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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 BABY ETHEL GOES TO CHURCH. Page 106.
 
 FLAXIE'S KlTTYLEEN
 
 FLA XI E FRIZZLE STORIES 
 
 KITTYLEEN 
 
 BY 
 
 SOPHIE MAY 
 
 AUTHOR OF LITTLE PRUDY STORIES DOTTY DIMPLE STORIES 
 LITTLE FRUDY'S FLYAWAY STORIES ETC. 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS 
 NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM
 
 COPYRIGHT, 
 
 1883, 
 BY LEE AND SHEPARD. 
 
 Electrolysed and Printcfiy 
 ALFklil) MUUCiB AND SON, 11OVION.
 
 C35& 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 To Mothers : 
 
 This story the fifth of the Flaxie Frizzle 
 Series deals less with the little child whose 
 name it bears than with Flaxie Frizzle her- 
 self, Kittyleen being from first to last an 
 interloper. 
 
 It aims to show the gradual improvement 
 of Flaxie's character under the various dis- 
 ciplines of child-life and the sweet influence 
 of a good and happy home. 
 
 622637
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. KlTTYLEEN 7 
 
 II. THE LITTLE WIDOW 23 
 
 III. FLAXIE'S WILL 35 
 
 IV. CRACKERS AND CHEESE .... 50 
 
 V. Si'ONGE-CAKE 62 
 
 VI. A NEW FRIEND 75 
 
 VII. THAT HOMELY Miss PIKE .... 91 
 
 VIII. FI.AXIE IN CHURCH 106 
 
 IX. PRIMROSE BOWER 125 
 
 X. THE LAST FEATHER 145 
 
 XI. THE RUNAWAY RINGS 164 
 
 XII. THE HUNT 176 
 
 XIII. ETHEL'S KETTLEDRUM 189
 
 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 A PRETTY brown and white dove was 
 walking up the steep roof of Dr. Gray's 
 house just as the door-bell rang. Perhaps 
 she heard the bell, for she stopped and 
 pecked her wings, then flew down to the 
 ground, and looked up to see who was there. 
 
 It was Kittyleen. Kittyleen was a snip 
 of a girl, three years old, whose long name 
 was Katharine Garland. She looked like 
 the dove, for she was brown and white all 
 over : brown eyes and hair, brown cloak, 
 white fur cap, and white tippet. 
 (7)
 
 8 KITTYLETCN. 
 
 Her young nurse, Martha, had come with 
 her, but there is not much to say here con- 
 cerning Martha, except that she had the tooth- 
 ache. She did not intend to enter the house; 
 she had only come to escort Kittyleen. 
 
 " I want to wing the bell myse'f," said 
 Miss Kittyleen, standing on tiptoe, and 
 bursting a button off one of her brown boots. 
 But she could not reach the bell. 
 
 Just then the doctor's daughter, Mary 
 Gray, opened the door, and seeing Kittyleen, 
 threw both arms around her, exclaiming, 
 
 " Oh, you darling, I 'm so glad you Ve 
 come ! " 
 
 " Well, I 'm afraid you '11 be sorry enough 
 by and by," said Martha, with a one-sided 
 smile, that made her look like a squirrel 
 with a nut in his cheek. " She 's full of 
 mischief, Kittyleen is, and her ma 's paint- 
 ing china, and wanted her out of the way.
 
 KITTYLEEN. 9 
 
 But if she 's too much trouble, her ma wants 
 you to send her right home." 
 
 " Oh, she won't trouble anybody. She and 
 little Ethel will have a beautiful time to- 
 gether," said Mary, untying the child's white 
 tippet. 
 
 Mary Gray, or Flaxie Frizzle, as people 
 persisted in calling her sometimes, was nine 
 years old, and had for some time felt a great 
 care of Kittyleen. Everybody felt the care 
 of Mrs. Garland's children. There were six 
 of them, and their mother was always paint 
 ing china. She did it beautifully, with 
 graceful vines trailing over it, and golden 
 butterflies ready to alight on sprays of lovely 
 flowers. Sometimes the neighbors thought 
 it would be a fine thing if she would keep 
 her little ones at home rather more ; but if 
 she had done that she could not have 
 painted china.
 
 JO KITTYLEEN. 
 
 Flaxic took off Kittyleen's fur cap, and 
 patted it softly, as she hung it on the hat- 
 tree. 
 
 " That 's my white pussy," remarked Kit- 
 tyleen, eying it lovingly. "But it don't 
 hurt ; it has n't any feet." 
 
 "Well, good by, pet, don't get into mis- 
 chief," said Martha, making another wry 
 face as she tried to smile. And then, with- 
 out one word to Flaxie as to the length of 
 Kittyleen's visit, she hurried home to put a 
 poultice on her face and help about the iron- 
 ing ; for, as she said to herself, " The work 
 was only fun, now the three youngest chil- 
 dren were out of the way." 
 
 Flaxie led Kittyleen into the back parlor 
 to show her to the family. Little Ethel did 
 not look particularly pleased, for she remem- 
 bered that the baby-guest was very fond of 
 sweetmeats, and sometimes snatched more
 
 KITTYLEEN. I I 
 
 than her share. Mrs. Gray was embroider- 
 ing a table-cover as a birthday present for 
 Aunt Jane Abbott, and was feeling very 
 much hurried ; but she smiled and said to 
 Flaxie, as she kissed the wee visitor, 
 
 " So your little pet has come again ? Well, 
 we will do all we can to make her happy; 
 but you know Julia and I are both busy over 
 these presents, and you must take the chief 
 care of Kittyleen yourself." 
 
 " Yes 'm, you know I always do," replied 
 Flaxie; "and she behaves better with me 
 than she does with her mother." 
 
 Nobody thought of Kittyleen's staying 
 any longer than to dinner and supper ; but 
 there was never any certainty about the 
 Garland children's visits, especially when it 
 began to storm. It began now at eleven 
 o'clock, and snowed all day without ceasing ; 
 and then the wind rose, and blew the flakes
 
 12 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 east and west and north and south, till the 
 men in the streets could hardly keep their 
 hats on their heads, much less hold an um- 
 brella. 
 
 Of course Kittyleen could n't go home 
 that night, for she lived on Prospect Street, 
 half a mile away. Preston Gray said with a 
 sarcastic smile that "it was a comfort to 
 know that her mother would be easy about 
 her." 
 
 But Kittyleen made a grieved lip. The 
 
 i 
 
 sun had set, there were no stars in the sky, 
 and the windows looked black and dismal. 
 She parted the curtains and peeped out. 
 
 "All dark out there," said she, sadly. 
 " Did God forget about the moon ? I are 
 goin' to cry ! yes, Flaxie, I are ; I want to 
 see my mamma, and I are goin' to cry." 
 
 Two tiny tears gathered in the dove-like 
 brown eyes, ready to fall. Dr. Gray rose
 
 KITTYLEEN. 13 
 
 from his chair and paced the floor. He 
 never could bear to see a little girl cry. 
 
 " I wonder," said he, "I do wonder 
 where Mary keeps that beautiful big wax 
 doll ! " 
 
 " O papa ! " said Flaxie, clasping her hands, 
 " dorit, papa! " 
 
 " The wax doll is in my cabinet," replied 
 Mrs. Gray, not regarding her daughter's dis- 
 tress ; " and if Kittyleen won't cry she shall 
 see it to-morrow." 
 
 " O mamma, please don't," repeated Flaxie. 
 
 But Kittyleen was happy from that mo- 
 ment. She wanted to stay now. She liked 
 Flaxie's chamber, with its fine pictures and 
 soft carpet, and the silk quilt upon the bed. 
 She liked Flaxie's " nightie," with its pretty 
 edging, and laughed because it had a " long 
 end to it," long enough to wrap up her little 
 pink toes.
 
 14 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 Ethel, who was still younger than Kitty- 
 leen, had gone to bed long ago ; but Kitty- 
 leen was too full of frolic, and when she went 
 at last she would not lie still, but kept spring- 
 ing up and turning somersets all over the 
 bed, lisping, as she caught her breath, " See 
 dolly in the mornin ' ! me velly much 
 obliged ! " 
 
 " There, there, hush, Kittyleen," 3aid 
 Flaxie, crossly, " I want to go to sleep." 
 
 " Wish I had dolly here now ; want to luf 
 her this way," continued the little prattler, 
 smoothing Flaxie's cheek with her tiny hand. 
 
 "No, no, you mustn't love my doll in that 
 way ; it is n't the way to love dolls. You 
 must n't touch her at all ; you must n't go 
 anywhere near her, Kittyleen Garland," ex- 
 claimed Flaxie, growing alarmed. 
 
 She had more treasures of value, perhaps, 
 than any other little girl in Rosewood, and
 
 KITTYLEEN. 1 5 
 
 was always afraid of their being injured 
 Indeed, she was too anxiously careful of some 
 of them, and it was partly for this reason 
 that her mother had promised to show Kitty- 
 leen the wax doll. Of all Flaxie's possessions 
 this was the very chief, and she loved the 
 pretty image with as much of a mother's love 
 as a little girl is able to feel, always calling 
 her " my only child " in forgetfulness of all 
 her other dolls, black, white, and gray. The 
 " Princess Aurora Arozarena," as she was 
 called, was as large as a live baby six months 
 old. Flaxie had owned her for two years, 
 keeping her mostly in close confinement in 
 her mother's cabinet, and never allowing 
 little sister Ethel anything more than a 
 tantalizing glimpse of her majesty's lustrous 
 robes. This august being was dressed in 
 fine silk, with gloves and sash to match, and 
 always when she mounted the throne, and
 
 1 6 KITTVLEEN. 
 
 sometimes when she didn't, she wore a 
 crown upon her regal head. Her throne, I 
 may add, was a round cricket, dotted with 
 brass nails. You will see at once that it 
 would be no light trial to have this adorable 
 doll breathed upon by such a little gypsy as 
 Kittyleen. 
 
 " O mamma," pleaded Flaxie next morn- 
 ing, "please hold her tight when you show" 
 and then, as Kittyleen skipped into the 
 room she added, " Hold the w-a-x d-o-1-1 tight 
 when you show it ! " 
 
 "7 heard," said Kittyleen. "Diddle 
 o-k-p-g ! / heard ! " 
 
 Mrs. Gray and Flaxie both laughed ; but the 
 terrible child added, dancing up and down, 
 " See dolly now ! me velly much obliged ! " 
 "Me velly much obliged" was her way of 
 saying "if you please," and Flaxie often re- 
 marked upon it as "very cunning" ; but she
 
 KITTYLEEN. I/ 
 
 saw nothing cunning in it now, and frowned 
 severely as Mrs. Gray led the way up-stairs 
 to her own chamber, unlocked the cabinet, 
 and took out the much-desired, crowned, and 
 glittering Aurora Arozarena. 
 
 " Kittyleen may look at it, but she is not 
 to touch it. Ethel never has touched it. 
 And when you hear the breakfast bell, Mary, 
 you may put the doll back in the cabinet, 
 and that will be the last of it ; so try not to 
 look so wretched." 
 
 " Oh ! oh ! oh ! " cried Kittyleen, too full 
 of delight to do anything but scream. "Open 
 eyes! shut eyes ! Oh! oh! oh!" 
 
 She did not offer to touch the shining 
 lady ; and this grand exhibition wotild have 
 been the last of it if Flaxie had not some- 
 how, in her anxiety and haste, forgotten to 
 turn the key on the royal prisoner when she 
 put her back in the cabinet.
 
 1 8 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 The storm was not over. The snow turned 
 to rain and poured continually. Mrs. Garland 
 had nearly time to paint a whole set of china; 
 for of course Kittyleen could not go home 
 that day. 
 
 In the afternoon the child, having quar- 
 relled with little Ethel, strayed alone into 
 
 Mrs. Gray's chamber. There on the great 
 
 \ r 
 
 bracket against the wall stood that wonderful 
 inlaid cabinet, pretty enough in itself to be 
 gazed at and examined by curious little folks, 
 even if there had been nothing inside. Kitty- 
 leen knew, however, that it contained the doll 
 Flaxie's doll that was too sacred for little 
 girls to touch. She could not have told after- 
 wards why she did it, but she climbed on a 
 chair and pulled at one of the doors of the 
 cabinet. She certainly did not expect it 
 would open, but to 'her intense delight it did 
 open, and there in plain sight on a shelf lay 
 the beautiful princess, fast asleep.
 
 KITTYLEEN. IQ 
 
 " Oh, my ! " exclaimed Kittyleen in a per- 
 fect tremor of joy. 
 
 The princess lay there and smiled. You 
 could almost see her breathe. 
 
 "Mustn't touch !" whispered Kittyleen to 
 her meddling fingers. 
 
 Touch ? Oh, no indeed ! 
 
 But she swayed to and fro upon the chair 
 and gazed. And evermore as she gazed, the 
 longing grew upon her to know how much of 
 Princess Arozarena was wax and how much 
 was living flesh and blood. Had she teeth? 
 a tongue ? were there two holes in that pretty 
 nose ? 
 
 " I 've got a nose, dolly, you 've got a nose ; 
 everybody in this house has got a nose, two 
 holes way in." 
 
 Here she picked a pin out of her collar and 
 flourished it over those waxen nostrils. If 
 they were hollow
 
 2O KITTYLEEN. 
 
 Oh, she was n't going to hurt dolly ! Not 
 for anyfing in this world ! But would the 
 pin go in ? That was all she wanted to 
 know ; and she never would know till she 
 tried. "Why, it went in just as easy!" 
 Such a tender, soft dolly ! 
 
 Kittyleen admired her more than ever. 
 " Some dollies are so hard ! " 
 
 But why did this one lie with her eyes 
 closed ? She had slept long enough. " I 
 fink her eyes are booful. Wake up, dolly." 
 That was what Flaxie had said in the morn- 
 ing, and dolly had opened her bright eyes 
 very wide. But she would n't open them 
 now for Kittyleen. Kittyleen blew upon 
 them ; the lids would not stir. 
 
 " I fink it 's funny ! I fink it 's velly 
 funny," said baby, her breath coming short 
 and fast. What was the way to get them 
 open? They must be in there just the
 
 KITTYLEEN. 21 
 
 same. Yes, they must be in there ; but 
 where ? 
 
 She would n't hurt those dear eyes, oh, 
 not for anyfing ! But the longer they hid 
 away from her the more she wanted to see 
 them. What were they made of ? 
 
 There was one way to get at the secret 
 of their wondrous beauty. She could ex- 
 plore a little with the pin. Dolly was n't 
 alive ; pins would n't hurt. 
 
 Gently ! gently ! Oh, yes, Kittyleen meant 
 to be very gentle ! But somehow that 
 was a bad old pin ! What made it bend 
 right up ? What did make it dig so and 
 scratch ? 
 
 I grieve to tell the rest. Princess Aro- 
 zarena had been beautiful, but when she 
 lost one eye she was horrid. Kittyleen 
 caught her up in remorse, and the other 
 eye flew open. Kittyleen screamed in fright.
 
 22 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 It seemed as if the doll was alive, as if that 
 eye was looking right at her. 
 
 It was too much to bear. Trembling, 
 she opened the closet door, and threw the 
 poor, scratched, miserable doll, with her one 
 blazing eye, head-first into the clothes-bag.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE LITTLE WIDOW. 
 
 DID gfre go down-stairs then and tell any- 
 body what she had done ? That would have 
 been the right way, but Kittyleen was only 
 a baby. She felt sadly frightened, and roved 
 all about the chambers crying, till Dora 
 Whalen heard her from the back stairs, and 
 took her down to the kitchen in her arms. 
 " The poor little thing is homesick," thought 
 Dora, and fed her with raisins. 
 
 When Flaxie went up to her mother's 
 room soon afterward, she saw that the cabi- 
 net door was open and the doll gone, and 
 was much troubled, though not prepared for
 
 24 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 the worst. After long search, the mangled 
 remains of the once blooming princess were 
 brought to light, and then Flaxie's heart 
 almost broke. She could not be comforted, 
 and she could not forgive Kittyleen. It was 
 of no use suggesting a new head for the poor, 
 wounded doll. What was her mother think- 
 ing of? Didn't she know 'that Arozarena 
 was just like a person? And who ever 
 heard of a person's losing one head, and 
 then going and having another fitted on ? 
 " She would n't be my own child with a new 
 head and face ; and you would n't talk of 
 such a thing, mamma, if you'd ever lost a 
 beautiful doll like this ! You 'd see the dif- 
 ference and know how I feel." 
 
 Phil and little Ethel looked on with sol- 
 emn interest as their elder sister raved. So 
 sad a day as this had not been known in the 
 house since Preston's dear dog, Tantra Bo-
 
 KlTTYLEEN SCREAMED IN FRIGHT. Page 21.
 
 THE LITTLE WIDOW. 25 
 
 gus, ate poison by mistake and died. Prin- 
 cess Arozarena was almost like living flesh 
 and blood to these little children. They 
 could not remember the time when she did 
 not exist, and it was really heartrending to 
 think now of her dire and unexpected fate. 
 
 Mrs. Gray dropped her work and told the 
 children of a sorrow she had known in her 
 own early youth as grievous as this. She, 
 too, had lost a bright, particular doll, and it 
 had come to its end by the teeth of a neigh- 
 bor's dog. 
 
 " Was it a mad dog ? " asked Flaxie, with a 
 sob. And Phil wondered if his mother 
 could have cried. 
 
 " Indeed I cried." 
 
 "Why, you great, big, grown-up woman! 
 Oh, but you were n't our mother then, were 
 you ? and you could n't have been if you 'd 
 tried, for we were n't born 1 "
 
 26 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 Having settled this in his mind, Phil saw 
 less absurdity in her crying over a doll. 
 
 "Naughty Kittyleen, pick folks' eyes 
 out," exclaimed little Ethel, returning to the 
 subject anew. " Effel would n't pick eyes 
 out ! No, in-deed ! " 
 
 Never before had the baby felt herself so 
 good and high-minded, so worthy of praise. 
 
 " / think Kittyleen ought to be shut up in 
 the closet and whipped," declared Phil ; and 
 this opinion was so gratifying to Flaxie that 
 she kissed him, and said she should never 
 call him a naughty brother again. 
 
 " I suppose mother would n't shut her up 
 because she is a visitor, but I should think 
 she might send her home," muttered Flaxie, 
 angrily. 
 
 " My daughter, would you have me send 
 little Kittyleen home in the rain ? " 
 
 " Yes 'm, I think she has stayed long
 
 THE LITTLE WIDOW. 2/ 
 
 enough," sobbed Flaxie, pressing her hands 
 in anguish to her bosom. 
 
 " But she is such a little thing, hardly more 
 than a baby. I dare say she never dreamed 
 of spoiling your doll. You can't think the 
 child did it on purpose ! " 
 
 "Of course she did ! She's the queerest 
 girl," cried Phil, " can't stay at home, can't 
 let things alone. I think," pursued he, 
 encouraged by the curling of Flaxie's lip 
 "I think 't would be a good plan for Kitty- 
 leen to go to Heaven ! Folks don't want her 
 down here ! " 
 
 " Stop, my son, that will do ! we will not 
 talk any longer on this subject ; but Mary, if 
 you please, you may hold some worsted for 
 me to wind." 
 
 Mrs. Gray hoped that a night's sleep would 
 soothe her daughter's grief ; but the little 
 girl awoke next morning as sorrowful as
 
 28 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 ever. Dark clouds were still lingering in 
 the wintry sky, and clouds quite as heavy 
 shut all the sunshine out of poor Flaxie's 
 heart. She came down to breakfast weep- 
 ing, a black scarf over her shoulders and a 
 bow of black ribbon pinned at her throat. 
 She had felt a melancholy desire to "go into 
 mourning," and let the world know that death 
 or worse than death had befallen her " only 
 child." 
 
 " What does this mean ? " asked Dr. Gray, 
 who had quite forgotten yesterday's tragedy. 
 
 Phil spoke for her. He was geting into 
 high favor with his sister by his zeal in es- 
 pousing her cause. 
 
 "Flaxie's little girl is killed dead, and 
 Flaxie is a widow now," said he. 
 
 Dr. Gray raised his coffee-cup to his lips 
 to hide a smile. Kittyleen peeped up at the 
 little " widow " with innocent curiosity, but
 
 THE LITTLE WIDOW. 2Q 
 
 was frowned down severely, and began to 
 cry. Her tears, however, were small and 
 few. She could not possibly grieve much 
 over her own naughtiness, committed so long 
 ago as yesterday ; but even if she had been 
 as sorry as she ever knew how to be, the nice 
 buckwheat cakes and syrup would have con- 
 soled her. 
 
 Mrs. Gray was pained to see that Flaxie 
 still cherished bitter feeling against a child 
 of that tender age 
 
 " My daughter," said she, after breakfast, 
 " if Kittyleen were older and had tried wil- 
 fully to destroy your doll and make you un- 
 happy, I should not blame you so much. 
 But just see what a simple, unconscious little 
 thing she is, hardly wiser than your kitten. 
 Don't you feel really ashamed of being angry 
 with her ? " 
 
 "Yes, mamma, I do," replied Flaxie,
 
 3<D KITTYLEEN. 
 
 hanging her head. " But it is hard to for- 
 give children sometimes, when they ought 
 to be at home, you know, and not going 
 'round to other people's houses to make 
 trouble ! " 
 
 " Is Kittyleen at fault for going where 
 her mother sends her? You are old enough, 
 my daughter, to be more reasonable. Is 
 this the way you are beginning to receive 
 the discipline of your life ? " 
 
 Flaxie knew what " discipline " meant. It 
 was the name her mother gave to all troubles, 
 both great and small, assuring Flaxie they 
 are sent to us in love, to do us good, unless, 
 alas, we receive them in a perverse spirit, 
 and then they only make us worse. 
 
