An Old-Fashioned Girl (11 page)

“It startled us both. Nelly dropped the bowl and ran. I dropped the saucepan and didn’t run, for a part of the hot juice splashed
upon my bare feet and ankles, and made me scream with dreadful pain.

“Down rushed Debby to find me dancing about the kitchen with a great bump on my forehead, a big spoon in my hand, and a pair
of bright purple feet. The plums were lying all over the hearth, the saucepan in the middle of the room, the basin was broken,
and the sugar swimming about as if the bowl had turned itself over trying to sweeten our mess for us.

“Debby was very good to me, for she never stopped to scold, but laid me down on the old sofa, and bound up my poor little
feet with oil and cotton wool. Nelly, seeing me lie white and weak, thought I was dying, and went over to the neighbor’s for
Aunt Betsey, and burst in upon the old ladies sitting primly at their tea, crying, distractedly,

“‘Oh, Aunt Betsey, come quick! For the saucepan fell off the shed, and Fan’s feet are all boiled purple!’

“Nobody laughed at this funny message, and Aunt Betsey ran all the way home with a muffin in her hand and her ball in her
pocket, though the knitting was left behind.

“I suffered a great deal, but I wasn’t sorry afterward, for I learned to love Aunt Betsey, who nursed me tenderly, and seemed
to forget her strict ways in her anxiety for me.

“This bag was made for my special comfort, and hung on the sofa where I lay all those weary days. Aunt kept it full of pretty
patchwork, or, what I liked better, ginger-nuts, and peppermint drops, to amuse me, though she didn’t approve of cosseting
children up, any more than I do now.”

“I like that vewy well, and I wish I could have been there,” was Maud’s condescending remark, as she put back the little bag,
after a careful peep inside, as if she hoped to find an ancient ginger-nut, or a well-preserved peppermint drop still lingering
in some corner.

“We had plums enough that autumn, but didn’t seem to care much about them, after all, for our prank became a household joke,
and, for years, we never saw the fruit, but Nelly would look at me with a funny face, and whisper, ‘Purple stockings, Fan!’”

“Thank you, ma’am,” said Polly. “Now, Fan, your turn next.”

“Well, I’ve a bundle of old letters, and I’d like to know if there is any story about them,” answered Fanny, hoping some romance
might be forthcoming.

Grandma turned over the little packet tied up with a faded pink ribbon; a dozen yellow notes written on rough, thick paper,
with red wafers still adhering to the folds, showing plainly that they were written before the day of initial notepaper and
self-sealing envelopes.

“They are not love-letters, deary, but notes from my mates after I left Miss Cotton’s boarding school. I don’t think there
is any story about them,” and grandma turned them over with spectacles before the dim eyes, so young and bright when they
first read the very same notes.

Fanny was about to say, “I’ll choose again,” when grandma began to laugh so heartily that the girls felt sure she had caught
some merry old memory which would amuse them.

“Bless my heart, I haven’t thought of that frolic this forty years. Poor, dear, giddy Sally Pomroy, and she’s a great-grandmother
now!” cried the old lady, after reading one of the notes, and clearing the mist off her glasses.

“Now, please tell about her; I know it’s something funny to make you laugh so,” said Polly and Fan together.

“Well, it
was
droll, and I’m glad I remembered it for it’s just the story to tell you young things.

“It was years ago,” began grandma, briskly, “and teachers were very much stricter than they are now. The girls at Miss Cotton’s
were not allowed lights in their rooms after nine o’clock, never went out alone, and were expected to behave like models of
propriety from morning till night.

“As you may imagine, ten young girls, full of spirits and fun, found these rules hard to keep, and made up for good behavior
in public by all sorts of frolics in private.

“Miss Cotton and her brother sat in the back parlor after school was over, and the young ladies were sent to bed. Mr. John
was very deaf, and Miss Priscilla very nearsighted — two convenient afflictions for the girls on some occasions, but once
they proved quite the reverse, as you shall hear.

“We had been very prim for a week, and our bottled up spirits could no longer be contained; so we planned a revel after our
own hearts, and set our wits to work to execute it.

“The first obstacle was surmounted in this way. As none of us could get out alone, we resolved to lower Sally from the window,
for she was light and small, and very smart.

