Books: What Katy Did At School
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Susan Coolidge >> What Katy Did At School
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"Well, Elsie, so you decided to come, after all. How was it? Why
didn't you stay your week out? You look pale, it seems to me. Have
you been enjoying yourself too much? Tell us all about it."
Elsie looked at papa, and papa looked at Elsie. Dr. Carr's eyes
twinkled just a little, but otherwise he was perfectly grave. Elsie
began to speak, then to laugh, then to cry, and the explanation, when
it came, was given in a mingled burst of all three.
"O papa, it was horrid! That is, Mrs. Worrett was just as kind as
could be, but so fat; and oh, such a pig! I never imagined such a
pig! And the calico on that horrid sofa was so slippery that I
rolled off five times, and once I hurt myself real badly. And we
had a feather-bed; and I was so homesick that I cried all the
evening."
"That must have been gratifying to Mrs. Worrett," put in Dr. Carr.
"Oh! she didn't know it, papa. She was asleep, and snoring so that
nobody could hear. And the flies!--such flies, Katy!--and the
mosquitoes, and our window wouldn't open till I put in a nail. I
am so glad to get home! I never want to go into the country again,
never, never! Oh, if Alexander hadn't come!--why, Clover, what are
you laughing for? And Dorry,--I think it's very unkind," and Elsie
ran to Katy, hid her face, and began to cry.
"Never mind, darling, they didn't mean to be unkind. Papa, her hands
are quite hot; you must give her something." Katy's voice shook a
little; but she would not hurt Elsie's feeling by showing that she
was amused. Papa gave Elsie "something" before she went to bed,--
a very mild dose I fancy; for doctors' little girls, as a general
rule, do not take medicine, and next day she was much better. As
the adventures of the Conic Section visit leaked out bit by bit, the
family laughed till it seemed as if they would never stop. Phil was
forever enacting the pig, standing on his triumphant hind legs, and
patting Elsie's head with his nose; and many and many a time, "It
will end like your visit to Mrs. Worrett," proved a useful check
when Elsie was in a self-willed mood and bent on some scheme which
for the moment struck her as delightful. For one of the good things
about our childish mistakes is, that each one teaches us something;
and so, blundering on, we grow wiser, till, when the time comes, we
are ready to take our places among the wonderful grown-up people who
never make mistakes.
CHAPTER II.
A NEW YEAR AND A NEW PLAN.
When summer lingers on into October, it often seems as if winter,
anxious to catch a glimpse of her, hurries a little; and so people
are cheated out of their autumn. It was so that year. Almost as
soon as it ceased to be hot it began to be cold. The leaves, instead
of drifting away in soft, dying colors, like sunset clouds, turned
yellow all at once; and were whirled off the trees in a single gusty
night, leaving every thing bare and desolate. Thanksgiving came; and
before the smell of the turkey was fairly out of the house, it was
time to hang up stockings and dress the Christmas tree. They had a
tree that year in honor of Katy's being downstairs. Cecy, who had
gone away to boarding-school, came home; and it was all delightful,
except that the days flew too fast. Clover said it seemed to her
very queer that there was so much less time than usual in the world.
She couldn't imagine what had become of it: there used to be plenty.
And she was certain that Dorry must have been tinkering all the
clocks,--they struck so often.
It was just after New Year that Dr. Carr walked in one day with a
letter in his hand, and remarked: "Mr. and Mrs. Page are coming to
stay with us."
"Mr. and Mrs. Page," repeated Katy; "who are they, papa? Did I ever
see them?"
"Once, when you were four years old, and Elsie a baby. Of chouse you
don't remember it."
"But who are they, papa?"
"Mrs. Page was your dear mother's second cousin; and at one time she
lived in your grandfather's family, and was like a sister to mamma and
Uncle Charles. It is a good many years since I have seen her. Mr.
Page is a railroad engineer. He is coming this way on business, and
they will stop for a few days with us. Your Cousin Olivia writes that
she is anxious to see all you children. Have every thing as nice as
you can, Katy."
"Of course, I will. What day are the coming?"
"Thursday,--no, Friday," replied Dr. Carr, consulting the letter,
"Friday evening, at half-past six. Order something substantial for
tea that night, Katy. They'll be hungry after traveling."
