IX.
_SATURDAY MORNING'S WORK._
Saturday came, a bright and beautiful day, as Lily rejoiced to see whenshe ran to the window and peeped out as soon as she was out of herlittle bed.
For she was to have quite a party of children to spend the day withher, and she had been very anxious that the weather should be pleasant.
Maggie and Bessie, Belle and Mabel, and Nellie and Carrie Ransom wereall coming, and they expected to have a great frolic. All Lily'splaymates were fond of visiting her, not only because they loved her,and her home was a pleasant one, but also because there was such agrand play-room in Mr. Norris' house.
This was a great open attic hall or gallery. The house was a large one,and this open space ran across the whole width of it, the attic roomsbeing at either end, and a staircase coming up at the side. But thiswas shut in by a door at the foot of the flight, so that it was quitesecluded, and considered rather an advantage, as it afforded a kind ofretiring room. There were large bins ranged on the opposite side fromthe stairs, which had once been used to hold coal and wood; but theywere empty now, and the top of the lids afforded capital seats for thespectators who witnessed certain performances which frequently tookplace in the open arena. Never was there such a famous garret, or onewhich had seen greater sport and fun.
Here the children could make as much noise as they pleased without fearof disturbing older people; here there was plenty of space for playing"tag," "hunt the slipper," "chairs," or any other frolicsome game;here they acted proverbs, charades, and so forth. These last were nowtheir favorite amusements, and Mr. Norris' attic was considered thebest place for their performance.
For, added to these other advantages, there was also a room devoted tothe storing of all manner of odds and ends which were not in generaluse, and were stored there to be out of the way; and with certain ofthese articles the children were allowed to do as they pleased, andto make them serviceable in their games and plays. Among them weretwo or three old trunks full of old party dresses and ribbons; andany little girl can imagine what delightful means these afforded for"dressing up." There were flags, too, of various sizes and conditions,old-fashioned curtain fixtures, and even a tent of striped red andwhite canvas. All these Lily and her playmates were allowed to convertto their own uses, so long as they destroyed nothing; and many an hourdid patient Nora, ever devoted to the pleasure of her nursling, spendin putting them to rights after they had been thoroughly rummaged andscattered abroad.
Chief among the treasures in the attic was an old rocking-horse whichhad belonged to Tom; at least he had once been a rocking-horse, buthe had now not only lost his rockers, but also his hind legs. Strangeto say, however, this did not at all interfere with his usefulness;perhaps it rather added to it, for when he was supposed to fill hisoriginal character, namely, that of a horse, he was accommodated withtwo imaginary limbs in the place of the missing members, and he nevercomplained that they did not answer the purpose quite as well.
The number of uses to which he was put, and the characters he wassupposed to represent, would be impossible to tell. Sometimes he was aprince, and sometimes a beggar or a robber; sometimes a servant, andsometimes a lover or husband; sometimes a little boy, at others a crossold man; again he was converted into an elephant by having the end ofa curved iron pipe thrust into his mouth, or into a camel by a pillowupon his back; at times, a fierce wild beast, growling and raging; atothers, the meekest of sheep or cows, mild and gentle in all respects.At one time he spoke in a squeaking but plaintive voice; at another inwhat was supposed to be a deep, roaring bass.
I forgot to say that he had lost his tail as well as his legs; andhis beauty was farther increased by the fact that Maggie and Lily,finding his ears inconvenient for the proper fitting of crowns, caps,wreaths, and other decorations, had cropped them close to his head. Hehad also been shorn of his hair in various places, which gave him amangy and distressed appearance; so that, save in the eyes of his mostintimate and attached friends, he was not a horse of very fine personalappearance.
This gallant and accommodating steed rejoiced in the name of Sir PercyHotspur; but this was laid aside when convenience demanded it, and heobligingly answered to the name of the moment.
Dear to the hearts of Lily and her young friends was Sir Percy Hotspur;and he was always tenderly cared for after he was through with hisperformances, being left to repose in the intervals in a corner of theattic, with his head upon an old sofa pillow, and carefully coveredwith a disused carriage robe.