“With our combined pocket money she was to buy nuts and candy, cake and fruit, pie, and a candle, so that we might have a
light, after Betsey took ours away as usual.

“We were to darken the window of the inner chamber, set a watch in the little entry, light up, and then for a good time.

“At eight o’clock on the appointed evening, several of us professed great weariness, and went to our room, leaving the rest
sewing virtuously with Miss Cotton, who read Hannah More’s Sacred Dramas aloud, in a way that fitted the listeners for bed
as well as a dose of opium would have done.

“I am sorry to say I was one of the ringleaders; and as soon as we got upstairs, produced the rope provided for the purpose,
and invited Sally to be lowered. It was an old-fashioned house, sloping down behind, and the closet window chosen by us was
not many feet from the ground.

“It was a summer evening, so that at eight o’clock it was still light; but we were not afraid of being seen, for the street
was a lonely one, and our only neighbors two old ladies, who put down their curtains at sunset, and never looked out till
morning.

“Sally had been bribed by promises of as many ‘goodies’ as she could eat, and being a regular madcap, she was ready for anything.

“Tying the rope round her waist she crept out, and we let her safely down, sent a big basket after her, and saw her slip round
the corner in my big sunbonnet and another girl’s shawl, so that she should not be recognized.

“Then we put our nightgowns over our dresses, and were laid peacefully in bed when Betsey came up, earlier than usual; for
it was evident that Miss Cotton felt a little suspicious at our sudden weariness.

“For half an hour we lay laughing and whispering, as we waited for the signal from Sally. At last we heard a cricket chirp
shrilly under the window, and flying up, saw a little figure below in the twilight.

“‘O, quick! Quick!’ cried Sally, panting with haste. ‘Draw up the basket and then get me in, for I saw Mr. Cotton in the market,
and ran all the way home, so that I might get in before he came.’

“Up came the heavy basket, bumping and scraping on the way, and smelling, O, so nice! Down went the rope, and with a long
pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether, we hoisted poor Sally halfway up to the window, when, sad to tell, the rope slipped
and down she fell, only being saved from broken bones by the haycock under the window.

“‘He’s coming! He’s coming! O pull me up, for mercy sake!’ cried Sally, scrambling to her feet unhurt, but a good deal shaken.

“We saw a dark figure approaching, and dragged her in with more bumping and scraping, and embraced her with rapture, for we
had just escaped being detected by Mr. John, whose eyes were as sharp as his ears were dull.

“We heard the front door shut, then a murmur of voices, and then Betsey’s heavy step coming upstairs.

“Under the bed went the basket, and into the beds went the conspirators, and nothing could have been more decorous than the
appearance of the room when Betsey popped her head in.

“‘Master’s an old fidget to send me travelling up again, just because he fancied he saw something amiss at the window. Nothing
but a curtain flapping, or a shadder, for the poor dears is sleeping like lambs.’

“We heard her say this to herself, and a general titter agitated the white coverlets as she departed.

“Sally was in high feather at the success of her exploit, and danced about like an elf, as she put her nightgown on over her
frock, braided her hair in funny little tails all over her head, and fastened the great red pincushion on her bosom for a
breastpin in honor of the feast.

“The other girls went to their rooms as agreed upon, and all was soon dark and still upstairs, while Miss Cotton began to
enjoy herself below, as she always did when ‘her young charges’ were safely disposed of.

“Then ghosts began to walk, and the mice scuttled back to their holes in alarm, for white figures glided from room to room,
till all were assembled in the little chamber.

“The watch was set at the entry door, the signal agreed upon, the candle lighted, and the feast spread forth upon a newspaper
on the bed, with the coverlet arranged so that it could be whisked over the refreshments at a moment’s notice.

“How good everything was, to be sure! I don’t think I’ve eaten any pies since that had such a delicious flavor as those broken
ones, eaten hastily, in that little oven of a room, with Sally making jokes, and the others enjoying stolen sweets with true
girlish relish. Of course it was very wicked, but I must tell the truth.

“We were just beginning on the cake when the loud scratching of a rat disturbed us.

“‘The signal! Fly! Run! Hide! Hush, don’t laugh!’ cried several voices, and we scuttled into bed as rapidly and noiselessly
as possible, with our mouths and hands full.

