Books: An Old fashioned Girl
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Louisa May Alcott >> An Old fashioned Girl
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Now, Polly was very angry, and I think she had a right to be; but
she was not resentful, and after the first flash was over, she soon
began to feel better about it. It was n't easy to forgive; but, as she
listened to Tom's honest voice, getting gruff with remorse now and
then, she could n't harden her heart against him, or refuse to make
up when he so frankly owned that it "was confounded mean to read
her book that way." She liked his coming and begging pardon at
once; it was a handsome thing to do; she appreciated it, and
forgave him in her heart some time before she did with her lips;
for, to tell the truth, Polly had a spice of girlish malice, and rather
liked to see domineering Tom eat humble-pie, just enough to do
him good, you know. She felt that atonement was proper, and
considered it no more than just that Fan should drench a
handkerchief or two with repentant tears, and that Tom should sit
on a very uncomfortable seat and call himself hard names for five
or ten minutes before she relented.
"Come, now, do say a word to a fellow. I 'm getting the worst of it,
anyway; for there 's Fan, crying her eyes out upstairs, and here are
you stowed away in a dark closet as dumb as a fish, and nobody
but me to bring you both round. I 'd have cut over to the Smythes
and got ma home to fix things, only it looked like backing out of
the scrape; so I did n't," said Tom, as a last appeal.
Polly was glad to hear that Fan was crying. It would do her good;
but she could n't help softening to Tom, who did seem in a
predicament between two weeping damsels. A little smile began to
dimple the cheek that was n't hidden, and then a hand came slowly
out from under the curly head, and was stretched toward him
silently. Tom was just going to give it a hearty shake, when he saw
a red mark on the wrist, and knew what made it. His face changed,
and he took the chubby hand so gently, that Polly peeped to see
what it meant.
"Will you forgive that, too?" he asked, in a whisper, stroking the
red wrist.
"Yes, it don't hurt much now." And Polly drew her hand away,
sorry he had seen it.
"I was a beast, that 's what I was!" said Tom, in a tone of great
disgust. And just at that awkward minute down tumbled his
father's old beaver over his head and face, putting a comical
quencher on his self-reproaches. Of course, neither could help
laughing at that; and when he emerged, Polly was sitting up,
looking as much better for her shower as he did for his momentary
eclipse.
"Fan feels dreadfully. Will you kiss and be friends, if I trot her
down?" asked Tom, remembering his fellow-sinner.
"I 'll go to her." And Polly whisked out of the closet as suddenly as
she had whisked in, leaving Tom sitting on the boot-jack, with a
radiant countenance.
How the girls made it up no one ever knew. But after much talking
and crying, kissing and laughing, the breach was healed, and peace
declared. A slight haze still lingered in the air after the storm, for
Fanny was very humble and tender that evening; Tom a trifle
pensive, but distressingly polite, and Polly magnanimously friendly
to every one; for generous natures like to forgive, and Polly
enjoyed the petting after the insult, like a very human girl.
As she was brushing her hair at bedtime there came a tap on her
door and, opening it, she beheld nothing but a tall black bottle,
with a strip of red flannel tied round it like a cravat, and a
cocked-hat note on the cork. Inside were these lines, written in a
sprawling hand with very black ink:
DEAR POLLY, Opydilldock is first-rate for sprains. You put a lot
on the flannel and do up your wrist, and I guess it will be all right
in the morning. Will you come a sleigh-ride tomorrow? I 'm awful
sorry I hurt you.
TOM
CHAPTER VI GRANDMA
WHERE 'S Polly?" asked Fan one snowy afternoon, as she came
into the dining-room where Tom was reposing on the sofa with his
boots in the air, absorbed in one of those delightful books in which
boys are cast away on desert islands, where every known fruit,
vegetable and flower is in its prime all the year round; or, lost in
boundless forests, where the young heroes have thrilling
adventures, kill impossible beasts, and, when the author's
invention gives out, suddenly find their way home, laden with tiger
skins, tame buffaloes and other pleasing trophies of their prowess.
"Dun no," was Tom's brief reply, for he was just escaping from an
alligator of the largest size.
"Do put down that stupid book, and let 's do something," said
Fanny, after a listless stroll round the room.
"Hi, they 've got him!" was the only answer vouchsafed by the
absorbed reader.
"Where 's Polly?" asked Maud, joining the party with her hands
full of paper dolls all suffering for ball-dresses.
"Do get along, and don't bother me," cried Tom exasperated at the
interruption.
"Then tell us where she is. I 'm sure you know, for she was down
here a little while ago," said Fanny.
"Up in grandma's room, maybe."