Katy worked with a will for the next two days. Twenty times, at least,
she went into the blue room to make sure that nothing was forgotten;
repeating, as if it had been a lesson in geography: "Bath towels, face
towels, matches, soap, candles, cologne, extra blanket, ink." A nice
little fire was lighted in the bedroom on Friday afternoon, and a big,
beautiful one in the parlor, which looked very pleasant with the lamp
lit and Clover's geraniums and china roses in the window. The tea-
table was set with the best linen and the pink-and-white china.
Debby's muffins were very light. The crab-apple jelly came out of
its mould clear and whole, and the cold chicken looked appetizing,
with its green wreath of parsley. There was stewed potato, too, and,
of course, oysters. Everybody in Burnet had oysters for tea when
company was expected. They were counted a special treat; because
they were rather dear, and could not always be procured. Burnet
was a thousand miles from the sea, so the oysters were of the tin-
can variety. The cans gave the oysters a curious taste,--tinny, or
was it more like solder? At all events, Burnet people liked it, and
always insisted that it was a striking improvement on the flavor
which oysters have on their native shores. Every thing was as nice
as could be, when Katy stood in the dining-room to take a last look
at her arrangements; and she hoped papa would be pleased, and that
mamma's cousin would think her a good housekeeper.
"I don't want to have on my other jacket," observed Phil, putting his
head in at the door. "Need I? This is nice."
"Let me see," said Katy, gently turning him round. "Well, it does
pretty well; but I think I'd rather you should put on the other, if
you don't mind much. We want every thing as nice as possible, you
know; because this is papa's company, and he hardly ever has any."
"Just one little sticky place isn't much," said Phil, rather gloomily,
wetting his finger a rubbing at a shiny place on his sleeve. "Do you
really thing I'd better? Well, then I will."
"That's a dear,"--kissing him. "Be quick, Philly, for it's almost
time they were here. And please tell Dorry to make haste. It's
ever so long since he went upstairs."
"Dorry's an awful prink," remarked Phil, confidentially. "He looks
in the glass, and makes faces if he can't get his parting straight.
I wouldn't care so much about my clothes for a good deal. It's like
a girl. Jim Slack says a boy who shines his hair up like that,
never'll get to be president, not if he lives a thousand years."
"Well," said Katy, laughing: "it's something to be clean, even if you
can't be president." She was not at all alarmed by Dorry's recent
reaction in favor of personal adornment. He came down pretty soon,
very spick and span in his best suit, and asked her to fasten the
blue ribbon under his collar, which she did most obligingly; though
he was very particular as to the size of the bows and length of the
ends, and made her tie and retie more than once. She had just
arranged it to suit him when a carriage stopped.
"There they are," she cried. "Run and open the door, Dorry."
Dorry did so; and Katy, following, found papa ushering in a tall
gentleman, and a lady who was not tall, but whose Roman nose and
long neck, and general air of style and fashion, made her look so.
Katy bent quite over to be kissed; but for all that she felt small
and young and unformed, as the eyes of mamma's cousin looked her
over and over, and through and through, and Mrs. Page said,--
"Why, Philip! is it possible that this tall girl is one of yours?
Dear me! how time flies! I was thinking of the little creatures I
saw when I was here last. And this other great creature can't be
Elsie? That mite of a baby! Impossible! I cannot realize it. I
really cannot realize it in the least."
"Won't you come to the fire, Mrs. Page?" said Katy, rather timidly.
"Don't call me Mrs. Page, my dear. Call me Cousin Olivia." Then the
new-comer rustled into the parlor, where Johnnie and Phil were waiting
to be introduced; and again she remarked that she "couldn't realize
it." I don't know why Mrs. Page's not realizing it should have made
Katy uncomfortable; but it did.
Supper went off well. The guests ate and praised; and Dr. Carr looked
pleased, and said: "We think Katy an excellent housekeeper for her age;"
at which Katy blushed and was delighted, till she caught Mrs. Page's
eyes fixed upon her, with a look of scrutiny and amusement, whereupon
she felt awkward and ill at ease. It was so all the evening. Mamma's
cousin was entertaining and bright, and told lively stories; but the
children felt that she was watching them, and passing judgment on
their ways. Children are very quick to suspect when older people
hold within themselves these little private courts of inquiry, and
they always resent it.
Next morning Mrs. Page sat by while Katy washed the breakfast things,
fed the birds, and did various odd jobs about the room and house. "My
dear," she said at last, "what a solemn girl you are! I should think
from your face that you were at least five and thirty. Don't you ever
laugh or frolic, like other girls your age? Why, my Lilly, who is
four months older than you, is a perfect child still; impulsive as a
baby, bubbling over with fun from morning till night."
