CHAPTER VI
THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
At last schooldays began, and one Monday morning the three Maynardsstarted off.
The first day of school was a great occasion, and much preparation hadbeen made for it.
Mr. Maynard had brought each of the children a fine new box, wellstocked with pencils, pens, and things of that sort. Kitty had a newslate, and Midget and King had new blankbooks.
Also, they were all in a state of clean starchiness, and the girls'pretty gingham dresses and King's wide white collar were immaculate.
Marjorie didn't look especially happy, but her mother said:
"Now, Mopsy, dear, don't go to school as if it were penance. Try toenjoy it, and think of the fun you'll have playing with the other girlsat recess."
"I know, Mother; but recess is so short, and school is so long."
"Ho! Only till one o'clock," said Kingdon. "Then we can come home, havelunch, and then there's all the afternoon to play."
"Yes, for you," said Marjorie. "But I have to practise a whole hour, andthat leaves almost no time at all, and there are so many things I wantto do."
"Now, my little girl," said Mrs. Maynard, very seriously, "you must tryto conquer that mood. You know you have to go to school, so why not makethe best of it? You don't really dislike it as much as you think you do.So, cheer up, little daughter, and run along, determined to see thebright side, even of school."
"I will try, Mother," said Midget, smiling, as she received her good-byekiss, "but I'll be glad when it's one o'clock."
"I wiss me could go to school," said Rosy Posy, wistfully; "me an'Boffin, we'd have fun in school."
"There it is," said Mrs. Maynard, laughing. "Little girls who can go toschool don't want to go, and little girls who can't go do want to!"
"You'll go some day, Baby," said King, "but they won't let you takeBoffin."
"Den I won't go!" declared Rosy Posy, decidedly.
The three walked down the path to the gate, and, soon after they reachedthe street, they were joined by several others, also schoolward bound.
Marjorie's spirits rose, as she chatted with the merry young people; andas they passed the Fulton house, and Dick and Gladys came out, Marjoriewas so glad to see her friend that she was at once her own happy, merrylittle self again.
Miss Lawrence's room was one of the pleasantest in the big brickbuilding. When Marjorie and Gladys presented themselves at her desk, andasked if they might sit together, the teacher hesitated. She wanted togrant the request of the little girls, but they had been in her classthe year before, and she well knew their propensities for mischief.
"Oh, please, Miss Lawrence!" begged Marjorie; and, "Oh, do say yes!"pleaded Gladys.
It was hard to resist the little coaxers, and Miss Lawrence at lastconsented.
"But," she said, "you may sit at the same desk only so long as youbehave well. If you cut up naughty pranks, I shall separate you for therest of the term."
"We won't!" "We will be good!" cried the two children, and they ranhappily away to their desk.
Each desk was arranged for two occupants, and both Marjorie and Gladysenjoyed putting their things away neatly, and keeping them in goodorder. They never spilled ink, or kept their papers helter-skelter, andbut for their mischievous ways, would have been model pupils indeed.
"Let's be real good all the term, Gladys," said Midget, who was stillunder the influence of her mother's parting words. "Let's try not to cutup tricks, or do anything bad."
"All right, Mopsy. But you mustn't make me laugh in school. It's whenyou begin to do funny things that I seem to follow on."
"Well, I won't. I'll be as good as a little white mouse. But if I'm amouse, I'll nibble your things."
Down went Marjorie's curly head like a flash, and when it came up again,Gladys' new penholder was between her teeth, and the "mouse" wasvigorously nibbling it.
"Stop that, Mops! I think you're real mean! That's my new penholder, andnow you've spoiled it."
"So I have! Honest, Gladys, I didn't think the dents would show so. Iwas just playing mouse, you know. Here, I'll change, and give you mine.It's new, too."
"No, I won't take it."
"Yes, you will; you must. I'm awfully sorry I chewed yours."
Poor little Midget! She was always impulsively getting into mischief,but she was always sorry, and generously anxious to make amends.
So Gladys took Marjorie's penholder, and Mopsy had the nibbled one. Shedidn't like it a bit, for she liked to have her things in good order,but she said to Gladys:
"Perhaps it will make me remember to be good in school. Oh, s'pose I'dplayed mouse in school hours!"
"Keep still," said Gladys, "the bell has rung."
The morning passed pleasantly enough, for there were no lessons on thefirst day of school.
Books were distributed, and class records were made, and lessons givenout for next day.
Marjorie was delighted with her new geography, which was a larger bookthan the one she had had the year before. Especially was she pleasedwith a large map which was called the "Water Hemisphere." On theopposite page was the "Land Hemisphere," and this was a division of theglobe she had never seen before.
The Water Hemisphere pleased her best, and she at once began to playgames with it.
Talking was, of course, forbidden, but motioning for Gladys to followher example, she made a tiny paper boat, and then another, and severalothers. These she set afloat on the printed ocean of the WaterHemisphere. Gladys, delighted with the fun, quickly made some boats forherself, and arranged them on her own geography. Other pupils, seeingwhat was going on, followed the example, and soon nearly all thegeographies in the room had little paper craft dotting their oceans.
Next, Marjorie made some little men and women to put in the boats. Shehad no scissors, but tore them roughly out of paper which she took fromher blankbook. Other leaves of this she obligingly passed around, untilall the boats in the room were supplied with passengers.