 " You can forgive Kittyleen, my child ; 
 God will help you ; and until you do it you 
 will have no peace ; you will live in darkness 
 and gloom. Go away by yourself for a while,
 
 THE LITTLE WIDOW. 31 
 
 and when I see you again I hope there will 
 be a little light in your soul." 
 
 About an hour afterward, Flaxie, with a 
 beaming smile, came into the parlor where 
 her sister Julia sat amusing Kittyleen. She 
 had a plate of golden-brown cookies in her 
 hand, baked in the form of stars, fishes, and 
 elephants. 
 
 " Here 's a star for you, all sugar and 
 spice," said she very pleasantly to Kittyleen. 
 "And I'll forgive you for scratching my 
 doll all up and digging her eyes out She 's 
 just ruined, did you know it ? Ruined 7 And 
 you 're a bad little girl ; but I forgive you /" 
 
 " Mary, my child, my child, is tJiat what 
 you meant to say ? " 
 
 The grieved look on Mrs. Gray's face 
 touched Flaxie's heart in a moment. 
 
 " No, mamma, it was n't what I meant at 
 all. She is n't bad, and I did n't know I
 
 32 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 was ' going to say that. I do forgive you, 
 Kittyleen, really and truly. You never 
 meant the least harm. Kiss me, darling ! 
 Flaxie loves you just the same, for you're 
 only a baby and didn't known any better." 
 
 There was no "half-way work " about this. 
 Kittyleen, perfectly willing to be forgiven, 
 nestled up to Flaxie and laid her soft cheek 
 against hers, murmuring, without meaning 
 anything at all, 
 
 "Me vely much obliged." 
 
 And ' at that moment the clouds broke 
 away and the tardy sun came out. A ray 
 of light shone over Mrs. Gray's face, 
 partly sunshine from the sky, and partly an 
 inner sunshine from her happy heart. She 
 was a good mother, and nothing gave her 
 so much joy as to see her children rise 
 above selfishness and sincerely strive to 
 do right.
 
 THE LITTLE WIDOW. 33 
 
 Kittyleen went home after dinner, loaded 
 with toys. Flaxie was the one to fasten her 
 cloak and tippet, and lead her by the hand 
 to the front door ; but not a word did she 
 say to Martha about the "murder" of her 
 waxen child. Not a word did any one say 
 about it ; and Mrs. Garland would never have 
 heard of Kittyleen's mischief if the little 
 one had not told of it herself. 
 
 Mr. Garland was quite disturbed, but his 
 wife was too busy painting to pay much 
 attention. 
 
 "My dear," said he, "Mary Gray is an 
 uncommon little girl to bear what she does 
 from Kittyleen. Suppose, as a reward for 
 her patience, you send her a handsome pres- 
 ent at Christmas." 
 
 " Very well," replied Mrs. Garland, se- 
 renely, " I '11 send her a piece of the china 
 I'm painting." 
 3
 
 34 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 "No, no, she won't care anything about 
 that. Buy her something really pretty," said 
 Mr. Garland, who had no true love for the 
 fine arts, and secretly wished his wife's 
 paint-tubes and brushes were sunk in the 
 sea. 
 
 " Oh, well, you may buy her something 
 yourself ! I don't want to bother my head 
 about it," said Mrs. Garland, drawing a rim 
 of gold around a teacup. 
 
 And Mr. Garland, who could get no help 
 from his wife, was obliged to go to Mrs. 
 Prim, a particular friend of the Gray family, 
 and ask her what she thought Flaxie would 
 like for a Christmas present.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FLAXIE'S WILL. 
 
 " A doll's piano ! Why, if there is any- 
 thing in this world that I 've always wanted, 
 it 's just this little piano ! And oh, to think 
 of Mr. Garland's giving it to me, when he 
 could n't have known I wanted it ! Did you 
 tell him, Preston ? And oh, see the keys ! 
 Hear me ! There, that's the Grasshopper's 
 Dance ! Tinkle ! tinkle ! tinkle ! Oh, so 
 sweet ! I could n't play it any better on 
 my big piano, or half so well. 
 
 " Hush, Preston Gray, you need n't laugh ! 
 What if I am nine years old-? Can't I like 
 a little, cunning, beautiful doll's piano ? And
 
 36 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 what 's the harm, when you know I needed 
 it to finish off the furniture in my dolls' par- 
 lor, and go with the chairs and sofas and 
 tables and lamps and everything grand ? 
 
 "This chair is just the thing for Princess 
 Aurora Arozarena to sit in when she plays 
 the piano. Now would you ever know any 
 thing had happened to Aurora ? Only her 
 hair is a little darker, and her eyes are black 
 instead of blue, and she hasn't quite the 
 same kind of nose and mouth." 
 
 So Flaxie talked on and on ; and the new 
 treasure, the doll's piano, was kept for a 
 long time in the back parlor in one of the 
 alcoves, that people from far and near might 
 hear and see it. The tiny white and black 
 keys gave all the notes with a merry little 
 tinkling sound that was enough to take a 
 doll right off its feet and set it to dancing. 
 
 A wee chair was always before it, and in
 
 FLAXIE'S WILL. 37 
 
 the chair sat the princess, who had come 
 to life again, and never knew she had been 
 dead." Her happy young mother, Flaxie 
 Frizzle, often knelt behind her, playing little 
 jingling, squeaking tunes, exactly adapted 
 to the ears of her royal highness, who 
 would have played for herself if her long- 
 wristed, light gloves had not been so exquis- 
 itely tight. 
 
 The piano was a great comfort in itself ; 
 and when Flaxie came to understand that 
 it was a token of Mr. Garland's approval and 
 gratitude, she valued it more than ever. 
 
 About this time she had a most uncom- 
 fortable siege of chicken-pox, and was 
 obliged for two days to keep her room, 
 looking sadly disfigured by the pink, puffy 
 blotches which rose on her skin, and feeling 
 very forlorn because her poor red eyes were 
 too weak to admit of her reading.
 
 38 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 " What does make me look so ? " said she, 
 almost crying, as she gazed at her face in 
 the glass. "And, oh, Ninny, I feel a great 
 deal worse than I look ! I can tell you peo- 
 ple would n't laugh so much about chicken- 
 pox if they knew how it feels ! " 
 
 " Yes, dear, I 'm sure it must be dreadful," 
 returned Ninny, her real name was Julia, 
 -with ready sympathy. " You woke me up 
 ever so many times last night screaming." 
 
 " Screaming ? Why, I did n't know it ! I 
 must have been crazy ! " 
 
 When ill, it was no unusual thing for the 
 Gray children to be slightly delirious ; and 
 Flaxie often laughed over the droll speeches 
 which she was reported to have made, but 
 of which she herself could not recall a single 
 word. 
 
 " What did I say last night when I was 
 crazy ? "
 
 FLAXIE S WILL. 39 
 
 "You sat up in bed and cried for your 
 ' little pinono,' the doll's piano, I suppose. 
 And sometimes you seemed to think it had 
 turned into a wolf, for you kept saying, 
 ' Why, what great, big teeth you 've got ! 
 Oh, they 're to eat you the better, my 
 dear ! ' " 
 
 Flaxie smiled faintly, and then, feeling 
 very miserable, wiped away a tear, think- 
 ing, 
 
 " Perhaps I am very, very ill. How do I 
 know ? Fannie Townsend never was crazy 
 in her life, nor Blanche Jones. And what 
 made doctor papa look at my tongue this 
 morning, unless he thought I was growing 
 worse ? He gave me powders, too, and told 
 me to stay up-stairs and keep warm. Maybe 
 I 'm going to have a fever. I did n't eat 
 anything for my breakfast but half a cracker, 
 and my head aches so I don't want any din-
 
 4O KITTYLEEN. 
 
 ner. Julia," said she, interrupting herself 
 in the midst of these gloomy musings, " do 
 people ever die of chicken-pox ? " 
 
 "No, indeed, not that I ever heard of. 
 What put that into your head ? " 
 
 "Now, Julia, you don't know the least 
 thing about it ! What do you know about 
 fevers and medicines and things like that ? 
 Just because your papa is a doctor, that '3 
 no reason you should shake your head and 
 think there 's nothing the matter with me, 
 when I 'm feeling so bad ! " 
 
 Julia would not, on any account, have 
 laughed at her poor little sister ; so she 
 slipped quietly out of the room before Flaxie 
 had time to continue this train of absurd 
 and amusing remarks. 
 
 Finding herself alone, however, the re- 
 flections of the chicken-pox patient grew 
 more and more sombre. What zvas the dif-
 
 FLAXIE S WILL. 4! 
 
 ference between this and small-pox ? She 
 had heard of a red flag which was hoisted 
 when that good clergyman, Mr. Branch, lay 
 ill in a house away from everybody, and at 
 last died, almost alone. Probably Doctor 
 Papa would never send a little girl like her 
 his own daughter, too to a house with 
 a red flag ! Still she might die ; and if she 
 did, Julia would naturally be very sorry she 
 had spoken so lightly not to say disre- 
 spectfully of a disease whose miseries she 
 had never felt ; that is, the chicken-pox. 
 
 An hour or two afterwards, Mrs. Prim 
 called at Flaxie's room, and after feeling 
 her pulse, and saying, " Oh, yott are not very 
 ill," she turned to Grandma Gray, who had 
 come in, and began a conversation with her 
 about Blanche Jones's father. 
 
 "Yes," said Mrs. Prim, "Mr. Jones is 
 really aware at last that his disease is con-
 
 42 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 sumption. He knows he can never recover, 
 and has made his will." 
 
 " Has he, indeed ? " returned Grandma 
 Gray. "I am truly glad to hear it." 
 
 " I tell my husband," went on Mrs. Prim, 
 sitting very straight in her chair, "I tell 
 my husband I think it is every man's duty 
 to make a will ; yes, and every woman's 
 duty, too. Mr. Prim agrees with me, and we 
 each of us intend this very afternoon to have 
 our wills drawn up and signed." 
 
 "A wise and proper thing, I am sure," 
 remarked Grandma Gray. 
 
 " Grandma," asked Flaxie, as soon as their 
 visitor had gone, " please tell me what 's a will, 
 and why is it 'a wise and proper thing'?" 
 
 " Perhaps, little Mary, I cannot make you 
 understand. But Mr. Prim has a great deal 
 of money, and so has Mrs. Prim; and if 
 either of them should die, perhaps it would
 
 FLAXIE S WILL. 43 
 
 not be known what was best to do with the 
 money that was left. So Mr. Prim is going 
 to write his wishes about his money on a 
 sheet of paper. He is going to say, ' I wish 
 to give so many thousand dollars to my wife, 
 and so many thousand dollars to somebody 
 else/ etc. And Mrs. Prim will do the same 
 about her money. She will say, ' I wish to 
 give so many thousand dollars to Mr. Prim, 
 and so many thousand dollars to somebody 
 else,' etc." 
 
 " Well, if she wishes to give it, why 
 does n't she do it, and not write about it ? " 
 
 " Oh, she only means that she wishes it to 
 be given away after she is dead ! Not now, 
 Mary ! " 
 
 " Oh, yes 'm, I understand, I understand 
 now. Why, grandmamma, I 've heard ever 
 so often about people's making wills, but I 
 never knew before what it meant."
 
 44 KITTYLEFN. 
 
 In the afternoon, when Madam Gray had 
 quite forgotten this conversation, she was 
 startled by hearing Flaxie say plaintively, 
 
 " Grandma, do little girls ever make wills ? " 
 
 " Not that I ever heard of, my dear ; but 
 they certainly have a right to do so, if they 
 like." 
 
 " Well, if they have n't a great deal of 
 money, can they give away something 
 besides money ? I mean, have they a right 
 to make a will and give away their books and 
 toys and pretty things ? " 
 
 "Oh, yes." 
 
 " And is it ' wise and proper ' ? You know," 
 added Flaxie, turning her aching head upon 
 the pillow, " you know I have a great many 
 beautiful things, and if I ever die there is 
 my sweet little new piano, and and I 
 don't expect I shall die, but if I ever do die, 
 you know."
 
 FLAXIE S WILL. 45 
 
 Madam Gray understood her granddaugh- 
 ter's mood in a moment. Flaxie had a touch 
 of ' melancholy.' Though very well aware 
 that her disease was not of a dangerous 
 nature, she liked to fancy that it was danger- 
 ous. Even now she had brought herself 
 almost to the verge of tears, just by pictur- 
 ing to her own mind how sorry everybody 
 would feel when she actually died of chick- 
 en-pox. Grandma Gray thought it might 
 amuse and interest her to let her make a 
 will, so she brought her a sheet of paper and 
 a pencil, and instructed her as to the proper 
 form of words to use. 
 
 Here is a copy of Flaxie's will : 
 
 " I, Mary Gray, of Laurel Grove, N. Y., 
 third child of Dr. Ephraim Gray, do hereby 
 give and bequeath my personal property in 
 the following manner : 
 
 "First. I give and bequeath my pretty
 
 46 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 doll's piano to Kittyleen Garland, whose real 
 name is Katharine. I give it to her, be- 
 cause I was cross to her for scratching my 
 doll's eyes out, and have been sorry for 
 it ever since. To her heirs and assigns 
 forever. 
 
 " Second. I give and bequeath my beauti- 
 ful wax large doll with the new head to my 
 dear little sister Ethel; but she must not 
 play with it till she knows how to hold it 
 without letting it fall. I give this to Ethel, 
 her heirs and assigns forever. 
 
 " Third. My Bible and all my nice books, 
 and my gold pen and handsome inkstand to 
 my sister Julia, if she wants them. 
 
 "Fourth. The money in my box, I don't 
 know whether to give it to my father or 
 mother or the missionaries. 
 
 " Fifth. I cannot think of anything more, 
 and am willing my papa and mamma should
 
 FLAXIE'S WILL. 47 
 
 take care of the rest. Their heirs and 
 assigns forever." 
 
 " Shall I say amen at the end ? " asked 
 Flaxie, who had become very much inter- 
 ested, and already felt decidedly better. 
 
 " Oh, no," replied her father, who had come 
 in and was looking on with no little amuse- 
 ment ; " only sign your name, and then 
 your grandmother and Preston and I will 
 add our names also, as witnesses. Then it 
 will be a real will, my daughter, and will 
 stand in court." 
 
 Flaxie did not know what he meant by 
 " standing in court," but it sounded business- 
 like and mysterious, and she took the pen 
 her father offered her and signed her name 
 with a feeling of great importance. Then 
 Dr. Gray, grandma, and Preston added their 
 names, and her father put four seals of 
 red wax on the paper, and the whole thing
 
 48 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 was finished, as she believed, "according 
 to law." 
 
 After this, for the first time that day, she 
 felt hungry ; and just as she was beginning 
 to wonder if it was not nearly supper-time, 
 her mother appeared with the tea-tray, on 
 which were some slices of thin toast, a glass 
 of ruby-colored jelly, and a goblet of milk. 
 Flaxie's eyes brightened ; she felt that life 
 was still worth living, and forgot to weave 
 any more doleful fancies concerning the 
 chicken-po;:. 
 
 Next day she was well enough to go 
 down-stairs ; and to add to the pleasure she 
 felt in meeting the whole family together 
 again, her father announced to her that as 
 soon as the disfiguring blotches should be 
 gone from her face, she might take a 
 little journey to Hilltop to " regain her 
 strength."
 
 FLAXIES WILL. 49 
 
 That was just like Doctor Papa. He was 
 always giving his children happy surprises ; 
 and it was really a blessing to belong to 
 him, and even to be ill once in a while, for 
 the sake of the compensation which he 
 always managed should follow the illness.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CRACKERS AND CHEESE. 
 
 BUT there is always a drop of bitter in 
 our sweetest cup. In Flaxie's cup just now 
 were two bitter drops. 
 
 First, though she longed for the visit, she 
 regretted to miss " dear, darling Miss Pike," 
 who was coming from Hilltop next week. 
 Still, as this excellent lady intended to spend 
 the winter at Dr. Gray's as governess in 
 his family, Flaxie's being gone at the very 
 first of her stay did not really matter so 
 much. 
 
 As for the second bitter drop, it seemed 
 to Flaxie that if she could only take this
 
 CRACKERS AND CHEESE. 51 
 
 journey alone, with the sole care of her own 
 self, her own ticket, and her own valise, she 
 should be " perfectly happy." She was no 
 longer so very young. Last summer she had 
 seen a girl of her own age travelling alone, 
 with a book, a parasol, and a paper of candy ; 
 and the girl had carried her head so grandly, 
 as if it had long been her habit to manage 
 her own affairs, and she had looked withal so 
 fascinating and distinguished, that Flaxie had 
 often thought of her with envy. Why was 
 she always considered so young and insignifi- 
 cant? What was lacking in her that she 
 could not also travel alone ? 
 
 " Why, Frizzle dear, you 'd get switched 
 off to Canada or something," said Preston. 
 " I shall go with you to keep you on the 
 right track." But Flaxie insisted. 
 
 " Why, I 'm nine years old and three 
 months and six days ; and it 's only the least
 
 52 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 bit of a ride to Hilltop, and I know every 
 step of the way." 
 
 "You'd make a comical appearance trav- 
 elling alone, now, would n't you ? " returned 
 Preston, who, though the dearest brother in 
 the world, was becoming of late too much of 
 a tease. He wore steel-bowed spectacles, 
 and his eyes laughed through them some- 
 times with a dazzling, flashing light, which 
 his little sister could not bear to meet. He 
 thought she had too high an opinion of her- 
 self, and he " liked," as he expressed it, " to 
 take her down." 
 
 " I am not sure, indeed, that Flaxie would 
 not have been allowed by her parents to go 
 to Hilltop alone if it had not been for this 
 same desire of Preston's to " take her down." 
 
 Ah, well, there are greater trials in life 
 than travelling with a dear elder brother, 
 even if he does laugh at you once in a while.
 
 CRACKERS AND CHEESE. 53 
 
 But I must describe this journey, which you 
 will see turned out, after all, rather differ- 
 ently from what Preston expected. 
 
 Flaxie packed her three favorite common 
 dolls, Peppermint Drop, Dr. Smith, and 
 Christie Gretchen, her box of water-colors, 
 her charcoal and drawing-paper, all her 
 games and part of her books ; but was per- 
 suaded to take out some of these articles, in 
 order to make room for her clothes. A 
 valise will not hold everything, and clothes 
 are needed, even for a two weeks' visit. 
 Julia wove her sister's flaxen curls tightly 
 together in one long braid, so that it might 
 remain smooth during the journey, and 
 Flaxie stood a long while before the hall 
 mirror, pulling her hat this way and that, 
 to make sure it was straight. In her ex- 
 citement she had hardly stopped to eat any 
 breakfast ; but when the good-bys were all
 
 54 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 over, and she was walking to the station 
 with Preston, she suddenly recollected this, 
 and complained to him that she was hungry. 
 
 "Well, that's a funny idea! I believe 
 girls are always hungry," he responded. 
 
 Still the thought disturbed him. He 
 never could bear to have anybody uncom- 
 fortable, and, of course, he would not allow 
 his little sister to start on a journey fasting. 
 
 " See here, Flaxie, we have n't time now 
 to go back for anything to eat ; but could n't 
 you nibble a cracker, or a ginger-snap, or 
 something ? " 
 
 And he led her into a small grocery, 
 where a man stood behind the counter sell- 
 ing a paper of cloves. There were no 
 ginger-snaps to be had, but the man suc- 
 ceeded in finding some very dry, hard crack- 
 ers at the bottom of a barrel. Flaxie did 
 not want the crackers, but thought it might
 
 CRACKERS AND CHEESE. 55 
 
 be impolite to say so. Still less did she 
 want the mouldy, crumbling cheese, which 
 he produced from its hiding-place under a 
 box. She looked on in silence while he cut 
 off a pound of this and weighed it in a piece 
 of brown paper. 
 
 "Take one of these crackers, Chicky, and 
 put it in your pocket," said Preston, in the 
 kindest possible manner ; and Flaxie obeyed 
 him, looking rather downcast She wished 
 she had not complained of needing food. 
 
 There were seventeen more crackers ; and 
 these the grocer counted out, and put in a 
 paper bag, scarcely large enough to hold 
 them. He was a slow man, who walked with 
 crutches ; and while he was debating whether 
 to get a larger bag or to tie this one up with 
 a string, a steam-whistle was heard, and the 
 cars whizzed by the door. 
 
 Flaxie darted out in quick alarm.
 
 56 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 "Oh, don't worry now, don't worry! I 
 know what I 'm about, /never get left," said 
 Preston, in a reassuring tone. He would 
 have liked it much better if Flaxie had re- 
 lied entirely upon him. "They are going 
 to stop at the station to take in freight. 
 People will laugh at you if they see you 
 run." 
 
