts that had begun to worry +her lately. It also touched her, and she showed that it did, by the +cordial tone in which she said... + +"I'm glad of that! I didn't think you'd been a very bad boy, but I +fancied you might have wasted money at that wicked Baden-Baden, lost +your heart to some charming Frenchwoman with a husband, or got into +some of the scrapes that young men seem to consider a necessary part of +a foreign tour. Don't stay out there in the sun, come and lie on the +grass here and 'let us be friendly', as Jo used to say when we got in +the sofa corner and told secrets." + +Laurie obediently threw himself down on the turf, and began to amuse +himself by sticking daisies into the ribbons of Amy's hat, that lay +there. + +"I'm all ready for the secrets." and he glanced up with a decided +expression of interest in his eyes. + +"I've none to tell. You may begin." + +"Haven't one to bless myself with. I thought perhaps you'd had some +news from home.." + +"You have heard all that has come lately. Don't you hear often? I +fancied Jo would send you volumes." + +"She's very busy. I'm roving about so, it's impossible to be regular, +you know. When do you begin your great work of art, Raphaella?" he +asked, changing the subject abruptly after another pause, in which he +had been wondering if Amy knew his secret and wanted to talk about it. + +"Never," she answered, with a despondent but decided air. "Rome took +all the vanity out of me, for after seeing the wonders there, I felt +too insignificant to live and gave up all my foolish hopes in despair." + +"Why should you, with so much energy and talent?" + +"That's just why, because talent isn't genius, and no amount of energy +can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing. I won't be a +common-place dauber, so I don't intend to try any more." + +"And what are you going to do with yourself now, if I may ask?" + +"Polish up my other talents, and be an ornament to society, if I get +the chance." + +It was a characteristic speech, and sounded daring, but audacity +becomes young people, and Amy's ambition had a good foundation. Laurie +smiled, but he liked the spirit with which she took up a new purpose +when a long-cherished one died, and spent no time lamenting. + +"Good! And here is where Fred Vaughn comes in, I fancy." + +Amy preserved a discreet silence, but there was a conscious look in her +downcast face that made Laurie sit up and say gravely, "Now I'm going +to play brother, and ask questions. May I?" + +"I don't promise to answer." + +"Your face will, if your tongue won't. You aren't woman of the world +enough yet to hide your feelings, my dear. I heard rumors about Fred +and you last year, and it's my private opinion that if he had not been +called home so suddenly and detained so long, something would have come +of it, hey?" + +"That's not for me to say," was Amy's grim reply, but her lips would +smile, and there was a traitorous sparkle of the eye which betrayed +that she knew her power and enjoyed the knowledge. + +"You are not engaged, I hope?" and Laurie looked very elder-brotherly +and grave all of a sudden. + +"No." + +"But you will be, if he comes back and goes properly down on his knees, +won't you?" + +"Very likely." + +"Then you are fond of old Fred?" + +"I could be, if I tried." + +"But you don't intend to try till the proper moment? Bless my soul, +what unearthly prudence! He's a good fellow, Amy, but not the man I +fancied you'd like." + +"He is rich, a gentleman, and has delightful manners," began Amy, +trying to be quite cool and dignified, but feeling a little ashamed of +herself, in spite of the sincerity of her intentions. + +"I understand. Queens of society can't get on without money, so you +mean to make a good match, and start in that way? Quite right and +proper, as the world goes, but it sounds odd from the lips of one of +your mother's girls." + +"True, nevertheless." + +A short speech, but the quiet decision with which it was uttered +contrasted curiously with the young speaker. Laurie felt this +instinctively and laid himself down again, with a sense of +disappointment which he could not explain. His look and silence, as +well as a certain inward self-disapproval, ruffled Amy, and made her +resolve to deliver her lecture without delay. + +"I wish you'd do me the favor to rouse yourself a little," she said +sharply. + +"Do it for me, there's a dear girl." + +"I could, if I tried." and she looked as if she would like doing it in +the most summary style. + +"Try, then. I give you leave," returned Laurie, who enjoyed having +someone to tease, after his long abstinence from his favorite pastime. + +"You'd be angry in five minutes." + +"I'm never angry with you. It takes two flints to make a fire. You are +as cool and soft as snow." + +"You don't know what I can do. Snow produces a glow and a tingle, if +applied rightly. Your indifference is half affectation, and a good +stirring up would prove it." + +"Stir away, it won't hurt me and it may amuse you, as the big man said +when his little wife beat him. Regard me in the light of a husband or +a carpet, and beat till you are tired, if that sort of exercise agrees +with you." + +Being decidedly nettled herself, and longing to see him shake off the +apathy that so altered him, Amy sharpened both tongue and pencil, and +began. + +"Flo and I have got a new name for you. It's Lazy Laurence. How do you +like it?" + +She thought it would annoy him, but he only folded his arms under his +head, with an imperturbable, "That's not bad. Thank you, ladies." + +"Do you want to know what I honestly think of you?" + +"Pining to be told." + +"Well, I despise you." + +If she had even said 'I hate you' in a petulant or coquettish tone, he +would have laughed and rather liked it, but the grave, almost sad, +accent in her voice made him open his eyes, and ask quickly... + +"Why, if you please?" + +"Because, with every chance for being good, useful, and happy, you are +faulty, lazy, and miserable." + +"Strong language, mademoiselle." + +"If you like it, I'll go on." + +"Pray do, it's quite interesting." + +"I thought you'd find it so. Selfish people always like to talk about +themselves." + +"Am I selfish?" the question slipped out involuntarily and in a tone of +surprise, for the one virtue on which he prided himself was generosity. + +"Yes, very selfish," continued Amy, in a calm, cool voice, twice as +effective just then as an angry one. "I'll show you how, for I've +studied you while we were frolicking, and I'm not at all satisfied with +you. Here you have been abroad nearly six months, and done nothing but +waste time and money and disappoint your friends." + +"Isn't a fellow to have any pleasure after a four-year grind?" + +"You don't look as if you'd had much. At any rate, you are none the +better for it, as far as I can see. I said when we first met that you +had improved. Now I take it all back, for I don't think you half so +nice as when I left you at home. You have grown abominably lazy, you +like gossip, and waste time on frivolous things, you are contented to +be petted and admired by silly people, instead of being loved and +respected by wise ones. With money, talent, position, health, and +beauty, ah you like that old Vanity! But it's the truth, so I can't +help saying it, with all these splendid things to use and enjoy, you +can find nothing to do but dawdle, and instead of being the man you +ought to be, you are only..." there she stopped, with a look that had +both pain and pity in it. + +"Saint Laurence on a gridiron," added Laurie, blandly finishing the +sentence. But the lecture began to take effect, for there was a +wide-awake sparkle in his eyes now and a half-angry, half-injured +expression replaced the former indifference. + +"I supposed you'd take it so. You men tell us we are angels, and say +we can make you what we will, but the instant we honestly try to do you +good, you laugh at us and won't listen, which proves how much your +flattery is worth." Amy spoke bitterly, and turned her back on the +exasperating martyr at her feet. + +In a minute a hand came down over the page, so that she could not draw, +and Laurie's voice said, with a droll imitation of a penitent child, "I +will be good, oh, I will be good!" + +But Amy did not laugh, for she was in earnest, and tapping on the +outspread hand with her pencil, said soberly, "Aren't you ashamed of a +hand like that? It's as soft and white as a woman's, and looks as if +it never did anything but wear Jouvin's best gloves and pick flowers +for ladies. You are not a dandy, thank Heaven, so I'm glad to see +there are no diamonds or big seal rings on it, only the little old one +Jo gave you so long ago. Dear soul, I wish she was here to help me!" + +"So do I!" + +The hand vanished as suddenly as it came, and there was energy enough +in the echo of her wish to suit even Amy. She glanced down at him with +a new thought in her mind, but he was lying with his hat half over his +face, as if for shade, and his mustache hid his mouth. She only saw +his chest rise and fall, with a long breath that might have been a +sigh, and the hand that wore the ring nestled down into the grass, as +if to hide something too precious or too tender to be spoken of. All in +a minute various hints and trifles assumed shape and significance in +Amy's mind, and told her what her sister never had confided to her. +She remembered that Laurie never spoke voluntarily of Jo, she recalled +the shadow on his face just now, the change in his character, and the +wearing of the little old ring which was no ornament to a handsome +hand. Girls are quick to read such signs and feel their eloquence. +Amy had fancied that perhaps a love trouble was at the bottom of the +alteration, and now she was sure of it. Her keen eyes filled, and when +she spoke again, it was in a voice that could be beautifully soft and +kind when she chose to make it so. + +"I know I have no right to talk so to you, Laurie, and if you weren't +the sweetest-tempered fellow in the world, you'd be very angry with me. +But we are all so fond and proud of you, I couldn't bear to think they +should be disappointed in you at home as I have been, though, perhaps +they would understand the change better than I do." + +"I think they would," came from under the hat, in a grim tone, quite as +touching as a broken one. + +"They ought to have told me, and not let me go blundering and scolding, +when I should have been more kind and patient than ever. I never did +like that Miss Randal and now I hate her!" said artful Amy, wishing to +be sure of her facts this time. + +"Hang Miss Randal!" and Laurie knocked the hat off his face with a look +that left no doubt of his sentiments toward that young lady. + +"I beg pardon, I thought..." and there she paused diplomatically. + +"No, you didn't, you knew perfectly well I never cared for anyone but +Jo," Laurie said that in his old, impetuous tone, and turned his face +away as he spoke. + +"I did think so, but as they never said anything about it, and you came +away, I supposed I was mistaken. And Jo wouldn't be kind to you? Why, +I was sure she loved you dearly." + +"She was kind, but not in the right way, and it's lucky for her she +didn't love me, if I'm the good-for-nothing fellow you think me. It's +her fault though, and you may tell her so." + +The hard, bitter look came back again as he said that, and it troubled +Amy, for she did not know what balm to apply. + +"I was wrong, I didn't know. I'm very sorry I was so cross, but I +can't help wishing you'd bear it better, Teddy, dear." + +"Don't, that's her name for me!" and Laurie put up his hand with a +quick gesture to stop the words spoken in Jo's half-kind, +half-reproachful tone. "Wait till you've tried it yourself," he added +in a low voice, as he pulled up the grass by the handful. + +"I'd take it manfully, and be respected if I couldn't be loved," said +Amy, with the decision of one who knew nothing about it. + +Now, Laurie flattered himself that he had borne it remarkably well, +making no moan, asking no sympathy, and taking his trouble away to live +it down alone. Amy's lecture put the matter in a new light, and for +the first time it did look weak and selfish to lose heart at the first +failure, and shut himself up in moody indifference. He felt as if +suddenly shaken out of a pensive dream and found it impossible to go to +sleep again. Presently he sat up and asked slowly, "Do you think Jo +would despise me as you do?" + +"Yes, if she saw you now. She hates lazy people. Why don't you do +something splendid, and make her love you?" + +"I did my best, but it was no use." + +"Graduating well, you mean? That was no more than you ought to have +done, for your grandfather's sake. It would have been shameful to fail +after spending so much time and money, when everyone knew that you +could do well." + +"I did fail, say what you will, for Jo wouldn't love me," began Laurie, +leaning his head on his hand in a despondent attitude. + +"No, you didn't, and you'll say so in the end, for it did you good, and +proved that you could do something if you tried. If you'd only set +about another task of some sort, you'd soon be your hearty, happy self +again, and forget your trouble." + +"That's impossible." + +"Try it and see. You needn't shrug your shoulders, and think, 'Much +she knows about such things'. I don't pretend to be wise, but I am +observing, and I see a great deal more than you'd imagine. I'm +interested in other people's experiences and inconsistencies, and +though I can't explain, I remember and use them for my own benefit. +Love Jo all your days, if you choose, but don't let it spoil you, for +it's wicked to throw away so many good gifts because you can't have the +one you want. There, I won't lecture any more, for I know you'll wake +up and be a man in spite of that hardhearted girl." + +Neither spoke for several minutes. Laurie sat turning the little ring +on his finger, and Amy put the last touches to the hasty sketch she had +been working at while she talked. Presently she put it on his knee, +merely saying, "How do you like that?" + +He looked and then he smiled, as he could not well help doing, for it +was capitally done, the long, lazy figure on the grass, with listless +face, half-shut eyes, and one hand holding a cigar, from which came the +little wreath of smoke that encircled the dreamer's head. + +"How well you draw!" he said, with a genuine surprise and pleasure at +her skill, adding, with a half-laugh, "Yes, that's me." + +"As you are. This is as you were." and Amy laid another sketch beside +the one he held. + +It was not nearly so well done, but there was a life and spirit in it +which atoned for many faults, and it recalled the past so vividly that +a sudden change swept over the young man's face as he looked. Only a +rough sketch of Laurie taming a horse. Hat and coat were off, and +every line of the active figure, resolute face, and commanding attitude +was full of energy and meaning. The handsome brute, just subdued, +stood arching his neck under the tightly drawn rein, with one foot +impatiently pawing the ground, and ears pricked up as if listening for +the voice that had mastered him. In the ruffled mane, the rider's +breezy hair and erect attitude, there was a suggestion of suddenly +arrested motion, of strength, courage, and youthful buoyancy that +contrasted sharply with the supine grace of the '_Dolce far Niente_' +sketch. Laurie said nothing but as his eye went from one to the other, +Amy saw him flush up and fold his lips together as if he read and +accepted the little lesson she had given him. That satisfied her, and +without waiting for him to speak, she said, in her sprightly way... + +"Don't you remember the day you played Rarey with Puck, and we all +looked on? Meg and Beth were frightened, but Jo clapped and pranced, +and I sat on the fence and drew you. I found that sketch in my +portfolio the other day, touched it up, and kept it to show you." + +"Much obliged. You've improved immensely since then, and I +congratulate you. May I venture to suggest in 'a honeymoon paradise' +that five o'clock is the dinner hour at your hotel?" + +Laurie rose as he spoke, returned the pictures with a smile and a bow +and looked at his watch, as if to remind her that even moral lectures +should have an end. He tried to resume his former easy, indifferent +air, but it was an affectation now, for the rousing had been more +effacious than he would confess. Amy felt the shade of coldness in his +manner, and said to herself... + +"Now, I've offended him. Well, if it does him good, I'm glad, if it +makes him hate me, I'm sorry, but it's true, and I can't take back a +word of it." + +They laughed and chatted all the way home, and little Baptiste, up +behind, thought that monsieur and madamoiselle were in charming +spirits. But both felt ill at ease. The friendly frankness was +disturbed, the sunshine had a shadow over it, and despite their +apparent gaiety, there was a secret discontent in the heart of each. + +"Shall we see you this evening, mon frere?" asked Amy, as they parted +at her aunt's door. + +"Unfortunately I have an engagement. Au revoir, madamoiselle," and +Laurie bent as if to kiss her hand, in the foreign fashion, which +became him better than many men. Something in his face made Amy say +quickly and warmly... + +"No, be yourself with me, Laurie, and part in the good old way. I'd +rather have a hearty English handshake than all the sentimental +salutations in France." + +"Goodbye, dear," and with these words, uttered in the tone she liked, +Laurie left her, after a handshake almost painful in its heartiness. + +Next morning, instead of the usual call, Amy received a note which made +her smile at the beginning and sigh at the end. + +My Dear Mentor, Please make my adieux to your aunt, and exult within +yourself, for 'Lazy Laurence' has gone to his grandpa, like the best of +boys. A pleasant winter to you, and may the gods grant you a blissful +honeymoon at Valrosa! I think Fred would be benefited by a rouser. +Tell him so, with my congratulations. + +Yours gratefully, Telemachus + + +"Good boy! I'm glad he's gone," said Amy, with an approving smile. The +next minute her face fell as she glanced about the empty room, adding, +with an involuntary sigh, "Yes, I am glad, but how I shall miss him." + + + +CHAPTER FORTY + +THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW + +When the first bitterness was over, the family accepted the inevitable, +and tried to bear it cheerfully, helping one another by the increased +affection which comes to bind households tenderly together in times of +trouble. They put away their grief, and each did his or her part +toward making that last year a happy one. + +The pleasantest room in the house was set apart for Beth, and in it was +gathered everything that she most loved, flowers, pictures, her piano, +the little worktable, and the beloved pussies. Father's best books +found their way there, Mother's easy chair, Jo's desk, Amy's finest +sketches, and every day Meg brought her babies on a loving pilgrimage, +to make sunshine for Aunty Beth. John quietly set apart a little sum, +that he might enjoy the pleasure of keeping the invalid supplied with +the fruit she loved and longed for. Old Hannah never wearied of +concocting dainty dishes to tempt a capricious appetite, dropping tears +as she worked, and from across the sea came little gifts and cheerful +letters, seeming to bring breaths of warmth and fragrance from lands +that know no winter. + +Here, cherished like a household saint in its shrine, sat Beth, +tranquil and busy as ever, for nothing could change the sweet, +unselfish nature, and even while preparing to leave life, she tried to +make it happier for those who should remain behind. The feeble fingers +were never idle, and one of her pleasures was to make little things for +the school children daily passing to and fro, to drop a pair of mittens +from her window for a pair of purple hands, a needlebook for some small +mother of many dolls, penwipers for young penmen toiling through +forests of pothooks, scrapbooks for picture-loving eyes, and all manner +of pleasant devices, till the reluctant climbers of the ladder of +learning found their way strewn with flowers, as it were, and came to +regard the gentle giver as a sort of fairy godmother, who sat above +there, and showered down gifts miraculously suited to their tastes and +needs. If Beth had wanted any reward, she found it in the bright +little faces always turned up to her window, with nods and smiles, and +the droll little letters which came to her, full of blots and gratitude. + +The first few months were very happy ones, and Beth often used to look +round, and say "How beautiful this is!" as they all sat together in her +sunny room, the babies kicking and crowing on the floor, mother and +sisters working near, and father reading, in his pleasant voice, from +the wise old books which seemed rich in good and comfortable words, as +applicable now as when written centuries ago, a little chapel, where a +paternal priest taught his flock the hard lessons all must learn, +trying to show them that hope can comfort love, and faith make +resignation possible. Simple sermons, that went straight to the souls +of those who listened, for the father's heart was in the minister's +religion, and the frequent falter in the voice gave a double eloquence +to the words he spoke or read. + +It was well for all that this peaceful time was given them as +preparation for the sad hours to come, for by-and-by, Beth said the +needle was 'so heavy', and put it down forever. Talking wearied her, +faces troubled her, pain claimed her for its own, and her tranquil +spirit was sorrowfully perturbed by the ills that vexed her feeble +flesh. Ah me! Such heavy days, such long, long nights, such aching +hearts and imploring prayers, when those who loved her best were forced +to see the thin hands stretched out to them beseechingly, to hear the +bitter cry, "Help me, help me!" and to feel that there was no help. A +sad eclipse of the serene soul, a sharp struggle of the young life with +death, but both were mercifully brief, and then the natural rebellion +over, the old peace returned more beautiful than ever. With the wreck +of her frail body, Beth's soul grew strong, and though she said little, +those about her felt that she was ready, saw that the first pilgrim +called was likewise the fittest, and waited with her on the shore, +trying to see the Shining Ones coming to receive her when she crossed +the river. + +Jo never left her for an hour since Beth had said "I feel stronger when +you are here." She slept on a couch in the room, waking often to renew +the fire, to feed, lift, or wait upon the patient creature who seldom +asked for anything, and 'tried not to be a trouble'. All day she +haunted the room, jealous of any other nurse, and prouder of being +chosen then than of any honor her life ever brought her. Precious and +helpful hours to Jo, for now her heart received the teaching that it +needed. Lessons in patience were so sweetly taught her that she could +not fail to learn them, charity for all, the lovely spirit that can +forgive and truly forget unkindness, the loyalty to duty that makes the +hardest easy, and the sincere faith that fears nothing, but trusts +undoubtingly. + +Often when she woke Jo found Beth reading in her well-worn little book, +heard her singing softly, to beguile the sleepless night, or saw her +lean her face upon her hands, while slow tears dropped through the +transparent fingers, and Jo would lie watching her with thoughts too +deep for tears, feeling that Beth, in her simple, unselfish way, was +trying to wean herself from the dear old life, and fit herself for the +life to come, by sacred words of comfort, quiet prayers, and the music +she loved so well. + +Seeing this did more for Jo than the wisest sermons, the saintliest +hymns, the most fervent prayers that any voice could utter. For with +eyes made clear by many tears, and a heart softened by the tenderest +sorrow, she recognized the beauty of her sister's life--uneventful, +unambitious, yet full of the genuine virtues which 'smell sweet, and +blossom in the dust', the self-forgetfulness that makes the humblest on +earth remembered soonest in heaven, the true success which is possible +to all. + +One night when Beth looked among the books upon her table, to find +something to make her forget the mortal weariness that was almost as +hard to bear as pain, as she turned the leaves of her old favorite, +Pilgrims's Progress, she found a little paper, scribbled over in Jo's +hand. The name caught her eye and the blurred look of the lines made +her sure that tears had fallen on it. + +"Poor Jo! She's fast asleep, so I won't wake her to ask leave. She +shows me all her things, and I don't think she'll mind if I look at +this", thought Beth, with a glance at her sister, who lay on the rug, +with the tongs beside her, ready to wake up the minute the log fell +apart. + + MY BETH + + Sitting patient in the shadow + Till the blessed light shall come, + A serene and saintly presence + Sanctifies our troubled home. + Earthly joys and hopes and sorrows + Break like ripples on the strand + Of the deep and solemn river + Where her willing feet now stand. + + O my sister, passing from me, + Out of human care and strife, + Leave me, as a gift, those virtues + Which have beautified your life. + Dear, bequeath me that great patience + Which has power to sustain + A cheerful, uncomplaining spirit + In its prison-house of pain. + + Give me, for I need it sorely, + Of that courage, wise and sweet, + Which has made the path of duty + Green beneath your willing feet. + Give me that unselfish nature, + That with charity divine + Can pardon wrong for love's dear sake-- + Meek heart, forgive me mine! + + Thus our parting daily loseth + Something of its bitter pain, + And while learning this hard lesson, + My great loss becomes my gain. + For the touch of grief will render + My wild nature more serene, + Give to life new aspirations, + A new trust in the unseen. + + Henceforth, safe across the river, + I shall see forever more + A beloved, household spirit + Waiting for me on the shore. + Hope and faith, born of my sorrow, + Guardian angels shall become, + And the sister gone before me + By their hands shall lead me home. + +Blurred and blotted, faulty and feeble as the lines were, they brought +a look of inexpressible comfort to Beth's face, for her one regret had +been that she had done so little, and this seemed to assure her that +her life had not been useless, that her death would not bring the +despair she feared. As she sat with the paper folded between her +hands, the charred log fell asunder. Jo started up, revived the blaze, +and crept to the bedside, hoping Beth slept. + +"Not asleep, but so happy, dear. See, I found this and read it. I knew +you wouldn't care. Have I been all that to you, Jo?" she asked, with +wistful, humble earnestness. + +"_Oh_, Beth, so much, so much!" and Jo's head went down upon the pillow +beside her sister's. + +"Then I don't feel as if I'd wasted my life. I'm not so good as you +make me, but I have tried to do right. And now, when it's too late to +begin even to do better, it's such a comfort to know that someone loves +me so much, and feels as if I'd helped them." + +"More than any one in the world, Beth. I used to think I couldn't let +you go, but I'm learning to feel that I don't lose you, that you'll be +more to me than ever, and death can't part us, though it seems to." + +"I know it cannot, and I don't fear it any longer, for I'm sure I shall +be your Beth still, to love and help you more than ever. You must take +my place, Jo, and be everything to Father and Mother when I'm gone. +They will turn to you, don't fail them, and if it's hard to work alone, +remember that I don't forget you, and that you'll be happier in doing +that than writing splendid books or seeing all the world, for love is +the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the +end so easy." + +"I'll try, Beth." and then and there Jo renounced her old ambition, +pledged herself to a new and better one, acknowledging the poverty of +other desires, and feeling the blessed solace of a belief in the +immortality of love. + +So the spring days came and went, the sky grew clearer, the earth +greener, the flowers were up fairly early, and the birds came back in +time to say goodbye to Beth, who, like a tired but trustful child, +clung to the hands that had led her all her life, as Father and Mother +guided her tenderly through the Valley of the Shadow, and gave her up +to God. + +Seldom except in books do the dying utter memorable words, see visions, +or depart with beatified countenances, and those who have sped many +parting souls know that to most the end comes as naturally and simply +as sleep. As Beth had hoped, the 'tide went out easily', and in the +dark hour before dawn, on the bosom where she had drawn her first +breath, she quietly drew her last, with no farewell but one loving +look, one little sigh. + +With tears and prayers and tender hands, Mother and sisters made her +ready for the long sleep that pain would never mar again, seeing with +grateful eyes the beautiful serenity that soon replaced the pathetic +patience that had wrung their hearts so long, and feeling with reverent +joy that to their darling death was a benignant angel, not a phantom +full of dread. + +When morning came, for the first time in many months the fire was out, +Jo's place was empty, and the room was very still. But a bird sang +blithely on a budding bough, close by, the snowdrops blossomed freshly +at the window, and the spring sunshine streamed in like a benediction +over the placid face upon the pillow, a face so full of painless peace +that those who loved it best smiled through their tears, and thanked +God that Beth was well at last. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY-ONE + +LEARNING TO FORGET + +Amy's lecture did Laurie good, though, of course, he did not own it +till long afterward. Men seldom do, for when women are the advisers, +the lords of creation don't take the advice till they have persuaded +themselves that it is just what they intended to do. Then they act +upon it, and, if it succeeds, they give the weaker vessel half the +credit of it. If it fails, they generously give her the whole. Laurie +went back to his grandfather, and was so dutifully devoted for several +weeks that the old gentleman declared the climate of Nice had improved +him wonderfully, and he had better try it again. There was nothing the +young gentleman would have liked better, but elephants could not have +dragged him back after the scolding he had received. Pride forbid, and +whenever the longing grew very strong, he fortified his resolution by +repeating the words that had made the deepest impression--"I despise +you." "Go and do something splendid that will make her love you." + +Laurie turned the matter over in his mind so often that he soon brought +himself to confess that he had been selfish and lazy, but then when a +man has a great sorrow, he should be indulged in all sorts of vagaries +till he has lived it down. He felt that his blighted affections were +quite dead now, and though he should never cease to be a faithful +mourner, there was no occasion to wear his weeds ostentatiously. Jo +wouldn't love him, but he might make her respect and admire him by +doing something which should prove that a girl's 'No' had not spoiled +his life. He had always meant to do something, and Amy's advice was +quite unnecessary. He had only been waiting till the aforesaid +blighted affections were decently interred. That being done, he felt +that he was ready to 'hide his stricken heart, and still toil on'. + +As Goethe, when he had a joy or a grief, put it into a song, so Laurie +resolved to embalm his love sorrow in music, and to compose a Requiem +which should harrow up Jo's soul and melt the heart of every hearer. +Therefore the next time the old gentleman found him getting restless +and moody and ordered him off, he went to Vienna, where he had musical +friends, and fell to work with the firm determination to distinguish +himself. But whether the sorrow was too vast to be embodied in music, +or music too ethereal to uplift a mortal woe, he soon discovered that +the Requiem was beyond him just at present. It was evident that his +mind was not in working order yet, and his ideas needed clarifying, for +often in the middle of a plaintive strain, he would find himself +humming a dancing tune that vividly recalled the Christmas ball at +Nice, especially the stout Frenchman, and put an effectual stop to +tragic composition for the time being. + +Then he tried an opera, for nothing seemed impossible in the beginning, +but here again unforeseen difficulties beset him. He wanted Jo for his +heroine, and called upon his memory to supply him with tender +recollections and romantic visions of his love. But memory turned +traitor, and as if possessed by the perverse spirit of the girl, would +only recall Jo's oddities, faults, and freaks, would only show her in +the most unsentimental aspects--beating mats with her head tied up in a +bandanna, barricading herself with the sofa pillow, or throwing cold +water over his passion a la Gummidge--and an irresistable laugh spoiled +the pensive picture he was endeavoring to paint. Jo wouldn't be put +into the opera at any price, and he had to give her up with a "Bless +that girl, what a torment she is!" and a clutch at his hair, as became +a distracted composer. + +When he looked about him for another and a less intractable damsel to +immortalize in melody, memory produced one with the most obliging +readiness. This phantom wore many faces, but it always had golden +hair, was enveloped in a diaphanous cloud, and floated airily before +his mind's eye in a pleasing chaos of roses, peacocks, white ponies, +and blue ribbons. He did not give the complacent wraith any name, but +he took her for his heroine and grew quite fond of her, as well he +might, for he gifted her with every gift and grace under the sun, and +escorted her, unscathed, through trials which would have annihilated +any mortal woman. + +Thanks to this inspiration, he got on swimmingly for a time, but +gradually the work lost its charm, and he forgot to compose, while he +sat musing, pen in hand, or roamed about the gay city to get some new +ideas and refresh his mind, which seemed to be in a somewhat unsettled +state that winter. He did not do much, but he thought a great deal and +was conscious of a change of some sort going on in spite of himself. +"It's genius simmering, perhaps. I'll let it simmer, and see what +comes of it," he said, with a secret suspicion all the while that it +wasn't genius, but something far more common. Whatever it was, it +simmered to some purpose, for he grew more and more discontented with +his desultory life, began to long for some real and earnest work to go +at, soul and body, and finally came to the wise conclusion that +everyone who loved music was not a composer. Returning from one of +Mozart's grand operas, splendidly performed at the Royal Theatre, he +looked over his own, played a few of the best parts, sat staring at the +busts of Mendelssohn, Beethoven, and Bach, who stared benignly back +again. Then suddenly he tore up his music sheets, one by one, and as +the last fluttered out of his hand, he said soberly to himself... + +"She is right! Talent isn't genius, and you can't make it so. That +music has taken the vanity out of me as Rome took it out of her, and I +won't be a humbug any longer. Now what shall I do?" + +That seemed a hard question to answer, and Laurie began to wish he had +to work for his daily bread. Now if ever, occurred an eligible +opportunity for 'going to the devil', as he once forcibly expressed it, +for he had plenty of money and nothing to do, and Satan is proverbially +fond of providing employment for full and idle hands. The poor fellow +had temptations enough from without and from within, but he withstood +them pretty well, for much as he valued liberty, he valued good faith +and confidence more, so his promise to his grandfather, and his desire +to be able to look honestly into the eyes of the women who loved him, +and say "All's well," kept him safe and steady. + +Very likely some Mrs. Grundy will observe, "I don't believe it, boys +will be boys, young men must sow their wild oats, and women must not +expect miracles." I dare say you don't, Mrs. Grundy, but it's true +nevertheless. Women work a good many miracles, and I have a persuasion +that they may perform even that of raising the standard of manhood by +refusing to echo such sayings. Let the boys be boys, the longer the +better, and let the young men sow their wild oats if they must. But +mothers, sisters, and friends may help to make the crop a small one, +and keep many tares from spoiling the harvest, by believing, and +showing that they believe, in the possibility of loyalty to the virtues +which make men manliest in good women's eyes. If it is a feminine +delusion, leave us to enjoy it while we may, for without it half the +beauty and the romance of life is lost, and sorrowful forebodings would +embitter all our hopes of the brave, tenderhearted little lads, who +still love their mothers better than themselves and are not ashamed to +own it. + +Laurie thought that the task of forgetting his love for Jo would absorb +all his powers for years, but to his great surprise he discovered it +grew easier every day. He refused to believe it at first, got angry +with himself, and couldn't understand it, but these hearts of ours are +curious and contrary things, and time and nature work their will in +spite of us. Laurie's heart wouldn't ache. The wound persisted in +healing with a rapidity that astonished him, and instead of trying to +forget, he found himself trying to remember. He had not foreseen this +turn of affairs, and was not prepared for it. He was disgusted with +himself, surprised at his own fickleness, and full of a queer mixture +of disappointment and relief that he could recover from such a +tremendous blow so soon. He carefully stirred up the embers of his +lost love, but they refused to burst into a blaze. There was only a +comfortable glow that warmed and did him good without putting him into +a fever, and he was reluctantly obliged to confess that the boyish +passion was slowly subsiding into a more tranquil sentiment, very +tender, a little sad and resentful still, but that was sure to pass +away in time, leaving a brotherly affection which would last unbroken +to the end. + +As the word 'brotherly' passed through his mind in one of his reveries, +he smiled, and glanced up at the picture of Mozart that was before +him... + +"Well, he was a great man, and when he couldn't have one sister he took +the other, and was happy." + +Laurie did not utter the words, but he thought them, and the next +instant kissed the little old ring, saying to himself, "No, I won't! I +haven't forgotten, I never can. I'll try again, and if that fails, why +then..." + +Leaving his sentence unfinished, he seized pen and paper and wrote to +Jo, telling her that he could not settle to anything while there was +the least hope of her changing her mind. Couldn't she, wouldn't +she--and let him come home and be happy? While waiting for an answer he +did nothing, but he did it energetically, for he was in a fever of +impatience. It came at last, and settled his mind effectually on one +point, for Jo decidedly couldn't and wouldn't. She was wrapped up in +Beth, and never wished to hear the word love again. Then she begged +him to be happy with somebody else, but always keep a little corner of +his heart for his loving sister Jo. In a postscript she desired him +not to tell Amy that Beth was worse, she was coming home in the spring +and there was no need of saddening the remainder of her stay. That +would be time enough, please God, but Laurie must write to her often, +and not let her feel lonely, homesick or anxious. + +"So I will, at once. Poor little girl, it will be a sad going home for +her, I'm afraid," and Laurie opened his desk, as if writing to Amy had +been the proper conclusion of the sentence left unfinished some weeks +before. + +But he did not write the letter that day, for as he rummaged out his +best paper, he came across something which changed his purpose. +Tumbling about in one part of the desk among bills, passports, and +business documents of various kinds were several of Jo's letters, and +in another compartment were three notes from Amy, carefully tied up +with one of her blue ribbons and sweetly suggestive of the little dead +roses put away inside. With a half-repentant, half-amused expression, +Laurie gathered up all Jo's letters, smoothed, folded, and put them +neatly into a small drawer of the desk, stood a minute turning the ring +thoughtfully on his finger, then slowly drew it off, laid it with the +letters, locked the drawer, and went out to hear High Mass at Saint +Stefan's, feeling as if there had been a funeral, and though not +overwhelmed with affliction, this seemed a more proper way to spend the +rest of the day than in writing letters to charming young ladies. + +The letter went very soon, however, and was promptly answered, for Amy +was homesick, and confessed it in the most delightfully confiding +manner. The correspondence flourished famously, and letters flew to +and fro with unfailing regularity all through the early spring. Laurie +sold his busts, made allumettes of his opera, and went back to Paris, +hoping somebody would arrive before long. He wanted desperately to go +to Nice, but would not till he was asked, and Amy would not ask him, +for just then she was having little experiences of her own, which made +her rather wish to avoid the quizzical eyes of 'our boy'. + +Fred Vaughn had returned, and put the question to which she had once +decided to answer, "Yes, thank you," but now she said, "No, thank you," +kindly but steadily, for when the time came, her courage failed her, +and she found that something more than money and position was needed to +satisfy the new longing that filled her heart so full of tender hopes +and fears. The words, "Fred is a good fellow, but not at all the man I +fancied you would ever like," and Laurie's face when he uttered them, +kept returning to her as pertinaciously as her own did when she said in +look, if not in words, "I shall marry for money." It troubled her to +remember that now, she wished she could take it back, it sounded so +unwomanly. She didn't want Laurie to think her a heartless, worldly +creature. She didn't care to be a queen of society now half so much as +she did to be a lovable woman. She was so glad he didn't hate her for +the dreadful things she said, but took them so beautifully and was +kinder than ever. His letters were such a comfort, for the home +letters were very irregular and not half so satisfactory as his when +they did come. It was not only a pleasure, but a duty to answer them, +for the poor fellow was forlorn, and needed petting, since Jo persisted +in being stonyhearted. She ought to have made an effort and tried to +love him. It couldn't be very hard, many people would be proud and +glad to have such a dear boy care for them. But Jo never would act +like other girls, so there was nothing to do but be very kind and treat +him like a brother. + +If all brothers were treated as well as Laurie was at this period, they +would be a much happier race of beings than they are. Amy never +lectured now. She asked his opinion on all subjects, she was +interested in everything he did, made charming little presents for him, +and sent him two letters a week, full of lively gossip, sisterly +confidences, and captivating sketches of the lovely scenes about her. +As few brothers are complimented by having their letters carried about +in their sister's pockets, read and reread diligently, cried over when +short, kissed when long, and treasured carefully, we will not hint that +Amy did any of these fond and foolish things. But she certainly did +grow a little pale and pensive that spring, lost much of her relish for +society, and went out sketching alone a good deal. She never had much +to show when she came home, but was studying nature, I dare say, while +she sat for hours, with her hands folded, on the terrace at Valrosa, or +absently sketched any fancy that occurred to her, a stalwart knight +carved on a tomb, a young man asleep in the grass, with his hat over +his eyes, or a curly haired girl in gorgeous array, promenading down a +ballroom on the arm of a tall gentleman, both faces being left a blur +according to the last fashion in art, which was safe but not altogether +satisfactory. + +Her aunt thought that she regretted her answer to Fred, and finding +denials useless and explanations impossible, Amy left her to think what +she liked, taking care that Laurie should know that Fred had gone to +Egypt. That was all, but he understood it, and looked relieved, as he +said to himself, with a venerable air... + +"I was sure she would think better of it. Poor old fellow! I've been +through it all, and I can sympathize." + +With that he heaved a great sigh, and then, as if he had discharged his +duty to the past, put his feet up on the sofa and enjoyed Amy's letter +luxuriously. + +While these changes were going on abroad, trouble had come at home. +But the letter telling that Beth was failing never reached Amy, and +when they next found her the grass was green above her sister. The sad +news met her at at Vevay, for the heat had driven them from Nice in +May, and they had travelled slowly to Switzerland, by way of Genoa and +the Italian lakes. She bore it very well, and quietly submitted to +the family decree that she should not shorten her visit, for since it +was too late to say goodbye to Beth, she had better stay, and let +absence soften her sorrow. But her heart was very heavy, she longed +to be at home, and every day looked wistfully across the lake, waiting +for Laurie to come and comfort her. + +He did come very soon, for the same mail brought letters to them both, +but he was in Germany, and it took some days to reach him. The moment +he read it, he packed his knapsack, bade adieu to his fellow +pedestrians, and was off to keep his promise, with a heart full of joy +and sorrow, hope and suspense. + +He knew Vevay well, and as soon as the boat touched the little quay, he +hurried along the shore to La Tour, where the Carrols were living en +pension. The garcon was in despair that the whole family had gone to +take a promenade on the lake, but no, the blonde mademoiselle might be +in the chateau garden. If monsieur would give himself the pain of +sitting down, a flash of time should present her. But monsieur could +not wait even a 'flash of time', and in the middle of the speech +departed to find mademoiselle himself. + +A pleasant old garden on the borders of the lovely lake, with chestnuts +rustling overhead, ivy climbing everywhere, and the black shadow of the +tower falling far across the sunny water. At one corner of the wide, +low wall was a seat, and here Amy often came to read or work, or +console herself with the beauty all about her. She was sitting here +that day, leaning her head on her hand, with a homesick heart and heavy +eyes, thinking of Beth and wondering why Laurie did not come. She did +not hear him cross the courtyard beyond, nor see him pause in the +archway that led from the subterranean path into the garden. He stood +a minute looking at her with new eyes, seeing what no one had ever seen +before, the tender side of Amy's character. Everything about her mutely +suggested love and sorrow, the blotted letters in her lap, the black +ribbon that tied up her hair, the womanly pain and patience in her +face, even the little ebony cross at her throat seemed pathetic to +Laurie, for he had given it to her, and she wore it as her only +ornament. If he had any doubts about the reception she would give him, +they were set at rest the minute she looked up and saw him, for +dropping everything, she ran to him, exclaiming in a tone of +unmistakable love and longing... + +"Oh, Laurie, Laurie, I knew you'd come to me!" + +I think everything was said and settled then, for as they stood +together quite silent for a moment, with the dark head bent down +protectingly over the light one, Amy felt that no one could comfort and +sustain her so well as Laurie, and Laurie decided that Amy was the only +woman in the world who could fill Jo's place and make him happy. He +did not tell her so, but she was not disappointed, for both felt the +truth, were satisfied, and gladly left the rest to silence. + +In a minute Amy went back to her place, and while she dried her tears, +Laurie gathered up the scattered papers, finding in the sight of sundry +well-worn letters and suggestive sketches good omens for the future. +As he sat down beside her, Amy felt shy again, and turned rosy red at +the recollection of her impulsive greeting. + +"I couldn't help it, I felt so lonely and sad, and was so very glad to +see you. It was such a surprise to look up and find you, just as I was +beginning to fear you wouldn't come," she said, trying in vain to speak +quite naturally. + +"I came the minute I heard. I wish I could say something to comfort +you for the loss of dear little Beth, but I can only feel, and..." He +could not get any further, for he too turned bashful all of a sudden, +and did not quite know what to say. He longed to lay Amy's head down +on his shoulder, and tell her to have a good cry, but he did not dare, +so took her hand instead, and gave it a sympathetic squeeze that was +better than words. + +"You needn't say anything, this comforts me," she said softly. "Beth +is well and happy, and I mustn't wish her back, but I dread the going +home, much as I long to see them all. We won't talk about it now, for +it makes me cry, and I want to enjoy you while you stay. You needn't +go right back, need you?" + +"Not if you want me, dear." + +"I do, so much. Aunt and Flo are very kind, but you seem like one of +the family, and it would be so comfortable to have you for a little +while." + +Amy spoke and looked so like a homesick child whose heart was full that +Laurie forgot his bashfulness all at once, and gave her just what she +wanted--the petting she was used to and the cheerful conversation she +needed. + +"Poor little soul, you look as if you'd grieved yourself half sick! +I'm going to take care of you, so don't cry any more, but come and walk +about with me, the wind is too chilly for you to sit still," he said, +in the half-caressing, half-commanding way that Amy liked, as he tied +on her hat, drew her arm through his, and began to pace up and down the +sunny walk under the new-leaved chestnuts. He felt more at ease upon +his legs, and Amy found it pleasant to have a strong arm to lean upon, +a familiar face to smile at her, and a kind voice to talk delightfully +for her alone. + +The quaint old garden had sheltered many pairs of lovers, and seemed +expressly made for them, so sunny and secluded was it, with nothing but +the tower to overlook them, and the wide lake to carry away the echo of +their words, as it rippled by below. For an hour this new pair walked +and talked, or rested on the wall, enjoying the sweet influences which +gave such a charm to time and place, and when an unromantic dinner bell +warned them away, Amy felt as if she left her burden of loneliness and +sorrow behind her in the chateau garden. + +The moment Mrs. Carrol saw the girl's altered face, she was illuminated +with a new idea, and exclaimed to herself, "Now I understand it +all--the child has been pining for young Laurence. Bless my heart, I +never thought of such a thing!" + +With praiseworthy discretion, the good lady said nothing, and betrayed +no sign of enlightenment, but cordially urged Laurie to stay and begged +Amy to enjoy his society, for it would do her more good than so much +solitude. Amy was a model of docility, and as her aunt was a good deal +occupied with Flo, she was left to entertain her friend, and did it +with more than her usual success. + +At Nice, Laurie had lounged and Amy had scolded. At Vevay, Laurie was +never idle, but always walking, riding, boating, or studying in the +most energetic manner, while Amy admired everything he did and followed +his example as far and as fast as she could. He said the change was +owing to the climate, and she did not contradict him, being glad of a +like excuse for her own recovered health and spirits. + +The invigorating air did them both good, and much exercise worked +wholesome changes in minds as well as bodies. They seemed to get +clearer views of life and duty up there among the everlasting hills. +The fresh winds blew away desponding doubts, delusive fancies, and +moody mists. The warm spring sunshine brought out all sorts of +aspiring ideas, tender hopes, and happy thoughts. The lake seemed to +wash away the troubles of the past, and the grand old mountains to look +benignly down upon them saying, "Little children, love one another." + +In spite of the new sorrow, it was a very happy time, so happy that +Laurie could not bear to disturb it by a word. It took him a little +while to recover from his surprise at the cure of his first, and as he +had firmly believed, his last and only love. He consoled himself for +the seeming disloyalty by the thought that Jo's sister was almost the +same as Jo's self, and the conviction that it would have been +impossible to love any other woman but Amy so soon and so well. His +first wooing had been of the tempestuous order, and he looked back upon +it as if through a long vista of years with a feeling of compassion +blended with regret. He was not ashamed of it, but put it away as one +of the bitter-sweet experiences of his life, for which he could be +grateful when the pain was over. His second wooing, he resolved, should +be as calm and simple as possible. There was no need of having a +scene, hardly any need of telling Amy that he loved her, she knew it +without words and had given him his answer long ago. It all came about +so naturally that no one could complain, and he knew that everybody +would be pleased, even Jo. But when our first little passion has been +crushed, we are apt to be wary and slow in making a second trial, so +Laurie let the days pass, enjoying every hour, and leaving to chance +the utterance of the word that would put an end to the first and +sweetest part of his new romance. + +He had rather imagined that the denoument would take place in the +chateau garden by moonlight, and in the most graceful and decorous +manner, but it turned out exactly the reverse, for the matter was +settled on the lake at noonday in a few blunt words. They had been +floating about all the morning, from gloomy St. Gingolf to sunny +Montreux, with the Alps of Savoy on one side, Mont St. Bernard and the +Dent du Midi on the other, pretty Vevay in the valley, and Lausanne +upon the hill beyond, a cloudless blue sky overhead, and the bluer lake +below, dotted with the picturesque boats that look like white-winged +gulls. + +They had been talking of Bonnivard, as they glided past Chillon, and of +Rousseau, as they looked up at Clarens, where he wrote his Heloise. +Neither had read it, but they knew it was a love story, and each +privately wondered if it was half as interesting as their own. Amy had +been dabbling her hand in the water during the little pause that fell +between them, and when she looked up, Laurie was leaning on his oars +with an expression in his eyes that made her say hastily, merely for +the sake of saying something... + +"You must be tired. Rest a little, and let me row. It will do me +good, for since you came I have been altogether lazy and luxurious." + +"I'm not tired, but you may take an oar, if you like. There's room +enough, though I have to sit nearly in the middle, else the boat won't +trim," returned Laurie, as if he rather liked the arrangement. + +Feeling that she had not mended matters much, Amy took the offered +third of a seat, shook her hair over her face, and accepted an oar. +She rowed as well as she did many other things, and though she used +both hands, and Laurie but one, the oars kept time, and the boat went +smoothly through the water. + +"How well we pull together, don't we?" said Amy, who objected to +silence just then. + +"So well that I wish we might always pull in the same boat. Will you, +Amy?" very tenderly. + +"Yes, Laurie," very low. + +Then they both stopped rowing, and unconsciously added a pretty little +tableau of human love and happiness to the dissolving views reflected +in the lake. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY-TWO + +ALL ALONE + +It was easy to promise self-abnegation when self was wrapped up in +another, and heart and soul were purified by a sweet example. But when +the helpful voice was silent, the daily lesson over, the beloved +presence gone, and nothing remained but loneliness and grief, then Jo +found her promise very hard to keep. How could she 'comfort Father and +Mother' when her own heart ached with a ceaseless longing for her +sister, how could she 'make the house cheerful' when all its light and +warmth and beauty seemed to have deserted it when Beth left the old +home for the new, and where in all the world could she 'find some +useful, happy work to do', that would take the place of the loving +service which had been its own reward? She tried in a blind, hopeless +way to do her duty, secretly rebelling against it all the while, for it +seemed unjust that her few joys should be lessened, her burdens made +heavier, and life get harder and harder as she toiled along. Some +people seemed to get all sunshine, and some all shadow. It was not +fair, for she tried more than Amy to be good, but never got any reward, +only disappointment, trouble and hard work. + +Poor Jo, these were dark days to her, for something like despair came +over her when she thought of spending all her life in that quiet house, +devoted to humdrum cares, a few small pleasures, and the duty that +never seemed to grow any easier. "I can't do it. I wasn't meant for a +life like this, and I know I shall break away and do something +desperate if somebody doesn't come and help me," she said to herself, +when her first efforts failed and she fell into the moody, miserable +state of mind which often comes when strong wills have to yield to the +inevitable. + +But someone did come and help her, though Jo did not recognize her good +angels at once because they wore familiar shapes and used the simple +spells best fitted to poor humanity. Often she started up at night, +thinking Beth called her, and when the sight of the little empty bed +made her cry with the bitter cry of unsubmissive sorrow, "Oh, Beth, +come back! Come back!" she did not stretch out her yearning arms in +vain. For, as quick to hear her sobbing as she had been to hear her +sister's faintest whisper, her mother came to comfort her, not with +words only, but the patient tenderness that soothes by a touch, tears +that were mute reminders of a greater grief than Jo's, and broken +whispers, more eloquent than prayers, because hopeful resignation went +hand-in-hand with natural sorrow. Sacred moments, when heart talked to +heart in the silence of the night, turning affliction to a blessing, +which chastened grief and strengthened love. Feeling this, Jo's burden +seemed easier to bear, duty grew sweeter, and life looked more +endurable, seen from the safe shelter of her mother's arms. + +When aching heart was a little comforted, troubled mind likewise found +help, for one day she went to the study, and leaning over the good gray +head lifted to welcome her with a tranquil smile, she said very humbly, +"Father, talk to me as you did to Beth. I need it more than she did, +for I'm all wrong." + +"My dear, nothing can comfort me like this," he answered, with a falter +in his voice, and both arms round her, as if he too, needed help, and +did not fear to ask for it. + +Then, sitting in Beth's little chair close beside him, Jo told her +troubles, the resentful sorrow for her loss, the fruitless efforts that +discouraged her, the want of faith that made life look so dark, and all +the sad bewilderment which we call despair. She gave him entire +confidence, he gave her the help she needed, and both found consolation +in the act. For the time had come when they could talk together not +only as father and daughter, but as man and woman, able and glad to +serve each other with mutual sympathy as well as mutual love. Happy, +thoughtful times there in the old study which Jo called 'the church of +one member', and from which she came with fresh courage, recovered +cheerfulness, and a more submissive spirit. For the parents who had +taught one child to meet death without fear, were trying now to teach +another to accept life without despondency or distrust, and to use its +beautiful opportunities with gratitude and power. + +Other helps had Jo--humble, wholesome duties and delights that would +not be denied their part in serving her, and which she slowly learned +to see and value. Brooms and dishcloths never could be as distasteful +as they once had been, for Beth had presided over both, and something +of her housewifely spirit seemed to linger around the little mop and +the old brush, never thrown away. As she used them, Jo found herself +humming the songs Beth used to hum, imitating Beth's orderly ways, and +giving the little touches here and there that kept everything fresh and +cozy, which was the first step toward making home happy, though she +didn't know it till Hannah said with an approving squeeze of the hand... + +"You thoughtful creeter, you're determined we shan't miss that dear +lamb ef you can help it. We don't say much, but we see it, and the +Lord will bless you for't, see ef He don't." + +As they sat sewing together, Jo discovered how much improved her sister +Meg was, how well she could talk, how much she knew about good, womanly +impulses, thoughts, and feelings, how happy she was in husband and +children, and how much they were all doing for each other. + +"Marriage is an excellent thing, after all. I wonder if I should +blossom out half as well as you have, if I tried it?, always +_'perwisin'_ I could," said Jo, as she constructed a kite for Demi in +the topsy-turvy nursery. + +"It's just what you need to bring out the tender womanly half of your +nature, Jo. You are like a chestnut burr, prickly outside, but +silky-soft within, and a sweet kernal, if one can only get at it. Love +will make you show your heart one day, and then the rough burr will +fall off." + +"Frost opens chestnut burrs, ma'am, and it takes a good shake to bring +them down. Boys go nutting, and I don't care to be bagged by them," +returned Jo, pasting away at the kite which no wind that blows would +ever carry up, for Daisy had tied herself on as a bob. + +Meg laughed, for she was glad to see a glimmer of Jo's old spirit, but +she felt it her duty to enforce her opinion by every argument in her +power, and the sisterly chats were not wasted, especially as two of +Meg's most effective arguments were the babies, whom Jo loved tenderly. +Grief is the best opener of some hearts, and Jo's was nearly ready for +the bag. A little more sunshine to ripen the nut, then, not a boy's +impatient shake, but a man's hand reached up to pick it gently from the +burr, and find the kernal sound and sweet. If she suspected this, she +would have shut up tight, and been more prickly than ever, fortunately +she wasn't thinking about herself, so when the time came, down she +dropped. + +Now, if she had been the heroine of a moral storybook, she ought at +this period of her life to have become quite saintly, renounced the +world, and gone about doing good in a mortified bonnet, with tracts in +her pocket. But, you see, Jo wasn't a heroine, she was only a +struggling human girl like hundreds of others, and she just acted out +her nature, being sad, cross, listless, or energetic, as the mood +suggested. It's highly virtuous to say we'll be good, but we can't do +it all at once, and it takes a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all +together before some of us even get our feet set in the right way. Jo +had got so far, she was learning to do her duty, and to feel unhappy if +she did not, but to do it cheerfully, ah, that was another thing! She +had often said she wanted to do something splendid, no matter how hard, +and now she had her wish, for what could be more beautiful than to +devote her life to Father and Mother, trying to make home as happy to +them as they had to her? And if difficulties were necessary to +increase the splendor of the effort, what could be harder for a +restless, ambitious girl than to give up her own hopes, plans, and +desires, and cheerfully live for others? + +Providence had taken her at her word. Here was the task, not what she +had expected, but better because self had no part in it. Now, could she +do it? She decided that she would try, and in her first attempt she +found the helps I have suggested. Still another was given her, and she +took it, not as a reward, but as a comfort, as Christian took the +refreshment afforded by the little arbor where he rested, as he climbed +the hill called Difficulty. + +"Why don't you write? That always used to make you happy," said her +mother once, when the desponding fit over-shadowed Jo. + +"I've no heart to write, and if I had, nobody cares for my things." + +"We do. Write something for us, and never mind the rest of the world. +Try it, dear. I'm sure it would do you good, and please us very much." + +"Don't believe I can." But Jo got out her desk and began to overhaul +her half-finished manuscripts. + +An hour afterward her mother peeped in and there she was, scratching +away, with her black pinafore on, and an absorbed expression, which +caused Mrs. March to smile and slip away, well pleased with the success +of her suggestion. Jo never knew how it happened, but something got +into that story that went straight to the hearts of those who read it, +for when her family had laughed and cried over it, her father sent it, +much against her will, to one of the popular magazines, and to her +utter surprise, it was not only paid for, but others requested. +Letters from several persons, whose praise was honor, followed the +appearance of the little story, newspapers copied it, and strangers as +well as friends admired it. For a small thing it was a great success, +and Jo was more astonished than when her novel was commended and +condemned all at once. + +"I don't understand it. What can there be in a simple little story +like that to make people praise it so?" she said, quite bewildered. + +"There is truth in it, Jo, that's the secret. Humor and pathos make it +alive, and you have found your style at last. You wrote with no +thoughts of fame and money, and put your heart into it, my daughter. +You have had the bitter, now comes the sweet. Do your best, and grow +as happy as we are in your success." + +"If there is anything good or true in what I write, it isn't mine. I +owe it all to you and Mother and Beth," said Jo, more touched by her +father's words than by any amount of praise from the world. + +So taught by love and sorrow, Jo wrote her little stories, and sent +them away to make friends for themselves and her, finding it a very +charitable world to such humble wanderers, for they were kindly +welcomed, and sent home comfortable tokens to their mother, like +dutiful children whom good fortune overtakes. + +When Amy and Laurie wrote of their engagement, Mrs. March feared that +Jo would find it difficult to rejoice over it, but her fears were soon +set at rest, for though Jo looked grave at first, she took it very +quietly, and was full of hopes and plans for 'the children' before she +read the letter twice. It was a sort of written duet, wherein each +glorified the other in loverlike