"Provoking thing! you knew it all the time, and did n't tell, just to
plague us," scolded Maud.
But Tom was now under water stabbing his alligator, and took no
notice of the indignant departure of the young ladies.
"Polly 's always poking up in grandma's room. I don't see what fun
there is in it," said Fanny as they went up stairs.
"Polly 's a verwy queer girl, and gwandma pets her a gweat deal
more than she does me," observed Maud, with an injured air.
"Let 's peek and see what they are doing," whispered Fan, pausing
at the half-open door.
Grandma was sitting before a quaint old cabinet, the doors of
which stood wide open, showing glimpses of the faded relics
treasured there. On a stool, at the old lady's feet, sat Polly, looking
up with intent face and eager eyes, quite absorbed in the history of
a high-heeled brocade shoe which lay in her lap.
"Well, my dear," grandma was saying, "she had it on the very day
that Uncle Joe came in as she sat at work, and said, 'Dolly, we
must be married at once.' 'Very well, Joe,' says Aunt Dolly, and
down she went to the parlor, where the minister was waiting, never
stopping to change the dimity dress she wore, and was actually
married with her scissors and pin-ball at her side, and her thimble
on. That was in war times, 1812, my dear, and Uncle Joe was in
the army, so he had to go, and he took that very little pin-ball with
him. Here it is with the mark of a bullet through it, for he always
said his Dolly's cushion saved his life."
"How interesting that is!" cried Polly, as she examined the faded
cushion with the hole in it.
"Why, grandma, you never told me that story," said Fanny,
hurrying in, finding the prospect was a pleasant one for a stormy
afternoon.
"You never asked me to tell you anything, my dear, so I kept my
old stories to myself," answered grandma, quietly.
"Tell some now, please. May we stay and see the funny things?"
said Fan and Maud, eyeing the open cabinet with interest.
"If Polly likes; she is my company, and I am trying to entertain her,
for I love to have her come," said grandma, with her old-time
politeness.
"Oh, yes! do let them stay and hear the stories. I 've often told them
what good times we have up here, and teased them to come, but
they think it 's too quiet. Now, sit down, girls, and let grandma go
on. You see I pick out something in the cabinet that looks
interesting, and then she tells me about it," said Polly, eager to
include the girls in her pleasures, and glad to get them interested in
grandma's reminiscences, for Polly knew how happy it made the
lonely old lady to live over her past, and to have the children round
her.
"Here are three drawers that have not been opened yet; each take
one, and choose something from it for me to tell about," said
Madam, quite excited at the unusual interest in her treasures.
So the girls each opened a drawer and turned over the contents till
they found something they wanted to know about. Maud was ready
first, and holding up an oddly shaped linen bag, with a big blue F
embroidered on it, demanded her story. Grandma smiled as she
smoothed the old thing tenderly, and began her story with evident
pleasure.
"My sister Nelly and I went to visit an aunt of ours, when we were
little girls, but we did n't have a very good time, for she was
extremely strict. One afternoon, when she had gone out to tea, and
old Debby, the maid, was asleep in her room, we sat on the
door-step, feeling homesick, and ready for any thing to amuse us.
" 'What shall we do?' said Nelly.
"Just as she spoke, a ripe plum dropped bounce on the grass before
us, as if answering her question. It was all the plum's fault, for if it
had n't fallen at that minute, I never should have had the thought
which popped into my mischievous mind.
" 'Let 's have as many as we want, and plague Aunt Betsey, to pay
her for being so cross,' I said, giving Nelly half the great purple
plum.
" 'It would be dreadful naughty,' began Nelly, 'but I guess we will,'
she added, as the sweet mouthful slipped down her throat.
" 'Debby 's asleep. Come on, then, and help me shake,' I said,
getting up, eager for the fun.
"We shook and shook till we got red in the face, but not one
dropped, for the tree was large, and our little arms were not strong
enough to stir the boughs. Then we threw stones, but only one
green and one half-ripe one came down, and my last stone broke
the shed window, so there was an end of that.
" 'It 's as provoking as Aunt Betsey herself,' said Nelly, as we sat
down, out of breath.
" 'I wish the wind would come and blow 'em down for us,' panted I,
staring up at the plums with longing eyes.
" 'If wishing would do any good, I should wish 'em in my lap at
once,' added Nelly.
" 'You might as well wish 'em in your mouth and done with it, if
you are too lazy to pick 'em up. If the ladder was n't too heavy we
could try that,' said I, determined to have them.
" 'You know we can't stir it, so what is the use of talking about it?
You proposed getting the plums, now let 's see you do it,' answered
Nelly, rather crossly, for she had bitten the green plum, and it
puckered her mouth.