 Nevertheless he was running, too ; for even 
 as he spoke he happened to remember that 
 this train did not always stop for freight ; and 
 indeed it did not wait now five minutes. 
 The children reached the station out of 
 breath, and Preston had a scramble to buy 
 tickets, check Flaxie's valise, and enter the 
 cars with her before the train moved off. It 
 was rather mortifying ; but he did not allow 
 himself to look in the least chagrined. He 
 adjusted his spectacles, threw his head back 
 a little, and gazed about him coolly, as if he
 
 FLAXIE AND THAT MISERABLE CRACKER. Page 58.
 
 CRACKERS AND CHEESE. 57 
 
 paticularly liked to be late, and would not on 
 any account have come earlier- 
 
 "Why, if there isn't Kittyleen ! " said 
 Flaxie. 
 
 But Kittyleen was only going to Rosewood, 
 the next station. "Marfa" was with her, and 
 would bring her back next day "if she was 
 willing to come." 
 
 Flaxie did not seat herself at once. She 
 had a little chat with Kittyleen, after which 
 I regret to say she stood on her tiptoes for 
 some moments, gazing in the mirror at the 
 farther end of the car. 
 
 " There, there, sit down, Chicky, your hat 
 is all right," said Preston, who considered 
 her the prettiest little girl he knew, and felt 
 that she did him credit. " And here are 
 your check and your ticket. If you ever 
 expect to travel alone you must learn to take 
 care of your things."
 
 58 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I know it ! I always keep my 
 ticket when I ride with papa ; and very often 
 he goes into another car and leaves me 
 alone," remarked Flaxie. 
 
 If this was meant as a hint, it was lost on 
 Preston. He began to read a newspaper, 
 while his young companion looked out of the 
 window at the trees, houses, and fences that 
 flew past in a dizzy blur. She thought she 
 would count the trees, just to amuse herself, 
 and had got as far as eighty-seven, when 
 Preston suddenly tapped her on the shoulder. 
 The conductor was standing near, waiting 
 for her ticket. Rather bewildered, yet anx- 
 ious to appear prompt and experienced, she 
 put her hand hastily in her pocket, and drew 
 forth, not her ticket, but that miserable, for- 
 gotten cracker. 
 
 The conductor, a good-natured, red-cheeked 
 man, said, " No, I thank you," and shook his 
 sides with laughing.
 
 CRACKERS AND CHEESE. 59 
 
 Flaxie blushed painfully. Once she would 
 not have minded it so very much, for she had 
 been formerly a pert child ; but in growing 
 older, she was growing more modest, sen- 
 sitive, and retiring She withdrew the 
 cracker and produced the ticket, feeling with 
 shame that she was behaving very unlike the 
 elegant little girl who travelled with a book, 
 a parasol, and a paper of candy. 
 
 But she was to suffer still more. The 
 conductor had scarcely passed out of hearing 
 when Preston said, in his wise, elder-broth- 
 erly tone, " Here, child, if this is the way 
 you 're going to behave, I might as well have 
 that ticket myself ; your check, too. Oh, yes, 
 and give me the key to your valise, and now 
 your porte-monnaie. Would n't you like to 
 have me take care of your handkerchief ? " 
 He spoke half in jest, still it was quite too 
 bad of him, for Flaxie was not a careless
 
 6O KITTYLEEN. 
 
 child; neither did she need "taking down," 
 or at all events, she did not need it any more 
 than Preston himself. 
 
 " I don't see what makes you think I 'm 
 such a baby. I 'm only four years younger 
 than you," she remonstrated, sighing heavily 
 as she handed to him, one after another, 
 the contents of her little cloak-pocket. He 
 took them from her with a condescending 
 smile. 
 
 " There, now, I feel easier," said he, set- 
 tling himself comfortably ; " you '11 have all 
 you want to do to take care of the crackers 
 and cheese. Why don't you eat them in- 
 stead of offering them to the conductor ? He 
 has had his breakfast. Won't they laugh, 
 though, at home, when I tell them about 
 that ? " 
 
 " Oh, Preston Gray, if you do tell about 
 that ! "
 
 CRACKERS AND CHEESE. 6l 
 
 Flaxie had borne her trials thus far with 
 patience, but now the tears started and 
 she was battling to keep them back. Pres- 
 ton saw that he had gone too far, and though 
 secretly wondering why it was that " girls 
 can never take jokes," he resolved to make 
 himself more agreeable during the rest of 
 the journey.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SPONGE-CAKE. 
 
 " THOSE crackers are n't very nice, that 's 
 a fact," said he, looking penitently at the 
 overflowing paper bag, which stood upright 
 on the seat between them. 
 
 " Not half as bad as the cheese," returned 
 Flaxie. 
 
 "Well, I don't blame you for not liking 
 mouldy cheese ; I don't like it myself," ad- 
 mitted Preston. "But I suppose, now, 
 Chicky, if you had a piece of pie or a cake 
 or a sandwich, you'd enjoy it, and feel more 
 comfortable, would n't you ? " 
 
 The gentle tone and manner touched his 
 little sister, and called back her happiest 
 smiles in a moment.
 
 SPONGE-CAKE. 63 
 
 " Oh, I don't care the least bit about any- 
 thing! I'm not very hungry, Preston; 
 really I 'm not." 
 
 "Yes, but I don't want you to be hun- 
 gry at all," said the benevolent brother. " I 
 want people that travel with me to feel all 
 right and have a good time." Here he took 
 out his purse and looked at the silver in it ; 
 there seemed to be plenty. " I wish a boy 
 would come in with something besides pop- 
 corn and peanuts, and all that sort of non- 
 sense, don't you ? I '11 tell you what I '11 
 do," added he, returning the purse to his 
 pocket. " I '11 get out at Bremen and buy 
 you a great square of sponge-cake." 
 
 " Oh, but Preston, you can't buy it there ! " 
 
 " What 's the reason I can't ? " 
 
 " Because they don't keep it at Bremen. 
 Sharon is the place ; Sharon, near Hilltop." 
 
 " Where did you get your information ? "
 
 64 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 returned the lad, rather ruffled. " As often as 
 I 've travelled this road I think I ought to 
 know that Bremen is a famous place for 
 sponge-cake. There 's an old woman living 
 there that bakes it by the ton." 
 
 "Why, Preston Gray, that old woman lives 
 at Sharon ! I 've seen her my own self. Don't 
 you suppose I know ? Why, Uncle Ben has 
 bought sponge-cake of her ever so many times 
 and brought it home to Aunt Charlotte." 
 
 One of Preston's dazzling smiles shone 
 through his spectacles as he rejoined, 
 
 " Oh, I dare say he has bought sponge-cake 
 and carried it home to Aunt Charlotte; but 
 that 's no sign he has bought it at Sharon. 
 You 're mistaken, that 's all. Now when you 
 get to Bremen, and you see people stepping 
 out of this car and coming back loaded with 
 sponge-cake, perhaps you '11 give up that I 'm 
 right."
 
 SPONGE-CAKE. 65 
 
 Flaxie was ready to retort what she did not 
 believe people would get out at Bremen, or if 
 they did they would not find any cake. She 
 was fond of having the last word, but remem- 
 bering her blunder with the cracker, she said 
 no more, and even thought meekly, 
 
 " Oh, well, perhaps it is Bremen ! I almost 
 hope so, for I don't want to wait till we get 
 to Sharon." 
 
 She had regained her spirits by this time, 
 and found it very pleasant to be travelling 
 with a kind brother like Preston, who had 
 not a fault in the world except looking down 
 upon her rather too much. 
 
 In a few minutes the train halted at Bre- 
 men, a small way-station. It did not look at 
 all familiar to Preston. He had supposed 
 Bremen was much larger, but that was prob- 
 ably because he had not been on this road 
 for a whole year, and had forgotten some of 
 5
 
 66 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 the stopping-places. The famous old cake- 
 woman ; could it be that she lived here ? He 
 had half a mind to ask the conductor ; but 
 no ; Flaxie would hear him. 
 
 " Oh, are you getting out ? " said she. 
 
 To be sure he was. He was already hurry- 
 ing down the aisle, too proud to confess that 
 he could possibly have made a mistake. 
 
 He was just behind a woman with a baby 
 in her arms, and had to wait for both the 
 baby and the woman to be helped out. By 
 the time he had got out himself, and before 
 he had a moment to look around him, the 
 cars were moving on again ! 
 
 It was the most astonishing thing ! There 
 he stood at the door of a wretched little 
 wood-shed, close by the platform, swinging, 
 his arms and crying, "Stop! stop!" But 
 nobody heard except the baby and its mother, 
 and nobody answered except the baby with
 
 SPONGE-CAKE. 67 
 
 an " Argoo, argoo," out of its silly little 
 throat. So this was Bremen ! This wood- 
 shed and two or three houses ! 
 
 It was a sad predicament for Preston, but 
 a worse one for Flaxie. She, too, cried, 
 " Stop ! stop ! " bounding up and down on 
 the seat like an India-rubber ball. But the 
 cars paid as little heed to her as they had 
 paid to her brother. On they went, rattle, 
 rattle, rattle. What cared they for a passen- 
 ger overboard ? What cared they for a pas- 
 senger's sister left frantic and forlorn ? 
 
 She would have appealed to the conduc- 
 tor, but he was in the next car. So was the 
 brakeman, so was even the pop-corn boy. 
 
 The people went on talking and read- 
 ing without minding her. They probably 
 thought her a very restless child, for they 
 had not seen her quiet that morning. So it 
 was not till she began to wring her hands
 
 68 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 and sob aloud that they suspected anything 
 unusual had happened. 
 
 "What is the matter, little girl?" asked 
 an old lady, leaning forward and offering 
 her a paper of sassafras lozenges. Flaxie 
 waved it away. 
 
 "Was it your brother that just left the 
 car ? " asked a kind old gentleman, sud- 
 denly recollecting the handsome lad in spec- 
 tacles. " Did he get out on purpose ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, oh, yes, sir ! on purpose to get 
 me some cake ! But he 's lost over ! Oh, 
 dear, he 's lost over ! I can't make 'em 
 stop." 
 
 " How far were you going, my child ? " 
 
 " I don't know how far. I 'm going to 
 Hilltop to see Milly Allen. I don't know 
 how far ! Oh, dear, I did n't want any cake. 
 I told him I was n't very hungry. I told him 
 the old woman lived at Sharon. He did n't
 
 SPONGE-CAKE. 69 
 
 believe what I said, and that 's why he got 
 left ! Oh, dear, if he had n't got out ! " 
 
 " It is n't safe to get out unless you know 
 where you are going," said the old lady 
 wisely ; but the remark did not seem to be 
 of any particular use just now. And then 
 she put the sassafras lozenges back in her 
 satchel. They did n't seem to be of any par- 
 ticular use, either. 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " wailed Flaxie, " if I 'd only 
 travelled alone ! I wanted to travel alone ! " 
 
 The old gentleman did not quite under- 
 stand. It seemed to him that she certainly 
 was travelling alone, and if that was what 
 she wanted she ought to be satisfied. 
 
 He folded his newspaper, put it in his hat, 
 and came to sit down beside her. He was a 
 better comforter than the old lady, for he had 
 a dozen dear grandchildren at home, while 
 she, poor soul, had only a tortoise-shell cat.
 
 7O KITTYLEEN. 
 
 " I would n't shed another least drop of a 
 tear," said the good old gentleman, hitting 
 and upsetting, the crackers, which tumbled 
 out of the bag upon the floor. " Not one 
 tear would I shed," said he, picking up the 
 crackers. " Your brother will come on to 
 Hilltop to-morrow, or maybe he can come 
 this very afternoon ; and then won't you 
 both laugh about this? You'll ask him, 
 ' Where 's that cake ? ' And what do you 
 suppose he '11 answer to that ? " 
 
 "Oh, I don't want the cake; that isn't 
 what I want. My head aches and my throat 
 aches, and I 've just had the chicken-pox ; and 
 and oh, dear, I wish I was at home!" 
 
 " Where is your home, my little girl ? " 
 
 " My home is at Laurel Grove, near 
 Rosewood." 
 
 " And what is your name and your father's 
 name ? "
 
 SPONGE-CAKE. 71 
 
 " He is Dr. Gray, and I am Mary Frances 
 Gray." 
 
 " Ah, indeed ! Why, I know your father 
 very well," said the cheery old gentleman. 
 "Will you shake hands? There, now, we're 
 good friends, are n't we ? And I 'm going to 
 Hilltop and beyond. I'm Dr. White, tell 
 your papa, old Dr. White. Let 's see, 
 have you any ticket ? " 
 
 Flaxie uttered a cry of despair. Till that 
 moment she had not realized the full extent 
 of her woes. 
 
 " Oh, Preston took my ticket, and my 
 money, and all my things ! Oh, should you 
 have thought he would ? " 
 
 " Ah, well ; we '11 see what we can do," 
 said Dr. White. 
 
 " Oh, when I get to Hilltop I can't open 
 my valise, for where 's my check ? I mean 
 my key ! Oh, if I 'd travelled alone ! Pres-
 
 72 K1TTYLEEN. 
 
 ton wanted to take care of me ; but he 's 
 taken care of me too much ! " 
 
 Dr. White found it hard to keep his face 
 properly sober ; yet he knew his little friend 
 would consider a smile very ill-timed. 
 
 " I 've been to Hilltop more than ever he 
 has, for Milly Allen is just my age; and I 
 could have gone alone &?<37/tifully. He has 
 bothered me so. But he did n't mean to 
 bother me," added she, ashamed to com- 
 plain of him before a stranger. "Only " 
 Here she sprang up suddenly, and those 
 miserable crackers rolled out again, followed 
 by the cheese, " only I ought to have a 
 ticket, you know. Do conductors ever let 
 you travel without your ticket?" asked she, 
 raising her brimming eyes anxiously to her 
 new friend's face. 
 
 " It depends upon circumstances, Miss 
 Mary. This conductor will do it, I'll be 
 bound."
 
 SPONGE-CAKE. 73 
 
 " Will he ? Oh, I 'm so glad ! " said Flaxie, 
 greatly relieved, though rather surprised. 
 Why should this conductor let her go free ? 
 He had never seen her before, and knew 
 nothing about her except that she carried 
 crackers in her pocket. He appeared pres- 
 ently, smiling and holding out his hand ; 
 but after Dr. White had said something to 
 him in a low tone, he patted Flaxie's head 
 with an " All right. Don't lose your lunch- 
 eon, my dear," and passed on to the next seat. 
 
 "Did you tell him how my brother got 
 lost over? Did you tell him everything?" 
 asked Flaxie, looking quite gay and excited. 
 
 " Yes, almost everything. And now your 
 troubles are over, Miss Mary, for he will 
 give your name to the new conductor, and 
 then when we get to Hilltop I can put you 
 in a hack that will take you right to your 
 uncle's door."
 
 74 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 "Oh, no, sir, I don't want any hack! 
 Uncle Ben will be there, waiting for me, with 
 a sleigh, and Cousin Freddy, too. They 
 always come to the depot with a sleigh, 
 except in the summer, and then they come 
 with a carryall or a wagon." 
 
 And, in truth, on arriving at Hilltop, the 
 first persons to be seen were Uncle Ben 
 Allen, his son Freddy, and, best of all, his 
 daughter Milly, Flaxie's darling " twin 
 cousin." 
 
 " But where 's Preston ? " asked Freddy. 
 
 " He stopped at a wood shed on the way, 
 to buy a piece of sponge-cake," replied Dr. 
 White, shaking hands with Uncle Ben, as 
 Freddy tucked Flaxie into the sleigh.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A NEW FRIEND. 
 
 PRESTON lingered at the wood-shed and 
 about the tiny station of Bremen all that 
 morning and most of the afternoon. It was 
 a very solitary place, and he had ample time 
 for reflection. 
 
 " Well, this is one way to take care of 
 your little sister! Anybody 'd think I was 
 five years old ! I can't stand it to be such a 
 fool ! " Oh ho ! I thought 'twas great fun, 
 did n't I, to make her give up her money and 
 tickets ? I wanted to ' take her down,' but 
 now I 'm taken down myself, and how do I 
 like it ? " 
 
 To judge by his clouded face and the 
 stamping he made with his heels, he did not 
 like it at all. "Poor little Flaxie, I know
 
 76 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 she's rushing round that car and crying! 
 What will she do with herself? She won't 
 get off anywhere? Oh, no, Flaxie isn't such 
 a goose as to get off a car unless there 's 
 some sense in it ! There 's only one goose 
 in the family, and that 's Preston Gray. No, 
 she won't get off. And let's see, the con- 
 ductor will remember her, on account of that 
 cracker. He '11 know she did have a ticket, 
 so of course he '11 let her go free. She'll do 
 well enough. She '11 make friends on the 
 cars ; she 's always making friends, she 's so 
 pretty and sweet." 
 
 In this way, by praising his sister and 
 scolding himself, Preston tried to find a little 
 consolation as he strode up and down the 
 narrow sleigh-track which the people of 
 Bremen called a road. What he ought to do 
 he could not decide. 
 
 After a while a man came along the road,
 
 A NEW FRIEND. 77 
 
 dragging a pail of flour on a sled. " Do you 
 know how far it is to Hilltop, sir?" asked 
 Preston, feeling himself very young and 
 small, for the man stared at him as if Jie con- 
 sidered him a mere baby, and thought of tak- 
 ing him up pickaback. 
 
 " Hilltop, did you ask ? Why, where are 
 your folks ? Where did you come from, 
 travelling round here alone?" 
 
 " Oh, I came from Laurel Grove, just the 
 other side of Rosewood," replied Preston, as 
 dignified as a boy can be who feels himself 
 crushed to the earth by unmerited contempt. 
 " I got off the cars a few minutes ago, and 
 and thought I 'd wait for the next train. 
 When does the next train go ? " 
 
 " Well, it beats me to guess what you got 
 off the cars for ! " said this very disrespectful 
 man, setting one foot on the sled and eying 
 Preston all over. " You had n't ought to get
 
 78 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 off the cars, sonny, it ain't safe ; children get 
 their necks broke that way." 
 
 " Can you tell me how far it is to Hilltop ? " 
 asked Preston, with an increase of dignity. 
 
 " Well, it 's a good fifty miles or more, and 
 you can't go till five o'clock this afternoon. 
 You 'd better speak to the folks that live in 
 that red house yonder, and ask 'em to see 
 you safe on board the cars, and when you 
 once get on, you stick there ! Don't you get 
 off this side of Hilltop. Now mind, little 
 shaver ! " And with this very cutting advice 
 and another disrespectful stare, the man toiled 
 on with his sled and the pail of flour. 
 
 "I hope he was impolite enough," 
 thought Preston, indignantly. He did not 
 relish being looked down upon. Neither had 
 Flaxie relished it, you remember. " So I 
 can't get to Hilltop till evening. A pretty 
 piece of work! They'll be just rising from
 
 A NEW FRIEND. 79 
 
 the supper-table, Flaxie and all ; and won't 
 they have a jolly time laughing at me? 
 They '11 ask what I came for at that time of 
 day ? Freddy '11 call me a caterpillar and a 
 snail, and everything else he can think of. 
 No, sir, you don't catch me going to Hilltop 
 to be laughed at ! All I went for in the first 
 place was to take care of Flaxie. No fun in 
 it now. No use, either ! Guess I '11 go home. 
 But what shall I do with the check and the 
 purse and the key ? Oh, Flaxie, I wish I 'd 
 let you alone." 
 
 While he was lamenting in this strain, he 
 became conscious of a pair of sorrowful eyes 
 raised to his face. They were the eyes of 
 a thin and unhappy-looking but handsome 
 black and white spaniel. It was a tender, 
 respectful gaze; and to a boy who has just 
 felt himself looked down upon, it is consoling 
 to be looked up to, even by a dog.
 
 8O KITTYLEEN. 
 
 " Here, Rover, Rover, good fellow ! Here, 
 Rover," said he, softly patting the shaggy 
 head. 
 
 There was a magical charm for all animals 
 in Preston's touch ; and this poor creature 
 crouched before him with a mournful, loving 
 whine, got in front of him as he moved about, 
 sat down at his feet and licked his boots when 
 he stood still, and behaved altogether as if he 
 had found a dear friend. 
 
 " I can't think what you mean, Rover. 
 There, that 's your name, I know by the way 
 you wag your tail ! But, Rover, you never 
 saw me before. What makes you think you 
 know me ? " 
 
 The handsome animal whined again at the 
 sound of Preston's voice, pushing his nose 
 into the boy's hand, and going off into a sort 
 of dog-ecstasy. It was really quite touching. 
 All the more so as there was something in
 
 A NEW FRIEND. 8 1 
 
 the curl of his tail, the droop of his ears, that 
 suggested to Preston his own lost dog, the 
 beloved and ever-lamented Tantra Bogus. 
 
 "Tantra Bogus was larger and sleeker and 
 fatter, but he had the same white spot in his 
 forehead and his eyes were the same color," 
 said Preston, his heart stirred with tender 
 memories, as he stooped and laid his cheek 
 lovingly against the rough black face. 
 
 " Ah, Rover, you do love me ! But I can't 
 see why ! I guessed your name, and I '11 
 warrant I can guess who your master is, too. 
 It 's that impudent man with the sled. Be- 
 cause, sir, you 've been half starved, and he 's 
 just the man to starve a dog." 
 