"I've been shut up a good deal," said Katy, trying to defend herself;
"but I didn't know I was solemn."
"My dear, that's the very thing I complain of: you don't know it!
You are altogether ahead of your age. It's very bad for you, in my
opinion. All this housekeeping and care, for young girls like you
and Clover, is wrong and unnatural. I don't like it; indeed I don't."
"Oh! housekeeping doesn't hurt me a bit," protested Katy, trying to
smile. "We have lovely times; indeed we do, Cousin Olivia."
Cousin Olivia only pursed up her mouth, and repeated: "It's wrong, my
dear. It's unnatural. It's not the thing for you. Depend upon it,
it's not the thing."
This was unpleasant; but what was worse had Katy known it, Mrs. Page
attacked Dr. Carr upon the subject. He was quite troubled to learn
that she considered Katy grave and careworn, and unlike what girls
of her age should be. Katy caught him looking at her with a puzzled
expression.
"What is it, dear papa? Do you want anything?"
"No, child, nothing. What are you doing there? Mending the parlor
curtain, eh? Can't old Mary attend to that, and give you a chance
to frisk about with the other girls?"
"Papa! As if I wanted to frisk! I declare you're as bad as Cousin
Olivia. She's always telling me that I ought to bubble over with
mirth. I don't wish to bubble. I don't know how."
"I'm afraid you don't," said Dr. Carr, with an odd sigh, which set
Katy to wondering. What should papa sigh for? Had she done any
thing wrong? She began to rack her brains and memory as to whether
it could be this or that; or, if not, what could it be? Such needless
self-examination does no good. Katy looked more "solemn" than ever
after it.
Altogether, Mrs. Page was not a favorite in the family. She had every
intention of being kind to her cousin's children, "so dreadfully in
want of a mother, poor things!" but she could not hide the fact that
their ways puzzled and did not please her; and the children detected
this, as children always will. She and Mr. Page were very polite.
They praised the housekeeping, and the excellent order or every
thing, and said there never were better children in the world than
John and Dorry and Phil. But, through all, Katy perceived the hidden
disapproval; and she couldn't help feeling glad when the visit ended,
and they went away.
With their departure, matters went back to their old train, and Katy
forgot her disagreeable feelings. Papa seemed a little grave and
preoccupied; but the doctors often are when they have bad cases to
think of, and nobody noticed it particularly, or remarked that several
letters came from Mrs. Page, and nothing was heard of their contents,
except that "Cousin Olivia sent her love." So it was a shock, when
one day papa called Katy into the study to tell of a new plan. She
knew at once that it was something important when she heard his voice:
it sounded so grave. Beside, he said "My daughter," he began, "I want
to talk to you about something which I have been thinking of. How
would you and Clover like going away to school together?"
"To school? To Mrs. Knight's?"
"No, not to Mrs. Knight's. To a boarding-school at the East, where
Lilly Page has been for two years. Didn't you hear Cousin Olivia
speak of it when she was here?"
"I believe I did. But, papa, you won't really?"
"Yes, I think so," said Dr. Carr, gently. "Listen, Katy, and don't
feel so badly, my dear child. I've thought the plan over carefully;
and it seems to me a good one, though I hate to part from you. It
is pretty much as your cousin says: these home-cares, which I can't
take from you while you are at home, are making you old before your
time. Heaven knows I don't want to turn you into a silly giggling
miss; but I should like you to enjoy your youth while you have it,
and not grow middle-aged before you are twenty."
"What is the name of the school?" asked Katy. Her voice sound a good
deal like a sob.
"The girls call it 'The Nunnery.' It is at Hillsover, on the
Connecticut River, pretty cold, I fancy; but the air is sure to be
good and bracing. That is one thing which has inclined me to the
plan. The climate is just what you need."
"Hillsover? Isn't there a college there too?"
"Yes: Arrowmouth College. I believe there is always a college where
there is a boarding-school; though why, I can't for the life of me
imagine. That's neither here nor there, however. I'm not afraid
of your getting into silly scrapes, as girls sometimes do."
"College scrapes? Why, how could I. We don't have any thing to do
with the college, do we?" said Katy, opening her candid eyes with such
a wondering stare that Dr. Carr laughed and replied: "No, my dear, not
a thing."
"The term opens the third week in April," he went on. "You must begin
to get ready at once. Mrs. Hall has just fitted out Cecy: so she can
tell you what you will need. You'd better consult her, to-morrow."
