CHAPTER X.
A SURPRISE.
Norah went to the door, hardly expecting to find any one there; for whenthe bell pealed in that violent manner, it was often some roguish boywho rang it, and then ran away. But this time, to her amazement, therestood on the door-step and in the yard as many as twenty boys and girls.
"Is Miss Susy Parlin at home?" said one of them.
"And Miss Prudy?" added another.
"She is--I mean they are. Will you please walk in?"
As Norah spoke, she swung open the parlor door, too much "fluttered,"as she afterwards said, to announce the arrival in due form. The guestspoured in with all speed. Susy sprang up as suddenly as if the pianostool were exploding; but what to say she did not know, and stood stillin dumb surprise. Prudy caught her by the skirts, and whispered, "Goodevening;" but nobody heard it. Dotty Dimple, not in the least abashed,was about to do the honors, when Mr. and Mrs. Parlin came forward, andrelieved her of the trouble. They greeted the little people verycordially, and gave them a pleasant welcome to the new house. Then Mrs.Parlin directed her daughters to carry away the hats and sacques of theyoung misses; and by the time this ceremony was over, the stiffness hadsomewhat worn away, and Susy and Prudy could breathe more freely.
Flyaway went up first to one, and then to another, with the question,--
"Did you _came_ to see _me_?"
The two heads of the family retreated, Mr. Parlin saying to his wife asthey went,--
"When you and I were children, we had our parties in the afternoon; butthis is a new fashion, I suppose."
"It is the first time our little girls have ever received company in theevening," replied Mrs. Parlin. "I do hope these children will not staylate. It happens that I have made a large quantity of vinegar candy, butnot enough, I think, for the whole company."
"Very well," said Mr. Parlin; "and now, as the little people seem to bedoing very nicely, suppose we go out for a walk, and call at aconfectioner's on our way home."
Susy felt very much flattered by this surprise party. It gave her anassurance that she was held in kind remembrance by her schoolmates, manyof whom had been "burnt out," and knew exactly how to sympathize withher.
But Susy's satisfaction was by no means complete. In the first place,Katie would not go to bed, and could not be persuaded to leave the roomany longer than just to bring in her ragged black Dinah, and theyellow-and-white kitten.
Dinah was passed around the room to be pitied. There was a mustardplaster on her chest, applied that day by Dotty, in order to break up alung fever. Dinah's ankle, which was really broken, had been "set" andmended with a splinter, and was waiting for a new bone to grow. PercyEastman, the oldest boy present, said,--
"Well, cousin Dimple, you and Flyaway do take extra care of Miss Dinah!If you should lose her, you can't have anything to reflect upon."
Susy did not so much mind the laughter at Dinah's expense; for, althoughsuch a hideous black baby was not suitable for genteel society, still itwas Katie who was exhibiting it, and Katie was pardonable for theweakness. The trying question was, What would the child do next? Therewas nothing certain about Flyaway except her uncertainty. Susy was aboutto appeal to her mother to take the little one away, when she heard thehall door open and shut; her father and mother had gone out for theirwalk.
It did occur to Susy that this was a great pity; and, indeed, it isquite probable, Mrs. Parlin would not have left the house if she couldhave foreseen how much her presence would be needed.
And after all it was Dotty Dimple, and not Flyaway, who made the wholetrouble. Flyaway was under every one's feet, it is true, and sat down inthe middle of the floor to comb and brush the kitty's head; but then shenever for a moment lost her temper: it was Dotty, the girl old enough toknow better, who was cross and disagreeable.
I am sorry to record this of Dotty, and so I will try to make a littleexcuse for her. She was not well. She had hardly felt like herself sincethat unfortunate boat-ride. She was sleepy and tired, and ought to havegone to bed at eight o'clock--the usual hour. Then, again, the guestswere nearly all older than herself, and paid very little attention toher. She thought she might as well have worn her calico wrapper as thisbeautiful white delaine, for all the notice they took of her dress.
There was only one child present of Dotty's own age,--JohnnyEastman,--and if he would only have played cat's cradle with her, allmight have gone well. But Johnny had not forgotten the severe correctionhis father had given him in the stable with a horsewhip. Every time helooked at his little cousin, the thought arose,--
"She was real mean to run and tell! I'll pay her for that--won't I,though?"
Percy had promised to aid him in his revenge; and you will presentlylearn what this was to be. Percy liked "cousin Dimple" very well; he wasonly putting a wicked scheme into his little brother's head "just forthe fun of the thing."
The guests were talking of having a few tableaux and charades, like somethey had seen arranged by their older sisters.
"I don't care anything about their old tolly-blows--do you, Johnny?"said Dotty. "Let's play 'I spy'--you and I."
"No, you don't catch me playing high spy with such a cross party as youare, Dot Dimple."