 There was a crunching sound in the snow, 
 and Preston looked up, half expecting to see 
 the "impudent man" again ; but this time it 
 was a lady. Certainly they had strange 
 people in Bremen, for this lady was the ugli- 
 6
 
 82 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 est being .he had ever seen. Large, half- 
 open lips, big red nose, small red eyes. 
 But he did not forget to raise his cap re- 
 spectfully. 
 
 " Dear old Rover, I 'm glad he 's found a 
 friend at last," said the lady to Preston, in 
 the sweetest tones. " He lost his master 
 three weeks ago, and mourns him so much 
 that it is very pitiful. He won't stay in the 
 house with his master's family, but lingers 
 about this shed day and night." 
 
 " Poor fellow, poor fellow," said Preston ; 
 and the dog capered about him, going out of 
 his head again with rapture. 
 
 " Yes," said the lady, setting down a little 
 bundle in the snow, and weaving the silver 
 pin more securely into her shawl, " you are 
 the very first person Rover has cared for, or 
 taken the least notice of. The family are 
 afraid he will starve to death. There, now !
 
 A NEW FRIEND. 83 
 
 I have an idea! But perhaps you are in a 
 hurry ? " added she, with a particularly sweet 
 smile. It was surprising how an ugly mouth 
 like hers could smile so agreeably. 
 
 " No, ma'am, no hurry. I Ve got to wait 
 seven hours. Going to going to " 
 
 Here Preston's words were lost in an in- 
 distinct muttering, his mouth being pretty 
 close to Rover's nose. 
 
 " Then if you '11 wait here a few minutes 
 I '11 bring Rover something to eat. They '11 
 all be so glad ; and perhaps he '11 take it 
 from you, though he won't from any one else." 
 
 Observe, she did not address Preston as 
 "sonny," or call him a "shaver." She did 
 not even say "my boy" or "my child" or 
 " my dear," or ask him any embarrassing 
 questions. 
 
 He was convinced that she was a perfect 
 lady, and answered briskly,
 
 84 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 " Oh, do bring him a piece of meat, ma'am ! 
 You see I can wait, for I 'm going to " 
 
 But not knowing whether to say Hilltop 
 or Laurel Grove, he prudently left the sen- 
 tence unfinished. 
 
 The lady hastened to the red house near 
 by, and Preston, still caressing the dog, 
 watched her as she returned with a light 
 step, bearing a plate of meat in her hand. 
 There was something very interesting about 
 her homeliness ; he could not help looking 
 at her face, and the more he looked the 
 better he liked it. 
 
 "This is nice roast beef, a real Thanks- 
 giving dinner, Rover," said she, with loving 
 good-will. " Do eat it and make me happy." 
 
 As if he were grateful, and really anxious 
 to please her, this dog, who had so long re- 
 fused his food, thrust his nose immediately 
 into the heaped-up plate before him and
 
 A NEW FRIEND. 85 
 
 began to eat. If Preston moved away, how- 
 ever, he stopped, turned about, and followed 
 him uneasily. 
 
 " It is very plain that the charm lies in 
 you," said the lady, smiling, as Preston 
 patted Rover's head, and he began to eat 
 again. 
 
 It had been dreadful, she said, to see him 
 pining away, and to hear him moaning day 
 and night. Mrs. Danforth, his master's 
 widow, could hardly bear it, and her son, 
 who lived with her, had declared that Rover 
 must be taken out of town and given to a 
 new master or he would surely die of grief. 
 
 " Now look here, ma'am," cried Preston, 
 looking up with sudden animation, "why 
 could n't he go home with me ? I 've lost my 
 dog. Why could n't he go home with me 
 and be my dog, you know ? " 
 
 " I don't see why not, if you would like
 
 86 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 him. I know Mr. Danforth would be glad 
 to give him up to a boy so kind as you are. 
 Where do you live ? " 
 
 " At Laurel Grove, ma'am." And feeling 
 a growing desire to stand well in the lady's 
 esteem, he tried to explain the situation. 
 
 " But I perhaps I sha'n't go home 
 that is, not to-day. I did n't know what I 
 sJiould do. I stopped here on the way. I 
 had n't decided, you know," said he, vaguely. 
 
 The lady looked at him in some surprise. 
 Perhaps she doubted whether he could be 
 trusted with a dog. But she did not say 
 anything like that. " Do you live at Laurel 
 Grove? Why, that is just where / am 
 going. I came from Hilltop yesterday to 
 visit the Danforths on my way, and I 'm 
 going to Laurel Grove to-day, to Dr. Gray's." 
 
 " Why, Dr. Gray is my father ! And now 
 I know who you are. You're Miss Pike! I
 
 A NEW FRIEND. 8/ 
 
 might have known it was you," he went on, 
 thinking aloud, "for you look just as I 
 expected you would." 
 
 He could not dream how this little speech 
 hurt Miss Pike. She had moved forward to 
 shake hands with him, but at his last words 
 her cheeks flushed and she drew back again. 
 Was she thinking that very likely he had 
 heard her called " that homely Miss Pike " ? 
 
 But the next moment she smiled pleas- 
 antly, holding out her hand. 
 
 " And now I know who you are. You 're 
 Master Preston Gray. ' I might have known 
 it was you, for you look just as I expected, 
 you would ! ' ' 
 
 " Oh, Flaxie told you I wore spectacles^ 
 did nt she ? " Preston was somewhat sensi- 
 tive about those. " I have to wear them, for 
 if I take them off I 'm blind almost," said he 
 by way of apology.
 
 88 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 "Yes, I know, you dear blessed boy! 
 Your sister has told me, and all the Allen 
 family have told me, too, how patient you've 
 been. I 'm so glad I 've met you, Master 
 Preston. And now what shall I say to your 
 father when I shall see him to-day ? " 
 
 The boy looked up, and then he looked 
 down. " Oh, are you going to see my father 
 to-day ? " 
 
 " Yes, I shall start at three o'clock this 
 afternoon in the baggage-car. I 'm told 
 there 's no passenger-car, and I must go as 
 baggage, or wait till six o'clock to-morrow 
 morning, and I don't like to start so early as 
 that, should you ?" 
 
 " No, ma'am, I should n't ; it 's pretty dark 
 at six. Look here, Miss Pike, if I take 
 Rover I shall have to take him in the bag- 
 gage car, sha'n't I ?" 
 
 " Yes, I suppose so."
 
 A NEW FRIEND. 89 
 
 " Well, I 've a good mind to take him 
 to-day, if Mr. Danforth will let me. I don't 
 want to go to Hilltop now ; it is n't very con- 
 venient." 
 
 " Ah ? " said Miss Pike. 
 
 " I did n't care much about going to Hill- 
 top anyway, not now ; I only came to take 
 care of my little sister." 
 
 " Ah ? " said Miss Pike again, with an 
 upward slide to her voice. 
 
 " Oh, I suppose you think I did n't take 
 care of her very well. I suppose you think 
 it's sort of queer my being here, but you 
 see " 
 
 Here he struggled so long with something 
 in his throat that she helped him by say- 
 ing, 
 
 " Oh, possibly you got left." 
 
 What a bright, far-seeing woman she was ! 
 
 " Yes, ma'am, I did get left. That was
 
 9O KITTYLEEN. 
 
 just how ij; was. If it had not been for try- 
 ing to get some sponge-cake " 
 
 " Well, I 'm glad you stopped here," broke 
 in the delightful Miss Pike, who seemed to 
 care nothing at all about the little particu- 
 lars. So good of her not to care ! "I'm 
 glad I met you. And as your little sister 
 will not need you any more, could n't you go 
 home this afternoon to be company for me ? 
 Why, just see, Rover has eaten every bit 
 of his dinner ! " 
 
 " Oh, I 'd like to go with you, ma'am if I 
 had n't carried off Flaxie's check and key," 
 demurred Preston. " You see, I took them 
 to keep them safe." 
 
 Rather too safe, Miss Pike thought ; but 
 she said, without the shadow of a smile, 
 " Why not send the key and check to your 
 sister by mail ? "
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THAT HOMELY MISS PIKE. 
 
 AND so it was settled. Preston dined at 
 the red house ; and Mr. Danforth, who 
 turned out to be a very different person from 
 the man with the sled, was glad enough to 
 give up Rover to a gentle, well-bred little 
 boy, who would be sure to treat him kindly. 
 
 " I never saw you before," said Mr. Dan- 
 forth, " but I know your father very well ; 
 and I am not afraid to trust my dog to the 
 care of Dr. Gray's son." 
 
 Accordingly, Miss Pike and Preston and 
 Rover had a very cosey ride home that after- 
 noon in the baggage-car. So very cosey it
 
 92 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 was and so social, with nobody to disturb 
 them but the baggage-master occasionally 
 coming in and going out, that Preston almost 
 laid his heart bare before the kindly Miss 
 Pike. He told her how dreadful it was to 
 have your eyes cut with sharp instruments ; 
 how tedious it was to recite Latin to Mr. 
 Garland ; how fine it would be to leave off 
 study and become a gentleman farmer, with 
 the chance of receiving silver prizes for 
 sheep and poultry. 
 
 She listened with motherly sympathy, and 
 he was tempted to go still further, and relate 
 the history of all his sisters and his little 
 brother. It might amuse her to hear 
 Flaxie's great composition, entitled " Domes- 
 tic Animals," the one she wrote last fall, that 
 had been so freely laughed at by everybody 
 far and near. He knew it by heart, every 
 single word of it ; but just as he was about
 
 THAT HOMELY MISS PIKE. 93 
 
 to say, " Oh, Miss Pike, would you like 
 to hear what a funny composition Flaxie 
 wrote last fall ? " a sudden thought checked 
 him. 
 
 Was this a kincl thing to do ? The com- 
 position was very foolish, certainly, but his 
 little sister had long ago grown thoroughly 
 ashamed of it, though very proud of it at 
 first. 
 
 "It would cut her up dreadfully to have 
 Miss Pike hear it. So what 's the use? I 'm 
 sure I don't like to have Flaxie make fun of 
 me" thought he. He had been greatly hum- 
 bled to-day, and nothing makes us so tender 
 of others as suffering keenly ourselves. 
 
 Miss Pike had been struck from the first 
 with the remarkably frank and noble expres- 
 sion of Preston's face. Possibly she would 
 have admired him still more if she had known 
 of the temptation he was resisting. It was a
 
 94 KITTY LEEN. 
 
 temptation, for the composition would have 
 amused Miss Pike, and he knew it. Here it 
 is, that you may see it for yourselves. 
 
 FLAXIE'S COMPOSITION. 
 
 " DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
 
 
 
 " There is classed throughout the species 
 domestic animals. The cat is very domestic, 
 and the turkey and the spider and the cow. 
 The elephant is not very domestic, but he is 
 a very useful animal. The pig is a very use- 
 ful animal and very domestic. Were it not 
 for the pig, what should we have to bake with 
 our beans, or in which to fry our doughnuts ? 
 Ought we not then to be very thankful to 
 the domestic animals for thus treating us so 
 kindly?" 
 
 Preston never afterward thought of this lit- 
 tle trip without the warmest gratitude to Miss 
 Pike. He had dreaded meeting the family, 
 but she explained matters to them so charm-
 
 THAT HOMELY MISS PIKE. 95 
 
 ingly that nobody thought of laughing at him. 
 And then the handsome Rover was such a 
 surprise and so generally admired that the 
 mishaps of the day, dreadful as they had been 
 at the time, seemed hardly worth mentioning 
 now. 
 
 " So you 've been adopted by a dog, my 
 son," said Dr. Gray. 
 
 "How nice it was that you stopped at 
 Bremen ! " said Julia. " I suppose you really 
 saved poor Rover's life. But then if it had n't 
 been just you, he wouldn't have 'adopted' 
 you. You make dogs love you by just look- 
 ing at them." 
 
 " And I don't wonder," thought Miss 
 Pike. 
 
 Until to-day she had never seen any of the 
 Gray family except Mrs. Gray and Flaxie, but 
 now, as she gazed about the room, she per- 
 ceived at once that it was a most delightful
 
 g KITTYLEEN. 
 
 home. Mrs. Gray was a pretty, black-eyed 
 woman, who seldom sat still many minutes 
 at a time except when the children were 
 safely asleep. Dr. Gray was a large, cheer- 
 ful, agreeable man, fond of telling short sto- 
 ries. Julia, almost a young lady, had a re- 
 markably sweet face, and it was a pleasure 
 to see what care she took of noisy Phil and 
 dainty little Ethel. 
 
 But loveliest of all was Madam Gray, the 
 little fairy grandmother, with her white hair, 
 white cap, white ribbons, and dear, benevo- 
 lent face. She sat peacefully knitting, in 
 her easy-chair, while everybody was talking 
 and laughing around her ; and Miss Pike 
 fancied she was thinking of the friends of 
 her youth, for something in her calm and 
 quiet face seemed to say, 
 
 " They are all gone into a world of light, 
 And I alone sit lingering here."
 
 THAT HOMELY MISS PIKE. 97 
 
 "And long may you linger, you dear, 
 sweet, beautiful old lady," thought Miss 
 Pike, who knew, without being told, that 
 the whole family were better for blessed 
 Grandma Gray. 
 
 In a little more than two weeks Flaxie 
 returned from Hilltop, this time "all sole 
 alone," declaring she had had a "perfectly 
 lovely visit," that well repaid her for the 
 chicken-pox. She confided to her mother 
 that it was easy enough travelling alone, for 
 then you could keep your ticket and your 
 check, and were not burdened with any 
 troublesome crackers and cheese. But she 
 said nothing of this sort to Preston, for her 
 mother assured her it was wiser to drop the 
 subject. Mrs. Gray never approved of 
 teasing. 
 
 Miss Pike was gratified to see that Flaxie 
 had improved very much since the days when
 
 9$ KITTYLEEN. 
 
 she went to school with the twin cousin, 
 Milly Allen, at Hilltop. 
 
 " The pure and gentle influences of her 
 home are moulding her into a fine little 
 girl. She is less rude, less forward, more 
 amiable, and thoughtful of others." 
 
 For her part, Flaxie told everybody that 
 Miss Pike was her "favorite friend," and it 
 made her " too happy for anything " to have 
 her in the house all the time. 
 
 Lessons were taught every morning in 
 the large pink chamber over the dining- 
 room. It was a school for the whole family, 
 from Julia, who learned French and painting, 
 down to tiny Ethel, who was allowed some- 
 times to sit in the room and draw pictures 
 on the slate, or hold kitty in her lap, if she 
 wouldn't "'peak one word." 
 
 Yes, and often Rover came, too, the quiet- 
 est scholar of all, and perfectly happy to
 
 THAT HOMELY MISS PIKE. 99 
 
 crouch at his young master's feet and re- 
 ceive a caressing pat now and then. 
 
 It was far more interesting than going 
 to the brick schcolhouse, which was poorly 
 heated and not ventilated at all. Flaxie was 
 inclined to sore throats and Julia to head- 
 aches, and it was for their sakes that Doctor 
 Papa had decided this winter to have a gov- 
 erness in the house. 
 
 He could not have chosen a better one. 
 Miss Pike was an excellent young lady, 
 highly educated and refined. Moreover, 
 there was a peculiar charm about her, you 
 hardly knew what it was, though you could 
 not be with her five minutes without feel- 
 ing it. 
 
 Flaxie remembered how she used to go to 
 the white school-house at Hilltop with her 
 cousin Milly, and sit and admire Miss Pike, 
 and "wish she could see her soul," which
 
 IOO KITTYLEEN. 
 
 Aunt Charlotte said was so much more 
 beautiful than her face. And now Flaxie 
 sat in an armed chair in the pink chamber 
 and admired her just the same. Somehow 
 there was a happy feeling all over the room 
 because Miss Pike was in it. Flaxie's 
 thoughts grew calm and pleasant, as if the 
 world were made of sunshine and flowers ; 
 and she wished with all her heart to be truly 
 good and always growing better. She 
 hoped she should never do another wrong 
 thing as long as she lived. 
 
 But there was one drawback to this home 
 school, and that was Kittyleen. Did any- 
 thing ever happen at the village, particularly 
 at Dr. Gray's, that Kittyleen Garland did not 
 find it out sooner or later? No, indeed. It 
 was of no use trying to keep this little brown- 
 eyed maid away unless you locked the door. 
 
 " I can read some now. If I go to school
 
 THAT HOMELY MISS PIKE. [Ol 
 
 I can read all" said Miss Kittyleen, coming 
 in all out of breath and peeping at the chil- 
 dren from between the rounds of a chair. 
 
 Then Flaxie had to take her down-stairs - 
 to Mrs. Gray, who dropped her work to 
 amuse her. 
 
 4 
 
 Next day it would be the same thing over 
 again. 
 
 " Fought I 'd come up and look out o ' 
 your winner, Miss Pike. There now, Effel, 
 draw a little .baby on the slate, and I'll 
 say oh ! oh ! " 
 
 But Ethel, who had been taught to obey 
 orders, always shook her head sternly at 
 Kittyleen, whispering, " Effie don't ' peak a 
 word." 
 
 Miss Pike was never vexed with sweet 
 little wayward Kittyleen ; but she did think 
 Mrs. Garland ought to keep her at home. 
 It was Flaxie whose temper was most tried,
 
 IO2 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 for Flaxie was always the one to take the 
 young rogue down-stairs ; and she found it 
 hard sometimes to refrain from shaking her 
 just a wee bit. 
 
 " What made you throw Ethel's kitty out 
 of the window ? " she would say. " You are 
 the little girl that picked my dolly's eyes out. 
 O, Kittyleen, I made my will, and I was 
 going to give you the prettiest, cunningest 
 present ; but if you don't stay at home I 
 shall make my will all over again, and not 
 give you one single thing." 
 
 Kittyleen had often heard of Flaxie's 
 "will," and had formed various opinions as 
 to what it might be. Sometimes she thought 
 it was a very large pin-cushion, sometimes 
 she thought it was a sort of Christmas box ; 
 but she always cried when Flaxie said she 
 should " make it all over again," feeling that 
 this was more than she could bear.
 
 THAT HOMELY MISS PIKE. IO3 
 
 " O Flatsie, please don't," she would plead, 
 with her little arms around her friend's neck. 
 " It 's such a pretty will ! Me velly much 
 obliged." 
 
 " Oh, you good-for-nothing, darling little 
 goosie. Let me kiss that snarl of hair. 
 Does your hair ache, Kittyleen, when it is 
 snarled ? " 
 
 So the scolding generally ended in a kiss, 
 for let Baby Kittyleen do what she would, 
 Flaxie very well knew there was no guile in 
 her tiny heart. 
 
 " Do you suppose, mamma, I '11 ever grow 
 patient and good, like you and grammy and 
 Miss Pike ? " asked Flaxie one night, in a 
 tone of deep discouragement. " I can't 
 keep my patience with Kittyleen when she 
 comes and rubs out my figures on the slate. 
 Why, mamma, I was real naughty to-day, I 
 lost my calm?
 
 IO4 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 " But you do try to be patient, dear, I know 
 you try," said Mrs. Gray. 
 
 "Yes, mamma, but I lost my calm," 
 repeated the little girl dolefully. " I ought 
 not to. I ought to do unto Kittyleen as 
 I 'd like to have other people do unto Ethel. 
 That 's the Golden-Rule way, Julia says. 
 And should I like to have anybody whirl 
 Ethel round by the shoulders and call her a 
 disgustable girl ? " 
 
 " She is a remarkably sweet child, my 
 daughter. She loves you in spite of every- 
 thing." 
 
 " Well, mamma, I love her, too, only I 'd 
 love her better if she did n't always go 
 where she is n't wanted." 
 
 " Kittyleen goes everywhere" broke in lit- 
 tle Ethel, on a high key. " She goes to 
 church, Kittyleen does. Mayn't I go to 
 church, I won't 'peak a word."
 
 THAT HOMELY MISS PIKE. 10$ 
 
 " Oh, mamma, do let her," said Flaxie, 
 forgetting her late distress of mind, and 
 taking up a new subject. " She 'd behave 
 ever so much better than Kittyleen ; and 
 she has a new bonnet, too." 
 
 " Do you suppose it does Kittyleen any 
 good to go to church ? " asked Mrs. Gray, 
 smiling. 
 
 " No 'm, but it would do Ethel good, for 
 she 'd sit still and hear every word like a 
 little lady. 
 
 " T>Q you hear every word, Mary ? " 
 
 " N o, mamma, not always, but I mean 
 to. And Ethel has such a pretty bonnet." 
 
 " Please, mamma," echoed the little one 
 eagerly, "such a pretty bonnet. And I 
 won't 'peak a word." 
 
 " Well," said Mrs. Gray, kissing baby's 
 cherry lips. " Perhaps we '11 let the bonnet 
 go to church ; we will see."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 FLAXIE IN CHURCH. 
 
 THE little one went to church the very 
 next Sunday, and though sister " Ninny " 
 had her in charge, Flaxie felt that she could 
 not drop her off her own mind for a moment. 
 So charming was wee Ethel in her blue silk 
 bonnet, with a lace frill about the face, that 
 Flaxie was obliged to turn half around and 
 gaze at her, completely lost in admiration. 
 