What a long history of an old rocking-horse, you may say, and so it is;but, you see, Sir Percy Hotspur played a very important part in Lily'slife, and she was deeply attached to him, and as this is her story,whatever concerned her deserves our attention.
With so many attractions, you may believe that an invitation to Lily'shouse was always considered desirable, and eagerly accepted.
Never, I think, were four little girls who found more enjoyment intheir small lives and in one another, than our Maggie and Bessie,Belle and Lily. They were so much together that whatever interestedone interested all the others, and any pleasure was increased if theycould all share it together.
But we must go to the history of this Saturday.
"Lily," said Mrs. Norris, as the family left the breakfast table, "itis nine o'clock now; and if I were you, I would finish that littlepetticoat at once. I think you can do it in an hour, and then it willbe off your mind and conscience; and after you have practised for halfan hour, you can enjoy yourself for the rest of the day as you please."
"I don't believe the children will come before twelve o'clock, do you,mamma?" asked Lily.
"No, probably not."
"Then I have three hours," said Lily. "That is lots of time, and Ishall be sure to have it done, even if I don't begin right away."
"Take care, Lily," said her mother, lifting a warning finger, andshaking her head with a smile which told the little girl what thatwarning meant.
"Don't be afraid, mamma," she answered "I'll be sure to do it thismorning; and even if I did not quite finish it, I have Monday too."
Again Mrs. Norris shook her head, and this time without the smile;for she plainly saw that Lily was in one of her careless, putting offmoods, and she feared the work would suffer.
"I am going right away, mamma," said Lily, as she saw how grave hermother looked; and away she danced, singing as she went.
But as she ran through the hall, she met her brother Tom with hispuppy, which he was going to take for a walk. Lily never saw the littledog without stopping to have a romp with him, and the playful littlefellow was growing fond of her already, and was always eager for thefrolic with which she indulged him.
He sprang upon her now, whining and crying with pleasure at seeing her,and Lily stopped, of course, to pet him, and then began racing up anddown through the hall; while Tom good-naturedly waited, and stood by,laughing at the antics of the two frolicsome young things. Gay andcareless as the puppy himself, Lily had no more thought for the taskawaiting her.
I do not know that she should be very much blamed for this; but fewlittle girls who would not have done the same, and Lily knew that therewas much more than time enough for the completion of the petticoat. ButI want to show you how the moments, yes, and the hours too, slippedaway; how little bits of idling and procrastination stole away the timebefore she was aware, and in the end brought her into sad trouble.
A quarter of an hour went by in Lily's frolic with the puppy, until atlast Tom said he must go.
"I would take you with me, Lil," he said, "only that I know mammawishes you to do your work."
"Yes," said Lily reluctantly; and but for very shame she would havebegged to put off her work and accompany him.
Tom and his dog were gone, and Lily sauntered towards the sitting-room.
"I don't feel a bit like sewing now," she said to herself. "I couldhave gone with Tom, and been back time enough to finish my petticoat.Every one is so particular about my putting-off, and they
never want meto do any thing _I_ want to. But I s'pose I'll have to finish the oldthing now."
Lily, you see, was allowing temptation to creep in. She did not stillits first whisperings, but suffered them to make her feel discontentedand fretful.
She had stopped at the foot of the staircase, and with both handsclasped about the newel-post, was swaying herself back and forth, whenNora spoke to her from the head of the stairs.
"Miss Lily," she said, by way of a gentle reminder, "do you need anyhelp with your work?"
"No, I b'lieve not," answered the little girl. "If I do, I'll come toyou. I was just thinking where I'd go to sew."
"Will you come to the nursery? It is all put in order," asked Nora,anxious to carry her point, and seeing from Lily's manner that her oldenemy was busy with her.
"I'll see presently," said Lily. "I'm just going to the little parlorto look for my petticoat. I forget what I did with it yesterday when Ihad done sewing."
And, leaving her hold of the banisters, she crossed the hall. But asshe passed the open door of the drawing-room, the piano caught her eye,and turned her thoughts into another channel.