fashion, very pleasant to read and +satisfactory to think of, for no one had any objection to make. + +"You like it, Mother?" said Jo, as they laid down the closely written +sheets and looked at one another. + +"Yes, I hoped it would be so, ever since Amy wrote that she had refused +Fred. I felt sure then that something better than what you call the +'mercenary spirit' had come over her, and a hint here and there in her +letters made me suspect that love and Laurie would win the day." + +"How sharp you are, Marmee, and how silent! You never said a word to +me." + +"Mothers have need of sharp eyes and discreet tongues when they have +girls to manage. I was half afraid to put the idea into your head, +lest you should write and congratulate them before the thing was +settled." + +"I'm not the scatterbrain I was. You may trust me. I'm sober and +sensible enough for anyone's confidante now." + +"So you are, my dear, and I should have made you mine, only I fancied +it might pain you to learn that your Teddy loved someone else." + +"Now, Mother, did you really think I could be so silly and selfish, +after I'd refused his love, when it was freshest, if not best?" + +"I knew you were sincere then, Jo, but lately I have thought that if he +came back, and asked again, you might perhaps, feel like giving another +answer. Forgive me, dear, I can't help seeing that you are very +lonely, and sometimes there is a hungry look in your eyes that goes to +my heart. So I fancied that your boy might fill the empty place if he +tried now." + +"No, Mother, it is better as it is, and I'm glad Amy has learned to +love him. But you are right in one thing. I am lonely, and perhaps if +Teddy had tried again, I might have said 'Yes', not because I love him +any more, but because I care more to be loved than when he went away." + +"I'm glad of that, Jo, for it shows that you are getting on. There are +plenty to love you, so try to be satisfied with Father and Mother, +sisters and brothers, friends and babies, till the best lover of all +comes to give you your reward." + +"Mothers are the best lovers in the world, but I don't mind whispering +to Marmee that I'd like to try all kinds. It's very curious, but the +more I try to satisfy myself with all sorts of natural affections, the +more I seem to want. I'd no idea hearts could take in so many. Mine +is so elastic, it never seems full now, and I used to be quite +contented with my family. I don't understand it." + +"I do," and Mrs. March smiled her wise smile, as Jo turned back the +leaves to read what Amy said of Laurie. + +"It is so beautiful to be loved as Laurie loves me. He isn't +sentimental, doesn't say much about it, but I see and feel it in all he +says and does, and it makes me so happy and so humble that I don't seem +to be the same girl I was. I never knew how good and generous and +tender he was till now, for he lets me read his heart, and I find it +full of noble impulses and hopes and purposes, and am so proud to know +it's mine. He says he feels as if he 'could make a prosperous voyage +now with me aboard as mate, and lots of love for ballast'. I pray he +may, and try to be all he believes me, for I love my gallant captain +with all my heart and soul and might, and never will desert him, while +God lets us be together. Oh, Mother, I never knew how much like heaven +this world could be, when two people love and live for one another!" + +"And that's our cool, reserved, and worldly Amy! Truly, love does work +miracles. How very, very happy they must be!" and Jo laid the rustling +sheets together with a careful hand, as one might shut the covers of a +lovely romance, which holds the reader fast till the end comes, and he +finds himself alone in the workaday world again. + +By-and-by Jo roamed away upstairs, for it was rainy, and she could not +walk. A restless spirit possessed her, and the old feeling came again, +not bitter as it once was, but a sorrowfully patient wonder why one +sister should have all she asked, the other nothing. It was not true, +she knew that and tried to put it away, but the natural craving for +affection was strong, and Amy's happiness woke the hungry longing for +someone to 'love with heart and soul, and cling to while God let them +be together'. Up in the garret, where Jo's unquiet wanderings ended +stood four little wooden chests in a row, each marked with its owners +name, and each filled with relics of the childhood and girlhood ended +now for all. Jo glanced into them, and when she came to her own, +leaned her chin on the edge, and stared absently at the chaotic +collection, till a bundle of old exercise books caught her eye. She +drew them out, turned them over, and relived that pleasant winter at +kind Mrs. Kirke's. She had smiled at first, then she looked +thoughtful, next sad, and when she came to a little message written in +the Professor's hand, her lips began to tremble, the books slid out of +her lap, and she sat looking at the friendly words, as they took a new +meaning, and touched a tender spot in her heart. + +"Wait for me, my friend. I may be a little late, but I shall surely +come." + +"Oh, if he only would! So kind, so good, so patient with me always, my +dear old Fritz. I didn't value him half enough when I had him, but now +how I should love to see him, for everyone seems going away from me, +and I'm all alone." + +And holding the little paper fast, as if it were a promise yet to be +fulfilled, Jo laid her head down on a comfortable rag bag, and cried, +as if in opposition to the rain pattering on the roof. + +Was it all self-pity, loneliness, or low spirits? Or was it the waking +up of a sentiment which had bided its time as patiently as its +inspirer? Who shall say? + + + +CHAPTER FORTY-THREE + +SURPRISES + +Jo was alone in the twilight, lying on the old sofa, looking at the +fire, and thinking. It was her favorite way of spending the hour of +dusk. No one disturbed her, and she used to lie there on Beth's little +red pillow, planning stories, dreaming dreams, or thinking tender +thoughts of the sister who never seemed far away. Her face looked +tired, grave, and rather sad, for tomorrow was her birthday, and she +was thinking how fast the years went by, how old she was getting, and +how little she seemed to have accomplished. Almost twenty-five, and +nothing to show for it. Jo was mistaken in that. There was a good +deal to show, and by-and-by she saw, and was grateful for it. + +"An old maid, that's what I'm to be. A literary spinster, with a pen +for a spouse, a family of stories for children, and twenty years hence +a morsel of fame, perhaps, when, like poor Johnson, I'm old and can't +enjoy it, solitary, and can't share it, independent, and don't need it. +Well, I needn't be a sour saint nor a selfish sinner, and, I dare say, +old maids are very comfortable when they get used to it, but..." and +there Jo sighed, as if the prospect was not inviting. + +It seldom is, at first, and thirty seems the end of all things to +five-and-twenty. But it's not as bad as it looks, and one can get on +quite happily if one has something in one's self to fall back upon. At +twenty-five, girls begin to talk about being old maids, but secretly +resolve that they never will be. At thirty they say nothing about it, +but quietly accept the fact, and if sensible, console themselves by +remembering that they have twenty more useful, happy years, in which +they may be learning to grow old gracefully. Don't laugh at the +spinsters, dear girls, for often very tender, tragic romances are +hidden away in the hearts that beat so quietly under the sober gowns, +and many silent sacrifices of youth, health, ambition, love itself, +make the faded faces beautiful in God's sight. Even the sad, sour +sisters should be kindly dealt with, because they have missed the +sweetest part of life, if for no other reason. And looking at them +with compassion, not contempt, girls in their bloom should remember +that they too may miss the blossom time. That rosy cheeks don't last +forever, that silver threads will come in the bonnie brown hair, and +that, by-and-by, kindness and respect will be as sweet as love and +admiration now. + +Gentlemen, which means boys, be courteous to the old maids, no matter +how poor and plain and prim, for the only chivalry worth having is that +which is the readiest to pay deference to the old, protect the feeble, +and serve womankind, regardless of rank, age, or color. Just recollect +the good aunts who have not only lectured and fussed, but nursed and +petted, too often without thanks, the scrapes they have helped you out +of, the tips they have given you from their small store, the stitches +the patient old fingers have set for you, the steps the willing old +feet have taken, and gratefully pay the dear old ladies the little +attentions that women love to receive as long as they live. The +bright-eyed girls are quick to see such traits, and will like you all +the better for them, and if death, almost the only power that can part +mother and son, should rob you of yours, you will be sure to find a +tender welcome and maternal cherishing from some Aunt Priscilla, who +has kept the warmest corner of her lonely old heart for 'the best nevvy +in the world'. + +Jo must have fallen asleep (as I dare say my reader has during this +little homily), for suddenly Laurie's ghost seemed to stand before her, +a substantial, lifelike ghost, leaning over her with the very look he +used to wear when he felt a good deal and didn't like to show it. But, +like Jenny in the ballad... + + "She could not think it he," + +and lay staring up at him in startled silence, till he stooped and +kissed her. Then she knew him, and flew up, crying joyfully... + +"Oh my Teddy! Oh my Teddy!" + +"Dear Jo, you are glad to see me, then?" + +"Glad! My blessed boy, words can't express my gladness. Where's Amy?" + +"Your mother has got her down at Meg's. We stopped there by the way, +and there was no getting my wife out of their clutches." + +"Your what?" cried Jo, for Laurie uttered those two words with an +unconscious pride and satisfaction which betrayed him. + +"Oh, the dickens! Now I've done it," and he looked so guilty that Jo +was down on him like a flash. + +"You've gone and got married!" + +"Yes, please, but I never will again," and he went down upon his knees, +with a penitent clasping of hands, and a face full of mischief, mirth, +and triumph. + +"Actually married?" + +"Very much so, thank you." + +"Mercy on us. What dreadful thing will you do next?" and Jo fell into +her seat with a gasp. + +"A characteristic, but not exactly complimentary, congratulation," +returned Laurie, still in an abject attitude, but beaming with +satisfaction. + +"What can you expect, when you take one's breath away, creeping in like +a burglar, and letting cats out of bags like that? Get up, you +ridiculous boy, and tell me all about it." + +"Not a word, unless you let me come in my old place, and promise not to +barricade." + +Jo laughed at that as she had not done for many a long day, and patted +the sofa invitingly, as she said in a cordial tone, "The old pillow is +up garret, and we don't need it now. So, come and 'fess, Teddy." + +"How good it sounds to hear you say 'Teddy'! No one ever calls me that +but you," and Laurie sat down with an air of great content. + +"What does Amy call you?" + +"My lord." + +"That's like her. Well, you look it," and Jo's eye plainly betrayed +that she found her boy comelier than ever. + +The pillow was gone, but there was a barricade, nevertheless, a natural +one, raised by time, absence, and change of heart. Both felt it, and +for a minute looked at one another as if that invisible barrier cast a +little shadow over them. It was gone directly however, for Laurie +said, with a vain attempt at dignity... + +"Don't I look like a married man and the head of a family?" + +"Not a bit, and you never will. You've grown bigger and bonnier, but +you are the same scapegrace as ever." + +"Now really, Jo, you ought to treat me with more respect," began +Laurie, who enjoyed it all immensely. + +"How can I, when the mere idea of you, married and settled, is so +irresistibly funny that I can't keep sober!" answered Jo, smiling all +over her face, so infectiously that they had another laugh, and then +settled down for a good talk, quite in the pleasant old fashion. + +"It's no use your going out in the cold to get Amy, for they are all +coming up presently. I couldn't wait. I wanted to be the one to tell +you the grand surprise, and have 'first skim' as we used to say when we +squabbled about the cream." + +"Of course you did, and spoiled your story by beginning at the wrong +end. Now, start right, and tell me how it all happened. I'm pining to +know." + +"Well, I did it to please Amy," began Laurie, with a twinkle that made +Jo exclaim... + +"Fib number one. Amy did it to please you. Go on, and tell the truth, +if you can, sir." + +"Now she's beginning to marm it. Isn't it jolly to hear her?" said +Laurie to the fire, and the fire glowed and sparkled as if it quite +agreed. "It's all the same, you know, she and I being one. We planned +to come home with the Carrols, a month or more ago, but they suddenly +changed their minds, and decided to pass another winter in Paris. But +Grandpa wanted to come home. He went to please me, and I couldn't let +him go alone, neither could I leave Amy, and Mrs. Carrol had got +English notions about chaperons and such nonsense, and wouldn't let Amy +come with us. So I just settled the difficulty by saying, 'Let's be +married, and then we can do as we like'." + +"Of course you did. You always have things to suit you." + +"Not always," and something in Laurie's voice made Jo say hastily... + +"How did you ever get Aunt to agree?" + +"It was hard work, but between us, we talked her over, for we had heaps +of good reasons on our side. There wasn't time to write and ask leave, +but you all liked it, had consented to it by-and-by, and it was only +'taking time by the fetlock', as my wife says." + +"Aren't we proud of those two words, and don't we like to say them?" +interrupted Jo, addressing the fire in her turn, and watching with +delight the happy light it seemed to kindle in the eyes that had been +so tragically gloomy when she saw them last. + +"A trifle, perhaps, she's such a captivating little woman I can't help +being proud of her. Well, then Uncle and Aunt were there to play +propriety. We were so absorbed in one another we were of no mortal use +apart, and that charming arrangement would make everything easy all +round, so we did it." + +"When, where, how?" asked Jo, in a fever of feminine interest and +curiosity, for she could not realize it a particle. + +"Six weeks ago, at the American consul's, in Paris, a very quiet +wedding of course, for even in our happiness we didn't forget dear +little Beth." + +Jo put her hand in his as he said that, and Laurie gently smoothed the +little red pillow, which he remembered well. + +"Why didn't you let us know afterward?" asked Jo, in a quieter tone, +when they had sat quite still a minute. + +"We wanted to surprise you. We thought we were coming directly home, +at first, but the dear old gentleman, as soon as we were married, found +he couldn't be ready under a month, at least, and sent us off to spend +our honeymoon wherever we liked. Amy had once called Valrosa a regular +honeymoon home, so we went there, and were as happy as people are but +once in their lives. My faith! Wasn't it love among the roses!" + +Laurie seemed to forget Jo for a minute, and Jo was glad of it, for the +fact that he told her these things so freely and so naturally assured +her that he had quite forgiven and forgotten. She tried to draw away +her hand, but as if he guessed the thought that prompted the +half-involuntary impulse, Laurie held it fast, and said, with a manly +gravity she had never seen in him before... + +"Jo, dear, I want to say one thing, and then we'll put it by forever. +As I told you in my letter when I wrote that Amy had been so kind to +me, I never shall stop loving you, but the love is altered, and I have +learned to see that it is better as it is. Amy and you changed places +in my heart, that's all. I think it was meant to be so, and would have +come about naturally, if I had waited, as you tried to make me, but I +never could be patient, and so I got a heartache. I was a boy then, +headstrong and violent, and it took a hard lesson to show me my +mistake. For it was one, Jo, as you said, and I found it out, after +making a fool of myself. Upon my word, I was so tumbled up in my mind, +at one time, that I didn't know which I loved best, you or Amy, and +tried to love you both alike. But I couldn't, and when I saw her in +Switzerland, everything seemed to clear up all at once. You both got +into your right places, and I felt sure that it was well off with the +old love before it was on with the new, that I could honestly share my +heart between sister Jo and wife Amy, and love them dearly. Will you +believe it, and go back to the happy old times when we first knew one +another?" + +"I'll believe it, with all my heart, but, Teddy, we never can be boy +and girl again. The happy old times can't come back, and we mustn't +expect it. We are man and woman now, with sober work to do, for +playtime is over, and we must give up frolicking. I'm sure you feel +this. I see the change in you, and you'll find it in me. I shall miss +my boy, but I shall love the man as much, and admire him more, because +he means to be what I hoped he would. We can't be little playmates any +longer, but we will be brother and sister, to love and help one another +all our lives, won't we, Laurie?" + +He did not say a word, but took the hand she offered him, and laid his +face down on it for a minute, feeling that out of the grave of a boyish +passion, there had risen a beautiful, strong friendship to bless them +both. Presently Jo said cheerfully, for she didn't want the coming +home to be a sad one, "I can't make it true that you children are +really married and going to set up housekeeping. Why, it seems only +yesterday that I was buttoning Amy's pinafore, and pulling your hair +when you teased. Mercy me, how time does fly!" + +"As one of the children is older than yourself, you needn't talk so +like a grandma. I flatter myself I'm a 'gentleman growed' as Peggotty +said of David, and when you see Amy, you'll find her rather a +precocious infant," said Laurie, looking amused at her maternal air. + +"You may be a little older in years, but I'm ever so much older in +feeling, Teddy. Women always are, and this last year has been such a +hard one that I feel forty." + +"Poor Jo! We left you to bear it alone, while we went pleasuring. You +are older. Here's a line, and there's another. Unless you smile, your +eyes look sad, and when I touched the cushion, just now, I found a tear +on it. You've had a great deal to bear, and had to bear it all alone. +What a selfish beast I've been!" and Laurie pulled his own hair, with a +remorseful look. + +But Jo only turned over the traitorous pillow, and answered, in a tone +which she tried to make more cheerful, "No, I had Father and Mother to +help me, and the dear babies to comfort me, and the thought that you +and Amy were safe and happy, to make the troubles here easier to bear. +I am lonely, sometimes, but I dare say it's good for me, and..." + +"You never shall be again," broke in Laurie, putting his arm about her, +as if to fence out every human ill. "Amy and I can't get on without +you, so you must come and teach 'the children' to keep house, and go +halves in everything, just as we used to do, and let us pet you, and +all be blissfully happy and friendly together." + +"If I shouldn't be in the way, it would be very pleasant. I begin to +feel quite young already, for somehow all my troubles seemed to fly +away when you came. You always were a comfort, Teddy," and Jo leaned +her head on his shoulder, just as she did years ago, when Beth lay ill +and Laurie told her to hold on to him. + +He looked down at her, wondering if she remembered the time, but Jo was +smiling to herself, as if in truth her troubles had all vanished at his +coming. + +"You are the same Jo still, dropping tears about one minute, and +laughing the next. You look a little wicked now. What is it, Grandma?" + +"I was wondering how you and Amy get on together." + +"Like angels!" + +"Yes, of course, but which rules?" + +"I don't mind telling you that she does now, at least I let her think +so, it pleases her, you know. By-and-by we shall take turns, for +marriage, they say, halves one's rights and doubles one's duties." + +"You'll go on as you begin, and Amy will rule you all the days of your +life." + +"Well, she does it so imperceptibly that I don't think I shall mind +much. She is the sort of woman who knows how to rule well. In fact, I +rather like it, for she winds one round her finger as softly and +prettily as a skein of silk, and makes you feel as if she was doing you +a favor all the while." + +"That ever I should live to see you a henpecked husband and enjoying +it!" cried Jo, with uplifted hands. + +It was good to see Laurie square his shoulders, and smile with +masculine scorn at that insinuation, as he replied, with his "high and +mighty" air, "Amy is too well-bred for that, and I am not the sort of +man to submit to it. My wife and I respect ourselves and one another +too much ever to tyrannize or quarrel." + +Jo liked that, and thought the new dignity very becoming, but the boy +seemed changing very fast into the man, and regret mingled with her +pleasure. + +"I am sure of that. Amy and you never did quarrel as we used to. She +is the sun and I the wind, in the fable, and the sun managed the man +best, you remember." + +"She can blow him up as well as shine on him," laughed Laurie. "Such a +lecture as I got at Nice! I give you my word it was a deal worse than +any of your scoldings, a regular rouser. I'll tell you all about it +sometime, she never will, because after telling me that she despised +and was ashamed of me, she lost her heart to the despicable party and +married the good-for-nothing." + +"What baseness! Well, if she abuses you, come to me, and I'll defend +you." + +"I look as if I needed it, don't I?" said Laurie, getting up and +striking an attitude which suddenly changed from the imposing to the +rapturous, as Amy's voice was heard calling, "Where is she? Where's my +dear old Jo?" + +In trooped the whole family, and everyone was hugged and kissed all +over again, and after several vain attempts, the three wanderers were +set down to be looked at and exulted over. Mr. Laurence, hale and +hearty as ever, was quite as much improved as the others by