 " Oh, she 's the sweetest, best little dear ! 
 Ninny need n't say she is n't as pretty as Kitty- 
 leen, for she certainly is ! Anyway, her bon- 
 net is just as pretty, and a great deal newer! 
 Now there 's Fanny Townsend's little sister,
 
 FLAXIE IN CHURCH. IO/ 
 
 I should think Fanny 'd be ashamed to have 
 her wear such a bonnet." 
 
 Good Mr. Lee was preaching a sermon, 
 which he thought the children in the congre- 
 gation could nearly all understand ; but the 
 words seemed to Flaxie to run together 
 without any meaning ; she was not trying to 
 listen. 
 
 " How Kittyleen does nestle about ! Her 
 mother doesn't watch her a bit. She lets 
 her do everything and go everywhere. I 
 think she 's a queer woman. My mamma 
 would n't let Ethel stir out of the house if 
 she could n't behave better than Kittyleen. 
 No, she'd tie her in a chair. 
 
 "Why, there's Sadie Stockwell sitting with 
 Aunty Prim. That 's my dress Sadie has 
 on. Pity Sadie's father can't buy her any 
 dresses! Pity he drinks so, and is so poor! 
 Pity Sadie is so lame, with her shoulders all
 
 IO8 KITTYLEpN. 
 
 hitched up ! How kind of Miss Pike, to give 
 Sadie that beautiful book ! When I grow up 
 I'm going to be just like Miss Pike and 
 make people love me. Perhaps I can be 
 good if I'm not very homely." 
 
 Here Flaxie stole another glance at Ethel's 
 bonnet. "Darling! She's just as still as a 
 lady. I suppose she 's saying to herself, 
 'Effel won't 'peak a word.' What if she 
 should speak ! Just think ! I wonder if Mr. 
 Lee knows she 's at church ? He loves 
 Ethel, for he sent her a little box of honey. 
 I shouldn't think he'd like to keep bees. I 
 should think he'd be afraid they'd sting his 
 little boy. There, I must look up at Mr. 
 Lee and hear what he says." 
 
 She raised her eyes to the pulpit. " How 
 queer his head looks where the hair is so 
 bald ! The top of it is just as smooth and 
 white ! Why, it shines like the ivory ball on
 
 FLAXIE IN CHURCH. 
 
 Ninny's parasol. What did make Mr. Lee's 
 hair all go off ? Doctor Papa said lie did n't 
 know what made it go off, for Mr. Lee is n't 
 old a bit, he's almost young." Gazing at the 
 smooth, ivory-white top of the minister's 
 head naturally reminded the little girl of 
 something Phil had said not long ago when 
 his hair was to be cut. 
 
 " Please don't cut it very short," said little 
 Phil, "don't cut it as short as Mr. Lee's." 
 
 Flaxie was in great danger of smiling as 
 she recollected this. 
 
 " Why don't I listen to the sermon ? " 
 thought she. " It 's very wicked not to 
 listen. Oh, he 's gone way by the text ! What 
 is he saying about the brook of Cherith ? 
 They don't have Bible places in my geog 
 raphy, and I never heard of the brook of 
 Cherith." 
 
 Next moment, after a fond glance at Ethel,
 
 IIO KITTYLEEN. 
 
 her eye fell upon Preston, and this gave still 
 another turn to her thoughts. 
 
 "I should think Preston would be ashamed 
 ever to say anything more to me about my 
 'Domestic Animals.' The composition he 
 wrote the other day is ever so much worse 
 than that." 
 
 It was " The Story of Evangeline." Miss 
 Pike had read Longfellow's beautiful poem 
 aloud, and then asked the children to write 
 down all they could remember of it. 
 
 Here, in Preston's own words, is 
 
 THE STORY OF EVANGELINE. 
 
 " Evangeline lived in Nova Scotia. She was 
 engaged to Gabriel. He was a blacksmith's 
 son. The English soldiers came and told the 
 French to leave. They left. Evangeline and 
 Gabriel did not go on the same boat. They 
 got mixed up and separated. Evangeline did
 
 FLAXIE IN CHURCH. Ill 
 
 not like it. She and her priest went all 
 round out West to try to find Gabriel. He 
 did not try to find her. Then she heard he 
 had gone up North to trade for mules, and 
 she went to hunt him up. She did not find 
 him. Then she grew very old and went to 
 live with the Quakers. She was a nun. One 
 Sunday morning she picked some flowers 
 and went to the poor-house, and found an 
 old man in bed dying. She said, Gabriel. 
 He looked up. They kissed each other and 
 he died." 
 
 Dr. Gray said this story ought to be en- 
 titled " The Fatal Effects of a Kiss." Even 
 grandma had laughed heartily on reading it, 
 though Preston himself could see nothing in 
 it to laugh at. 
 
 But it was by no means of Evangeline or 
 her fatal kiss that Preston was thinking just 
 now. Sitting quietly beside his father, he
 
 112 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 was looking up at the minister and drinking 
 in every word of the sermon. He had long 
 been noted for his excellent behavior at 
 church, and Mr. Lee had more than once 
 said to the boy's father that none of the 
 grown people listened to their pastor with 
 more respectful attention than young Pres- 
 ton Gray. I am afraid Mr. Lee would not 
 have said anything like that about Flaxie. 
 She sat still enough, often very still indeed, 
 but her eyes were roving all about, and so 
 were her thoughts. 
 
 Miss Pike observed this, and it occurred to 
 her that it would be a very sad thing if Flaxie 
 should allow her inattention to grow into a 
 confirmed habit. Very likely she said some- 
 thing of the sort to Dr. Gray, for she felt a 
 great interest in the child's improvement. 
 At any rate, that afternoon, when the four 
 o'clock dinner was over and the Gray family
 
 FLAXIE IN CHURCH. 113 
 
 were seated in the back parlor, Miss Pike, 
 grandma, and all, Doctor Papa said, rather 
 unexpectedly, 
 
 "Now suppose we ask these little people 
 what the sermon was about this morning?" 
 
 He chanced to be looking at Flaxie as he 
 spoke, but she said quickly, 
 
 " Oh, please ask Julia first, papa, for she 
 is the oldest. No, I mean Ethel, for she is 
 the youngest." 
 
 This was too absurd. 
 
 "Is n't Phil young enough ? Perhaps we 
 may begin with him. Think hard, my son, 
 and see if you can remember anything Mr. 
 Lee said to-day." 
 
 Little Phil knitted his brows, but like 
 Flaxie he had been looking around, not lis- 
 tening. 
 
 " Oh, papa, there was a woman there, had 
 a thing on all bangled with beads." 
 8
 
 114 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 " Yes, my son ; but what did the minister 
 say ? " Phil rolled his eyes. 
 
 " Oh, there was a little girl there, about as 
 big as Ethel, had a white bonnet on and a 
 white cloak." 
 
 " Yes ; but what did the minister say ? " 
 
 "Oh, Ethel," said crestfallen little Phil, 
 turning to his baby sister for comfort, "you 
 and I are too small. We can't remember 
 what they preach, can we ? " 
 
 " We won't be too hard on you, my little 
 son," said Doctor Papa. "You are only five 
 years old ; but I am sure Mr. Lee says some 
 things that even you can understand. Will 
 you really try next Sunday to listen ? " 
 
 " I don't know how, papa," replied the 
 little fellow, dropping his head. 
 
 " But I only asked you to try. You can 
 try, can't you, Philip ? Now, next Sunday 
 afternoon there will bo a particularly large,
 
 FLAXIE IN CHURCH. I 15 
 
 yellow banana in the fruit-dish at dessert, and 
 it will go to the small boy who can tell me 
 something just a little something the 
 minister said." 
 
 Phil's eyes began to shine. Oh, would n't 
 he look straight at Mr. Lee next Sunday, and 
 bring home lots and lots of the sermon ! 
 
 " There, it 's Flaxie's turn now," said he, 
 as Flaxie with a very sober face wedged her 
 chair between her mother and Miss Pike. 
 
 " Mr. Lee said," began she, hurriedly, " he 
 said something about a brook, I forget the 
 name of the brook, and he said something 
 about a man, I can't think what the man's 
 name was, and the ravens came and fed 
 him." 
 
 " The ravens are right. Go on. Why did 
 the ravens feed him ? " 
 
 " I don't know, papa." Flaxie looked help- 
 less. " I did n't hear the rest. I had to 
 watch Ethel for fear she 'd talk."
 
 Il6 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 Dr. Gray said nothing more. He merely 
 looked at his little daughter. 
 
 " Oh, papa, I won't do so again. I won't, 
 truly. I '11 hear every single word. But 
 sometimes, you know, I can't understand." 
 
 "You could have understood this, my 
 daughter ; it was all very simple. Now, 
 Preston ? " 
 
 " It was about the prophet Elijah, sir. 
 Elijah was a very solemn kind of man. He 
 lived alone in the mountains and talked with 
 God. There was a wicked king called Ahab, 
 who worshipped idols, and Elijah went to 
 him and told him it was wrong, and Ahab 
 was very angry, and Elijah had to run away. 
 He was told to go to the brook Cherith and 
 drink the waters of it, and the ravens would 
 come and feed him. And the ravens did. 
 They brought him bread and meat night and 
 morning till the brook dried up and Elijah
 
 FLAXIE IN CHURCH. 
 
 had to go somewhere else. I believe," said 
 Preston, reflecting, " I believe that 's all I 
 
 can remember." 
 
 
 
 " You have done well. Do you know to 
 what nation Elijah belonged ? " 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 " Can Julia tell ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir, he was an Arab." Julia always 
 looked very modest and pretty in answering 
 questions. She went on now, with her hands 
 folded in her lap. " Elijah had long thick 
 hair hanging down his back, and he wore a 
 cape of sheepskin ; they called it a mantle. 
 And he used to hide his face in it sometimes, 
 and sometimes he rolled it up and used it for 
 a staff." 
 
 " What is a raven ? " 
 
 " It is a kind of crow." 
 
 " Oh, I thought it was a kind of ostrich," 
 said Flaxie.
 
 Il8 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 This extraordinary statement brought a 
 smile to Preston's face, but his father said, 
 " I was just thinking of a little story about 
 an ostrich. God has strange ways of saving 
 people's lives sometimes." 
 
 The children looked attentive, and Mrs. 
 Gray drew Ethel into her lap to keep her 
 quiet, while papa pared his orange and began : 
 
 " It was more than fifty years ago that Mr. 
 Broadbent, a missionary, was travelling in 
 Cape Colony. Where is that, Mary ? " 
 
 "Oh, Africa, Africa; way down there at 
 the bottom of the map." 
 
 " He had his family with him, and a few 
 friends and some Hottentots. There were 
 fourteen in the party. They were crossing a 
 sandy table-land. What is that, Julia?" 
 
 " High and flat land, like a table." 
 
 " Right. They rode in wagons, drawn by 
 oxen. It was a week's journey, but they had
 
 FLAXIE IN CHURCH. 
 
 not enough food to start with, and could buy 
 but little at the last town on the way. So 
 after they had travelled two days there was 
 not much left but a small sack of rice and 
 some tea and coffee. What would become 
 of them ? Five more days across a country 
 where nothing grew, not even a blade of 
 grass ! Now and then they saw a bird fly- 
 ing overhead, but it was very swift, and 
 far away, and they could hardly ever hit it 
 with their guns." 
 
 " Oh, dear, did they starve ? " asked Flaxie*. 
 
 " There, now, if those birds had only beerij 
 ravens ! " 
 
 " The party stopped to rest, and they sent 
 one of the Hottentots to watch the oxen ; 
 but I dare say he fell asleep, for several of 
 the oxen strayed away. 
 
 " It seemed a great pity, for he had to 
 go to look them up and was gone a long
 
 1 2O KITTYLEEN. 
 
 time, and the travellers could not afford to 
 wait." 
 
 " Well, if they were going to starve, papa, 
 it did n't make any difference whether they 
 waited or not." 
 
 "When the Hottentot came back he had 
 a great piece of news to tell. He had found 
 the nest of an ostrich, with forty eggs in it." 
 
 " Oh, papa, are ostrich eggs good to eat ? 
 Do tell us about it." 
 
 " So I will, my daughter, if I am not inter- 
 rupted too often." 
 
 Flaxie blushed, and hid her face on Miss 
 Pike's shoulder. 
 
 " The nest of an ostrich is a curiosity, and 
 Mr. Broadbent waded through two or three 
 miles of deep sand to see this one. You 
 would think the mother bird had studied 
 arithmetic all her life, for she seemed to have 
 counted the eggs and set them in their places
 
 FLAXIE IN CHURCH. 121 
 
 with perfect exactness. In the middle were 
 fourteen close together, and three or four 
 feet away from them were the other twenty- 
 six eggs in an unbroken circle, as even as a 
 row of gold beads. 
 
 " The ostrich had been sitting on the ones 
 in the middle. She expected to hatch just 
 fourteen birds. She had not sat on the outer 
 eggs at all, and there they were, entirely 
 fresh and good to eat. She was saving them 
 as food for the babies. She meant to break 
 then, one after another, and give them to her 
 chickens as fast as they should come out of 
 the shell. 
 
 " It would be just as much food as the four- 
 teen little ones would need, before they were 
 old enough to go abroad with her and pick 
 up their living in the desert. How do you 
 suppose the ostrich knew this ? She had 
 hardly any brain, a very stupid bird indeed.
 
 122 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 It must have been taught her directly from 
 Heaven. 
 
 " Well, you see now that the travellers did 
 not starve. For a meal they broke one of 
 these eggs into a bowl, beat it well, and 
 mixed with it a little flour, pepper, and salt, 
 and fried it in a pan. It served very well in- 
 stead of bread with their tea and coffee, and 
 when they arrived at their station they had 
 two or three eggs to spare." 
 
 " Is that all ? " asked Preston, as his father 
 paused and offered a piece of orange to Ethel. 
 " It was almost as good as the ravens, was n't 
 it ? " 
 
 " I want to ask one question," said Julia. 
 "How large is an ostrich egg?" 
 
 " It weighs perhaps three pounds, and is 
 almost as large around the middle as Ethel's 
 waist." 
 
 " Well, I 'm glad those people did n't
 
 FLAXIE IN CHURCH. 123 
 
 starve," remarked Flaxie, "I was afraid one 
 while they would." 
 
 I have introduced this true story here, 
 partly for its own sake, and partly to give 
 you a picture of one of the delightful Sunday 
 afternoons at Dr. Gray's. If I had time I 
 would like to tell you of the strong efforts 
 which Flaxie made from this very day to 
 overcome the bad habit of letting her 
 thoughts wander in church. But this book 
 is so small, and there are yet so many events 
 waiting to be described, that I must now 
 hasten on to something else. 
 
 In April Miss Pike went home, carrying 
 with her the hearts of all the Grays, both 
 young and old. The whole family insisted 
 so strongly upon her coming back the next 
 winter that she said, 
 
 " Thank you ; perhaps I may come, for I 
 have been very happy at Laurel Grove, and
 
 124 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 love every one of you dearly. But," she 
 added, smiling, "you forget that you may not 
 be here next winter. If Dr. Gray should be 
 elected to Congress, won't you all go to 
 Washington ? " 
 
 "Oh, he does not expect to be elected," 
 replied Mrs. Gray. " But if we should go to 
 Washington, we shall want you to go there 
 with us. Now, please remember." 
 
 " How delightful ! Well, Mrs. Gray, I will 
 say to you as you say to little Ethel, 4 We 
 will see.'"
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PRIMROSE BOWER. 
 
 FLAXIE did not hear this conversation, 
 or she would have built various castles in 
 the air in regard to "going to Congress." It 
 is true, people often talked before her of the 
 coming " election," and spoke of Dr. Gray as 
 a " candidate " ; but the words were myste- 
 rious, and soon faded out of her mind. 
 
 The snow and mud had disappeared. 
 Dandelions were shining everywhere in the 
 tender grass, and Ethel said, gleefully, 
 
 " Oh, see the dandy-diddles ! " 
 
 The birds burst forth into song and the 
 trees into leaves. Plaxie pointed to the soft, 
 fresh leaf -buds slowly unfolding, and said to
 
 126 KITTVLEEN. 
 
 her mother, " Miss Pike calls them the beau- 
 tiful thoughts the trees have kept all winter 
 shut up in their hearts. Miss Pike is so 
 funny ! " 
 
 Summer came, and by the last of June 
 Grandpa and Grandma Curtis and Grandma 
 Hyde arrived from Kentucky. This made 
 three grandmothers in the house at one time. 
 The Gray family were remarkably rich in 
 grandmothers ; and there was still another, 
 a fourth one, who might have come if she 
 had not been too feeble, and that was dear 
 Grandma Pressy. 
 
 The two from Kentucky were entirely 
 unlike, yet each in her way was excellent and 
 charming, tall, queenly Grandma Hyde, 
 wearing gray silk and a turban, and always 
 piecing together a silk patch-work quilt ; 
 roly-poly Grandma Curtis, clad entirely in 
 black, and always knitting children's stock-
 
 PRIMROSE BOWER. I2/ 
 
 ings with needles that clicked. But they 
 were alike in one respect ; they both remem- 
 bered everything they had ever seen or 
 heard of, and everything that had ever hap- 
 pened since the world began. Yes, and 
 they were both gifted with wondrous powers 
 of story-telling. Tiny Grandma Gray, with 
 her sweet, low voice, had hardly a chance to 
 speak ; for the Kentucky ladies were talking 
 morning, noon, and night. 
 
 It was delightful to hear them, and 
 Grandma Gray listened and laughed, her 
 white cap-strings fluttering, and said she 
 was renewing her youth. But by-and-by it 
 began to tire her head, for she was very 
 delicate indeed, and she complained that she 
 could not sleep. Still she would stay in the 
 parlor, she enjoyed the talking so much ; and 
 Mrs. Prim came one day, and declared she 
 should carry her off.
 
 128 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 41 You must stay with me a while and be 
 quiet," said. Mrs. Prim, who liked to man- 
 age everything, "and Mary shall come with 
 you to take care of you." 
 
 Flaxie did not spring up and exclaim, "Oh, 
 Auntie Prim, thank you, thank you, I 'd be 
 so glad to go ! " for the truth was she did not 
 wish to go in the least. At the same time, 
 she felt it a high honor to be invited to Mrs. 
 Prim's to take care of Grandma Gray. She 
 could remember the time, not so very long 
 ago, when she had been sent away from 
 home because Grandma Gray could not bear 
 the noise she made. 
 
 41 1 'm growing a great deal stiller and a 
 great deal better as I grow up," thought the 
 little girl, with a throb of pride, " but I did n't 
 suppose Auntie Prim knew it." 
 
 "We don't like to spare our dear little 
 Mary," said both the Kentucky grand-
 
 PRIMROSE BOWER. I 2Q 
 
 mothers in a breath ; and then Flaxie felt 
 prouder than ever. 
 
 " Oh, she can come home every day to see 
 you, and you will be surprised at the number 
 of pillow-cases she will make ; she always 
 sews very steadily at my house," replied 
 Mrs. Prim. "Run now, Mary, and get your 
 hat." 
 
 Mrs. Prim had the finest house and 
 grounds in Laurel Grove, but it was very 
 still there, oh, altogether too still ! The gar- 
 dener never talked, except to himself, the 
 chambermaid was rather deaf, and Kitty, the 
 cook, did not like any one in her nice, orderly 
 kitchen. Flaxie thought it a very dull place, 
 except at the hours when Mr. Prim came 
 home to his meals. 
 
 One clay she sat in the parlor, sewing 
 "over and over " upon a pillow-case. Out of 
 doors it was a lovely June day. The trees, and 
 9
 
 I3O KITTYLEEN. 
 
 grass, and birds, and flowers, were nodding 
 at one another, and having a gay time, and 
 Flaxie longed to be with them. But no, at 
 " Primrose Bower," as Mr. Prim called his 
 home, it was necessary to stay in the house ; 
 for Auntie Prim thought a little girl nine 
 years old ought to "sew her seams," and 
 then she might play, perhaps, if she found 
 any time. 
 
 Strange there should n't be any dog at 
 Primrose Bower, or even a cat ; but Grandma 
 Gray was there, and that was a comfort. 
 The more Flaxie waited upon the silver- 
 haired, sweet-voiced, fairy grandmother, the 
 better she loved her ; only dear Grandma 
 Gray was always going to sleep on the sofa, 
 and then you had to keep still enough to 
 hear a pin drop for fear of waking her up. 
 
 "Well," said Auntie Prim, coming into 
 the parlor with her bonnet on, " I gave you
 
 PRIMROSE BOWER. 13! 
 
 work enough to last a good while, did n't I, 
 Mary?" 
 
 "Yes, 'm, ever so long," replied Flaxie, 
 with a sorrowful glance at the pillow-case. 
 
 " So you won't mind staying in the house 
 with grandma, will you ? I 'm going to the 
 stores to buy a calico dress and various 
 things ; but when I come back you may run 
 home, and stay as long as you like." 
 
 " Yes, 'm," said Flaxie, meekly. 
 
 She thought Auntie Prim spent a good 
 deal of time at the stores, and was afraid if 
 she bought "various things" it would be 
 pretty late by the time she came back ; and 
 Flaxie did want to ask Grandma Curtis a few 
 questions about Venus, the colored girl who 
 lived at her house in Kentucky, and she 
 wanted a ride before dark on Preston's pony. 
 
