"Say no more, Poppy. I never wish to see you barefooted," replied mamma.
"Well, you needn"t: I"ll go and do it in the barn," muttered Poppy, as she walked away.
Into the barn she went, and played country girl to her heart"s content, in spite of Nelly"s warnings. Nelly never got into sc.r.a.pes, being a highly virtuous young lady; but she enjoyed Poppy"s pranks, and wept over her misfortunes with sisterly fidelity.
"Now I"ll be a bear, and jump at you as you go by," said Poppy, when they were tired of playing steam-engine with the old winnowing machine.
So she got up on a beam; and Nelly, with a peck measure on her head for a hat, and a stick for a gun, went bear-hunting, and banged away at the swallows, the barrels, and the hencoops, till the bear was ready to eat her. Presently, with a loud roar, the bear leaped; but Nelly wasn"t eaten that time, for Poppy cried out with pain:
"Oh! I jumped on a pitchfork, and it"s in my foot! Take it out! take it out!"
Poor little foot! There was a deep purple hole in the sole, and the blood came, and Poppy fainted away, and Nelly screamed, and mamma ran, and the neighbors rushed in, and there was _such_ a flurry. Poppy was soon herself again, and lay on the sofa, with Nelly and Cy to amuse her.
"What did the doctor say to mamma in the other room about me?" whispered Poppy, feeling very important at having such a bustle made on her account. Nelly sniffed, but said nothing; Cy, however, spoke up briskly:
"He says you might have lockjaw."
"Is that bad?" asked Poppy gravely.
"Oh, ain"t it, though! Your mouth shuts up, and you can"t open it; and you have fits and die."
"Always?" said Poppy, looking scared, and feeling of her mouth.
""Most always, I guess. That"s why your ma cried, and Nelly keeps kissin" you."
Cy felt sorry, but rather enjoyed the excitement, and was sure, that, if any one ever _could_ escape dying, it would be Poppy, for she always "came alive" again after her worst mishaps. She looked very solemn for a few minutes, and kept opening and shutting her mouth to see if it wasn"t stiff. Presently she said, in a serious tone and with a pensive air:
"Nelly, I"ll give you my bead-ring: I shan"t want it any more. And Cy may have the little horse: he lost his tail; but I put on the lamb"s tail, and he is as good as ever. I wish to give away my things "fore I die; and, Nelly, won"t you bring me the scissors?"
"What for?" said Nelly, sniffing more than ever.
"To cut off my hair for mamma. She"ll want it, and I like to cut things."
Nelly got the scissors; and Poppy cut away all she could reach, giving directions about her property while she snipped.
"I wish papa to have my pictures and my piece of poetry I made. Give baby my dolly and the quacking duck. Tell Billy, if he wants my collection of bright b.u.t.tons, he can have "em; and give Hattie the yellow plaster dog, with my love."
Here mamma came in with a poultice, and couldn"t help laughing, though tears stood in her eyes, as she saw Poppy"s cropped head and heard her last wishes.
"I don"t think I shall lose my little girl yet, so we won"t talk of it.
But Poppy must keep quiet, and let Nelly wait on her for a few days."
"Are fits bad, mamma? and does it hurt much to die?" asked Poppy thoughtfully.
"If people are good while they live, it is not hard to die, dear," said mamma, with a kiss; and Poppy hugged her, saying softly:
"Then I"ll be very good; so I won"t mind, if the jawlock does come."
And Poppy _was_ good,--oh, dreadfully good! for a week. Quite an angel was Poppy; so meek and gentle, so generous and obedient, you really wouldn"t have known her. She loved everybody, forgave her playmates all their sins against her, let Nelly take such of her precious treasures as she liked, and pensively hoped baby would remember her when she was gone. She hopped about with a crutch, and felt as if she was an object of public interest; for all the old ladies sent to know how she was, the children looked at her with respectful awe as one set apart and doomed to fits, and Cy continually begged to know if her mouth was stiff.
Poppy didn"t die, though she got all ready for it; and felt rather disappointed when the foot healed, the jaws remained as active as ever, and the fits didn"t come. I think it did her good; for she never forgot that week, and, though she was near dying several times after, she never was so fit to go as she was then.
"Burney"s making jelly: let"s go and get our sc.r.a.pings," said Poppy to Nellie once, when mamma was away.
But Burney was busy and cross, and cooks are not as patient as mothers; so when the children appeared, each armed with a spoon, and demanded their usual feast, she wouldn"t hear of it, and ordered them off.
"But we only want the sc.r.a.pings of the pan, Burney: mamma always lets us have them, when we help her make jelly; don"t she, Nelly?" said Poppy, trying to explain the case.
"Yes; and makes us our little potful too," added Nelly, persuasively.
"I don"t want your help; so be off. Your ma can fuss with your pot, if she chooses. I"ve no time."
"_I_ think Burney"s the crossest woman in the world. It"s mean to eat all the sc.r.a.pings herself; isn"t it Nelly?" said Poppy, very loud, as the cook shut the door in their faces. "Never mind: I know how to pay her," she added, in a whisper, as they sat on the stairs bewailing their wrongs. "She"ll put her old jelly in the big closet, and lock the door; but we can climb the plum tree, and get in at the window, when she takes her nap."