his foreign +tour, for the crustiness seemed to be nearly gone, and the +old-fashioned courtliness had received a polish which made it kindlier +than ever. It was good to see him beam at 'my children', as he called +the young pair. It was better still to see Amy pay him the daughterly +duty and affection which completely won his old heart, and best of all, +to watch Laurie revolve about the two, as if never tired of enjoying +the pretty picture they made. + +The minute she put her eyes upon Amy, Meg became conscious that her own +dress hadn't a Parisian air, that young Mrs. Moffat would be entirely +eclipsed by young Mrs. Laurence, and that 'her ladyship' was altogether +a most elegant and graceful woman. Jo thought, as she watched the +pair, "How well they look together! I was right, and Laurie has found +the beautiful, accomplished girl who will become his home better than +clumsy old Jo, and be a pride, not a torment to him." Mrs. March and +her husband smiled and nodded at each other with happy faces, for they +saw that their youngest had done well, not only in worldly things, but +the better wealth of love, confidence, and happiness. + +For Amy's face was full of the soft brightness which betokens a +peaceful heart, her voice had a new tenderness in it, and the cool, +prim carriage was changed to a gentle dignity, both womanly and +winning. No little affectations marred it, and the cordial sweetness of +her manner was more charming than the new beauty or the old grace, for +it stamped her at once with the unmistakable sign of the true +gentlewoman she had hoped to become. + +"Love has done much for our little girl," said her mother softly. + +"She has had a good example before her all her life, my dear," Mr. +March whispered back, with a loving look at the worn face and gray head +beside him. + +Daisy found it impossible to keep her eyes off her 'pitty aunty', but +attached herself like a lap dog to the wonderful chatelaine full of +delightful charms. Demi paused to consider the new relationship before +he compromised himself by the rash acceptance of a bribe, which took +the tempting form of a family of wooden bears from Berne. A flank +movement produced an unconditional surrender, however, for Laurie knew +where to have him. + +"Young man, when I first had the honor of making your acquaintance you +hit me in the face. Now I demand the satisfaction of a gentleman," and +with that the tall uncle proceeded to toss and tousle the small nephew +in a way that damaged his philosophical dignity as much as it delighted +his boyish soul. + +"Blest if she ain't in silk from head to foot; ain't it a relishin' +sight to see her settin' there as fine as a fiddle, and hear folks +calling little Amy 'Mis. Laurence!'" muttered old Hannah, who could +not resist frequent "peeks" through the slide as she set the table in a +most decidedly promiscuous manner. + +Mercy on us, how they did talk! first one, then the other, then all +burst out together--trying to tell the history of three years in half +an hour. It was fortunate that tea was at hand, to produce a lull and +provide refreshment--for they would have been hoarse and faint if they +had gone on much longer. Such a happy procession as filed away into +the little dining room! Mr. March proudly escorted Mrs. Laurence. Mrs. +March as proudly leaned on the arm of 'my son'. The old gentleman took +Jo, with a whispered, "You must be my girl now," and a glance at the +empty corner by the fire, that made Jo whisper back, "I'll try to fill +her place, sir." + +The twins pranced behind, feeling that the millennium was at hand, for +everyone was so busy with the newcomers that they were left to revel at +their own sweet will, and you may be sure they made the most of the +opportunity. Didn't they steal sips of tea, stuff gingerbread ad +libitum, get a hot biscuit apiece, and as a crowning trespass, didn't +they each whisk a captivating little tart into their tiny pockets, +there to stick and crumble treacherously, teaching them that both human +nature and a pastry are frail? Burdened with the guilty consciousness +of the sequestered tarts, and fearing that Dodo's sharp eyes would +pierce the thin disguise of cambric and merino which hid their booty, +the little sinners attached themselves to 'Dranpa', who hadn't his +spectacles on. Amy, who was handed about like refreshments, returned +to the parlor on Father Laurence's arm. The others paired off as +before, and this arrangement left Jo companionless. She did not mind +it at the minute, for she lingered to answer Hannah's eager inquiry. + +"Will Miss Amy ride in her coop (coupe), and use all them lovely silver +dishes that's stored away over yander?" + +"Shouldn't wonder if she drove six white horses, ate off gold plate, +and wore diamonds and point lace every day. Teddy thinks nothing too +good for her," returned Jo with infinite satisfaction. + +"No more there is! Will you have hash or fishballs for breakfast?" +asked Hannah, who wisely mingled poetry and prose. + +"I don't care," and Jo shut the door, feeling that food was an +uncongenial topic just then. She stood a minute looking at the party +vanishing above, and as Demi's short plaid legs toiled up the last +stair, a sudden sense of loneliness came over her so strongly that she +looked about her with dim eyes, as if to find something to lean upon, +for even Teddy had deserted her. If she had known what birthday gift +was coming every minute nearer and nearer, she would not have said to +herself, "I'll weep a little weep when I go to bed. It won't do to be +dismal now." Then she drew her hand over her eyes, for one of her +boyish habits was never to know where her handkerchief was, and had +just managed to call up a smile when there came a knock at the porch +door. + +She opened with hospitable haste, and started as if another ghost had +come to surprise her, for there stood a tall bearded gentleman, beaming +on her from the darkness like a midnight sun. + +"Oh, Mr. Bhaer, I am so glad to see you!" cried Jo, with a clutch, as +if she feared the night would swallow him up before she could get him +in. + +"And I to see Miss Marsch, but no, you haf a party," and the Professor +paused as the sound of voices and the tap of dancing feet came down to +them. + +"No, we haven't, only the family. My sister and friends have just come +home, and we are all very happy. Come in, and make one of us." + +Though a very social man, I think Mr. Bhaer would have gone decorously +away, and come again another day, but how could he, when Jo shut the +door behind him, and bereft him of his hat? Perhaps her face had +something to do with it, for she forgot to hide her joy at seeing him, +and showed it with a frankness that proved irresistible to the solitary +man, whose welcome far exceeded his boldest hopes. + +"If I shall not be Monsieur de Trop, I will so gladly see them all. +You haf been ill, my friend?" + +He put the question abruptly, for, as Jo hung up his coat, the light +fell on her face, and he saw a change in it. + +"Not ill, but tired and sorrowful. We have had trouble since I saw you +last." + +"Ah, yes, I know. My heart was sore for you when I heard that," and he +shook hands again, with such a sympathetic face that Jo felt as if no +comfort could equal the look of the kind eyes, the grasp of the big, +warm hand. + +"Father, Mother, this is my friend, Professor Bhaer," she said, with a +face and tone of such irrepressible pride and pleasure that she might +as well have blown a trumpet and opened the door with a flourish. + +If the stranger had any doubts about his reception, they were set at +rest in a minute by the cordial welcome he received. Everyone greeted +him kindly, for Jo's sake at first, but very soon they liked him for +his own. They could not help it, for he carried the talisman that +opens all hearts, and these simple people warmed to him at once, +feeling even the more friendly because he was poor. For poverty +enriches those who live above it, and is a sure passport to truly +hospitable spirits. Mr. Bhaer sat looking about him with the air of a +traveler who knocks at a strange door, and when it opens, finds himself +at home. The children went to him like bees to a honeypot, and +establishing themselves on each knee, proceeded to captivate him by +rifling his pockets, pulling his beard, and investigating his watch, +with juvenile audacity. The women telegraphed their approval to one +another, and Mr. March, feeling that he had got a kindred spirit, +opened his choicest stores for his guest's benefit, while silent John +listened and enjoyed the talk, but said not a word, and Mr. Laurence +found it impossible to go to sleep. + +If Jo had not been otherwise engaged, Laurie's behavior would have +amused her, for a faint twinge, not of jealousy, but something like +suspicion, caused that gentleman to stand aloof at first, and observe +the newcomer with brotherly circumspection. But it did not last long. +He got interested in spite of himself, and before he knew it, was drawn +into the circle. For Mr. Bhaer talked well in this genial atmosphere, +and did himself justice. He seldom spoke to Laurie, but he looked at +him often, and a shadow would pass across his face, as if regretting +his own lost youth, as he watched the young man in his prime. Then his +eyes would turn to Jo so wistfully that she would have surely answered +the mute inquiry if she had seen it. But Jo had her own eyes to take +care of, and feeling that they could not be trusted, she prudently kept +them on the little sock she was knitting, like a model maiden aunt. + +A stealthy glance now and then refreshed her like sips of fresh water +after a dusty walk, for the sidelong peeps showed her several +propitious omens. Mr. Bhaer's face had lost the absent-minded +expression, and looked all alive with interest in the present moment, +actually young and handsome, she thought, forgetting to compare him +with Laurie, as she usually did strange men, to their great detriment. +Then he seemed quite inspired, though the burial customs of the +ancients, to which the conversation had strayed, might not be +considered an exhilarating topic. Jo quite glowed with triumph when +Teddy got quenched in an argument, and thought to herself, as she +watched her father's absorbed face, "How he would enjoy having such a +man as my Professor to talk with every day!" Lastly, Mr. Bhaer was +dressed in a new suit of black, which made him look more like a +gentleman than ever. His bushy hair had been cut and smoothly brushed, +but didn't stay in order long, for in exciting moments, he rumpled it +up in the droll way he used to do, and Jo liked it rampantly erect +better than flat, because she thought it gave his fine forehead a +Jove-like aspect. Poor Jo, how she did glorify that plain man, as she +sat knitting away so quietly, yet letting nothing escape her, not even +the fact that Mr. Bhaer actually had gold sleeve-buttons in his +immaculate wristbands. + +"Dear old fellow! He couldn't have got himself up with more care if +he'd been going a-wooing," said Jo to herself, and then a sudden +thought born of the words made her blush so dreadfully that she had to +drop her ball, and go down after it to hide her face. + +The maneuver did not succeed as well as she expected, however, for +though just in the act of setting fire to a funeral pyre, the Professor +dropped his torch, metaphorically speaking, and made a dive after the +little blue ball. Of course they bumped their heads smartly together, +saw stars, and both came up flushed and laughing, without the ball, to +resume their seats, wishing they had not left them. + +Nobody knew where the evening went to, for Hannah skillfully abstracted +the babies at an early hour, nodding like two rosy poppies, and Mr. +Laurence went home to rest. The others sat round the fire, talking +away, utterly regardless of the lapse of time, till Meg, whose maternal +mind was impressed with a firm conviction that Daisy had tumbled out of +bed, and Demi set his nightgown afire studying the structure of +matches, made a move to go. + +"We must have our sing, in the good old way, for we are all together +again once more," said Jo, feeling that a good shout would be a safe +and pleasant vent for the jubilant emotions of her soul. + +They were not all there. But no one found the words thoughtless or +untrue, for Beth still seemed among them, a peaceful presence, +invisible, but dearer than ever, since death could not break the +household league that love made dissoluble. The little chair stood in +its old place. The tidy basket, with the bit of work she left +unfinished when the needle grew 'so heavy', was still on its accustomed +shelf. The beloved instrument, seldom touched now had not been moved, +and above it Beth's face, serene and smiling, as in the early days, +looked down upon them, seeming to say, "Be happy. I am here." + +"Play something, Amy. Let them hear how much you have improved," said +Laurie, with pardonable pride in his promising pupil. + +But Amy whispered, with full eyes, as she twirled the faded stool, "Not +tonight, dear. I can't show off tonight." + +But she did show something better than brilliancy or skill, for she +sang Beth's songs with a tender music in her voice which the best +master could not have taught, and touched the listener's hearts with a +sweeter power than any other inspiration could have given her. The +room was very still, when the clear voice failed suddenly at the last +line of Beth's favorite hymn. It was hard to say... + + Earth hath no sorrow that heaven cannot heal; + +and Amy leaned against her husband, who stood behind her, feeling that +her welcome home was not quite perfect without Beth's kiss. + +"Now, we must finish with Mignon's song, for Mr. Bhaer sings that," +said Jo, before the pause grew painful. And Mr. Bhaer cleared his +throat with a gratified "Hem!" as he stepped into the corner where Jo +stood, saying... + +"You will sing with me? We go excellently well together." + +A pleasing fiction, by the way, for Jo had no more idea of music than a +grasshopper. But she would have consented if he had proposed to sing a +whole opera, and warbled away, blissfully regardless of time and tune. +It didn't much matter, for Mr. Bhaer sang like a true German, heartily +and well, and Jo soon subsided into a subdued hum, that she might +listen to the mellow voice that seemed to sing for her alone. + + Know'st thou the land where the citron blooms, + +used to be the Professor's favorite line, for 'das land' meant Germany +to him, but now he seemed to dwell, with peculiar warmth and melody, +upon the words... + + There, oh there, might I with thee, + O, my beloved, go + +and one listener was so thrilled by the tender invitation that she +longed to say she did know the land, and would joyfully depart thither +whenever he liked. + +The song was considered a great success, and the singer retired covered +with laurels. But a few minutes afterward, he forgot his manners +entirely, and stared at Amy putting on her bonnet, for she had been +introduced simply as 'my sister', and no one had called her by her new +name since he came. He forgot himself still further when Laurie said, +in his most gracious manner, at parting... + +"My wife and I are very glad to meet you, sir. Please remember that +there is always a welcome waiting for you over the way." + +Then the Professor thanked him so heartily, and looked so suddenly +illuminated with satisfaction, that Laurie thought him the most +delightfully demonstrative old fellow he ever met. + +"I too shall go, but I shall gladly come again, if you will gif me +leave, dear madame, for a little business in the city will keep me here +some days." + +He spoke to Mrs. March, but he looked at Jo, and the mother's voice +gave as cordial an assent as did the daughter's eyes, for Mrs. March +was not so blind to her children's interest as Mrs. Moffat supposed. + +"I suspect that is a wise man," remarked Mr. March, with placid +satisfaction, from the hearthrug, after the last guest had gone. + +"I know he is a good one," added Mrs. March, with decided approval, as +she wound up the clock. + +"I thought you'd like him," was all Jo said, as she slipped away to her +bed. + +She wondered what the business was that brought Mr. Bhaer to the city, +and finally decided that he had been appointed to some great honor, +somewhere, but had been too modest to mention the fact. If she had +seen his face when, safe in his own room, he looked at the picture of a +severe and rigid young lady, with a good deal of hair, who appeared to +be gazing darkly into futurity, it might have thrown some light upon +the subject, especially when he turned off the gas, and kissed the +picture in the dark. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR + +MY LORD AND LADY + +"Please, Madam Mother, could you lend me my wife for half an hour? The +luggage has come, and I've been making hay of Amy's Paris finery, +trying to find some things I want," said Laurie, coming in the next day +to find Mrs. Laurence sitting in her mother's lap, as if being made +'the baby' again. + +"Certainly. Go, dear, I forgot that you have any home but this," and +Mrs. March pressed the white hand that wore the wedding ring, as if +asking pardon for her maternal covetousness. + +"I shouldn't have come over if I could have helped it, but I can't get +on without my little woman any more than a..." + +"Weathercock can without the wind," suggested Jo, as he paused for a +simile. Jo had grown quite her own saucy self again since Teddy came +home. + +"Exactly, for Amy keeps me pointing due west most of the time, with +only an occasional whiffle round to the south, and I haven't had an +easterly spell since I was married. Don't know anything about the +north, but am altogether salubrious and balmy, hey, my lady?" + +"Lovely weather so far. I don't know how long it will last, but I'm +not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship. Come home, +dear, and I'll find your bootjack. I suppose that's what you are +rummaging after among my things. Men are so helpless, Mother," said +Amy, with a matronly air, which delighted her husband. + +"What are you going to do with yourselves after you get settled?" asked +Jo, buttoning Amy's cloak as she used to button her pinafores. + +"We have our plans. We don't mean to say much about them yet, because +we are such very new brooms, but we don't intend to be idle. I'm going +into business with a devotion that shall delight Grandfather, and prove +to him that I'm not spoiled. I need something of the sort to keep me +steady. I'm tired of dawdling, and mean to work like a man." + +"And Amy, what is she going to do?" asked Mrs. March, well pleased at +Laurie's decision and the energy with which he spoke. + +"After doing the civil all round, and airing our best bonnet, we shall +astonish you by the elegant hospitalities of our mansion, the brilliant +society we shall draw about us, and the beneficial influence we shall +exert over the world at large. That's about it, isn't it, Madame +Recamier?" asked Laurie with a quizzical look at Amy. + +"Time will show. Come away, Impertinence, and don't shock my family by +calling me names before their faces," answered Amy, resolving that +there should be a home with a good wife in it before she set up a salon +as a queen of society. + +"How happy those children seem together!" observed Mr. March, finding +it difficult to become absorbed in his Aristotle after the young couple +had gone. + +"Yes, and I think it will last," added Mrs. March, with the restful +expression of a pilot who has brought a ship safely into port. + +"I know it will. Happy Amy!" and Jo sighed, then smiled brightly as +Professor Bhaer opened the gate with an impatient push. + +Later in the evening, when his mind had been set at rest about the +bootjack, Laurie said suddenly to his wife, "Mrs. Laurence." + +"My Lord!" + +"That man intends to marry our Jo!" + +"I hope so, don't you, dear?" + +"Well, my love, I consider him a trump, in the fullest sense of that +expressive word, but I do wish he was a little younger and a good deal +richer." + +"Now, Laurie, don't be too fastidious and worldly-minded. If they love +one another it doesn't matter a particle how old they are nor how poor. +Women never should marry for money..." Amy caught herself up short as +the words escaped her, and looked at her husband, who replied, with +malicious gravity... + +"Certainly not, though you do hear charming girls say that they intend +to do it sometimes. If my memory serves me, you once thought it your +duty to make a rich match. That accounts, perhaps, for your marrying a +good-for-nothing like me." + +"Oh, my dearest boy, don't, don't say that! I forgot you were rich +when I said 'Yes'. I'd have married you if you hadn't a penny, and I +sometimes wish you were poor that I might show how much I love you." +And Amy, who was very dignified in public and very fond in private, +gave convincing proofs of the truth of her words. + +"You don't really think I am such a mercenary creature as I tried to be +once, do you? It would break my heart if you didn't believe that I'd +gladly pull in the same boat with you, even if you had to get your +living by rowing on the lake." + +"Am I an idiot and a brute? How could I think so, when you refused a +richer man for me, and won't let me give you half I want to now, when I +have the right? Girls do it every day, poor things, and are taught to +think it is their only salvation, but you had better lessons, and +though I trembled for you at one time, I was not disappointed, for the +daughter was true to the mother's teaching. I told Mamma so yesterday, +and she looked as glad and grateful as if I'd given her a check for a +million, to be spent in charity. You are not listening to my moral +remarks, Mrs. Laurence," and Laurie paused, for Amy's eyes had an +absent look, though fixed upon his face. + +"Yes, I am, and admiring the mole in your chin at the same time. I +don't wish to make you vain, but I must confess that I'm prouder of my +handsome husband than of all his money. Don't laugh, but your nose is +such a comfort to me," and Amy softly caressed the well-cut feature +with artistic satisfaction. + +Laurie had received many compliments in his life, but never one that +suited him better, as he plainly showed though he did laugh at his +wife's peculiar taste, while she said slowly, "May I ask you a +question, dear?" + +"Of course, you may." + +"Shall you care if Jo does marry Mr. Bhaer?" + +"Oh, that's the trouble is it? I thought there was something in the +dimple that didn't quite suit you. Not being a dog in the manger, but +the happiest fellow alive, I assure you I can dance at