 " Let me see," said Auntie Prim, thought- 
 fully, " perhaps it would be better for you
 
 1 32 KITTVLEEN. 
 
 to promise me not to leave this room while 
 I 'm gone. You mean well, Mary, but 
 you 're so fond of running ! Yes, on ac- 
 count of Grandma Gray, I think I should 
 feel easier if you were to make me a 
 promise." 
 
 " Yes, 'm, I will promise ! I '11 stay right 
 here. I '11 not go out of this room," replied 
 Flaxie, so sweetly that Mrs. Prim never 
 suspected the child's sensitive pride was 
 wounded. 
 
 " She thinks I 'm a horrid little girl. She 
 thinks I'm just awful," said Flaxie to her- 
 self, as she looked out of the window and 
 watched her aunt walking away with a gray- 
 fringed parasol in one hand and a shopping- 
 bag in the other. " My mamma would have 
 trusted me without any promise ! She 'd 
 know I would n't run off and leave Grandma 
 Gray ! " Very soon Grandma Gray came in
 
 PRIMROSE BOWER. 133 
 
 and said she was going to try to get a nap on 
 the sofa, and hoped Flaxie would keep pretty 
 still. " Yes, 'm," sighed Flaxie ; and after 
 this she breathed as softly as possible for 
 fear of making a noise. 
 
 Grandma was asleep in two minutes, with 
 her handkerchief over her eyes, and that 
 made the room seem more lonesome than 
 ever. Outside a stray cat came and sat on 
 the window-sill, begging to come in ; and as 
 she opened her mouth to mew, she looked, 
 Flaxie thought, like a wee, wee old lady, 
 whose little teeth were more than half gone. 
 Flaxie loved cats ; why not let her in ? 
 
 But no ! The window had a fly-screen, and 
 besides, Auntie Prim did n't approve of cats. 
 "It's 110, no, 110, all the time. I don't like 
 Primrose Bower," thought poor Flaxie, drop- 
 ping her work and stealing on tiptoe to the 
 mantel, to smell the flowers in the bronze vase.
 
 134 KITTVLEEN. 
 
 They were lovely roses and lilies, but they 
 looked as if they longed to be out of doors, 
 where they could bend their tired heads. 
 The chairs seemed rather uncomfortable, too, 
 standing up so stiff and straight against the 
 gilded walls. Even the gilded fireboard 
 looked as if it was set in the fireplace very 
 hard, and had no hope of ever coming out. 
 
 " Oh, it 's so still here, and so shut up ! I 
 wish there was something alive in the room," 
 thought the little sewing-girl, going back to 
 her task. 
 
 She did not know that close behind her 
 there was something alive dreadfully alive 
 a cross, disappointed, hungry bee! How 
 had he got there, into that shut-up room 
 where even the little flies never dared come ? 
 
 But there he was, and he would not go 
 away without doing mischief. Perhaps he 
 had had some family trouble, which had
 
 PRIMROSE BOVVER. 135 
 
 soured his temper ; or perhaps he mistook 
 Flaxie for a new variety of blush rose, of 
 great size and sweetness. At any rate, he 
 flew straight toward her, and without the 
 least ceremony stung her on the wrist. 
 Poor Flaxie ! Was it not rather severe ? 
 Particularly as she dared not scream. " I 
 must scream, I will scream," she thought in 
 agony ; " I will, I will ! " 
 
 But no. For grandma was fast asleep. 
 She must not wake grandma, though the sky 
 should fall. 
 
 " I '11 run out-doors. I '11 run home to. 
 mamma. I must go where I can scream." 
 
 But no ! She could n't even go into the 
 entry. Had n't she promised ? And you 
 must know Flaxie belonged to the sort of 
 little girls who hold a promise to be as 
 sacred as the oath of a queen. 
 
 So she stayed where she was, and bore the
 
 136 KITTYLEEN 
 
 anguish in silence. She could not possibly 
 help hopping up and down, but she hopped 
 softly ; she could not help groaning, but 
 she groaned in whispers ; she could not keep 
 the tears back, but she sobbed them noise- 
 lessly into her handkerchief. I don't know 
 what you think of this, little reader, but I 
 think it was truly grand and heroic. 
 
 Are you nine years old, and have you ever 
 borne the sting of a bee, or the drawing of 
 a tooth, without uttering a sound ? Ah, you 
 have ! Then I would like to see you, and 
 shake hands ! 
 
 Grandma Gray woke presently, and- saw 
 Flaxie shaking with sobs, her head buried 
 in the cushion of Uncle Prim's chair. You 
 may be sure she was not long in learning 
 what the matter was, and in calling Kitty 
 from the kitchen to bathe the poor puffed 
 wrist with arnica.
 
 PRIMROSE BOWER. 137 
 
 " Ah, thin, and a bee always knows what is 
 swate," said Irish Kate, bathing the wrist 
 softly. 
 
 " The blessed little darling ! " murmured 
 grandma, not referring, of course, to the bee. 
 " To think you should n't have made one bit 
 of noise to disturb your grandmother ! I 
 would n't have blamed you if you 'd screamed 
 with all your might." 
 
 " But, grandma, I promised you I would n't 
 make a noise." 
 
 "So you did, precious child. I forgot 
 that." 
 
 " And I promised Auntie Prim I 'd stay in 
 this room. Oh, how I did want to go out and 
 scream ! " 
 
 " Little Mary," said gentle Grandma Gray, 
 taking Flaxie in her arms, " I 'm proud of 
 you, my dear ! " 
 
 " Ah, was n't it worth all Flaxie had
 
 138 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 suffered to hear such words as these ? 
 When had anybody been proud of her 
 before ? 
 
 The pain was over, but the little wrist was 
 still " a sight to behold " when Auntie 
 Prim came home with her calico dress and 
 " various things " in her bag ; and grandma 
 said, in a ringing voice, 
 
 " Mrs. Prim, we have a little girl here who 
 is quite a heroine. Yes, a heroine, I say ! " 
 
 " Do you mean our little Mary ? Why, 
 what has she done ? " asked auntie, coolly, as 
 she put away her bonnet and parasol. But 
 she was n't quite so cool after she had heard 
 the story. 
 
 " Why, you good, high-minded little girl ! 
 A grown woman could n't have been braver," 
 said she, and actually kissed Flaxie. 
 
 " It is a great pity I bound you by a prom- 
 ise ; I need n't have done it. Some little girls
 
 PRIMROSE BOWER. 139 
 
 can be trusted without any promises," she 
 added, looking at grandma with an approving 
 smile. 
 
 Flaxie blushed for joy. She had always 
 had a vague feeling of being looked down 
 upon by Auntie Prim, as a wild little girl 
 who was " so fond of running"; and now to 
 have this stern, good woman praise her so ! 
 
 " But," said auntie, unrolling the dotted 
 brown calico and laying it across her lap, 
 " how came that bee in here, with the doors 
 shut and the fly-screens all in ? " 
 
 As she spoke, two bees buzzed and circled 
 slowly above her head. In her surprise I 
 must confess Mrs. Prim screamed. Flaxie 
 was delighted. Mrs. Prim, however, was a 
 little ashamed, for the minister, Mr. Lee, at 
 that moment entered the door. 
 
 " Ah, what 's this ? " said he, laughing ; 
 *' are you hiding away my bees ? "
 
 I4O KITTYLEEN. 
 
 " Your bees ? " cried Mrs. Prim ; and she 
 looked up at Mr. Lee, who stood, hat in 
 hand, his bald head shining, as Flaxie had 
 once fancied, like the ivory ball on Julia's 
 parasol. 
 
 " Yes, ma'am, my bees ! They swarmed 
 this afternoon, and your gardener told me he 
 suspected some of them had come down here, 
 and settled in your chimney. He saw them 
 flying over the roof of the house." 
 
 Mrs. Prim was a good woman, and had a 
 high respect for her pastor. It seemed very 
 strange and very improper that she should 
 set a trap for his bees ; but she laughed, and 
 they all laughed, and she said Stillwater, the 
 gardener, should go out on the roof through 
 the sky-window, and look down the parlor 
 chimney, and see what was going on in- 
 side. 
 
 Stillwater did so, and reported that a fine
 
 PRIMROSE BOWEK. 14! 
 
 family of bees had begun housekeeping in 
 the chimney. 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Prim, who came in just 
 then, "and they are making themselves 
 too much at home altogether ! Why, they 
 think they have a right not only to the chim- 
 ney, but to the whole parlor, and mean to 
 creep out around the edges of the fireboard, 
 and peep at us whenever they choose. 
 
 " But they need n't have stung my good 
 little Mary, and they must not sting her 
 again," said Mr. Lee, patting her head. He 
 had been very much pleased of late by 
 Flaxie's attentive behavior at church ; and he 
 thought now, as he looked at her fine young 
 face, that she was improving faster in char- 
 acter than any other little girl he knew in 
 Laurel Grove. 
 
 And to prevent further mischief from the 
 bees, the fireboard was fastened in very
 
 142 KITTVLEEN. 
 
 firmly. Uncle Prim did this with little wads 
 of gilt paper ; and even Auntie Prim, who was 
 so particular, declared no one could have 
 made it look better. 
 
 "I'm glad you like my beehive, ladies," 
 said Uncle Prim, with a low bow. " And 
 now I hope the bees will do their duty, and 
 fill it with the very nicest honey, from the 
 very sweetest flowers that grow in Primrose 
 garden ; and Mr. Lee is heartily welcome to 
 every drop! " 
 
 "Thank you, sir," returned Mr. Lee, "but 
 if the honey is going to belong to me, I shall 
 take pleasure in presenting it to little Mary. 
 She has well earned it by being such a mar- 
 tyr this afternoon." 
 
 Flaxie had no clear idea what a martyr 
 meant, but was sure from Mr. Lee's tone it 
 must be something he approved. Therefore, 
 she ran home in the finest spirits, to relate
 
 PRIMROSE BOWER. 143 
 
 the stirring events of the afternoon to her 
 family, and the two admiring g andmothers. 
 
 "And mamma," asked she, as. soon as she 
 saw her mother alone, " may I give the 
 honey to Sadie Stockwell next Christmas ? 
 Let me go my own self, please, with Black- 
 drop and the little sleigh, and carry it." 
 
 " Perhaps so, my dear. But it is quite 
 uncertain where you will be next Christmas," 
 replied Mrs. Gray, who had strong reason to 
 think she might be in Washington. 
 
 Flaxie, however, had forgotten all about 
 Washington. " Oh, perhaps I 'm going to 
 Hilltop," thought she. " But that would n't 
 be quite so splendid as to have Milly come 
 to my house. If she can come to my 
 house next winter, and go to school to Miss 
 Pike in the pink chamber, I '11 be perfectly 
 happy." 
 
 The little girl's dreams that night were of
 
 144 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 going to some wonderful country she had 
 never seen before. It must have been some- 
 where in fairyland, for 
 
 " Everything was strange and new, 
 And honey-bees had lost their stings, 
 And horses were born with eagles' wings."
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE LAST FEATHER. 
 
 THINGS happen to us sometimes that are 
 even better than we have dreamed. To be 
 with Miss Pike in the pink chamber again 
 had seemed happiness to Flaxie ; but to be 
 with Miss Pike in Washington, going every- 
 where and seeing everything, this was bliss 
 indeed ! 
 
 Dr. Gray was elected to Congress ; Pres- 
 ton was sent to boarding-school ; Julia stayed 
 with Grandma Gray at Mrs. Prim's ; and 
 Mrs. Gray went with her husband and the 
 three youngest children to board in Wash- 
 ington for the winter.
 
 146 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 Flaxie had never before seen so beautiful 
 a city, though she had travelled much more 
 than ordinary girls of her age. For days she 
 never tired of looking down from the window 
 of her fourth-story room, upon the clean, 
 white avenue, and watching the horses, car- 
 riages, and people passing to and fro. High, 
 high above the heads of the people was a 
 network of telegraph wires glistening in the 
 sun, and Flaxie thought if the wires would 
 only go higher yet, and bind the stars and 
 the earth together, how grand it would be. 
 She called this chamber her " sky-room," and 
 shared it with her "favorite friend," Miss 
 Pike. At the same hotel were Mrs. Garland 
 and Kittyleen, and Kittyleen's cousin Cora, 
 a girl of Flaxie's own age. Truly, as little 
 Ethel had said, Kittyleen did "go every- 
 where " ; but who would have thought of her 
 following the Grays to Washington ? But
 
 THE LAST FEATHER. 147 
 
 then, this was Mrs. Garland's native city, 
 and she had come here to spend part of the 
 winter, and take lessons in painting. 
 
 Kittyleen was just as pretty, and dear, and 
 sweet, as ever, and just as troublesome. 
 Her room was next Miss Pike's, and of 
 course Miss Pike or Flaxie could not stir 
 without her following them, for Kittyleen 
 adored Flaxie ; and besides, her mamma was 
 always busy painting. 
 
 She followed them to the Capitol, when 
 they went to look at the statues and pic- 
 tures ; she followed them to the stores, when 
 they went shopping. Little Ethel never 
 cared to go anywhere without her mother, 
 and Phil had some larger boys for play- 
 mates ; but Kittyleen felt that she belonged 
 to Flaxie, Mrs. Garland laughed, arid said 
 she ought to be tied to Flaxie's side by a 
 blue ribbon, like a little Skye terrier.
 
 148 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 And here I think I must tell you how 
 Kittyleen went to the White House to the 
 President's reception, where she was as 
 much out of place as a humming-bird in a 
 flock of crows. But it was not the child's 
 fault. Her mother was very thoughtless, or 
 she would not have asked Miss Pike to take 
 her ; and Miss Pike had no idea what she was 
 doing, or she would not have consented. 
 
 But first I shall be obliged to speak of 
 Flaxie's vanity. You may have observed 
 long ago that she was fond of looking in the 
 glass ; and I regret to say the habit still con- 
 tinued. In most respects she was constantly 
 improving ; but Doctor Papa said he really 
 feared the nice new clothes she wore at 
 Washington had a bad effect upon her 
 mind. The strange ladies at the hotel some- 
 times said in her hearing as she passed by, 
 "Who is that pretty little girl? Isn't she 
 lovely ? "
 
 THE LAST FEATHER. 149 
 
 This was unfortunate ; for now she never 
 went anywhere, and saw people looking at 
 her, but she fancied they were thinking, 
 " Is n't she lovely ? " And on the Saturday 
 afternoon when she was going to the Presi- 
 dent's reception she wished to look as pretty 
 as possible, so that the people at the White 
 House, and perhaps the President himself, 
 might admire her. 
 
 " Mamma," said she, " may I wear my 
 crushed-strawberry dress, and my long-button 
 gloves, and my bonnet with the red bird?" 
 
 " Oh, no, my dear, they are quite unsuitable. 
 I am very sorry now that I promised to take 
 you at all, for I 'm afraid there will be a great 
 crowd." 
 
 " But I never saw the President, mamma, 
 and I like a great crowd. And I '11 be so 
 careful of my best bonnet ! " pleaded Flaxie 
 in a whining tone, very irritating to her
 
 I5O KITTYLEEN. 
 
 mother, who was dressing in haste. It 
 sounded like the troublesome teasing Flaxie 
 of two or three years ago. 
 
 " My little daughter," said Mrs. Gray, 
 pausing as she pinned her collar, "you 
 cannot believe that I know better than you 
 do how you should dress ? Very well, I will 
 allow you to wear your best bonnet on this 
 condition : If that scarlet bird gets broken, 
 you are not to have another bird this winter, 
 no, nor even a feather ! " 
 
 Flaxie hesitated. Much as she wished to 
 look "lovely," she did not like to do any- 
 thing her mamma disapproved. Still, how 
 could she hurt her bonnet, just wearing it to 
 a party ? 
 
 " Make haste, child, here are Miss Pike 
 and Kittyleen," said Mrs. Gray. 
 
 And the little girl finally laid aside her 
 every-day hat she had been holding in her
 
 THE LAST FEATHER. 151 
 
 hand, put on her best bonnet with a blushing, 
 downcast face, and walked slowly behind her 
 mother. Little Ethel threw kisses after 
 them, though quite disturbed in her small , 
 mind because " Kittyleen went everywhere," 
 while she and Phil had to stay with Mrs. 
 Fry. 
 
 Mrs. Gray and Miss Pike did not consider 
 what a foolish thing they were doing, till they 
 walked up the gravel path to the White 
 House, and saw the long line of carriages. 
 
 "This is no place for children ; it is a great 
 crowd," said Mrs. Gray, nervously. 
 
 Mounting the front steps, they saw seated 
 on one side of the large entrance hall a band 
 of musicians, all in uniform, playing bugles, 
 fifes, cornets, and drums. There were no 
 children to be seen, and none of the vast 
 number of people who had entered, or were 
 entering the hall, seemed to take the
 
 152 KITTVLEEN. 
 
 slightest notice of Flaxie's beautiful clothes. 
 They all stood in a line, three or four abreast, 
 and if they could be said to be looking 'at 
 anything it was at the beautiful windows 
 straight before them, not glass windows, 
 the panes were lovely gems of various shapes 
 and sizes, and nearly all the colors of the 
 rainbow ; and of course you could not look 
 through them into the White House. 
 
 " Keep fast hold of my hand, Mary," said 
 Mrs. Gray. "The people are crowding in 
 behind us." 
 
 "Keep fast hold of my hand, Kittyleen," 
 said Miss Pike, "or I shall lose you." 
 
 " Where are we going ? " asked little Kitty- 
 leen, who might have been going up in a 
 balloon for all she knew to the contrary. 
 
 " We are trying to go through a door, but 
 you can't see the door there are so many 
 people ahead of us."
 
 THE LAST FEATHER. 153 
 
 " Well, when we come to the door and get 
 through it, then we shall see the President, 
 sha'n't we ? " said Flaxie. " But oh, dear, I 
 don't care so much about him as I did ! It 
 takes so long, and the people push so." 
 
 By this time, the little party of four 
 were wedged in very tight. They could 
 not move one step, except as they were 
 pushed. Flaxie's crushed-strawberry dress 
 was crushed quite out of sight, and nothing 
 was to be seen of her but two bewildered 
 blue eyes, a tuft of flaxen hair, and sad to 
 relate a broken-winged bird of Paradise ! 
 
 And where was little Kittyleen ? By look- 
 ing down, down, among the ladies' cloaks and 
 skirts, Miss Pike could just espy the top 
 of the little girl's bonnet, and the end of her 
 nose. 
 
 " It is n't very comfortable, is it, Kitty- 
 leen ? " said Miss Pike, pitying, but not know-
 
 154 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 ing how to help her. " No 'm, it is n't very 
 com-fi-a-ble," replied the darling, catching 
 her breath. 
 
 The crowd had been moving very, very 
 slowly, but now it stopped altogether. 
 
 x 
 
 "The people at the front, who got in first, 
 are halting to shake hands with the Presi- 
 dent," said a man in the crowd ; " and we 
 must wait for them to move on." 
 
 They waited perhaps fifteen minutes ; and 
 all the while the people behind could not 
 stand still, but kept pushing. 
 
 " Don't they know we cant move ? Why 
 do they push ? " grumbled Flaxie, indig- 
 nantly. "Do tell them to keep still, 
 mamma; tell the people behind to keep 
 still." 
 
 Mrs. Gray only laughed. 
 
 "Mamma, they don't obey the Golden 
 Rule, or they would n't push so and hurt."
 
 THE LAST FEATHER. 155 
 
 Flaxie was always talking about the Golden 
 Rule. 
 
 " My daughter, we are here and must bear 
 it. Try to be brave and not cry." 
 
 "Oh, mamma, I don't mean to cry; but 
 they squeeze so hard that they squeeze the 
 tears right out of my eyes. I just know I 
 shaHdie!" 
 
 Flaxie's wail was piteous, indeed ; but it 
 was little Kittyleen ever so much shorter 
 and younger and frailer ; dear, patient Kitty- 
 leen who was in far more danger of being 
 hurt. She must have been almost suffocated 
 by this time, for absolutely nothing, not even 
 the crown of her bonnet, was to be seen. In 
 real alarm Miss Pike exclaimed, " How shall 
 I get this child up to give her some air?" 
 
 "What, a little child here? Can't you 
 lift her up, ma'am, and set her on my 
 shoulder?" said a gentleman just ahead.
 
 156 KITTVLEEN. 
 
 Mrs. Gray and Miss Pike plunged down 
 for Kittyleen, and succeeded in drawing her 
 up from her dangerous hiding-place among 
 the cloaks and skirts, and setting her aloft 
 upon the kind stranger's shoulders. She 
 gave several little shuddering gasps, and her 
 eyes were full of tears ; but when Miss Pike 
 asked, "Darling, how do you feel now ?" she 
 answered, with a pathetic little smile, 
 
 " I feel more com-fi-a-ble." 
 
 But Flaxie was still crying. It was not 
 only for the discomfort. She saw now what 
 a silly girl she had been to wear her best 
 clothes ; and the broken wing of the bird 
 of Paradise dangling before her eyes added 
 the last feather to her weight of misery. 
 