"I think I'll go and practise first," she said. "It's all the samething, and I can do the petticoat afterwards. I have just the sametime."
This was true enough, but Lily was not wise, for she liked to practise,and she did not like to sew; and it would have been better for her tohave done with the least pleasant duty first.
She placed herself at the piano, and, I must do her the justice to say,practised steadily for half an hour.
"It is ten minutes of ten," she said, looking at the clock. "Oh,there's lots of time yet; I can stay here a little longer. I'm going topractise this new piece some more."
This new piece was one Miss Ashton had given her the day before, sothat she had had but one lesson on it; and it had all the charm ofnovelty to her, besides being, as she thought, the prettiest piece shehad ever played.
"I'll astonish Miss Ashton by letting her see how well I have learnedit," she said to herself; and she remained at the piano, playing overand over again the lively little waltz, until her mother's voice at thedoor recalled her to her neglected duty.
"Lily," it said, "you have been practising more than half an hour,dear."
"Yes, mamma," said Lily, glancing over at the clock again; "more thanthree quarters; but my new music is so very pretty, and I want MissAshton to be quite surprised with my knowing it so well."
"I am afraid Miss Ashton may have a less agreeable surprise if you donot take care, my darling," said Mrs. Norris gravely.
"Oh, you mean about the petticoat, mamma; but there's lots and lotsof time. I b'lieve Pro has had hold of me this morning," said Lily,jumping down from the piano stool, "and I'll come right away; but yousee I was so very sure about having time enough to-day, mamma, thatit did not make so much difference. There's a good deal of time yetto-day, and I have Monday too."
"Put away your music, Lily," said her mother; and she stood waitingwhile Lily laid in its place the music she would have left scatteredover the piano. Perhaps Mrs. Norris thought it just as well not to losesight again of her heedless little daughter until she had her settledat her work.
"Bring your work-box to my room," said Mrs. Norris. "I have somethingto do there, and we will have a nice, cosey time."
Lily ran for the box, and was back with it in a moment, for as she wentshe said to herself,--
"I b'lieve I've let Pro steal a good many little thefts already thismorning; now I'll just send him off right away. I have plenty of timeyet, but now I really must make haste."
Lily's work-box was of rather formidable dimensions; indeed, somepeople thought it but one stage removed from a small trunk. It hadbeen presented to her by an old lady with whom she was a great pet,and although it was extremely inconvenient in regard to size andweight, it was very handsomely fitted up with mother-of-pearl andsilver, and contained every implement which could be needed by the mostaccomplished needle-woman. Upon the lid was a silver plate, with "Foran industrious little girl" engraved upon it.
Now as we know, our Lily was by no means an industrious little girl;nevertheless she took great pride and delight in this "ark," asTom privately called it; and, although she had two or three otherwork-boxes and baskets much more suitable and convenient in point ofsize, she made use of this one whenever she could do so.
"It held so much," she said, and indeed it did; and here the petticoathad reposed in the intervals when she was not busy with it; that is,when Lily had put it away in a proper manner.
She followed her mother with this ponderous treasure clasped in botharms; and, when she reached mamma's room, brought her little chair, andopened the box.
"Why," she said, when she had removed the upper tray which held all thedainty implements, and looked into the empty space beneath, "why, whereis my petticoat? Somebody has gone and taken it out. Mamma, did youtake it?"
"No, dear, I have not touched it," said Mrs. Norris. "Did you put itaway yesterday?"
"Yes, mamma, you know I always put it in here. I'll ask Nora;" andaway ran Lily to the nursery.
"Nora, did you take my orphan petticoat out of my work-box?" she asked.
"No, indeed, dear; and why would I touch it, unless you wanted somehelp with it?" answered Nora.
Back went Lily to her mamma's room, troubled and indignant.
"Mamma, some one has taken it. I never knew any thing so mean. Noradon't know any thing about it."
"Who would take it, Lily? I certainly did not, and you say Nora didnot. Papa or Tom could have no reason for touching it. I will tell youwhat I think."
"What mamma?" asked Lily, anxiously.