"But, papa," cried Katy, beginning to realize it, "what are _you_
going to do? Elsie's a darling, but she's so very little. I don't
see how you can possibly manage. I'm sure you'll miss us, and so
will the children."
"I rather think we shall," said Dr. Carr, with a smile, which ended
in a sigh; "but we shall do very well, Katy; never fear. Miss Finch
will see to us."
"Miss Finch? Do you mean Mrs. Knight's sister-in-law?"
"Yes. Her mother died in the summer; so she has no particular home
now, and is glad to come for a year and keep house for us. Mrs.
Knight says she is a good manager; and I dare say she'll fill your
place sufficiently well, as far as that goes. We can't expect her
to be _you_, you know: that would be unreasonable." And Dr. Carr
put his arm round Katy, and kissed her so fondly that she was quite
overcome and clung to him, crying,--
"O papa! don't make us go. I'll frisk, and be as young as I can, and
not grow middle-aged or any thing disagreeable, if only you'll let us
stay. Never mind what Cousin Olivia says; she doesn't know. Cousin
Helen wouldn't say so, I'm sure."
"On the contrary, Helen thinks well of the plan; only she wishes the
school were nearer," said Dr. Carr. "No, Katy, don't coax. My mind
is made up. It will do you and Clover both good, and once you are
settled at Hillsover, you'll be very happy, I hope."
When papa spoke in this decided tone, it was never any use to urge
him. Katy knew this, and ceased her pleadings. She went to find
Clover and tell her the news, and the two girls had a hearty cry
together. A sort of "clearing-up shower" it turned out to be; for
when once they had wiped their eyes, every thing looked brighter,
and they began to see a pleasant side to the plan.
"The travelling part of it will be very nice," pronounced Clover.
"We never went so far away from home before."
Elsie, who was still looking very woeful, burst into tears afresh at
this remark.
"Oh, don't darling!" said Katy. "Think how pleasant it will be to
send letters, and to get them from us. I shall write to you every
Saturday. Run for the big atlas,--there's a dear, and let us see
where we are going."
Elsie brought the atlas; and the three heads bent eagerly over it,
as Clover traced the route of the journey with her forefinger. How
exciting it looked! There was the railroad, twisting and curving over
half-a-dozen States. The black dots which followed it were towns and
villages, all of which they should see. By and by the road made a
bend, and swept northward by the side of the Connecticut River and
toward the hills. They had heard how beautiful the Connecticut
valley is.
"Only think! we shall be close to it," remarked Clover; "and we shall
see the hills. I suppose they are very high, a great deal higher than
the hill at Bolton."
"I hope so," laughed Dr. Carr, who came into the room just then. The
hill at Bolton was one of his favorite jokes. When mamma first came
to Burnet, she had paid a visit to some friends at Bolton, and one
day, when they were all out walking, they asked her if she felt strong
enough to go to the top of the hill. Mamma was used to hills, so she
said yes, and walked on, very glad to find that there was a hill in
that flat country, but wondering a little why they did not see it. At
last she asked where it was, and, behold, they had just reached the
top! The slope had been so gradual that she had never found out that
they were going uphill at all. Dr. Carr had told this story to the
children, but had never been able to make them see the joke very
clearly. In fact, when Clover went to Bolton, she was quite struck
with the hill: it was so much higher than the sand-bank which bordered
the lake at Burnet.
There was a great deal to do to make the girls ready for school by
the third week in April. Mrs. Hall was very kind, and her advice was
sensible; though, except for Dr. Carr, the girls would hardly have had
furs and flannels enough for so cold a place as Hillsover. Every
thing for winter as well as for summer had to be thought of; for it
had been arranged that the girls should not come home for the autumn
vacation, but should spend it with Mrs. Page. This was the hardest
thing about the plan. Katy begged very hard for Christmas; but when
she learned that it would take three days to come and three days to
go, and that the holidays lasted less than a week, she saw it was of
no use, and gave up the idea, while Elsie tried to comfort herself by
planning a Christmas-box. The preparations kept them so busy that
there was no time for any thing else. Mrs. Hall was always wanting
them to go with her to shops, or Miss Petingill demanding that they
should try on linings, and so the days flew by. At last all was
ready. The nice half-dozens of pretty underclothes came home from
the sewing-machine woman's, and were done up by Bridget, who dropped
many a tear into the bluing water, at the thought of the young ladies
going away. Mrs. Hall, who was a good packer, put the things into
the new trunks. Everybody gave the girls presents, as if they had
been brides starting on a wedding journey.