 The crowd began to move again by half- 
 inch steps. The open door was reached at 
 last. Now they were fairly inside the White 
 House ; yet still there was one room to
 
 THE LAST FEATHER. I5/ 
 
 cross, in order to reach the President. But 
 Flaxie's feelings were greatly changed. She 
 no longer expected the President to admire, 
 or even look at her. Why should he, so 
 forlorn and dilapidated as she was, and so 
 very, very small ? 
 
 But she had little time for these humble 
 reflections. As they entered the door of the 
 White House a current of warm air met 
 them, and Mrs. Gray grew instantly faint. 
 A strange lady in the crowd caught a fan 
 from another strange lady, and gave it to 
 Miss Pike. Miss Pike fanned Mrs. Gray a 
 moment, and then she and some one else 
 dragged her out from the narrow line of 
 people who were pushing toward the next 
 room, and extended her upon the floor before 
 an open window. 
 
 Mrs. Gray was perfectly colorless, and her 
 eyes were closed. "She has lost her con-
 
 158 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 sciousness," said some one, just as Flaxie 
 broke through the crowd and rushed toward 
 her. 
 
 " Oh, mamma, mamma, are you dead ? 
 Speak to me, speak to me, mamma," wailed 
 the child. 
 
 And Mrs. Gray opened her eyes, and 
 smiled. She was obliged to smile in order 
 to reassure her little daughter, but she 
 was of course too weak yet to go back to 
 the dreadful crowd. She needed and must 
 have rest and quiet and fresh air. 
 
 " Children, do you care much about seeing 
 the President ? " asked Miss Pike. " He 
 looks very much like other men ; he does n't 
 wear a crown." 
 
 " Oh, does nt wear a crown ? " echoed little 
 Kittyleen. Perhaps she had fancied he did, 
 or, at any rate, that he was in some way a 
 very grand and radiant being.
 
 THE LAST FEATHER. 159 
 
 "Well, /don't want to see him, not with 
 my things all torn off and looking like this," 
 said Flaxie, in deep discouragement. 
 
 She was nearly as anxious to leave the 
 White House as she had been to enter it. 
 But when and how could they ever get out ? 
 
 " Ladies," said a gentleman who had left 
 the crowd in disgust, and stood by the wall 
 with his arms folded, " ladies, if you are 
 ill and want to go home, I can put you out 
 of the window. Will you allow me ? " 
 
 It sounded very funny, and Miss Pike 
 laughed ; but he was quite in earnest. 
 " Would you like to have me put ^<DU out, 
 madam ? Here, mount this stool." 
 
 " Indeed, I would like it ; but can y*u do 
 it, sir ? " asked Miss Pike. " I 'm pirttf 
 heavy." 
 
 The poh*e e.nt'eracn answered by lifting 
 her up by the shoulder?, so that she found
 
 I6O KITTYLEEN. 
 
 no trouble in climbing out of the low window, 
 and alighting upon the piazza. 
 
 " Oh, thank you, sir," said she. " Now I 
 will stand here, and help down the other lady 
 and the children." 
 
 This was easily managed ; and soon all the 
 little party were safely drawing long breaths, 
 and laughing in the pure air outside ; and 
 Miss Pike said, " Here we are at the back of 
 the house, and if the servants should spy us 
 they would take us for a set of tramps. But, 
 Mrs. Gray, I don't care for that, I 'm so 
 very thankful to have got you and Kittyleen 
 out alive." 
 
 They hastened down the steps of the back 
 piazza, and got around to the front door, and 
 into the gravel path, and thence to the street, 
 as fast as possible. 
 
 When Doctor Papa came home to early 
 dinner, his wife related the adventure.
 
 THE LAST FEATHER. l6l 
 
 " We made a great mistake in taking the 
 children," said she, "but dear little Kittyleen 
 was wonderfully patient and reasonable." 
 
 Flaxie twisted uneasily in her chair, feel- 
 ing that all praise of the little one was a 
 rebuke to herself. 
 
 "Yes, papa, Kittyleen was very good. I 
 don't see how she could be so good. But 
 you see I why, I had a dreadful time. I 
 was so afraid about mamma. Why, I was n't 
 sure when I saw her there on the floor that 
 she was really alive ! She lay there as much 
 as ten minutes, I think, without any con- 
 science at all ! " 
 
 " Oh, not half a minute," laughed Mrs. 
 Gray. And then she laughed again as she 
 held up a fan, a pretty painted one with 
 ivory sticks. " I 'm afraid the owner of this 
 fan will think I never had any conscience ! 
 It was given to Miss Pike to fan me when
 
 1 62 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 I fainted, and we could n't tell who gave it, 
 and so we had to bring it home." 
 
 " You might have left it with one of the 
 porters at the front door," said Doctor Papa. 
 
 " Oh, we never thought of that ! What a 
 pity!" 
 
 As they were going down to dinner, Flaxie 
 saw her now ruined bird of Paradise lying in 
 the basket of rubbish, ready for Lena the 
 chambermaid to carry away. Her mother 
 had put it there without saying a word. 
 Flaxie knew she had lost her pretty bird and 
 could not have another one, " no, not even a 
 feather " ; and though it seemed a hard pun- 
 ishment, she felt that it was just. 
 
 A few days after this all the Grays and 
 Miss Pike, with Kittyleen and her cousin, 
 Cora Garland, went to Mount Vernon to see 
 the tomb and the old home of General Wash- 
 ington. It was delightful ; and the next
 
 THE LAST FEATHER. 163 
 
 spring, when Congress had risen and all 
 these gay times were only a memory, Flaxie 
 never tired of telling Grandma Gray how she 
 had played on the tiny piano that once 
 belonged to Lady Washington, and how 
 "just exactly" it had sounded like her own 
 doll's piano in the back parlor at home. 
 
 Grandma Gray listened kindly to these 
 reminiscences, and so indeed did all Flaxie's 
 playmates at Laurel Grove, though I won- 
 der they did not sometimes smile at the con- 
 stant refrain, " Last winter, when I was at 
 Washington." One little story, the adven- 
 tures of the runaway rings, you will find in 
 the next chapter, in Flaxie's own words, as 
 she related it to Grandma Gray.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE RUNAWAY RINGS. FLAXIE's STORY. 
 
 " OH, dear, the old man is out ! Why, 
 grandma, don't you know what I mean? I 
 mean the rain-man ! He always comes out 
 of that little weather-house on the mantel, 
 and looks around, you know, before it begins 
 to rain. 
 
 "And there, just see, it's pouring this 
 minute, and there are lots of people going 
 by with umbrellas. It makes me think of 
 that time last winter, when it rained so hard, 
 and I lost those rings. Do you want to hear 
 about it? Well, you just lie still and I'll 
 tell you, and we '11 have a beautiful time.
 
 THE RUNAWAY RINGS. 165 
 
 Is n't it a perfect state of bliss to think I'\e 
 got home, and can take care of you ? 
 
 "But I did like to be at Washington. It 
 did n't seem like winter, with the rain a-rain- 
 ing, and the sun a-shining, and no snow 
 hardly ever, and the streets as clean as a 
 floor. 
 
 " Besides, you know how I love Miss Pike . 
 she 's my favorite friend. And a hotel is 
 splendid, there are so many children in it. 
 Only they 're not all alike. Some are ever 
 so nice, and some would be nice if they 
 did n't have temper. 
 
 " Now, there was Cora Garland, Kittyleen's 
 cousin. She had a temper like this : see me 
 walk across the floor, grandma, with my head 
 thrown back, so. That was the kind of 
 temper she had. But she did n't have it 
 very often, and she was good to Ethel and 
 Kittyleen and Phil. I liked Cora; I mean,
 
 1 66 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 almost always I did. And I never saw a 
 girl with so many rings and earrings and 
 gold bracelets and things. Did you ever see 
 an honest, true diamond, grammy, hard 
 enough to scratch on the window-pane, and 
 bright enough to put your eyes out 
 almost ? Well, one of Cora's rings was a 
 diamond. I suppose it came out of a mine 
 And one of 'her rings was red; I forget the 
 name of it ; fiery, rosy red, and all of a 
 twinkle, with a row of pearls around it, like 
 little white currants. 
 
 "Well, I used to borrow Cora's rings and 
 bracelets sometimes, and she used to borrow 
 these old silver bangles. I don't see what 
 she wanted of them. You see they are just 
 bands of silver, with five-cent pieces dangling 
 down ! But mamma did n't approve of my 
 wearing Cora's things. 
 
 " ' Little Mary, I don't approve of borrowed 
 finery,' said she.
 
 THE RUNAWAY RINGS. 167 
 
 " So she wanted me to take them back. 
 And I always did take them back ; but some- 
 times I forgot, and borrowed them over again. 
 I don't remember now how I happened to 
 forget. 
 
 " Oh, I thought I was n't telling the story 
 right. We lived up, up, up, away up on the 
 fourth floor ! Did you ever go up in an 
 elevator ? You would n't like it, but I did. 
 Our room was large and ever so pretty, with 
 two windows in it, where you could look 
 right out on the avenue. And there was a 
 fireman, who used to come in and fix the fire 
 in the grate. 
 
 " I slept with Miss Pike, and sometimes I 
 would n't wake in the morning till ever so 
 late, and she would go down to breakfast 
 without me. But she did n't care ; she said 
 she did n't expect me to get up when I was 
 asleep, for how could I, you know ? And by
 
 168 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 and by she always came back and curled my 
 hair, and let me go down to breakfast with 
 Ethel and Kittyleen and Phil and Cora. 
 
 " But before I 'd go down, and before Miss 
 Pike would come back, and while I 'd be 
 asleep, the fireman would come in with his 
 bucket and fix the fire. I ought to tell about 
 this, so you '11 understand better when I get 
 to the rings. You never knew whether there 
 was coal-dust on the fireman's face or not, 
 for he was always as black as could be, and 
 could n't be any blacker. His name was 
 Li jar, just as if he came out of the Bible 
 and had been fed by ravens ; but somehow 
 I did n't think he was very pious. No, I 
 seemed to think he was rather -pious, 
 because he rolled his eyes around so much, 
 and kept laughing to himself. 
 
 " And there I 'd be fast asleep on the bed ; 
 but sometimes I 'd just peep out under my
 
 THE RUNAWAY RINGS. 169 
 
 eyelashes, and he 'd be taking down some of 
 the pretty things from the mantel and look- 
 ing at them and laughing to himself. I 
 thought it was very impolite. He ought n't 
 to have touched a single thing, now ought he, 
 with his hands so black and dirty? But I 
 never once thought of his stealing, not 
 then. 
 
 " Well, one night, after I 'd borrowed those 
 rings back again, the diamond ring and the 
 red one with white currants round it, I put 
 both the rings in a blue box, or I thought 
 I did, and set the box on the bureau right 
 under the looking-glass. And Lena stood at 
 the door and saw me. 
 
 "Why, I forgot to tell you about Lena! 
 She was the chambermaid, that went around 
 all day with a pink handkerchief tied on her 
 head, and a broom, and a pail. She was 
 French. She always walked into my room
 
 I/O KITTYLEEN. 
 
 before I was up, same as Li jar did. And she 
 laughed, and shook the feather-duster at me 
 sometimes. I suppose she wished I was n't 
 there on the bed, for she wanted to take off 
 the sheets. She did n't know how to talk 
 the American language very well, and I 
 did n't blame her ; for of course French peo- 
 ple have to learn to talk, just like babies. 
 But she was a pretty girl, and I supposed she 
 was a great deal better than Lijar. She told 
 me one day she could say her prayers in 
 French, and so I never once thought of her 
 stealing, not then. 
 
 "That night the night I lost the rings 
 she was there in the hall, and I was coming 
 along, waltzing a waltz. She set down her 
 broom and pail, and took those rings and put 
 them on her little ringer. I let her do it. 
 And she said, ' Oh, wee, wee,' and kept smil- 
 ing.
 
 THE RUNAWAY RINGS. I/I 
 
 " I remember it was in the evening, and I 
 had just come up from playing in the public 
 parlor, and I had on my crushed-strawberry 
 dress and an orange in my hand, and Lena 
 said I was as pretty as her little sister, and 
 I asked if her little sister wore curls. And 
 she said, ' No, she don't ever does.' That 
 was the best Lena could talk. 
 
 " Then she gave me back the rings, and I 
 was going right to bed, so I put them in the 
 box on the bureau, or I thought I did, 
 and Lena stood at the door and looked at me 
 the whole time. I remember there was pink 
 cotton in the box, and the sweetest picture 
 on the cover. It was Miss Pike's box she 
 has got it now. 
 
 " Then I went to bed, and Miss Pike set up 
 the screen between me and the gas-light, and 
 she read, and I went to sleep. How I did 
 sleep ! I 'd been playing blind-man's-buff,
 
 1 72 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 and was so tired ; and I never woke up next 
 morning till after Lijar had been in to fix the 
 fire, and Lena had been in to bring the clean 
 towels. The first thing I knew I opened my 
 eyes, and there were Miss Pike and Cora and 
 Kittyleen all laughing at me. 
 
 " ' Come, you little sleepy girl/ said Miss 
 Pike ; and she kissed me on both cheeks. I 
 never once thought about the rings, but got 
 up and let her curl my hair. She said it was 
 Washington's birthday, and curled a curl and 
 laughed, but I knew Kittyleen and Cora 
 were very hungry waiting. 
 
 " After breakfast they came up with me, and 
 so did Ethel and Phil. And I remember how 
 it rained, harder than it does now, ever so 
 much. And we stood by that beautiful win- 
 dow, and looked out to see the soldiers par- 
 ade. 
 
 " They did n't mind the rain, dripping on
 
 THE RUNAWAY RINGS. 1/3 
 
 their pretty caps and uniforms and white 
 gloves. First they put out one foot, and 
 then they put out the other foot, and at the 
 same time, to the music. Cora said it was 
 like wooden dolls, with joints in their knees. 
 
 " She did n't see that I had n't any rings on 
 my fingers, and I did n't see it myself. We 
 were watching the soldiers on the street, and 
 the people on the pavement following on 
 after the soldiers. The people all had 
 umbrellas. You -could n't see their heads ; 
 all you could see was umbrellas. 
 
 " The children wanted to dress up their dolls 
 like soldiers. They were girl dolls, with Kate 
 Greenaway dresses, but Miss Pike said they 
 could be woman's-rights soldiers, why not? 
 And she is so kind ! She made some shiny 
 black soldier-caps, and we tucked up the 
 dolls' curls ; and so cunning and brave as 
 they looked !
 
 174 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 "Afterwards I remember Miss Pike went 
 to the next room to read to Mrs. Garland, 
 and I waited for her ; and the children went 
 down to lunch with mamma. But oh, when 
 they were all gone, then I thought of those 
 rings, and went to the box on the bureau. 
 But just think, grandma, they weren't there ! 
 There was the pink cotton in the box, but 
 not a ring to be seen ! 
 
 "A perfectly awful feeling went over me. 
 I know I must have turned pale, for I had to 
 pour my handkerchief wringing wet with 
 cologne. Why, just you think ! Did you 
 ever have anything so terrible happen to 
 you? Why, those rings cost more money 
 than I had in this world ! And Cora's 
 grandfather gave her the red ring, that 
 died ! 
 
 " I hunted and hunted, under the bed and 
 under the rugs, and pulled the things out of
 
 THE RUNAWAY RINGS. 1/5 
 
 the drawers. And I knew papa would have 
 to pay for them, and he 'd think I was very 
 expensive ! He would have to cure ever so 
 many sick people for it, and ride in the night 
 for days and days to pay for those rings ! 
 'Specially the beautiful red one with white 
 currants round it. And she thinking so 
 much of her grandpa that died ! I knew 
 she 'd never forgive me, but always go 
 around with her head thrown back ; and how 
 I should feel ! 
 
 " I wished then I 'd obeyed mamma, and 
 not borrowed what did n't belong to me. It 
 was just awful to have mamma and Miss 
 Pike know it. I wished I need n't be obliged 
 to tell."
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE HUNT. FLAXIE'S STORY, CONTINUED. 
 
 "WHEN Miss Pike came in from reading to 
 Kittyleen's mother I was crying in the bed. 
 
 " First I wanted to say I was crying about 
 my silver mug that Kittyleen dented all up, 
 hitting it against the grate ; and so I was 
 a little. I could always cry about that ! 
 But my truly tears were for the rings, and 
 I would n't let myself be so mean as not to 
 tell the truth. Besides, I wanted Miss Pike 
 to help me find them, you know. 
 
 "Then I told her; I made myself tell. 
 And she said, 'Ah, little Mary, you've been 
 borrowing again ! '
 
 THE HUNT. 
 
 "I knew she was displeased, because she 
 was so cool in her manner, and said 'little 
 Mary.' 
 
 " ' (Displease don't blame me/ said I. And 
 I told her I was sure Lena had stolen the 
 rings, for she knew where they were, and 
 saw me put them in the box. ' Oh, little 
 Mary, is that all the reason you have for say~ 
 ing so ? ' said she. She thought it was n't 
 any reason at all, unless I knew it was true. 
 
 " ' But I do know it, Miss Pike,' said I. 
 ' Lena always wanted those rings for her 
 little sister ; and when she came in this 
 morning, and found me asleep, she could 
 take them as well as not. I always thought 
 she had a horrid face ; she looks as if 
 she 'd steal ! ' 
 
 " I spoke so sure and certain that I expected 
 Miss Pike would believe me and ring the bell 
 for Lena ; and I was going to<thide under the
 
 1/8 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 bed when Lena came in. But instead of 
 that, she only stood there looking displeased, 
 and said ' Oh, little Mary ' again. 
 
 "Then she talked about the Golden Rule, 
 and of course I did n't want to hear about 
 that, not just then. 'Was it kind to s'pect 
 people,' she said, 'was it right ? ' 
 
 "And I knew in my heart it was n't, but I 
 thought Lena took those rings just the 
 same. 
 
 " Then Miss Pike began to hunt everywhere ; 
 in all my pockets, and in my doll's pockets, 
 and in the waste-basket, and in the books, and 
 under the table. The more she hunted the 
 worse I felt. Every time she did n't find the 
 rings I kept thinking she 'd say, ' Little 
 Mary/ again, and talk about ' hoping this 
 will be a lesson to you, little Mary.' But 
 she didn't. She was just as sweet! She 
 went with me to early dinner, and let me
 
 THE HUNT. 179 
 
 have lady-fingers and ice-cream, and three 
 nuts and six raisins, just as she always 
 did. 
 
 " And after dinner she hunted again. She 
 took all the clothes out of the closet, and 
 shook them and put them back again ; and 
 oh, I don't know what she did n't do, and it 
 was no use. 
 
 " ' Oh, shall I have to tell Cora ? ' said I. 
 And she said yes. I 'd have to tell her and 
 mamma ; but I need n't do it quite yet ; not 
 till we 'd hunted a little longer. 
 
 " Then she kissed me as if she loved me 
 after all, on both cheeks ; and I sat down 
 and read ' Wonders of the Deep/ and cried. 
 
 " I remember how homely Lena looked to 
 me when I met her in the hall, and how I 
 despised her. I could n't eat much sup- 
 per, and I did n't drink a drop of water, 
 because I 'd been reading ' Wonders of the
 
 ISO KITTYLEEN. 
 
 Deep.' Now, water is all full of little live 
 things. I never used to know it, you see. I 
 used to swallow 'em, and not think. 
 
 " But no matter for the insects now. I was 
 talking about despising Lena ; but you don't 
 know yet whether she was bad or not, 
 grandma. I 'm telling it by degrees, to 
 make it sound like a story. 
 
 " Now we will go back to Lijar. Something 
 queer happened next morning. He did n't 
 come to fix the fire till it all went out, and 
 then a new man came. Lijar did n't come at 
 all. Miss Pike asked where he was, and the 
 new man said, ' In the lock up.' He said 
 he had been put in the lock-up for stealing. 
 Miss Pike thought it was very strange and 
 could n't believe it, because she always liked 
 Lijar. 'What did he steal?' she asked. 
 And the new man said, ' A gold watch and 
 chain.'
 
 THE HUNT. l8l 
 
 "'Then he stole those rings,' said I, as 
 quick as a flash. Miss Pike could n't hush 
 me. I spoke right out before the fireman, 
 and told how Lijar took things off the mantel, 
 and looked at them with his dirty fingers 
 when I was asleep. 
 
 " I said I was so sorry now to think I 'd 
 s'pected Lena, for I knew Lena was a good 
 girl, and 't was Lijar that stole all the time. 
 
 " 'Do please write a note to the President,' 
 said I, 'and ask him to make Lijar give back 
 those beautiful rings.' 
 
 "But Miss Pike never stirred. She said, 
 ' Little Mary, you don't know any more 
 about Lijar to-day than you knew about 
 Lena yesterday. You 're hasty again.' ' I 
 don't think I 'm hasty, at all,' said I. 
 4 Lijar is a horrid thief, or what did they 
 put him in the lock-up for ? If he 'd steal a 
 big watch, would n't he steal little rings ? If
 
 1 82 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 he 'd steal one thing would n't he steal every- 
 thing?' said I. 'And / think the President 
 ought to know it.' 
 
 "But Miss Pike did n't pay the least atten- 
 tion, only laughed. You know she has such 
 good judgment, and Doctor Papa says so him- 
 self. I was glad afterward that she did n't 
 write to the President, for mother said it 
 was n't the President's business to go to the 
 lock-up, and I suppose a letter would only 
 have bothered hirn. Besides, if he had gone, 
 well, just you be patient, grandma! 
 