Jo's wedding +with a heart as light as my heels. Do you doubt it, my darling?" + +Amy looked up at him, and was satisfied. Her little jealous fear +vanished forever, and she thanked him, with a face full of love and +confidence. + +"I wish we could do something for that capital old Professor. Couldn't +we invent a rich relation, who shall obligingly die out there in +Germany, and leave him a tidy little fortune?" said Laurie, when they +began to pace up and down the long drawing room, arm in arm, as they +were fond of doing, in memory of the chateau garden. + +"Jo would find us out, and spoil it all. She is very proud of him, +just as he is, and said yesterday that she thought poverty was a +beautiful thing." + +"Bless her dear heart! She won't think so when she has a literary +husband, and a dozen little professors and professorins to support. We +won't interfere now, but watch our chance, and do them a good turn in +spite of themselves. I owe Jo for a part of my education, and she +believes in people's paying their honest debts, so I'll get round her +in that way." + +"How delightful it is to be able to help others, isn't it? That was +always one of my dreams, to have the power of giving freely, and thanks +to you, the dream has come true." + +"Ah, we'll do quantities of good, won't we? There's one sort of +poverty that I particularly like to help. Out-and-out beggars get +taken care of, but poor gentle folks fare badly, because they won't +ask, and people don't dare to offer charity. Yet there are a thousand +ways of helping them, if one only knows how to do it so delicately that +it does not offend. I must say, I like to serve a decayed gentleman +better than a blarnerying beggar. I suppose it's wrong, but I do, +though it is harder." + +"Because it takes a gentleman to do it," added the other member of the +domestic admiration society. + +"Thank you, I'm afraid I don't deserve that pretty compliment. But I +was going to say that while I was dawdling about abroad, I saw a good +many talented young fellows making all sorts of sacrifices, and +enduring real hardships, that they might realize their dreams. Splendid +fellows, some of them, working like heros, poor and friendless, but so +full of courage, patience, and ambition that I was ashamed of myself, +and longed to give them a right good lift. Those are people whom it's +a satisfaction to help, for if they've got genius, it's an honor to be +allowed to serve them, and not let it be lost or delayed for want of +fuel to keep the pot boiling. If they haven't, it's a pleasure to +comfort the poor souls, and keep them from despair when they find it +out." + +"Yes, indeed, and there's another class who can't ask, and who suffer +in silence. I know something of it, for I belonged to it before you +made a princess of me, as the king does the beggarmaid in the old +story. Ambitious girls have a hard time, Laurie, and often have to see +youth, health, and precious opportunities go by, just for want of a +little help at the right minute. People have been very kind to me, and +whenever I see girls struggling along, as we used to do, I want to put +out my hand and help them, as I was helped." + +"And so you shall, like an angel as you are!" cried Laurie, resolving, +with a glow of philanthropic zeal, to found and endow an institution +for the express benefit of young women with artistic tendencies. "Rich +people have no right to sit down and enjoy themselves, or let their +money accumulate for others to waste. It's not half so sensible to +leave legacies when one dies as it is to use the money wisely while +alive, and enjoy making one's fellow creatures happy with it. We'll +have a good time ourselves, and add an extra relish to our own pleasure +by giving other people a generous taste. Will you be a little Dorcas, +going about emptying a big basket of comforts, and filling it up with +good deeds?" + +"With all my heart, if you will be a brave St. Martin, stopping as you +ride gallantly through the world to share your cloak with the beggar." + +"It's a bargain, and we shall get the best of it!" + +So the young pair shook hands upon it, and then paced happily on again, +feeling that their pleasant home was more homelike because they hoped +to brighten other homes, believing that their own feet would walk more +uprightly along the flowery path before them, if they smoothed rough +ways for other feet, and feeling that their hearts were more closely +knit together by a love which could tenderly remember those less blest +than they. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE + +DAISY AND DEMI + +I cannot feel that I have done my duty as humble historian of the March +family, without devoting at least one chapter to the two most precious +and important members of it. Daisy and Demi had now arrived at years +of discretion, for in this fast age babies of three or four assert +their rights, and get them, too, which is more than many of their +elders do. If there ever were a pair of twins in danger of being +utterly spoiled by adoration, it was these prattling Brookes. Of +course they were the most remarkable children ever born, as will be +shown when I mention that they walked at eight months, talked fluently +at twelve months, and at two years they took their places at table, and +behaved with a propriety which charmed all beholders. At three, Daisy +demanded a 'needler', and actually made a bag with four stitches in it. +She likewise set up housekeeping in the sideboard, and managed a +microscopic cooking stove with a skill that brought tears of pride to +Hannah's eyes, while Demi learned his letters with his grandfather, who +invented a new mode of teaching the alphabet by forming letters with +his arms and legs, thus uniting gymnastics for head and heels. The boy +early developed a mechanical genius which delighted his father and +distracted his mother, for he tried to imitate every machine he saw, +and kept the nursery in a chaotic condition, with his 'sewinsheen', a +mysterious structure of string, chairs, clothespins, and spools, for +wheels to go 'wound and wound'. Also a basket hung over the back of a +chair, in which he vainly tried to hoist his too confiding sister, who, +with feminine devotion, allowed her little head to be bumped till +rescued, when the young inventor indignantly remarked, "Why, Marmar, +dat's my lellywaiter, and me's trying to pull her up." + +Though utterly unlike in character, the twins got on remarkably well +together, and seldom quarreled more than thrice a day. Of course, Demi +tyrannized over Daisy, and gallantly defended her from every other +aggressor, while Daisy made a galley slave of herself, and adored her +brother as the one perfect being in the world. A rosy, chubby, +sunshiny little soul was Daisy, who found her way to everybody's heart, +and nestled there. One of the captivating children, who seem made to +be kissed and cuddled, adorned and adored like little goddesses, and +produced for general approval on all festive occasions. Her small +virtues were so sweet that she would have been quite angelic if a few +small naughtinesses had not kept her delightfully human. It was all +fair weather in her world, and every morning she scrambled up to the +window in her little nightgown to look out, and say, no matter whether +it rained or shone, "Oh, pitty day, oh, pitty day!" Everyone was a +friend, and she offered kisses to a stranger so confidingly that the +most inveterate bachelor relented, and baby-lovers became faithful +worshipers. + +"Me loves evvybody," she once said, opening her arms, with her spoon in +one hand, and her mug in the other, as if eager to embrace and nourish +the whole world. + +As she grew, her mother began to feel that the Dovecote would be +blessed by the presence of an inmate as serene and loving as that which +had helped to make the old house home, and to pray that she might be +spared a loss like that which had lately taught them how long they had +entertained an angel unawares. Her grandfather often called her +'Beth', and her grandmother watched over her with untiring devotion, as +if trying to atone for some past mistake, which no eye but her own +could see. + +Demi, like a true Yankee, was of an inquiring turn, wanting to know +everything, and often getting much disturbed because he could not get +satisfactory answers to his perpetual "What for?" + +He also possessed a philosophic bent, to the great delight of his +grandfather, who used to hold Socratic conversations with him, in which +the precocious pupil occasionally posed his teacher, to the undisguised +satisfaction of the womenfolk. + +"What makes my legs go, Dranpa?" asked the young philosopher, surveying +those active portions of his frame with a meditative air, while resting +after a go-to-bed frolic one night. + +"It's your little mind, Demi," replied the sage, stroking the yellow +head respectfully. + +"What is a little mine?" + +"It is something which makes your body move, as the spring made the +wheels go in my watch when I showed it to you." + +"Open me. I want to see it go wound." + +"I can't do that any more than you could open the watch. God winds you +up, and you go till He stops you." + +"Does I?" and Demi's brown eyes grew big and bright as he took in the +new thought. "Is I wounded up like the watch?" + +"Yes, but I can't show you how, for it is done when we don't see." + +Demi felt his back, as if expecting to find it like that of the watch, +and then gravely remarked, "I dess Dod does it when I's asleep." + +A careful explanation followed, to which he listened so attentively +that his anxious grandmother said, "My dear, do you think it wise to +talk about such things to that baby? He's getting great bumps over his +eyes, and learning to ask the most unanswerable questions." + +"If he is old enough to ask the question he is old enough to receive +true answers. I am not putting the thoughts into his head, but helping +him unfold those already there. These children are wiser than we are, +and I have no doubt the boy understands every word I have said to him. +Now, Demi, tell me where you keep your mind." + +If the boy had replied like Alcibiades, "By the gods, Socrates, I +cannot tell," his grandfather would not have been surprised, but when, +after standing a moment on one leg, like a meditative young stork, he +answered, in a tone of calm conviction, "In my little belly," the old +gentleman could only join in Grandma's laugh, and dismiss the class in +metaphysics. + +There might have been cause for maternal anxiety, if Demi had not given +convincing proofs that he was a true boy, as well as a budding +philosopher, for often, after a discussion which caused Hannah to +prophesy, with ominous nods, "That child ain't long for this world," he +would turn about and set her fears at rest by some of the pranks with +which dear, dirty, naughty little rascals distract and delight their +parent's souls. + +Meg made many moral rules, and tried to keep them, but what mother was +ever proof against the winning wiles, the ingenious evasions, or the +tranquil audacity of the miniature men and women who so early show +themselves accomplished Artful Dodgers? + +"No more raisins, Demi. They'll make you sick," says Mamma to the +young person who offers his services in the kitchen with unfailing +regularity on plum-pudding day. + +"Me likes to be sick." + +"I don't want to have you, so run away and help Daisy make patty cakes." + +He reluctantly departs, but his wrongs weigh upon his spirit, and +by-and-by when an opportunity comes to redress them, he outwits Mamma +by a shrewd bargain. + +"Now you have been good children, and I'll play anything you like," +says Meg, as she leads her assistant cooks upstairs, when the pudding +is safely bouncing in the pot. + +"Truly, Marmar?" asks Demi, with a brilliant idea in his well-powdered +head. + +"Yes, truly. Anything you say," replies the shortsighted parent, +preparing herself to sing, "The Three Little Kittens" half a dozen +times over, or to take her family to "Buy a penny bun," regardless of +wind or limb. But Demi corners her by the cool reply... + +"Then we'll go and eat up all the raisins." + +Aunt Dodo was chief playmate and confidante of both children, and the +trio turned the little house topsy-turvy. Aunt Amy was as yet only a +name to them, Aunt Beth soon faded into a pleasantly vague memory, but +Aunt Dodo was a living reality, and they made the most of her, for +which compliment she was deeply grateful. But when Mr. Bhaer came, Jo +neglected her playfellows, and dismay and desolation fell upon their +little souls. Daisy, who was fond of going about peddling kisses, lost +her best customer and became bankrupt. Demi, with infantile +penetration, soon discovered that Dodo like to play with 'the bear-man' +better than she did him, but though hurt, he concealed his anguish, for +he hadn't the heart to insult a rival who kept a mine of chocolate +drops in his waistcoat pocket, and a watch that could be taken out of +its case and freely shaken by ardent admirers. + +Some persons might have considered these pleasing liberties as bribes, +but Demi didn't see it in that light, and continued to patronize the +'the bear-man' with pensive affability, while Daisy bestowed her small +affections upon him at the third call, and considered his shoulder her +throne, his arm her refuge, his gifts treasures surpassing worth. + +Gentlemen are sometimes seized with sudden fits of admiration for the +young relatives of ladies whom they honor with their regard, but this +counterfeit philoprogenitiveness sits uneasily upon them, and does not +deceive anybody a particle. Mr. Bhaer's devotion was sincere, however +likewise effective--for honesty is the best policy in love as in law. +He was one of the men who are at home with children, and looked +particularly well when little faces made a pleasant contrast with his +manly one. His business, whatever it was, detained him from day to +day, but evening seldom failed to bring him out to see--well, he always +asked for Mr. March, so I suppose he was the attraction. The excellent +papa labored under the delusion that he was, and reveled in long +discussions with the kindred spirit, till a chance remark of his more +observing grandson suddenly enlightened him. + +Mr. Bhaer came in one evening to pause on the threshold of the study, +astonished by the spectacle that met his eye. Prone upon the floor lay +Mr. March, with his respectable legs in the air, and beside him, +likewise prone, was Demi, trying to imitate the attitude with his own +short, scarlet-stockinged legs, both grovelers so seriously absorbed +that they were unconscious of spectators, till Mr. Bhaer laughed his +sonorous laugh, and Jo cried out, with a scandalized face... + +"Father, Father, here's the Professor!" + +Down went the black legs and up came the gray head, as the preceptor +said, with undisturbed dignity, "Good evening, Mr. Bhaer. Excuse me for +a moment. We are just finishing our lesson. Now, Demi, make the +letter and tell its name." + +"I knows him!" and, after a few convulsive efforts, the red legs took +the shape of a pair of compasses, and the intelligent pupil +triumphantly shouted, "It's a We, Dranpa, it's a We!" + +"He's a born Weller," laughed Jo, as her parent gathered himself up, +and her nephew tried to stand on his head, as the only mode of +expressing his satisfaction that school was over. + +"What have you been at today, bubchen?" asked Mr. Bhaer, picking up the +gymnast. + +"Me went to see little Mary." + +"And what did you there?" + +"I kissed her," began Demi, with artless frankness. + +"Prut! Thou beginnest early. What did the little Mary say to that?" +asked Mr. Bhaer, continuing to confess the young sinner, who stood upon +the knee, exploring the waistcoat pocket. + +"Oh, she liked it, and she kissed me, and I liked it. Don't little +boys like little girls?" asked Demi, with his mouth full, and an air of +bland satisfaction. + +"You precocious chick! Who put that into your head?" said Jo, enjoying +the innocent revelation as much as the Professor. + +"'Tisn't in mine head, it's in mine mouf," answered literal Demi, +putting out his tongue, with a chocolate drop on it, thinking she +alluded to confectionery, not ideas. + +"Thou shouldst save some for the little friend. Sweets to the sweet, +mannling," and Mr. Bhaer offered Jo some, with a look that made her +wonder if chocolate was not the nectar drunk by the gods. Demi also +saw the smile, was impressed by it, and artlessy inquired. .. + +"Do great boys like great girls, to, 'Fessor?" + +Like young Washington, Mr. Bhaer 'couldn't tell a lie', so he gave the +somewhat vague reply that he believed they did sometimes, in a tone +that made Mr. March put down his clothesbrush, glance at Jo's retiring +face, and then sink into his chair, looking as if the 'precocious +chick' had put an idea into his head that was both sweet and sour. + +Why Dodo, when she caught him in the china closet half an hour +afterward, nearly squeezed the breath out of his little body with a +tender embrace, instead of shaking him for being there, and why she +followed up this novel performance by the unexpected gift of a big +slice of bread and jelly, remained one of the problems over which Demi +puzzled his small wits, and was forced to leave unsolved forever. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY-SIX + +UNDER THE UMBRELLA + +While Laurie and Amy were taking conjugal strolls over velvet carpets, +as they set their house in order, and planned a blissful future, Mr. +Bhaer and Jo were enjoying promenades of a different sort, along muddy +roads and sodden fields. + +"I always do take a walk toward evening, and I don't know why I should +give it up, just because I happen to meet the Professor on his way +out," said Jo to herself, after two or three encounters, for though +there were two paths to Meg's whichever one she took she was sure to +meet him, either going or returning. He was always walking rapidly, and +never seemed to see her until quite close, when he would look as if his +short-sighted eyes had failed to recognize the approaching lady till +that moment. Then, if she was going to Meg's he always had something +for the babies. If her face was turned homeward, he had merely +strolled down to see the river, and was just returning, unless they +were tired of his frequent calls. + +Under the circumstances, what could Jo do but greet him civilly, and +invite him in? If she was tired of his visits, she concealed her +weariness with perfect skill, and took care that there should be coffee +for supper, "as Friedrich--I mean Mr. Bhaer--doesn't like tea." + +By the second week, everyone knew perfectly well what was going on, yet +everyone tried to look as if they were stone-blind to the changes in +Jo's face. They never asked why she sang about her work, did up her +hair three times a day, and got so blooming with her evening exercise. +And no one seemed to have the slightest suspicion that Professor Bhaer, +while talking philosophy with the father, was giving the daughter +lessons in love. + +Jo couldn't even lose her heart in a decorous manner, but sternly tried +to quench her feelings, and failing to do so, led a somewhat agitated +life. She was mortally afraid of being laughed at for surrendering, +after her many and vehement declarations of independence. Laurie was +her especial dread, but thanks to the new manager, he behaved with +praiseworthy propriety, never called Mr. Bhaer 'a capital old fellow' +in public, never alluded, in the remotest manner, to Jo's improved +appearance, or expressed the least surprise at seeing the Professor's +hat on the Marches' table nearly every evening. But he exulted in +private and longed for the time to come when he could give Jo a piece +of plate, with a bear and a ragged staff on it as an appropriate coat +of arms. + +For a fortnight, the Professor came and went with lover-like +regularity. Then he stayed away for three whole days, and made no +sign, a proceeding which caused everybody to look sober, and Jo to +become pensive, at first, and then--alas for romance--very cross. + +"Disgusted, I dare say, and gone home as suddenly as he came. It's +nothing to me, of course, but I should think he would have come and bid +us goodbye like a gentleman," she said to herself, with a despairing +look at the gate, as she put on her things for the customary walk one +dull afternoon. + +"You'd better take the little umbrella, dear. It looks like rain," +said her mother, observing that she had on her new bonnet, but not +alluding to the fact. + +"Yes, Marmee, do you want anything in town? I've got to run in and get +some paper," returned Jo, pulling out the bow under her chin before the +glass as an excuse for not looking at her mother. + +"Yes, I want some twilled silesia, a paper of number nine needles, and +two yards of narrow lavender ribbon. Have you got your thick boots on, +and something warm under your cloak?" + +"I believe so," answered Jo absently. + +"If you happen to meet Mr. Bhaer, bring him home to tea. I quite long +to see the dear man," added Mrs. March. + +Jo heard that, but made no answer, except to kiss her mother, and walk +rapidly away, thinking with a glow of gratitude, in spite of her +heartache, "How good she is to me! What do girls do who haven't any +mothers to help them through their troubles?" + +The dry-goods stores were not down among the counting-houses, banks, +and wholesale warerooms, where gentlemen most do congregate, but Jo +found herself in that part of the city before she did a single errand, +loitering along as if waiting for someone, examining engineering +instruments in one window and samples of wool in another, with most +unfeminine interest, tumbling over barrels, being half-smothered by +descending bales, and hustled unceremoniously by busy men who looked as +if they wondered 'how the deuce she got there'. A drop of rain on her +cheek recalled her thoughts from baffled hopes to ruined ribbons. For +the drops continued to fall, and being a woman as well as a lover, she +felt that, though it was too late to save her heart, she might her +bonnet. Now she remembered the little umbrella, which she had +forgotten to take in her hurry to be off, but regret was unavailing, +and nothing could be done but borrow one or submit to a drenching. She +looked up at the lowering sky, down at the crimson bow already flecked +with black, forward along the muddy street, then one long, lingering +look behind, at a certain grimy warehouse, with 'Hoffmann, Swartz, & +Co.' over the door, and said to herself, with a sternly reproachful +air... + +"It serves me right! what business had I to put on all my best things +and come philandering