" 'Wait a minute, and you will see me do it,' cried I, as a new
thought came into my naughty head.
" 'What are you taking your shoes and socks off for? You can't
climb the tree, Fan.' " 'Don't ask questions, but be ready to pick 'em
up when they fall, Miss Lazybones.' "With this mysterious speech I
pattered into the house bare-footed and full of my plan. Up stairs I
went to a window opening on the shed roof. Out I got, and
creeping carefully along till I came near the tree, I stood up, and
suddenly crowed like the little rooster. Nelly looked up, and stared,
and laughed, and clapped her hands when she saw what I was
going to do.
" 'I 'm afraid you 'll slip and get hurt.' " 'Don't care if I do; I 'll have
those plums if I break my neck doing it,' and half sliding, half
walking I went down the sloping roof, till the boughs of the tree
were within my reach.
"Hurrah!" cried Nelly, dancing down below, as my first shake sent
a dozen plums rattling round her.
"'Hurrah!" cried I, letting go one branch and trying to reach
another. But as I did so my foot slipped, I tried to catch something
to hold by, but found nothing, and with a cry, down I fell, like a
very big plum on the grass below.
"Fortunately the shed was low, the grass was thick and the tree
broke my fall, but I got a bad bump and a terrible shaking. Nelly
thought I was killed, and began to cry with her mouth full. But I
picked myself up in a minute, for I was used to such tumbles; and
did n't mind the pain half as much as the loss of the plums.
" 'Hush! Debby will hear and spoil all the fun. I said I 'd get 'em
and I have. See what lots have come down with me.' "So there had,
for my fall shook the tree almost as much as it did me, and the
green and purple fruit lay all about us.
"By the time the bump on my forehead had swelled as big as a nut,
our aprons were half full, and we sat down to enjoy ourselves. But
we did n't. O dear, no! for many of the plums were not ripe, some
were hurt by the birds, some crushed in falling, and many as hard
as stones. Nelly got stung by a wasp, my head began to ache, and
we sat looking at one another rather dismally, when Nelly had a
bright idea.
" 'Let 's cook 'em, then they 'll be good, and we can put some away
in our little pails for to-morrow.' " 'That will be splendid! There 's a
fire in the kitchen, Debby always leaves the kettle on, and we can
use her saucepan, and I know where the sugar is, and we 'll have a
grand time.' "In we went, and fell to work very quietly. It was a
large, open fire-place, with the coals nicely covered up, and the big
kettle simmering on the hook. We raked open the fire, put on the
saucepan, and in it the best of our plums, with water enough to
spoil them. But we did n't know that, and felt very important as we
sat waiting for it to boil, each armed with a big spoon, while the
sugar box stood between us ready to be used.
"How slow they were, to be sure! I never knew such obstinate
things, for they would n't soften, though they danced about in the
boiling water, and bobbed against the cover as if they were doing
their best.
"The sun began to get low, we were afraid Debby would come
down, and still those dreadful plums would n't look like sauce. At
last they began to burst, the water got a lovely purple, we put lots
of sugar in, and kept tasting till our aprons and faces were red, and
our lips burnt with the hot spoons.
"'There 's too much juice,' said Nelly, shaking her head wisely. 'It
ought to be thick and nice like mamma's.' "'I 'll pour off some of
the juice, and we can drink it,' said I, feeling that I 'd made a
mistake in my cooking.
"So Nelly got a bowl, and I got a towel and lifted the big saucepan
carefully off. It was heavy and hot, and I was a little afraid of it,
but did n't like to say so. Just as I began to pour, Debby suddenly
called from the top of the stairs, 'Children, what under the sun are
you doing?' "It startled us both. Nelly dropped the bowl and ran. I
dropped the saucepan and did n't run, for a part of the hot juice
splashed upon my bare feet, and ankles, and made me scream with
dreadful pain.
"Down rushed Debby to find me dancing about the kitchen with a
great bump on my forehead, a big spoon in my hand, and a pair of
bright purple feet. The plums were lying all over the hearth, the
saucepan in the middle of the room, the basin was broken, and the
sugar swimming about as if the bowl had turned itself over trying
to sweeten our mess for us.
"Debby was very good to me, for she never stopped to scold, but
laid me down on the old sofa, and bound up my poor little feet
with oil and cotton wool. Nelly, seeing me lie white and weak,
thought I was dying, and went over to the neighbor's for Aunt
Betsey, and burst in upon the old ladies sitting primly at, their tea,
crying, distractedly, " 'Oh, Aunt Betsey, come quick! for the
saucepan fell off the shed, and Fan's feet are all boiled purple!'