Papa's was a watch for each. They were not new, but the girls thought
them beautiful. Katy's had belonged to her mother. It was large and
old-fashioned, with a finely wrought case. Clover's, which had been
her grandmother's, was larger still. It had a quaint ornament on the
back,--a sort of true-love knot, done in gold of different tints. The
girls were excessively pleased with these watches. They wore them with
guard-chains of black watered ribbon, and every other minute they
looked to see what the time was.
Elsie had been in papa's confidence, so her presents were watch cases,
embroidered on perforated paper. Johnnie gave Katy a case of pencils,
and Clover a pen-knife with a pearl handle. Dorry and Phil clubbed to
buy a box of note-paper and envelopes, which the girls were requested
to divide between them. Miss Petingill contributed a bottle of ginger
balsam, and a box of opodeldoc salve, to be used in case of possible
chilblains. Old Mary's offering was a couple of needle-books, full of
bright sharp needles.
"I wouldn't give you scissors," she said; "but you can't cut love--or,
for the matter of that, any thing else--with a needle."
Miss Finch, the new housekeeper, arrived a few days before they
started: so Katy had time to take her over the house and explain all
the different things she wanted done and not done, to secure papa's
comfort and the children's. Miss Finch was meek and gentle. She
seemed glad of a comfortable home. And Katy felt that she would be
kind to the boys, and not fret Debby, and drive her into marrying
Alexander and going away,--an event which Aunt Izzie had been used to
predict. Now that all was settled, she and Clover found themselves
looking forward to the change with pleasure. There was something new
and interesting about it which excited their imaginations.
The last evening was a melancholy one. Elsie had been too much
absorbed in the preparations to realize her loss; but, when it came
to locking the trunks, her courage gave way altogether. She was in
such a state of affliction that everybody else became afflicted too;
and there is no knowing what would have happened, had not a parcel
arrived by express and distracted their attention. The parcel was
from Cousin Helen, whose things, like herself, had a knack of coming
at the moment when most wanted. It contained two pretty silk
umbrellas--one brown, and one dark-green, with Katy's initials on
one handle and Clover's on the other. Opening these treasures,
and exclaiming over them, helped the family through the evening
wonderfully; and next morning there was such a bustle of getting
off that nobody had time to cry.
After the last kisses had been given, and Philly, who had climbed on
the horse-block, was clamoring for "one more,--just one more," Dr.
Carr, looking at the sober faces, was struck by a bright idea, and,
calling Alexander, told him to hurry old Whitey into the carryall,
and drive the children down to Willett's Point, that they might wave
there handkerchiefs to the boat as she went by. This suggestion
worked like a charm on the spirits of the party. Phil began to caper,
and Elsie and John ran in to get their hats. Half an hour later, when
the boat rounded the point, there stood the little crew, radiant with
smiles, fluttering the handkerchiefs and kissing their hands as
cheerfully as possible. It was a pleasant last look to the two
who stood beside papa on the deck; and, as they waved back their
greetings to the little ones, and then looked forward across the
blue water to the unknown places they were going to see, Katy and
Clover felt that the new life opened well, and promised to be very
interesting indeed.
CHAPTER III. ON THE WAY.
The journey from Burnet to Hillsover was a very long one. It took the
greater part of three days, and as Dr. Carr was in a hurry to get back
to his patients, they travelled without stopping; spending the first
night on the boat, and the second on a railroad train. Papa found
this tiresome; but the girls, to whom every thing was new, thought it
delightful. They enjoyed their state-room, with its narrow shelves of
beds, as much as if it had been a baby house, and they two children
playing in it. To tuck themselves away for the night in a car-section
seemed the greatest fun in the world. When older people fretted, they
laughed. Every thing was interesting, from the telegraph poles by the
wayside to the faces of their fellow-passengers. It amused them to
watch people, and make up stories about them,--where they were going,
and what relation they could be to each other. The strange people,
in their turn, cast curious glances toward the bright, happy-faced
sisters; but Katy and Clover did not mind that, or, in fact, notice
it. They were too much absorbed to think of themselves, or the
impression they were making on others.
It was early on the third morning that the train, puffing and shrieking,
ran into the Springfield depot. Other trains stood waiting; and there
was such a chorus of snorts and whistles, and such clouds of smoke,
that Katy was half frightened. Papa, who was half asleep, jumped up,
and told the girls to collect their bags and books; for they were to
breakfast here, and to meet Lilly Page, who was going on to Hillsover
with them.
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