"That you could not have put it away yesterday when you stopped sewingupon it. Think a moment, my daughter; can you distinctly recollectputting it away in your box?"
Lily stood considering one moment; then dismay and shame graduallyoverspread her face.
"No, mamma, I just believe I did not. When I was going to put away mypetticoat in the box, I heard papa come in, and I wanted to know whyhe had come home so early; so I thought I would just wait one moment,and put it away when I had asked him, and I dropped it on the floor andran to papa. And you know he had come to take us to see those pictures,and I never thought another thing about the petticoat. I quite forgotI had not put it away when I told you I had. I will go and look in thesitting-room where I was sewing yesterday."
But her search proved fruitless, although she certainly did lookthoroughly through every part of the room. Nora was called, and tookher part, but all in vain; and at last mamma came. Mrs. Norris ratherfelt that she should let Lily be at all the trouble of finding thepetticoat for herself; but the child seemed so grieved that she couldnot bear to punish her in that way. But mamma was not more successfulthan her little daughter and the nurse had been, although in the endevery servant was questioned, and every room searched.
"It is very strange. Are you quite sure you have not seen it, Hannah?"asked Mrs. Norris of her chambermaid, a rather dull girl, who had beenbut a short time in the house. "Have you seen nothing of the kind lyingabout in the sitting-room, or did you not touch Miss Lily's box?"
"Miss Lily's harnsum box, is it, ma'am? Sure, and I did see that asittin' on the floor, where I thought you'd not be plased to see it atall at all, so I just lifted it to the table where I seen it sittin'before; but ne'er a thing I seen beside it. It wouldn't be Miss Lily'swork what I found the puppy a pullin' round the ary, ma'am,--themischavous baste that he is, my heart's most broke with him,--an' Ididn't take heed what it was, but seein' it that dirty, I just put itin the basket with the siled clothes."
Away went Lily, Nora after her; and, sure enough, the latter soonfished out the unfortunate little petticoat from the soiled-clothesbasket. Now, indeed, Lily was distressed, and cried bitterly, forthe thing was in no state to be touched until it had been washed. Itwas easy to imagine how it had happened. The puppy, who was growingvery mischievous, and who, like many another y
oung thing, was fond ofa forbidden plaything, had probably found the petticoat lying whereLily had heedlessly dropped it upon the floor; and, watching hisopportunity, had dragged it from the room, down stairs, and out intothe back area, where Hannah had rescued it, happily before it was tornand chewed to bits, but not before it was sadly blackened and soiled.
"Now don't you cry, honey Miss Lily, and I'll just wash it right outfor you, and have it back as clane as a new pin," said the good-naturedHannah. "If I'd known it yesterday, sure I'd a done it then; but nivera wurd did I think of its bein' your work, and it in that state. Och,what a crathur it is, that botherin' little baste!" she added, as shewent off with the melancholy looking petticoat in her hand.
Lily Norris. p. 174.]
"Will she have it washed and dried and ironed in time for me to finishit before the children come, mamma?" asked the sobbing Lily, buryingher head in her mother's lap.
"I am afraid not, dear," answered her mother, with a tender, pityingtouch upon the thoughtless little head which brought so much troubleupon itself, "so much time has been lost in hunting for your work, andit is now nearly eleven o'clock."
"If I'd only gone to my sewing at first as you advised me, then I'dhave found out sooner what that horrid little old hateful puppy haddone, and Hannah might have washed the petticoat for me in time,"moaned Lily. "I wish Tom never had the puppy."
"I do not think we must blame the puppy, my darling," said her mamma."He only acted according to his nature; and he found the skirt, youknow, where it should not have been."
"Yes," said Lily, "poor little cunning fellow; it wasn't his fault.It was all horrid old me, with my putting off that I never shall curemyself of; no, never, never. It is too mean that I cannot finish thattiresome petticoat this morning."
"Happily, dear, the consequences of your fault are not yet withoutremedy, and you may still make up for lost time, unless somethingshould happen which we do not foresee; but you have only this one morechance, Lily. Take care that you do not neglect it, or be tempted toprocrastinate again."