"I wish you'd stop calling me a 'cross party' the whole time, JohnnyEastman," replied Dotty, shaking her elbows.
Just then Susy came, and whispered a few words in her ear.
"No, I won't be hung! I'm sure I won't be hung!" cried Dotty, who was bythis time very much out of sorts.
"O, Dotty! what makes you act so? We've got a charade, 'Crisis.' Half ofus are going to play it for the other half to guess. We only want toweigh you, with a yardstick through an old shawl; that's all. Come, letus pin you up; there's a goody girl."
"I don't want to be a goody girl. I'm too big to be goody. If you want ababy to make believe with, why don't you take Flyaway? She's littlerthan me."
"There, there!" said Prudy, coming to the rescue, "you needn't do asingle thing, Dotty, if you don't want to. We didn't know but you'd liketo play be weighed, you can squeal so be-_you_-tifully!"
"I know I can squeal just like a rubber doll; but s'posin' they shouldlet me fall off the yardstick--where'd I go to then?"
"O, but they wouldn't!"
"Of course they would, Prudy Parlin. And I should fall right into thetolly-blow--that's where I should fall to."
"O, pshaw!" exclaimed Percy, coming into the corner where his cousinsstood; "if cousin Dimple has got into one of her contrary fits, it's ofno use teasing. You might as well try to move the side of the house."
This cutting speech was all that was needed to complete Dotty's illhumor. Did she remember any longer her promise not to get angry, but toswallow her temper right down? No, indeed; she forgot everything but herown self-will.
"Don't you speak again, Percy, or I'll scream my throat right in two!"
"Girls, I advise you to let that child alone," said her cousin, with alook of supreme contempt. "Let's try Flyaway; she's a little darling.Here, Flyaway, are'n't you willing to be pinned up in a shawl if we'llgive you a whole cent?"
"Course, indeed, so!" replied the little one, tossing her kitten acrossa chair, and into the fireplace. "But you mus' gi' me mucher'n that! Gi'me hunnerd cents!"
No answer was made to this, except to dress the child in a ruffled capand long clothes, and pin her into a plaid shawl.
"Now cry," said Percy; "cry just as if you had soap in your eyes."
"Ee! Ee!" wailed Katie, loudly.
"No, cry _weak_; cry just as you did when you were a baby."
"I don't 'member when I was a baby, 'twas so _many_ years ago," sighedFlyaway.
But she practised crying again, and succeeded very well, Dotty all thewhile looking on in grim displeasure.
Susy was the mamma; and when the folding-doors opened upon the scene"Cry," she was sitting in a rocking-chair, admiring her child, aremarkably well-grown baby, two months old.
"Just the image of his papa, Mrs. Pettibone!"
cried Florence Eastman,rushing in, in the character of an old lady, her head adorned with ascoop bonnet. "Let me look at the precious little creature! Yes, justthe image of his papa! I said so before I ever set eyes on him. He's twomonths of age, you say, and how many teeth?"
"She is a girl," replied Mrs. Susy, kissing the big bundle, "and weighstwenty-nine pounds, three inches."
Susy meant "ounces."
Then followed a chat between herself and a few little old ladiesconcerning catnip and "pep'mint" tea; after which the wonderful baby washeld up by the yardstick to be weighed.
Flyaway had not expected to be suspended so high in the air. She forgotthe baby-like cry she had been practising, and screamed out in terror,--
"I wish I didn't be to Portland! O, I wish I didn't be to Portland!"
As this was a very long speech for a baby two months old, the audiencewere taken by surprise, and laughed heartily. Poor little Flyaway waslifted out of the shawl, and kissed over and over again. She had notplayed properly, it is true, but she had intended to do right, and wasapplauded for her good intentions.
Dotty saw and heard the whole. She was sorry she had refused the part,and she put her fingers in her mouth, and sulked, because little Flyawayhad been stealing the praise she might have received herself.
After both syllables of the charade had been acted and guessed, then theother half of the company took their turn, and attempted to arrange atableau. There was a deal of confusion. No one knew exactly what oughtto be done. They were to have a Goddess of Liberty, and finally decidedto dress her in an embroidered window curtain, with a shield on herbreast made of a blue box cover, striped with yellow silk. Dotty wasselected as goddess, on account of her superior beauty.
"But my mamma never 'lows me to wear window curtains, and I sha'n't be atolly-blow 'thout I can wear my white dress with red spots, and a bigbosom-pin in!"
"And a shaker," suggested one of the girls. "I didn't know before thatSusy Parlin had such a bad sister."
This was too much. Dotty's head was on fire. She caught the girl by theshoulder, and shook her as if she had been a breadth of dusty carpeting;then ran away.
Which way she went she did not heed, and never stopped till she came toa dark pantry, which had been made without any windows, on purpose tokeep out flies. The unhappy child threw herself, out of breath, upon thefloor of this closet, her heart beating high with rage and shame.