down here, hoping to see the Professor? Jo, I'm +ashamed of you! No, you shall not go there to borrow an umbrella, or +find out where he is, from his friends. You shall trudge away, and do +your errands in the rain, and if you catch your death and ruin your +bonnet, it's no more than you deserve. Now then!" + +With that she rushed across the street so impetuously that she narrowly +escaped annihilation from a passing truck, and precipitated herself +into the arms of a stately old gentleman, who said, "I beg pardon, +ma'am," and looked mortally offended. Somewhat daunted, Jo righted +herself, spread her handkerchief over the devoted ribbons, and putting +temptation behind her, hurried on, with increasing dampness about the +ankles, and much clashing of umbrellas overhead. The fact that a +somewhat dilapidated blue one remained stationary above the unprotected +bonnet attracted her attention, and looking up, she saw Mr. Bhaer +looking down. + +"I feel to know the strong-minded lady who goes so bravely under many +horse noses, and so fast through much mud. What do you down here, my +friend?" + +"I'm shopping." + +Mr. Bhaer smiled, as he glanced from the pickle factory on one side to +the wholesale hide and leather concern on the other, but he only said +politely, "You haf no umbrella. May I go also, and take for you the +bundles?" + +"Yes, thank you." + +Jo's cheeks were as red as her ribbon, and she wondered what he thought +of her, but she didn't care, for in a minute she found herself walking +away arm in arm with her Professor, feeling as if the sun had suddenly +burst out with uncommon brilliancy, that the world was all right again, +and that one thoroughly happy woman was paddling through the wet that +day. + +"We thought you had gone," said Jo hastily, for she knew he was looking +at her. Her bonnet wasn't big enough to hide her face, and she feared +he might think the joy it betrayed unmaidenly. + +"Did you believe that I should go with no farewell to those who haf +been so heavenly kind to me?" he asked so reproachfully that she felt +as if she had insulted him by the suggestion, and answered heartily... + +"No, I didn't. I knew you were busy about your own affairs, but we +rather missed you, Father and Mother especially." + +"And you?" + +"I'm always glad to see you, sir." + +In her anxiety to keep her voice quite calm, Jo made it rather cool, +and the frosty little monosyllable at the end seemed to chill the +Professor, for his smile vanished, as he said gravely... + +"I thank you, and come one more time before I go." + +"You are going, then?" + +"I haf no longer any business here, it is done." + +"Successfully, I hope?" said Jo, for the bitterness of disappointment +was in that short reply of his. + +"I ought to think so, for I haf a way opened to me by which I can make +my bread and gif my Junglings much help." + +"Tell me, please! I like to know all about the--the boys," said Jo +eagerly. + +"That is so kind, I gladly tell you. My friends find for me a place in +a college, where I teach as at home, and earn enough to make the way +smooth for Franz and Emil. For this I should be grateful, should I +not?" + +"Indeed you should. How splendid it will be to have you doing what you +like, and be able to see you often, and the boys!" cried Jo, clinging +to the lads as an excuse for the satisfaction she could not help +betraying. + +"Ah! But we shall not meet often, I fear, this place is at the West." + +"So far away!" and Jo left her skirts to their fate, as if it didn't +matter now what became of her clothes or herself. + +Mr. Bhaer could read several languages, but he had not learned to read +women yet. He flattered himself that he knew Jo pretty well, and was, +therefore, much amazed by the contradictions of voice, face, and +manner, which she showed him in rapid succession that day, for she was +in half a dozen different moods in the course of half an hour. When +she met him she looked surprised, though it was impossible to help +suspecting that she had come for that express purpose. When he offered +her his arm, she took it with a look that filled him with delight, but +when he asked if she missed him, she gave such a chilly, formal reply +that despair fell upon him. On learning his good fortune she almost +clapped her hands. Was the joy all for the boys? Then on hearing his +destination, she said, "So far away!" in a tone of despair that lifted +him on to a pinnacle of hope, but the next minute she tumbled him down +again by observing, like one entirely absorbed in the matter... + +"Here's the place for my errands. Will you come in? It won't take +long." + +Jo rather prided herself upon her shopping capabilities, and +particularly wished to impress her escort with the neatness and +dispatch with which she would accomplish the business. But owing to the +flutter she was in, everything went amiss. She upset the tray of +needles, forgot the silesia was to be 'twilled' till it was cut off, +gave the wrong change, and covered herself with confusion by asking for +lavender ribbon at the calico counter. Mr. Bhaer stood by, watching +her blush and blunder, and as he watched, his own bewilderment seemed +to subside, for he was beginning to see that on some occasions, women, +like dreams, go by contraries. + +When they came out, he put the parcel under his arm with a more +cheerful aspect, and splashed through the puddles as if he rather +enjoyed it on the whole. + +"Should we no do a little what you call shopping for the babies, and +haf a farewell feast tonight if I go for my last call at your so +pleasant home?" he asked, stopping before a window full of fruit and +flowers. + +"What will we buy?" asked Jo, ignoring the latter part of his speech, +and sniffing the mingled odors with an affectation of delight as they +went in. + +"May they haf oranges and figs?" asked Mr. Bhaer, with a paternal air. + +"They eat them when they can get them." + +"Do you care for nuts?" + +"Like a squirrel." + +"Hamburg grapes. Yes, we shall drink to the Fatherland in those?" + +Jo frowned upon that piece of extravagance, and asked why he didn't buy +a frail of dates, a cask of raisins, and a bag of almonds, and be done +with it? Whereat Mr. Bhaer confiscated her purse, produced his own, +and finished the marketing by buying several pounds of grapes, a pot of +rosy daisies, and a pretty jar of honey, to be regarded in the light of +a demijohn. Then distorting his pockets with knobby bundles, and +giving her the flowers to hold, he put up the old umbrella, and they +traveled on again. + +"Miss Marsch, I haf a great favor to ask of you," began the Professor, +after a moist promenade of half a block. + +"Yes, sir?" and Jo's heart began to beat so hard she was afraid he +would hear it. + +"I am bold to say it in spite of the rain, because so short a time +remains to me." + +"Yes, sir," and Jo nearly crushed the small flowerpot with the sudden +squeeze she gave it. + +"I wish to get a little dress for my Tina, and I am too stupid to go +alone. Will you kindly gif me a word of taste and help?" + +"Yes, sir," and Jo felt as calm and cool all of a sudden as if she had +stepped into a refrigerator. + +"Perhaps also a shawl for Tina's mother, she is so poor and sick, and +the husband is such a care. Yes, yes, a thick, warm shawl would be a +friendly thing to take the little mother." + +"I'll do it with pleasure, Mr. Bhaer." "I'm going very fast, and he's +getting dearer every minute," added Jo to herself, then with a mental +shake she entered into the business with an energy that was pleasant to +behold. + +Mr. Bhaer left it all to her, so she chose a pretty gown for Tina, and +then ordered out the shawls. The clerk, being a married man, +condescended to take an interest in the couple, who appeared to be +shopping for their family. + +"Your lady may prefer this. It's a superior article, a most desirable +color, quite chaste and genteel," he said, shaking out a comfortable +gray shawl, and throwing it over Jo's shoulders. + +"Does this suit you, Mr. Bhaer?" she asked, turning her back to him, +and feeling deeply grateful for the chance of hiding her face. + +"Excellently well, we will haf it," answered the Professor, smiling to +himself as he paid for it, while Jo continued to rummage the counters +like a confirmed bargain-hunter. + +"Now shall we go home?" he asked, as if the words were very pleasant to +him. + +"Yes, it's late, and I'm _so_ tired." Jo's voice was more pathetic than +she knew. For now the sun seemed to have gone in as suddenly as it +came out, and the world grew muddy and miserable again, and for the +first time she discovered that her feet were cold, her head ached, and +that her heart was colder than the former, fuller of pain than the +latter. Mr. Bhaer was going away, he only cared for her as a friend, +it was all a mistake, and the sooner it was over the better. With this +idea in her head, she hailed an approaching omnibus with such a hasty +gesture that the daisies flew out of the pot and were badly damaged. + +"This is not our omniboos," said the Professor, waving the loaded +vehicle away, and stopping to pick up the poor little flowers. + +"I beg your pardon. I didn't see the name distinctly. Never mind, I +can walk. I'm used to plodding in the mud," returned Jo, winking hard, +because she would have died rather than openly wipe her eyes. + +Mr. Bhaer saw the drops on her cheeks, though she turned her head away. +The sight seemed to touch him very much, for suddenly stooping down, he +asked in a tone that meant a great deal, "Heart's dearest, why do you +cry?" + +Now, if Jo had not been new to this sort of thing she would have said +she wasn't crying, had a cold in her head, or told any other feminine +fib proper to the occasion. Instead of which, that undignified +creature answered, with an irrepressible sob, "Because you are going +away." + +"Ach, mein Gott, that is so good!" cried Mr. Bhaer, managing to clasp +his hands in spite of the umbrella and the bundles, "Jo, I haf nothing +but much love to gif you. I came to see if you could care for it, and +I waited to be sure that I was something more than a friend. Am I? +Can you make a little place in your heart for old Fritz?" he added, all +in one breath. + +"Oh, yes!" said Jo, and he was quite satisfied, for she folded both +hands over his arm, and looked up at him with an expression that +plainly showed how happy she would be to walk through life beside him, +even though she had no better shelter than the old umbrella, if he +carried it. + +It was certainly proposing under difficulties, for even if he had +desired to do so, Mr. Bhaer could not go down upon his knees, on +account of the mud. Neither could he offer Jo his hand, except +figuratively, for both were full. Much less could he indulge in tender +remonstrations in the open street, though he was near it. So the only +way in which he could express his rapture was to look at her, with an +expression which glorified his face to such a degree that there +actually seemed to be little rainbows in the drops that sparkled on his +beard. If he had not loved Jo very much, I don't think he could have +done it then, for she looked far from lovely, with her skirts in a +deplorable state, her rubber boots splashed to the ankle, and her +bonnet a ruin. Fortunately, Mr. Bhaer considered her the most +beautiful woman living, and she found him more "Jove-like" than ever, +though his hatbrim was quite limp with the little rills trickling +thence upon his shoulders (for he held the umbrella all over Jo), and +every finger of his gloves needed mending. + +Passers-by probably thought them a pair of harmless lunatics, for they +entirely forgot to hail a bus, and strolled leisurely along, oblivious +of deepening dusk and fog. Little they cared what anybody thought, for +they were enjoying the happy hour that seldom comes but once in any +life, the magical moment which bestows youth on the old, beauty on the +plain, wealth on the poor, and gives human hearts a foretaste of +heaven. The Professor looked as if he had conquered a kingdom, and the +world had nothing more to offer him in the way of bliss. While Jo +trudged beside him, feeling as if her place had always been there, and +wondering how she ever could have chosen any other lot. Of course, she +was the first to speak--intelligibly, I mean, for the emotional remarks +which followed her impetuous "Oh, yes!" were not of a coherent or +reportable character. + +"Friedrich, why didn't you..." + +"Ah, heaven, she gifs me the name that no one speaks since Minna died!" +cried the Professor, pausing in a puddle to regard her with grateful +delight. + +"I always call you so to myself--I forgot, but I won't unless you like +it." + +"Like it? It is more sweet to me than I can tell. Say 'thou', also, +and I shall say your language is almost as beautiful as mine." + +"Isn't 'thou' a little sentimental?" asked Jo, privately thinking it a +lovely monosyllable. + +"Sentimental? Yes. Thank Gott, we Germans believe in sentiment, and +keep ourselves young mit it. Your English 'you' is so cold, say +'thou', heart's dearest, it means so much to me," pleaded Mr. Bhaer, +more like a romantic student than a grave professor. + +"Well, then, why didn't thou tell me all this sooner?" asked Jo +bashfully. + +"Now I shall haf to show thee all my heart, and I so gladly will, +because thou must take care of it hereafter. See, then, my Jo--ah, the +dear, funny little name--I had a wish to tell something the day I said +goodbye in New York, but I thought the handsome friend was betrothed to +thee, and so I spoke not. Wouldst thou have said 'Yes', then, if I had +spoken?" + +"I don't know. I'm afraid not, for I didn't have any heart just then." + +"Prut! That I do not believe. It was asleep till the fairy prince +came through the wood, and waked it up. Ah, well, 'Die erste Liebe ist +die beste', but that I should not expect." + +"Yes, the first love is the best, but be so contented, for I never had +another. Teddy was only a boy, and soon got over his little fancy," +said Jo, anxious to correct the Professor's mistake. + +"Good! Then I shall rest happy, and be sure that thou givest me all. +I haf waited so long, I am grown selfish, as thou wilt find, +Professorin." + +"I like that," cried Jo, delighted with her new name. "Now tell me +what brought you, at last, just when I wanted you?" + +"This," and Mr. Bhaer took a little worn paper out of his waistcoat +pocket. + +Jo unfolded it, and looked much abashed, for it was one of her own +contributions to a paper that paid for poetry, which accounted for her +sending it an occasional attempt. + +"How could that bring you?" she asked, wondering what he meant. + +"I found it by chance. I knew it by the names and the initials, and in +it there was one little verse that seemed to call me. Read and find +him. I will see that you go not in the wet." + + + IN THE GARRET + + Four little chests all in a row, + Dim with dust, and worn by time, + All fashioned and filled, long ago, + By children now in their prime. + Four little keys hung side by side, + With faded ribbons, brave and gay + When fastened there, with childish pride, + Long ago, on a rainy day. + Four little names, one on each lid, + Carved out by a boyish hand, + And underneath there lieth hid + Histories of the happy band + Once playing here, and pausing oft + To hear the sweet refrain, + That came and went on the roof aloft, + In the falling summer rain. + + "Meg" on the first lid, smooth and fair. + I look in with loving eyes, + For folded here, with well-known care, + A goodly gathering lies, + The record of a peaceful life-- + Gifts to gentle child and girl, + A bridal gown, lines to a wife, + A tiny shoe, a baby curl. + No toys in this first chest remain, + For all are carried away, + In their old age, to join again + In another small Meg's play. + Ah, happy mother! Well I know + You hear, like a sweet refrain, + Lullabies ever soft and low + In the falling summer rain. + + "Jo" on the next lid, scratched and worn, + And within a motley store + Of headless dolls, of schoolbooks torn, + Birds and beasts that speak no more, + Spoils brought home from the fairy ground + Only trod by youthful feet, + Dreams of a future never found, + Memories of a past still sweet, + Half-writ poems, stories wild, + April letters, warm and cold, + Diaries of a wilful child, + Hints of a woman early old, + A woman in a lonely home, + Hearing, like a sad refrain-- + "Be worthy, love, and love will come," + In the falling summer rain. + + My Beth! the dust is always swept + From the lid that bears your name, + As if by loving eyes that wept, + By careful hands that often came. + Death canonized for us one saint, + Ever less human than divine, + And still we lay, with tender plaint, + Relics in this household shrine-- + The silver bell, so seldom rung, + The little cap which last she wore, + The fair, dead Catherine that hung + By angels borne above her door. + The songs she sang, without lament, + In her prison-house of pain, + Forever are they sweetly blent + With the falling summer rain. + + Upon the last lid's polished field-- + Legend now both fair and true + A gallant knight bears on his shield, + "Amy" in letters gold and blue. + Within lie snoods that bound her hair, + Slippers that have danced their last, + Faded flowers laid by with care, + Fans whose airy toils are past, + Gay valentines, all ardent flames, + Trifles that have borne their part + In girlish hopes and fears and shames, + The record of a maiden heart + Now learning fairer, truer spells, + Hearing, like a blithe refrain, + The silver sound of bridal bells + In the falling summer rain. + + Four little chests all in a row, + Dim with dust, and worn by time, + Four women, taught by weal and woe + To love and labor in their prime. + Four sisters, parted for an hour, + None lost, one only gone before, + Made by love's immortal power, + Nearest and dearest evermore. + Oh, when these hidden stores of ours + Lie open to the Father's sight, + May they be rich in golden hours, + Deeds that show fairer for the light, + Lives whose brave music long shall ring, + Like a spirit-stirring strain, + Souls that shall gladly soar and sing + In the long sunshine after rain. + +"It's very bad poetry, but I felt it when I wrote it, one day when I +was very lonely, and had a good cry on a rag bag. I never thought it +would go where it could tell tales," said Jo, tearing up the verses the +Professor had treasured so long. + +"Let it go, it has done its duty, and I will haf a fresh one when I +read all the brown book in which she keeps her little secrets," said +Mr. Bhaer with a smile as he watched the fragments fly away on the +wind. "Yes," he added earnestly, "I read that, and I think to myself, +She has a sorrow, she is lonely, she would find comfort in true love. +I haf a heart full, full for her. Shall I not go and say, 'If this is +not too poor a thing to gif for what I shall hope to receive, take it +in Gott's name?'" + +"And so you came to find that it was not too poor, but the one precious +thing I needed," whispered Jo. + +"I had no courage to think that at first, heavenly kind as was your +welcome to me. But soon I began to hope, and then I said, 'I will haf +her if I die for it,' and so I will!" cried Mr. Bhaer, with a defiant +nod, as if the walls of mist closing round them were barriers which he +was to surmount or valiantly knock down. + +Jo thought that was splendid, and resolved to be worthy of her knight, +though he did not come prancing on a charger in gorgeous array. + +"What made you stay away so long?" she asked presently, finding it so +pleasant to ask confidential questions and get delightful answers that +she could not keep silent. + +"It was not easy, but I could not find the heart to take you from that +so happy home until I could haf a prospect of one to gif you, after +much time, perhaps, and hard work. How could I ask you to gif up so +much for a poor old fellow, who has no fortune but a little learning?" + +"I'm glad you are poor. I couldn't bear a rich husband," said Jo +decidedly, adding in a softer tone, "Don't fear poverty. I've known it +long enough to lose my dread and be happy working for those I love, and +don't call yourself old--forty is the prime of life. I couldn't help +loving you if you were seventy!" + +The Professor found that so touching that he would have been glad of +his handkerchief, if he could have got at it. As he couldn't, Jo wiped +his eyes for him, and said, laughing, as she took away a bundle or +two... + +"I may be strong-minded, but no one can say I'm out of my sphere now, +for woman's special mission is supposed to be drying tears and bearing +burdens. I'm to carry my share, Friedrich, and help to earn the home. +Make up your mind to that, or I'll never go," she added resolutely, as +he tried to reclaim his load. + +"We shall see. Haf you patience to wait a long time, Jo? I must go +away and do my work alone. I must help my boys first, because, even +for you, I may not break my word to Minna. Can you forgif that, and be +happy while we hope and wait?" + +"Yes, I know I can, for we love one another, and that makes all the +rest easy to bear. I have my duty, also, and my work. I couldn't enjoy +myself if I neglected them even for you, so there's no need of hurry or +impatience. You can do your part out West, I can do mine here, and +both be happy hoping for the best, and leaving the future to be as God +wills." + +"Ah! Thou gifest me such hope and courage, and I haf nothing to gif +back but a full heart and these empty hands," cried the Professor, +quite overcome. + +Jo never, never would learn to be proper, for when he said that as they +stood upon the steps, she just put both hands into his, whispering +tenderly, "Not empty now," and stooping down, kissed her Friedrich +under the umbrella. It was dreadful, but she would have done it if the +flock of draggle-tailed sparrows on the hedge had been human beings, +for she was very far gone indeed, and quite regardless of everything +but her own happiness. Though it came in such a very simple guise, that +was the crowning moment of both their lives, when, turning from the +night and storm and loneliness to the household light and warmth and +peace waiting to receive them, with a glad "Welcome home!" Jo led her +lover in, and shut the door. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN + +HARVEST TIME + +For a year Jo and her Professor worked and waited, hoped and loved, met +occasionally, and wrote such voluminous letters that the rise in the +price of paper was accounted for, Laurie said. The second year began +rather soberly, for their prospects did not brighten, and Aunt March +died suddenly. But when their first sorrow was over--for they loved +the old lady in spite of her sharp tongue--they found they had cause +for rejoicing, for she had left Plumfield to Jo, which made all sorts +of joyful things possible. + +"It's a fine old place, and will bring a handsome sum, for of course +you intend to sell it," said Laurie, as they were all talking the +matter over some weeks later. + +"No, I don't," was Jo's decided answer, as she petted the fat poodle, +whom she had adopted, out of respect to his former mistress. + +"You don't mean to live there?" + +"Yes, I do." + +"But, my dear girl, it's an immense house, and will take a power of +money to keep it in order. The garden and orchard alone need two or +three men, and farming isn't in Bhaer's line, I take it." + +"He'll try his hand at it there, if I propose it." + +"And you expect to live on the produce of the place? Well, that sounds +paradisiacal, but you'll find it desperate hard work." + +"The crop we are going to raise is a profitable one," and Jo laughed. + +"Of what is this fine crop to consist, ma'am?" + +"Boys. I want to open a school for little lads--a good, happy, +homelike school, with me to take care of them and Fritz to teach them." + +"That's a truly Joian plan for you! Isn't that just like her?" cried +Laurie, appealing to the family, who looked as much surprised as he. + +"I like it," said Mrs. March decidedly. + +"So do I," added her husband, who welcomed the thought of a chance for +trying the Socratic method of education on modern youth. + +"It will be an immense care for Jo," said Meg, stroking the head of her +one all-absorbing son. + +"Jo can do it, and be happy in it. It's a splendid idea. Tell us all +about it," cried Mr. Laurence, who had been longing to lend the lovers +a hand, but knew that they would refuse his help. + +"I knew you'd stand by me, sir. Amy does too--I see it in her eyes, +though she prudently waits to turn it over in her mind before she +speaks. Now, my dear people," continued Jo earnestly, "just understand +that this isn't a new idea of mine, but a long cherished plan. Before +my Fritz came, I used to think how, when I'd made my fortune, and no +one needed me at home, I'd hire a big house, and pick up some poor, +forlorn little lads who hadn't any mothers, and take care of them, and +make life jolly for them before it was too late. I see so many going +to ruin for want of help at the right minute, I love so to do anything +for them, I seem to feel their wants, and sympathize with their +troubles, and oh, I should so like to be a mother to them!" + +Mrs. March held out her hand to Jo, who took it, smiling, with tears in +her eyes, and went on in the old enthusiastic way, which they had not +seen for a long while. + +"I told my plan to Fritz once, and he said it was just what he would +like, and agreed to try it when we got rich. Bless his dear heart, +he's been doing it all his life--helping poor boys, I mean, not getting +rich, that he'll never be. Money doesn't stay in his pocket long +enough to lay up any. But now, thanks to my good old aunt, who loved +me better than I ever deserved, I'm rich, at least I feel so, and we +can live at Plumfield perfectly well, if we have a flourishing school. +It's just the place for boys, the house is big, and the furniture +strong and plain. There's plenty of room for dozens inside, and +splendid grounds outside. They could help in the garden and orchard. +Such work is healthy, isn't it, sir? Then Fritz could train and teach +in his own way, and Father will help him. I can feed and nurse and pet +and scold them, and Mother will be my stand-by. I've always longed for +lots of boys, and never had enough, now I can fill the house full and +revel in the little dears to my heart's content. Think what luxury-- +Plumfield my own, and a wilderness of boys to enjoy it with me." + +As Jo waved her hands and gave a sigh of rapture, the family went off +into a gale of merriment, and Mr. Laurence laughed till they thought +he'd have an apoplectic fit. + +"I don't see anything funny," she said gravely, when she could be +heard. "Nothing could be more natural and proper than for my Professor +to open a school, and for me to prefer to reside in my own estate." + +"She is putting on airs already," said Laurie, who regarded the idea in +the light of a capital joke. "But may I inquire how you intend to +support the establishment? If all the pupils are little ragamuffins, +I'm afraid your crop won't be profitable in a worldly sense, Mrs. +Bhaer." + +"Now don't be a wet-blanket, Teddy. Of course I shall have rich +pupils, also--perhaps begin with such altogether. Then, when I've got +a start, I can take in a ragamuffin or two, just for a relish. Rich +people's children often need care and comfort, as well as poor. I've +seen unfortunate little creatures left to servants, or backward ones +pushed forward, when it's real cruelty. Some are naughty through +mismanagment or neglect, and some lose their mothers. Besides, the best +have to get through the hobbledehoy age, and that's the very time they +need most patience and kindness. People laugh at them, and hustle them +about, try to keep them out of sight, and expect them to turn all at +once from pretty children into fine young men. They don't complain +much--plucky little souls--but they feel it. I've been through +something of it, and I know all about it. I've a special interest in +such young bears, and like to show them that I see the warm, honest, +well-meaning boys' hearts, in spite of the clumsy arms and legs and the +topsy-turvy heads. I've had experience, too, for haven't I brought up +one boy to be a pride and honor to his family?" + +"I'll testify that you tried to do it," said Laurie with a grateful +look. + +"And I've succeeded beyond my hopes, for here you are, a steady, +sensible businessman, doing heaps of good with your money, and laying +up the blessings of the poor, instead of dollars. But you are not +merely a businessman, you love good and beautiful things, enjoy them +yourself, and let others go halves, as you always did in the old times. +I am proud of you, Teddy, for you get better every year, and everyone +feels it, though you won't let them say so. Yes, and when I have my +flock, I'll just point to you, and say 'There's your model, my lads'." + +Poor Laurie didn't know where to look, for, man though he was, +something of the old bashfulness came over him as this burst of praise +made all faces turn approvingly upon him. + +"I say, Jo, that's rather too much," he began, just in his old boyish +way. "You have all done more for me than I can ever thank you for, +except by doing my best not to disappoint you. You have rather cast me +off lately, Jo, but I've had the best of help, nevertheless. So, if +I've got on at all, you may thank these two for it," and he laid one +hand gently on his grandfather's head, and the other on Amy's golden +one, for the three were never far apart. + +"I do think that families are the most beautiful things in all the +world!" burst out Jo, who was in an unusually up-lifted frame of mind +just then. "When I have one of my own, I hope it will be as happy as +the three I know and love the best. If John and my Fritz were only +here, it would be quite a little heaven on earth," she added more +quietly. And that night when she went to her room after a blissful +evening of family counsels, hopes, and plans, her heart was so full of +happiness that she could only calm it by kneeling beside the empty bed +always near her own, and thinking tender thoughts of Beth. + +It was a very astonishing year altogether, for things seemed to happen +in an unusually rapid and delightful manner. Almost before she knew +where she was, Jo found herself married and settled at Plumfield. Then +a family of six or seven boys sprung up like mushrooms, and flourished +surprisingly, poor boys as well as rich, for Mr. Laurence was +continually finding some touching case of destitution, and begging the +Bhaers to take pity on the child, and he would gladly pay a trifle for +its support. In this way, the sly old gentleman got round proud Jo, +and furnished her with the style of boy in which she most delighted. + +Of course it was uphill work at first, and Jo made queer mistakes, but +the wise Professor steered her safely into calmer waters, and the most +rampant ragamuffin was conquered in the end. How Jo did enjoy her +'wilderness of boys', and how poor, dear Aunt March would have lamented +had she been there to see the sacred precincts of prim, well-ordered +Plumfield overrun with Toms, Dicks, and Harrys! There was a sort of +poetic justice about it, after all, for the old lady had been the +terror of the boys for miles around, and now the exiles feasted freely +on forbidden plums, kicked up the gravel with profane boots unreproved, +and played cricket in the big field where the irritable 'cow with a +crumpled horn' used to invite rash youths to come and be tossed. It +became a sort of boys' paradise, and Laurie suggested that it should be +called the 'Bhaer-garten', as a compliment to its master and +appropriate to its inhabitants. + +It never was a fashionable school, and the Professor did not lay up a +fortune, but it was just what Jo intended it to be--'a happy, homelike +place for boys, who needed teaching, care, and kindness'. Every room +in the big house was soon full. Every little plot in the garden soon +had its owner. A regular menagerie appeared in barn and shed, for pet +animals were allowed. And three times a day, Jo smiled at her Fritz +from the head of a long table lined on either side with rows of happy +young faces, which all turned to her with affectionate eyes, confiding +words, and grateful hearts, full of love for 'Mother Bhaer'. She had +boys enough now, and did not tire of them, though they were not angels, +by any means, and some of them caused both Professor and Professorin +much trouble and anxiety. But her faith in the good spot which exists +in the heart of the naughtiest, sauciest, most tantalizing little +ragamuffin gave her patience, skill, and in time success, for no mortal +boy could hold out long with Father Bhaer shining on him as +benevolently as the sun, and Mother Bhaer forgiving him seventy times +seven. Very precious to Jo was the friendship of the lads, their +penitent sniffs and whispers after wrongdoing, their droll or touching +little confidences, their pleasant enthusiasms, hopes, and plans, even +their misfortunes, for they only endeared them to her all the more. +There were slow boys and bashful boys, feeble boys and riotous boys, +boys that lisped and boys that stuttered, one or two lame ones, and a +merry little quadroon, who could not be taken in elsewhere, but who was +welcome to the 'Bhaer-garten', though some people predicted that his +admission would ruin the school. + +Yes, Jo was a very happy woman there, in spite of hard work, much +anxiety, and a perpetual racket. She enjoyed it heartily and found the +applause of her boys more satisfying than any praise of the world, for +now she told no stories except to her flock of enthusiastic believers +and admirers. As the years went on, two little lads of her own came to +increase her happiness--Rob, named for Grandpa, and Teddy, a +happy-go-lucky baby, who seemed to have inherited his papa's sunshiny +temper as well as his mother's lively spirit. How they ever grew up +alive in that whirlpool of boys was a mystery to their grandma and +aunts, but they flourished like dandelions in spring, and their rough +nurses loved and served them well. + +There were a great many holidays at Plumfield, and one of the most +delightful was the yearly apple-picking. For then the Marches, +Laurences, Brookes and Bhaers turned out in full force and made a day +of it. Five years after Jo's wedding, one of these fruitful festivals +occurred, a mellow October day, when the air was full of an +exhilarating freshness which made the spirits rise and the blood dance +healthily in the veins. The old orchard wore its holiday attire. +Goldenrod and asters fringed the mossy walls. Grasshoppers skipped +briskly in the sere grass, and crickets chirped like fairy pipers at a +feast. Squirrels were busy with their small harvesting. Birds +twittered their adieux from the alders in the lane, and every tree +stood ready to send down its shower of red or yellow apples at the +first shake. Everybody was there. Everybody laughed and sang, climbed +up and tumbled down. Everybody declared that there never had been such +a perfect day or such a jolly set to enjoy it, and everyone gave +themselves up to the simple pleasures of the hour as freely as if there +were no such things as care or sorrow in the world. + +Mr. March strolled placidly about, quoting Tusser, Cowley, and +Columella to Mr. Laurence, while enjoying... + +The gentle apple's winey juice. + +The Professor charged up and down the green aisles like a stout +Teutonic knight, with a pole for a lance, leading on the boys, who made +a hook and ladder company of themselves, and performed wonders in the +way of ground and lofty tumbling. Laurie devoted himself to the little +ones, rode his small daughter in a bushel-basket, took Daisy up among +the bird's nests, and kept adventurous Rob from breaking his neck. +Mrs. March and Meg sat among the apple piles like a pair of Pomonas, +sorting the contributions that kept pouring in, while Amy with a +beautiful motherly expression in her face sketched the various groups, +and watched over one pale lad, who sat adoring her with his little +crutch beside him. + +Jo was in her element that day, and rushed about, with her gown pinned +up, and her hat anywhere but on her head, and her baby tucked under her +arm, ready for any lively adventure which might turn up. Little Teddy +bore a charmed life, for nothing ever happened to him, and Jo never +felt any anxiety when he was whisked up into a tree by one lad, +galloped off on the back of another, or supplied with sour russets by +his indulgent papa, who labored under the Germanic delusion that babies +could digest anything, from pickled cabbage to buttons, nails, and +their own small shoes. She knew that little Ted would turn up again in +time, safe and rosy, dirty and serene, and she always received him back +with a hearty welcome, for Jo loved her babies tenderly. + +At four o'clock a lull took place, and baskets remained empty, while +the apple pickers rested and compared rents and bruises. Then Jo and +Meg, with a detachment of the bigger boys, set forth the supper on the +grass, for an out-of-door tea was always the crowning joy of the day. +The land literally flowed with milk and honey on such occasions, for +the lads were not required to sit at table, but allowed to partake of +refreshment as they liked--freedom being the sauce best beloved by the +boyish soul. They availed themselves of the rare privilege to the +fullest extent, for some tried the pleasing experiment of drinking milk +while standing on their heads, others lent a charm to leapfrog by +eating pie in the pauses of the game, cookies were sown broadcast over +the field, and apple turnovers roosted in the trees like a new style of +bird. The little girls had a private tea party, and Ted roved among +the edibles at his own sweet will. + +When no one could eat any more, the Professor proposed the first +regular toast, which was always drunk at such times--"Aunt March, God +bless her!" A toast heartily given by the good man, who never forgot +how much he owed her, and quietly drunk by the boys, who had been +taught to keep her memory green. + +"Now, Grandma's sixtieth birthday! Long life to her, with three times +three!" + +That was given with a will, as you may well believe, and the cheering +once begun, it was hard to stop it. Everybody's health was proposed, +from Mr. Laurence, who was considered their special patron, to the +astonished guinea pig, who had strayed from its proper sphere in search +of its young master. Demi, as the oldest grandchild, then presented +the queen of the day with various gifts, so numerous that they were +transported to the festive scene in a wheelbarrow. Funny presents, +some of them, but what would have been defects to other eyes were +ornaments to Grandma's--for the children's gifts were all their own. +Every stitch Daisy's patient little fingers had put into the +handkerchiefs she hemmed was better than embroidery to Mrs. March. +Demi's miracle of mechanical skill, though the cover wouldn't shut, +Rob's footstool had a wiggle in its uneven legs that she declared was +soothing, and no page of the costly book Amy's child gave her was so +fair as that on which appeared in tipsy capitals, the words--"To dear +Grandma, from her little Beth." + +During the ceremony the boys had mysteriously disappeared, and when +Mrs. March had tried to thank her children, and broken down, while +Teddy wiped her eyes on his pinafore, the Professor suddenly began to +sing. Then, from above him, voice after voice took up the words, and +from tree to tree echoed the music of the unseen choir, as the boys +sang with all their hearts the little song that Jo had written, Laurie +set to music, and the Professor trained his lads to give with the best +effect. This was something altogether new, and it proved a grand +success, for Mrs. March couldn't get over her surprise, and insisted on +shaking hands with every one of the featherless birds, from tall Franz +and Emil to the little quadroon, who had the sweetest voice of all. + +After this, the boys dispersed for a final lark, leaving Mrs. March and +her daughters under the festival tree. + +"I don't think I ever ought to call myself 'unlucky Jo' again, when my +greatest wish has been so beautifully gratified," said Mrs. Bhaer, +taking Teddy's little fist out of the milk pitcher, in which he was +rapturously churning. + +"And yet your life is very different from the one you pictured so long +ago. Do you remember our castles in the air?" asked Amy, smiling as +she watched Laurie and John playing cricket with the boys. + +"Dear fellows! It does my heart good to see them forget business and +frolic for a day," answered Jo, who now spoke in a maternal way of all +mankind. "Yes, I remember, but the life I wanted then seems selfish, +lonely, and cold to me now. I haven't given up the hope that I may +write a good book yet, but I can wait, and I'm sure it will be all the +better for such experiences and illustrations as these," and Jo pointed +from the lively lads in the distance to her father, leaning on the +Professor's arm, as they walked to and fro in the sunshine, deep in one +of the conversations which both enjoyed so much, and then to her +mother, sitting enthroned among her daughters, with their children in +her lap and at her feet, as if all found help and happiness in the face +which never could grow old to them. + +"My castle was the most nearly realized of all. I asked for splendid +things, to be sure, but in my heart I knew I should be satisfied, if I +had a little home, and John, and some dear children like these. I've +got them all, thank God, and am the happiest woman in the world," and +Meg laid her hand on her tall boy's head, with a face full of tender +and devout content. + +"My castle is very different from what I planned, but I would not alter +it, though, like Jo, I don't relinquish all my artistic hopes, or +confine myself to helping others fulfill their dreams of beauty. I've +begun to model a figure of baby, and Laurie says it is the best thing +I've ever done. I think so, myself, and mean to do it in marble, so +that, whatever happens, I may at least keep the image of my little +angel." + +As Amy spoke, a great tear dropped on the golden hair of the sleeping +child in her arms, for her one well-beloved daughter was a frail little +creature and the dread of losing her was the shadow over Amy's +sunshine. This cross was doing much for both father and mother, for +one love and sorrow bound them closely together. Amy's nature was +growing sweeter, deeper, and more tender. Laurie was growing more +serious, strong, and firm, and both were learning that beauty, youth, +good fortune, even love itself, cannot keep care and pain, loss and +sorrow, from the most blessed for ... + + + Into each life some rain must fall, + Some days must be dark and sad and dreary. + + +"She is growing better, I am sure of it, my dear. Don't despond, but +hope and keep happy," said Mrs. March, as tenderhearted Daisy stooped +from her knee to lay her rosy cheek against her little cousin's pale +one. + +"I never ought to, while I have you to cheer me up, Marmee, and Laurie +to take more than half of every burden," replied Amy warmly. "He never +lets me see his anxiety, but is so sweet and patient with me, so +devoted to Beth, and such a stay and comfort to me always that I can't +love him enough. So, in spite of my one cross, I can say with Meg, +'Thank God, I'm a happy woman.'" + +"There's no need for me to say it, for everyone can see that I'm far +happier than I deserve," added Jo, glancing from her good husband to +her chubby children, tumbling on the grass beside her. "Fritz is +getting gray and stout. I'm growing as thin as a shadow, and am +thirty. We never shall be rich, and Plumfield may burn up any night, +for that incorrigible Tommy Bangs will smoke sweet-fern cigars under +the bed-clothes, though he's set himself afire three times already. +But in spite of these unromantic facts, I have nothing to complain of, +and never was so jolly in my life. Excuse the remark, but living among +boys, I can't help using their expressions now and then." + +"Yes, Jo, I think your harvest will be a good one," began Mrs. March, +frightening away a big black cricket that was staring Teddy out of +countenance. + +"Not half so good as yours, Mother. Here it is, and we never can thank +you enough for the patient sowing and reaping you have done," cried Jo, +with the loving impetuosity which she never would outgrow. + +"I hope there will be more wheat and fewer tares every year," said Amy +softly. + +"A large sheaf, but I know there's room in your heart for it, Marmee +dear," added Meg's tender voice. + +Touched to the heart, Mrs. March could only stretch out her arms, as if +to gather children and grandchildren to herself, and say, with face and +voice full of motherly love, gratitude, and humility... + +"Oh, my girls, however long you may live, I never can wish you a +greater happiness than this!" + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE WOMEN *** + +***** This file should be named 514.txt or 514.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/514/ + + + +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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