Then Marjorie, still in her position of leader, tore out a semblance ofa fish. It seemed to be a whale or shark, with wide-open jaws.
This awful creature came slowly up from the Antarctic Ocean, toward theships full of people.
Suddenly a boat upset, the passengers fell out, and the whale made adash for them.
This awful catastrophe was repeated in the other oceans, and, needlessto say, in a moment the whole roomful of children were in peals oflaughter.
Miss Lawrence looked up from her writing, and saw her class all gigglingand shaking behind their geographies. Instinctively she glanced towardMarjorie, but that innocent damsel had swept all her boats and whalesinto her pocket, and was demurely studying her lessons.
Marjorie did not in the least mean to deceive Miss Lawrence, but whenthe children all laughed, she suddenly realized that she had been out oforder, and so she quickly stopped her play, and resumed her task.
Observing the open geographies covered with scraps of paper, MissLawrence felt she must at least inquire into the matter, and, though thechildren did not want to "tell tales," it soon transpired that MarjorieMaynard had been ringleader in the game.
"Why did you do it, Marjorie?" asked Miss Lawrence, with a reproachfulexpression on her face. As she had meant no harm, Marjorie felt calledupon to defend herself.
"Why, Miss Lawrence," she said, rising in her seat, "I didn't thinkeverybody would do it, just because I did. And I didn't think much aboutit anyway. I s'pose that's the trouble. I _never_ think! But I never hada jography before with such a big ocean map, and it was such a lovelyplace to sail boats, I just made a few. And then I just thought I'd putsome people in the boats, and then it seemed as if such a big oceanought to have fish in it. So I made a whale,--and I was going to make alot of bluefish and shads and things, but a boat upset, and the whalecame after the people, and then, first thing I knew, everybody waslaughing! I didn't mean to do wrong."
Marjorie looked so genuinely distressed that Miss Lawrence had
n't theheart to scold her. But she sighed as she thought of the days to come.
"No, Marjorie," she said, "I don't think you did mean to do wrong, butyou ought to know better than to make paper toys to play with inschool."
"But it isn't exactly a schoolday, Miss Lawrence."
"No; and for that very reason I shall not punish you this time. Butremember, after this, that playing games of any sort is out of place inthe schoolroom."
"Yes, ma'am," said Marjorie, and she sat down, feeling that she had beenforgiven, and firmly resolved to try harder than ever to be good.
But half-suppressed chuckles now and then, in different parts of theschoolroom, proved to the watchful Miss Lawrence that some of the whaleswere still lashing about the paper oceans in quest of upturned boats.
The game so filled Marjorie's thoughts that she asked that Gladys andshe might be allowed to stay in the schoolroom at recess and play it.
"There's surely no harm in playing games at recess, is there, MissLawrence?" she asked, as she caressed her teacher's hand.
Miss Lawrence hesitated. "No," she said, at last; "I can't let you stayin the schoolroom. I'm sorry, dearies, and I hate to be always saying'No,' but I feel sure your parents want you to run out in the fresh airat recess time, and they wouldn't like to have you stay indoors."
"Oh, dear," said Marjorie; "seems 'sif we can't have any fun!" Then herface brightened, and she added, "But mayn't we take our jographies outon the playground, and play out there?"
There was a rule against taking schoolbooks out of the classrooms, butMiss Lawrence so disliked to say 'No' again that she made a specialdispensation, and said:
"Yes, do take your geographies out with you. But be very careful not tosoil or tear them."
And so the two girls danced away, and all through the recess hour, boatsupset and awful sharks swallowed shrieking victims. But, as might havebeen expected, most of the other children came flying back to theschoolroom for their geographies, and again Miss Lawrence was in aquandary.
"I never saw a child like Marjorie Maynard," she confided to anotherteacher. "She's the dearest little girl, but she gets up such crazyschemes, and all the others follow in her footsteps."
So, after recess, Miss Lawrence had to make a rule that books could notbe used as playthings, even at recess times.
For the rest of the morning, Marjorie was a model pupil.
She studied her lessons for the next day, and though Miss Lawrenceglanced at her from time to time, she never saw anything amiss.
But when school was over at one o'clock, Marjorie drew a long breath andfairly flew for her hat.
"Good-bye, dearie," said Miss Lawrence, as Midge passed her when thelong line filed out.
"Good-bye!" was the smiling response, and in two minutes more Mopsy wasskipping and jumping across the playground.
"Hello, King!" she called. "Where's Kitty? Oh, here you are! Now we canall go home together. What shall we do this afternoon? I want to dosomething jolly to take the taste of school out of my mouth."
"Come over to our house and play in the hay," said Dick Fulton.
"All right, we will. I'll have my practising done by three o'clock, andwe'll come then."
A little later, and the three Maynards flew in at their own gate, andfound a warm welcome and a specially good luncheon awaiting them.
"I got along pretty well, Mother," said Marjorie, as they all told theirmorning's experiences. "Only I couldn't help playing paper boats." Shetold the whole story, and Mrs. Maynard smiled as she said:
"Marjorie, you are incorrigible; but I fear you will only learn byexperience----"
"What is incorrigible?" asked Marjorie.
"It's 'most too big a word for you to understand," said her mother, "butit means you must just keep on everlastingly trying to be good."
"I will," said Mops, heartily, and then she turned her attention to thechicken pie before her.