"Nobody laughed at this funny message, and Aunt Betsey ran all
the way home with a muffin in her hand and her ball in her pocket,
though the knitting was left behind.
"I suffered a great deal, but I was n't sorry afterward, for I learned
to love Aunt Betsey, who nursed me tenderly, and seemed to forget
her strict ways in her anxiety for me.
"This bag was made for my special comfort, and hung on the sofa
where I lay all those weary days. Aunt kept it full of pretty
patchwork or, what I liked better, ginger-nuts, and peppermint
drops, to amuse me, though she did n't approve of cosseting
children up, any more than I do now."
"I like that vewy well, and I wish I could have been there," was
Maud's condescending remark, as she put back the little bag, after
a careful peep inside, as if she hoped to find an ancient ginger-nut,
or a well-preserved peppermint drop still lingering in some corner.
"We had plums enough that autumn, but did n't seem to care much
about them, after all, for our prank became a household joke, and,
for years, we never saw the fruit, but Nelly would look at me with
a funny face, and whisper, 'Purple stockings, Fan!' "
"Thank you, ma'am," said Polly. "Now, Fan, your turn next."
"Well, I 've a bundle of old letters, and I 'd like to know if there is
any story about them," answered Fanny, hoping some romance
might be forthcoming.
Grandma turned over the little packet tied up with a faded pink
ribbon; a dozen yellow notes written on rough, thick paper, with
red wafers still adhering to the folds, showing plainly that they
were written before the day of initial note-paper and self-sealing
envelopes.
"They are not love-letters, deary, but notes from my mates after I
left Miss Cotton's boarding-school. I don't think there is any story
about them," and grandma turned them over with spectacles before
the dim eyes, so young and bright when they first read the very
same notes.
Fanny was about to say, "I 'll choose again," when grandma began
to laugh so heartily that the girls felt sure she had caught some
merry old memory which would amuse them.
"Bless my heart, I have n't thought of that frolic this forty years.
Poor, dear, giddy Sally Pomroy, and she 's a great-grandmother
now!" cried the old lady, after reading one of the notes, and
clearing the mist off her glasses.
"Now, please tell about her; I know it 's something funny to make
you laugh so," said Polly and Fan together.
"Well, it was droll, and I 'm glad I remembered it for it 's just the
story to tell you young things.
"It was years ago," began grandma, briskly, "and teachers were
very much stricter than they are now. The girls at Miss Cotton's
were not allowed lights in their rooms after nine o'clock, never
went out alone, and were expected to behave like models of
propriety from morning till night.
"As you may imagine, ten young girls, full of spirits and fun, found
these rules hard to keep, and made up for good behavior in public
by all sorts of frolics in private.
"Miss Cotton and her brother sat in the back parlor after school
was over, and the young ladies were sent to bed. Mr. John was
very deaf, and Miss Priscilla very near-sighted, two convenient
afflictions for the girls on some occasions, but once they proved
quite the reverse, as you shall hear.
"We had been very prim for a week, and our bottled up spirits
could no longer be contained; so we planed a revel after our own
hearts, and set our wits to work to execute it.
"The first obstacle was surmounted in this way. As none of us
could get out alone, we resolved to lower Sally from the window,
for she was light and small, and very smart.
"With our combined pocket-money she was to buy nuts and candy,
cake and fruit, pie, and a candle, so that we might have a light,
after Betsey took ours away as usual. "We were to darken the
window of the inner chamber, set a watch in the little entry, light
up, and then for a good time.
"At eight o'clock on the appointed evening, several of us professed
great weariness, and went to our room, leaving the rest sewing
virtuously with Miss Cotton, who read Hannah More's Sacred
Dramas aloud, in a way that fitted the listeners for bed as well as a
dose of opium would have done.
"I am sorry to say I was one of the ringleaders; and as soon as we
got up stairs, produced the rope provided for the purpose, and
invited Sally to be lowered. It was an old-fashioned house, sloping
down behind, and the closet window chosen by us was not many
feet from the ground.
"It was a summer evening, so that at eight o'clock it was still light;
but we were not afraid of being seen, for the street was a lonely
one, and our only neighbors two old ladies, who put down their
curtains at sunset, and never looked out till morning.
"Sally had been bribed by promises of as many 'goodies' as she
could eat, and being a regular madcap, she was ready for anything.
"Tying the rope round her waist she crept out, and we let her safely
down, sent a big basket after her, and saw her slip round the comer
in my big sun bonnet and another girl's shawl, so that she should
not be recognized.
