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diff --git a/old/lwmen13.txt b/old/lwmen13.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7708343 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lwmen13.txt @@ -0,0 +1,22153 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott +#2 in our series by Louisa May Alcott + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Little Women + +Author: Louisa May Alcott + +Release Date: May, 1996 [EBook #514] +[This file was last updated on August 20, 2005] + +Edition: 13 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE WOMEN *** + + + + + + +LITTLE WOMEN + +by Louisa May Alcott + + + + +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 critisized 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 feegorcer I can bear even my flat nose and +purple gown with yellow skyrockets 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 tryinger +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 parrylized 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 fishman. +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 countrylike, 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 color, 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. "'Heartsease 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 Kinglsey 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 land 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 gorcerman 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 aknowledgment 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 poatoes, 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, +critsized 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-bys, 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 comme 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 +critisized 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. + +"Goodby, 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 heartsease 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 reciept 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, "Goodby, my Beth. Goodby!" + +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 +highheeled 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 carressed 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 confident, 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 color 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. Goodby, goodby!" + +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 loverly 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 +devine 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 a with 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 loverly 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 bay. "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 Andersons'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 window's 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 exited 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 +color 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 chassed 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 +devinely, 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, + Devinely tall, and most devinely 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 frenchwoman 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 got 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, stedfast +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 devine + 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 the next found her 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 +strengthned 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 thougtless +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 disoluble. 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 UNBRELLA + +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 THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE WOMEN *** + +This file should be named lwmen13.txt or lwmen13.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, lwmen14.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, lwmen10a.txt + + + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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