 " Miss Pike curled my hair, and I went 
 down to breakfast with the children ; I wasn't 
 to say anything to Cora, not yet. Miss 
 Pike was going to hunt again. 
 
 " I thought she was a very queer woman to 
 keep hunting when she knew it was no use. 
 I came back after breakfast feeling very bad, 
 for it seemed as if Cora had been looking at
 
 THE HUNT. 183 
 
 my hands all the while I was eating. I 
 opened the door of our room, and what do 
 you think ? There stood Miss Pike, smiling, 
 and she had both those rings on a knitting- 
 needle, holding them up for me to see. 
 
 " ' Look at your runaway rings,' said she. 
 I screamed right out, I was so happy. 
 
 " It was n't Lijar, and it was n't Lena. 
 
 " Miss Pike had found them in that room, 
 and you can't guess where. 
 
 " She had hunted in that bureau five hun- 
 dred and sixty times, and taken the things all 
 out. But this time she took out one of the 
 drawers, and sat down on the floor to look it 
 over. It was the next to the upper drawer 
 that she took out, and she happened to look 
 up at the empty place in the bureau where 
 the drawer belonged, and there she saw 
 something shining through a crack. It was 
 those rings, both of them. They had got
 
 184 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 pushed into the crack and stuck there, 
 stuck on a splinter. 
 
 " Miss Pike said of course I had put them in 
 the upper drawer, instead of the box. It was 
 because I was so sleepy. I don't see how 
 she ever found them, though, and she don't 
 see ; for they were sticking to that splinter 
 very tight, and might have stuck there for 
 years and years, if she had n't happened to 
 sit on the floor and look up, and catch them 
 shining. 
 
 " Oh, grandma, I tell you there was n't a 
 feeling in me that was n't happy ! I went 
 right into Mrs. Garland's room, and laughed 
 right out before I could speak. 
 
 " ' Here they are, Cora, your runaway 
 rings,' said I. She did n't know what I 
 meant till I told her how terribly they 'd been 
 lost. And I said I 'd never borrow them any 
 more. I did n't want to be an expensive
 
 THE HUNT. 185 
 
 girl, and my papa such a poor doctor. And 
 Mrs. Garland laughed and said, ' That is 
 right,' only she thought my father was n't 
 such a very poor doctor. 
 
 " I wished Mrs. Garland had said Kittyleen 
 should stop borrowing, too. For Kittyleen 
 oh, well, I try to be patient with little 
 Kittyleen ! 
 
 " I met Lena coming out of our room, 
 smiling the pleasantest smile. 
 
 " ' I did been to your room, Miss Mary,' said 
 she. She did n't tell about bringing a bunch 
 of violets, but that was what she brought. 
 She called them 'vi'lets,' when she gave 
 them to Miss Pike to put in water for me. 
 Why, it made me feel so cruel and unkind 
 and ashamed to smell those ' vi'lets.' She 
 bought them herself, Lena did. Oh, she 
 never knew what I 'd said about her stealing 
 those rings for her little sister !
 
 1 86 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 " There, that 's pretty near the end. Oh, no, 
 I forgot about Lijar. He hadn't stolen a 
 watch, or touched one. He had n't stolen 
 anything. And he had n't been put in the 
 lock-up, either. Perhaps somebody had been 
 put in the lock-up, but it was n't Lijar. 
 Lijar had broken his leg, and that was all 
 that ailed him. 
 
 " Miss Pike went to his house to see him, 
 and I went with her. It was a queer old 
 house full of children, oh, ever so many 
 children. Lijar was in awful pain, so Miss 
 Pike said, but he did n't groan any, and of 
 course he could n't possibly look pale, so you 
 would n't have known how much he was in 
 pain. 
 
 " He thanked us for the oranges, and his 
 wife said he was always good and kind, and 
 then she put her apron to her eyes and cried, 
 and told Miss Pike she 'd rather be hurt her-
 
 THE HUNT. 
 
 self than to have her 'old man' hurt. Then 
 I felt cruel and unkind again, to think how 
 I 'd called him horrid, when he was n't horrid 
 at all, and it was another man that stole. 
 
 " There, grandma, I would n't tell this story 
 to anybody but you. But it 's the very last 
 time I '11 talk so about people, unless I know 
 it's certainly true. If Miss Pike didrit say, 
 'I hope this will be a lesson to you, little 
 Mary,' it will be a lesson all the same, I just 
 about know. 
 
 "And now, grandma, if you can spare me, I 
 must go out and talk with mamma and Miss 
 Pike about Ethel's party. Yes 'm, it will 
 be Ethel's birthday to-morrow, the 2Oth of 
 March, and ever since we got home she has 
 been wanting a party. Mamma was n't 
 going to let her have one. She said it 
 would be too much trouble, for her friends 
 are such little bits of things that their
 
 1 88 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 mammas would have to come, too, to keep 
 them in order ; and then / said, ' Oh, 
 mamma, if you are willing, you could let me 
 ask my little girls to a party, the little girls 
 of my age ! Ethel likes them just as well as 
 her little girls, and she 'd be ever so pleased ; 
 and she does want a party so much ! ' 
 
 " Mamma thought it was a queer idea, but 
 I 'm pretty sure she '11 consent. It is n't for 
 my sake, you know, it 's for Ethel, and we 
 can call it Ethel's kettledrum."
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ETHEL'S KETTLEDRUM. 
 
 
 
 NOT long after this, " homely Miss Pike " 
 sat by the window in the back parlor, draw- 
 ing her thread in and out, in and out, of a 
 piece of pretty pink silk. Little Kittyleen, 
 who had returned from Washington, and as 
 usual spent most of her time at Dr. Gray's, 
 had been lying on the rug, gazing up wonder- 
 ingly at Miss Pike's large, wide mouth. 
 
 At last she broke forth suddenly, as if 
 thinking aloud, 
 
 " Most everybody has whiskers, don't they, 
 Miss Pike?" 
 
 " Why, have / any whiskers, Kittyleen ? "
 
 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 " No 'm ; but you've got some growing." 
 
 Miss Pike laughed softly to herself. She 
 had always known she was very plain, and of 
 course she was aware of the rather thick, 
 dark beard on her upper lip. Kittyleen's 
 little speech amused her, and yet the tears 
 sprang to her eyes. 
 
 " If I had had my way about it," thought 
 she, " I should have had a form like this per- 
 fect wax doll I am dressing, and very much 
 such a pink and white face, with wavy, soft 
 hair, the color of old gold ; sweet, red lips, 
 straight nose, not a spot or a freckle any- 
 where. Then the whole world would have 
 admired me, and I fancy it might be pleasant 
 to be admired. 
 
 " Ah, but the One who made me knew 
 what is best ! If I can't be beautiful, I can 
 try to be good ; and I 'm not going to cry 
 about my homely body, for I 'm sure to leave
 
 ETHEL S KETTLEDRUM. IQI 
 
 it behind me one of these days when I 'm 
 called up to Heaven." 
 
 Then with a happy smile the excellent 
 young lady took the tape-measure out of 
 her work-basket and measured the slender, 
 round waist of " little miss," as she called 
 the doll. 
 
 " Oh, Miss Pike, where did you get that ? 
 She 's larger than my Princess Aurora 
 Arozarena, and I do believe she 's hand' 
 somer," cried Flaxie, rushing in from the 
 kitchen, where she had been stoning raisins. 
 " Ethel told me you were dressing an elegant 
 doll, and I could n't wait another minute to 
 see it." 
 
 "Well, I'm glad you think she's hand- 
 some," replied Miss Pike, trimming the silk 
 basque carefully. " I think myself she 's 
 almost a perfect beauty. I fell in love with 
 her last winter when we were in Washing-
 
 192 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 ton, and bought her instead of buying myself 
 a new bonnet." 
 
 " Why, Miss Pike, how funny ! I did n't 
 know young ladies ever wanted dolls. 
 Though why not ? " she thought next min- 
 utt Could anybody in the whole world 
 be. so "grown up "as not to love that ex- 
 quisite " little miss," who sat up in Miss 
 Pike'v. ~ip with the most knowing of smiles, 
 as if she were just going to speak? 
 
 "Oh, yes, young ladies love dolls," said 
 Miss Pike, embracing the waxen image ten- 
 derly, as she ritted on the pink basque. 
 " But I think I shall give up mine. In fact, 
 I did not intend her for myself. I thought I 
 would buy her and give her to some poor 
 little girl, who never knew what it was to 
 have a good time. And now I 'm hurrying 
 to get her dressed in season for Ethel's 
 party. Don't you think she '11 look well
 
 ETHEL S KETTLEDRUM. IQ3 
 
 there ? And of course there '11 be some poor 
 little girl among your guests, or perhaps a 
 sick little girl ; and I '11 give Jier the doll." 
 
 " Oh, is that it ? " said Flaxie, more sur- 
 prised than ever. She had not issued in- 
 vitations yet for her party, or Ethel's 
 party, and Miss Pike's words set her to 
 thinking. 
 
 Why, there were no poor little girls or any 
 sick ones who ever went to parties ! The 
 children she played with were all well and 
 happy. They had pleasant homes not 
 quite as pleasant as Flaxie's and plenty 
 to eat and wear. But of course there were 
 other children in town. 
 
 " Let me think. Oh, there 's Sadie Stock- 
 well. Slie is a poor girl." 
 
 Sadie was not exactly sick, but she was 
 lame. Something dreadful had happened to 
 her when she was a baby, and her head 
 '3
 
 194 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 seemed to be driven down between her 
 shoulders, as if she had no neck. She made 
 you think of a flower growing on a leaf-stalk 
 without any stem. Her face was sweet, 
 but sad and pale. She was shorter than 
 most little girls of her age, and walked 
 slowly and painfully with a pair of crutches. 
 Sadie was a good little girl. Why was n't 
 she ever invited to parties ? Flaxie did not 
 know why, only " somehow she never was." 
 She lived ever so far away from the other 
 girls ; perhaps that was one reason. 
 
 Brother Preston was in the shed with 
 Rover, cracking walnuts for to-morrow's 
 candy. Sister Julia was in the kitchen, 
 finishing the raisins Flaxie had been stoning 
 for cake ; and Dora Whalen stood by the 
 ironing-table, ironing the finest and best 
 damask table-cloth for Ethel's party, though 
 the table-cloth might have been as coarse as
 
 ETHEL'S KETTLEDRUM. 195 
 
 the pony's red blanket and it would have 
 been all the same to the baby. 
 
 Flaxie walked about from room to room in 
 deep thought. Finally, she paused at the 
 open door of her mother's chamber, and 
 looked in. On the floor beside Mrs. Gray 
 stood a basket piled with very small dolls, 
 which she was dressing with strips of bright 
 ribbon, and bows of narrow taste. One of 
 these tiny dolls was to be placed under each 
 guest's plate, and carried home as a memento 
 of Ethel's first party. 
 
 " Mamma," asked Flaxie, still in a brown 
 study, " how many dollies did you buy, and 
 how many girls am I going to invite ? " 
 
 "Well, Mary, here are twenty dollies. I 
 thought you and Ethel would each want one, 
 and I meant you should ask eighteen little 
 girls." 
 
 " Could I ask one more, mamma ? "
 
 196 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 " Eighteen is a large number, Mary ; is n't 
 it enough ? Oh, do you want little Kitty- 
 leen ? " 
 
 " Kittyleen, mamma ? Why, no, indeed ! 
 She'd spoil everything. I don't want Kitty- 
 leen ! I mean Ethel would n't want her ; 
 it's Ethel's kettledrum, of course." 
 
 Flaxie was careful to say repeatedly, " It is 
 Ethel's kettledrum," lest she should forget 
 it was not her own. 
 
 " Well, dear, who is the ' one more,' if not 
 Kittyleen?" 
 
 Flaxie did not answer directly. 
 
 " Mamma," said she, " what do you sup- 
 pose Miss Pike said ? She said of course I 'd 
 have some poor girls and sick girls. Must I, 
 mamma ? " 
 
 Mrs. Gray felt a sudden pricking of con- 
 science. Why had n't she thought of that 
 herself ?
 
 ETHELS KETTLEDRUM. IQ7 
 
 " Poor girls, Mary ? Sick girls ? Why, of 
 course, as Miss Pike says, they are the very 
 ones to enjoy your party, my daughter." 
 
 " Then, mamma, please buy another dolly, 
 and I '11 ask Sadie Stockwell. She won't 
 take up a great deal of room. She never 
 goes anywhere except to school, and never 
 has any good times. I don't know what we 
 could do with her, though," added Flaxie, 
 with a puzzled look, " and I 'm afraid the 
 other girls won't like it, for she can't play." 
 
 " But the girls must like it, my daughter. 
 You have all done wrong not to invite her to 
 your parties long ago, for she is an excellent 
 child, and never rough or ill-mannered. As 
 for entertaining her, you and Julia can talk 
 to her and show her your playthings and 
 picture-books, can't you ? I 'm sure, Mary, 
 you'll all be happier if you have Sadie." 
 
 " So I think, too," cried Flaxie, and
 
 IQ8 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 skipped away joyfully, her light curls flying 
 as she ran. 
 
 Sober little Sadie, who lived with eight 
 brothers and sisters in an old, worn-out 
 house, dressed in old, worn-out clothes, and 
 looked old and worn-out herself, how her 
 solemn little face brightened at the unex- 
 pected honor of an invitation to Flaxie's 
 no, EtJiel's party! Mrs. Stockwell, too, 
 was very much gratified, especially as Mrs. 
 Gray had sent Sadie one of Flaxie's dresses, 
 a pretty blue cambric, which could be altered 
 over to fit her, as well as anything ever could 
 fit her poor, crooked little figure. 
 
 Happy Sadie ! She rode next day with 
 Preston Gray in the little basket phaeton, 
 after Blackdrop, the pony, and she felt like 
 rubbing her eyes to make sure she was 
 awake. She smiled beamingly at the cun- 
 ning little steed and his silver-mounted har-
 
 ETHELS KETTLEDRUM. 1 99 
 
 ness, and at Rover, trotting now here and 
 now there. She smiled at her crutches, 
 which lay across the floor of the phaeton ; 
 she smiled at the very mud-puddles which 
 winked back at her sleepily from the side 
 of the road. If there had been any grass, 
 she would have thought it was emeralds ; if 
 there had been ice, she would have thought 
 it was diamonds. 
 
 When Preston lifted her from the phaeton 
 at his father's gate, and Mrs. Gray and 
 Flaxie both came out to meet her, followed 
 by Kittyleen, who was there, of course, she 
 hobbled up the path with a sparkle of joy and 
 expectation in her sad brown eyes. 
 
 The people of Laurel Grove had always 
 been kind to her, and given her mother 
 plenty of half-worn garments to "make over" 
 for all the family; but there are things that 
 poor children prize even more than old
 
 2OO KITTYLEEN. 
 
 clothes, and nothing had ever seemed quite 
 so desirable to poor, lame Sadie as a little 
 girls' tea-party. 
 
 This was chiefly because parties were un- 
 known joys. She had dreamed of them, but 
 never seen them. How the little guests 
 amused themselves, and what they had to 
 eat, it would be worth a great deal to know. 
 Still, until to-day she had as little expectation 
 of ever going to a party, as of mounting an 
 owl's l:ack and flying up to the moon. 
 
 Yet here she was. What a beautiful 
 house ! What lovely pictures and books and 
 playthings and flowers ! How very happy the 
 people must be who lived here all the time ! 
 
 It is true she was a little frightened at first, 
 being a sensitive child, and not really sure 
 whether the party had begun or not. The 
 little girls kept arriving, one after another, 
 and they were all extremely kind ; but no-
 
 ETHEL S KETTLEDRUM. 2OI 
 
 body thought to tell her the precise moment 
 when the party would begin. 
 
 By and by, however, Miss Pike, who seemed 
 in gay spirits, sprang up and said, 
 
 " Let 's all play ' Button, Button/ and im- 
 mediately bashful little Sadie felt quite at 
 home. Who would have thought of such a 
 game at an elegant party ? And Miss Pike 
 had n't gone' half around with the button 
 before she let it fall, softly and slyly, into 
 Sadie's own hand. 
 
 This was another surprise. 
 
 Then, when the company were playing 
 blind-man's-buff, Miss Pike took Sadie into a 
 corner and began a long story, with Ethel 
 in her lap and Kittyleen by her side. Sadie 
 listened in rapture. No matter for the blind- 
 man's-buff ; she did n't wish to play. No 
 matter for the " Magical Music," the " I 
 Spy," the "Marching on to Old Quebec."
 
 2O2 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 Miss Pike's stories were better than all the 
 games in the world. 
 
 Besides, Flaxie and her friends never 
 seemed to forget Sadie, but kept coming up 
 between the pauses to say something pleas- 
 ant. They all agreed among themselves that 
 it was the nicest party they had ever at- 
 tended, and Kittyleen did n't spoil it ; and 
 they said this to Flaxie. 
 
 "Oh," said Flaxie, delighted, "then it's 
 Miss Pike that makes it so nice." 
 
 But she was mistaken. It was Sadie, 
 though nobody suspected it. They were all 
 trying to give the lame girl pleasure, and we 
 never make others happy without feeling 
 happy ourselves. 
 
 But the best was to come. Supper was 
 served, and all the girls were summoned to 
 the dining-room to a feast such as one of the 
 party had never seen before. Sandwiches,
 
 ETHEL S KETTLEDRUM. 2O3 
 
 cakes, tarts, pyramids of candy, glasses of 
 whipped cream ; but what was that in the 
 middle of the table ? A little " Lady Boun- 
 tiful " in a small chair. She was as large as 
 a child two years old, but no baby of that 
 age ever had such long, fair ringlets, such 
 starry eyes, such rosy cheeks, such a sweet- 
 smiling mouth, made up for endless kisses. 
 
 Her pink silk dress was trimmed with rich 
 lace, and bore a sweeping train. You could 
 just see in front the points of her tiny pink 
 boots ; and as for her gloves, they were long 
 tan-colored kids, the height of fashion, 
 and buttoned from wrist to elbow. 
 
 Just before this marvel of beauty stood a 
 small light-stand, bearing a birthday cake on a 
 silver tray ; and the beauty was pointing 
 sweetly with both hands at the cake, which 
 was a very large one, heavily frosted, and 
 marked in letters of cedar, " Ethel." But no
 
 2O4 KITTYLEEN. 
 
 one thought of the cake for looking at "little 
 miss." She was so wondrously bewitching, 
 so " alive looking " that they all exclaimed in 
 chorus, " Oh, what a beauty ! " They wanted 
 to rush upon her and embrace her ; but 
 being far too well-bred for that, they took 
 their seats in perfect order, only murmuring 
 over and over again to one another, 
 
 " Oh, isn't she just too sweet for anything?" 
 All but Flaxie Frizzle's Kittyleen, who smoth- 
 ered Flaxie with kisses, and teased her with 
 questions. Was it Ethel's doll? Who gave 
 it to her ? Was that her kettledrum ? 
 
 Presently Mrs. Gray cut the birthday cake ; 
 and while she was passing it, that roguish 
 Miss Pike stole up behind Ethel, and set a 
 beautiful wreath of flowers upon her head. 
 Everybody laughed as the little one suddenly 
 dropped her cake to the floor, and cried 
 " Oh ! "
 
 ETHEL'S KETTLEDRUM. 205 
 
 But it was not till the close of supper that 
 a single word was said about the doll. 
 
 Then Mrs. Gray remarked, 
 
 " Suppose we pass her round and look at 
 her ? But here is a piece of paper pinned to 
 her dress. We will read it first, and see what 
 it says." 
 
 She unpinned the paper and read aloud, 
 
 "/ wisli to be given to a sick little girl or 
 a lame girl" 
 
 It was half a minute before anybody could 
 take the sense of this. What, was n't it 
 Ethel's doll, after all ? Then they under- 
 stood it, and all cried out, " Oh, Sadie ! Sadie ! 
 Sadie ! " 
 
 The poor bewildered child turned very 
 pale. This was too much happiness for her. 
 She was n't used to anything like this. Shq 
 rose to her feet, caught up her crutches, - 
 though where she wanted to go she did
 
 2O6 K1TTYLEEN. 
 
 not know, dropped them, and fell down 
 crying. 
 
 But she was crying for joy. It was n't 
 possible, no, surely it wasrit possible that 
 this loveliest of all presents was intended for 
 her. 
 
 And there was Miss Pike. She stood 
 holding the doll's trunk in her hand, full 
 of the dainty underclothing and every-day 
 dresses and outside wraps that she had been 
 making for weeks. But when she saw Sadie 
 crying I must confess she cried, too, though 
 she was intending to laugh. But you know 
 laughter and tears lie very near together. 
 And, indeed, it was very touching to every- 
 body when Sadie sobbed out, not knowing 
 any one heard her, 
 
 " My dolly ! Oh, I never 'spected to have 
 such a good time as this, not till I went to 
 Heaven ! "
 
 ETHEL'S KETTLEDRUM. 207 
 
 Thus ended Ethel's first party. And every- 
 body said it was a great success. "But 
 where was the kettledrum ? I kept looking 
 and looking, and I did n't see it," mourned 
 Flaxie Frizzle's Kittyleen. 
 
 THE END.
 
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