“A long pause, broken by more scratching; but as no one came, we decided on sending to inquire what it meant. I went and found
Mary, the picket guard, half asleep, and longing for her share of the feast.

“‘It was a real rat; I’ve not made a sound. Do go and finish; I’m tired of this,’ said Mary, slapping away at the mosquitoes.

“Back I hurried with the good news. Everyone flew up, briskly. We lighted the candle again, and returned to our revel. The
refreshments were somewhat injured by Sally’s bouncing in among them, but we didn’t care, and soon finished the cake.

“‘Now let’s have the nuts,’ I said, groping for the paper bag.

“‘They are almonds and peanuts, so we can crack them with our teeth. Be sure you get the bag by the right end,’ said Sally.

“‘I know what I’m about,’ and to show her that it was all right, I gave the bag a little shake, when out flew the nuts, rattling
like a hailstorm all over the uncarpeted floor.

“‘Now you’ve done it,’ cried Sally, as Mary scratched like a mad rat, and a door creaked below, for Miss Cotton was not deaf.

“Such a flurry as we were in! Out went the candle, and each one rushed away with as much of the feast as she could seize in
her haste. Sally dived into her bed, recklessly demolishing the last pie, and scattering the candy far and wide.

“Poor Mary was nearly caught, for Miss Cotton was quicker than Betsey, and our guard had to run for her life.

“Our room was the first, and was in good order, though the two flushed faces on the pillows were rather suspicious. Miss Cotton
stood staring about her, looking so funny, without her cap, that my bedfellow would have gone off in a fit of laughter, if
I had not pinched her warningly.

“‘Young ladies, what is this unseemly noise?’

“No answer from us but a faint snore. Miss Cotton marched into the next room, put the same question, and received the same
reply.

“In the third chamber lay Sally, and we trembled as the old lady went in. Sitting up, we peeped and listened breathlessly.

“‘Sarah, I command you to tell me what this all means?’

“But Sally only sighed in her sleep, and muttered, wickedly, ‘Ma, take me home. I’m starved at Cotton’s.’

“‘Mercy on me! is the child going to have a fever?’ cried the old lady, who did not observe the telltale nuts at her feet.

“‘So dull, so strict! O take me home!’ moaned Sally, tossing her arms and gurgling, like a naughty little gypsy.

“That last bit of acting upset the whole concern, for as she tossed her arms she showed the big red cushion on her breast.
Nearsighted as she was, that ridiculous object could not escape Miss Cotton, neither did the orange that rolled out from the
pillow, nor the boots appearing at the foot of the bed.

“With sudden energy the old lady plucked off the cover, and there lay Sally with her hair dressed
à la
Topsy, her absurd breast-pin and her dusty boots, among papers of candy, bits of pie and cake, oranges and apples, and a
candle upside down burning a hole in the sheet.

“At the sound of Miss Cotton’s horrified exclamation Sally woke up, and began laughing so merrily that none of us could resist
following her example, and the rooms rang with merriment for many minutes. I really don’t know when we should have stopped
if Sally had not got choked with the nut she had in her mouth, and so frightened us nearly out of our wits.”

“What became of the things, and how were you punished?” asked Fan, in the middle of her laughter.

“The remains of the feast went to the pig, and we were kept on bread and water for three days.”

“Did that cure you?”

“Oh, dear, no! We had half a dozen other frolics that very summer; and although I cannot help laughing at the remembrance
of this, you must not think, child, that I approve of such conduct, or excuse it. No, no, my dear, far from it.”

“I call that a tip-top story! Drive on, grandma, and tell one about boys,” broke in a new voice, and there was Tom astride
of a chair, listening and laughing with all his might, for his book had come to an end, and he had joined the party unobserved.

“Wait for your turn, Tommy. Now, Polly, dear, what will you have?” said grandma, looking so lively and happy, that it was
very evident “reminiscing” did her good.

“Let mine come last, and tell one for Tom next,” said Polly, looking round, and beckoning him nearer.

He came and sat himself cross-legged on the floor, before the lower drawer of the cabinet, which grandma opened for him, saying,
with a benign stroke of the curly head —