"Then we put our night-gowns over our dresses, and were laid
peacefully in bed when Betsey came up, earlier than usual; for it
was evident that Miss Cotton felt a little suspicious at our sudden
weariness.
"For half an hour we lay laughing and whispering, as we waited for
the signal from Sally. At last we heard a cricket chirp shrilly under
the window, and flying up, saw a little figure below in the twilight.
" 'O, quick! quick!' cried Sally, panting with haste. 'Draw up the
basket and then get me in, for I saw Mr. Cotton in the market, and
ran all the way home, so that I might get in before he came.' "Up
came the heavy basket, bumping and scraping on the way, and
smelling, O, so nice! Down went the rope, and with a long pull, a
strong pull, and a pull all together, we hoisted poor Sally half-way
up to the window, when, sad to tell, the rope slipped and down she
fell, only being saved from broken bones by the hay-cock under
the window.
"'He 's coming! he 's coming! O pull me up, for mercy sake!' cried
Sally, scrambling to her feet unhurt, but a good deal shaken.
"We saw a dark figure approaching, and dragged her in with more
bumping and scraping, and embraced her with rapture, for we had
just escaped being detected by Mr. John, whose eyes were as sharp
as his ears were dull.
"We heard the front-door shut, then a murmur of voices, and then
Betsey's heavy step coming up stairs.
"Under the bed went the basket, and into the beds went the
conspirators, and nothing could have been more decorous than the
appearance of the room when Betsey popped her head in.
" 'Master's an old fidget to send me travelling up again, just
because he fancied he saw something amiss at the window.
Nothing but a curtain flapping, or a shadder, for the poor dears is
sleeping like lambs.' "We heard her say this to herself, and a
general titter agitated the white coverlets as she departed.
"Sally was in high feather at the success of her exploit, and danced
about like an elf, as she put her night-gown on over her frock,
braided her hair in funny little tails all over her head, and fastened
the great red pin-cushion on her bosom for a breastpin in honor of
the feast.
"The other girls went to their rooms as agreed upon, and all was
soon dark and still up stairs, while Miss Cotton began to enjoy
herself below, as she always did when 'her young charges' were
safely disposed of.
"Then ghosts began to walk, and the mice scuttled back to their
holes in alarm, for white figures glided from room to room, till all
were assembled in the little chamber.
"The watch was set at the entry door, the signal agreed upon, the
candle lighted, and the feast spread forth upon a newspaper on the
bed, with the coverlet arranged so that it could be whisked over the
refreshments at a moment's notice.
"How good everything was, to be sure! I don't think I 've eaten any
pies since that had such a delicious flavor as those broken ones,
eaten hastily, in that little oven of a room, with Sally making jokes
and the others enjoying stolen sweets with true girlish relish. Of
course it was very wicked, but I must tell the truth.
"We were just beginning on the cake when the loud scratching of a
rat disturbed us.
" 'The signal! fly! run! hide! Hush, don't laugh!' cried several
voices, and we scuttled into bed as rapidly and noiselessly as
possible, with our mouths and hands full.
"A long pause, broken by more scratching; but as no one came, we
decided on sending to inquire what it meant. I went and found
Mary, the picket guard half asleep, and longing for her share of the
feast.
" 'It was a real rat; I 've not made a sound. Do go and finish; I 'm
tired of this,' said Mary, slapping away at the mosquitoes.
"Back I hurried with the good news. Every one flew up, briskly.
We lighted the candle again, and returned to our revel. The
refreshments were somewhat injured by Sally's bouncing in among
them, bit we did n't care, and soon finished the cake.
" 'Now let 's have the nuts,' I said, groping for the paper bag.
" 'They are almonds and peanuts, so we can crack them with our
teeth. Be sure you get the bag by the right end,' said Sally.
" 'I know what I 'm about,' and to show her that it was all right, I
gave the bag a little shake, when out flew the nuts, rattling like a
hail-storm all over the uncarpeted floor.
" 'Now you 've done it,' cried Sally, as Mary scratched like a mad
rat, and a door creaked below, for Miss Cotton was not deaf.
"Such a flurry as we were in! Out went the candle, and each one
rushed away with as much of the feast as she could seize in her
haste. Sally dived into her bed, recklessly demolishing the last pie,
and scattering the candy far and wide.
"Poor Mary was nearly caught for Miss Cotton was quicker than
Betsey, and our guard had to run for her life.
"Our room was the first, and was in good order, though the two
flushed faces on the pillows were rather suspicious. Miss Cotton
stood staring about her, looking so funny, without her cap, that my
bedfellow would have gone off in a fit of laughter, if I had not
pinched her warningly.
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