"Should we dare to eat any?" asked Nelly, timid, but longing for the forbidden fruit.
"_I_ should; just as much as ever I like. It"s mamma"s jelly, and she won"t mind. I don"t care for old cross Burney," said Poppy, sliding down the banisters by way of soothing her ruffled spirit.
So when Burney went to her room after dinner, the two rogues climbed in at the window; and, each taking a jar, sat on the shelf, dipping in their fingers and revelling rapturously. But Burney wasn"t asleep, and, hearing a noise below, crept down to see what mischief was going on.
Pausing in the entry to listen, she heard whispering, clattering of gla.s.ses, and smacking of lips in the big closet; and in a moment knew that her jelly was lost. She tried the door with her key; but sly Poppy had bolted it on the inside, and, feeling quite safe, defied Burney from among the jelly-pots, entirely reckless of consequences. Short-sighted Poppy! she forgot Cy; but Burney didn"t, and sent him to climb in at the window, and undo the door. Feeling hurt that the young ladies hadn"t asked him to the feast, Cy hardened his heart against them, and delivered them up to the enemy, regardless of Poppy"s threats and Nelly"s prayers.
"Poppy proposed it, she broke the jar, and I didn"t eat _much_. O Burney! don"t hurt her, please, but let me "splain it to mamma when she comes," sobbed Nelly, as Burney seized Poppy, and gave her a good shaking.
"You go wash your face, Miss Nelly, and leave this naughty, naughty child to me," said Burney; and took Poppy, kicking and screaming, into the little library, where she--oh, dreadful to relate!--gave her a good spanking, and locked her up.
Mamma never whipped, and Poppy was in a great rage at such an indignity.
The minute she was left alone, she looked about to see how she could be revenged. A solar lamp stood on the table; and Poppy coolly tipped it over, with a fine smash, calling out to Burney that she"d have to pay for it, that mamma would be very angry, and that she, Poppy, was going to spoil every thing in the room. But Burney was gone, and no one came near her. She kicked the paint off the door, rattled the latch, called Burney a "pig," and Cy "a badder boy than the man who smothered the little princes in the Tower." Poppy was very fond of that story, and often played it with Nelly and the dolls. Having relieved her feelings in this way, Poppy rested, and then set about amusing herself. Observing that the spilt oil made the table shine, she took her handkerchief and polished up the furniture, as she had seen the maids do.
"Now, that looks nice; and I know mamma will be pleased "cause I"m so tidy," she said, surveying her work with pride, when she had thoroughly greased every table, chair, picture-frame, book-back, and ornament in the room. Plenty of oil still remained; and Poppy finished off by oiling her hair, till it shone finely, and smelt--dear me, how it did smell! If she had been a young whale, it couldn"t have been worse. Poppy wasn"t particular about smells; but she got some in her mouth, and didn"t like the taste. There was no water to wash in; and her hands, face, and pinafore were in a high state of grease. She was rather lonely too; for, though mamma had got home, she didn"t come to let Poppy out: so the young rebel thought it was about time to surrender. She could write pretty well, and was fond of sending penitent notes to mamma, after being naughty: for mamma always answered them so kindly, and was so forgiving, that Poppy"s naughtiest mood was conquered by them sooner than by any punishment; and Poppy kept the notes carefully in a little cover, even after she was grown up. There was pen, ink, and paper in the room; so, after various trials, Poppy wrote her note:--
"dear Mamma.
"i am sorry i Took bernys gelli. i have braked The lamP. The oyl maks A bad smel. i tHink i wil Bee sik iF i stay HeRe anny More.
i LoVe yoU--your Trying To Bee GooD
popy."
When she had finished, she lowered her note by a string, and bobbed it up and down before the parlor window till Nelly saw and took it in.
Every one laughed over it; for, besides the bad spelling and the funny periods, it was covered with oil-spots, blots, and tear marks; for Poppy got tender-hearted toward the end, and cried a few very repentant tears when she said, "I love you; your trying-to-be-good Poppy."
Mamma went up at once, and ordered no further punishment, but a thorough scrubbing; which Poppy underwent very meekly, though Betsey put soap in her eyes, pulled her hair, and scolded all the time. They were not allowed any jelly for a long while; and Cy teased Poppy about her hair-oil till the joke was quite worn out, and even cross Burney was satisfied with the atonement.
When Poppy was eight, she got so very wild that no one could manage her but mamma, and she was ill; so Poppy was sent away to grandpa"s for a visit. Now, grandpa was a very stately old gentleman, and every one treated him with great respect; but Poppy wasn"t at all afraid, and asked all manner of impolite questions.
"Grandpa, why don"t you have any hair on the top of your head?"--"O grandpa! you _do_ snore _so_ loud when you take naps!"--"What makes you turn out your feet so, when you walk?" and such things.
If grandpa hadn"t been the best-natured old gentleman in the world, he wouldn"t have liked this: but he only laughed at Poppy, especially when she spoke of his legs; for he was rather proud of them, and always wore long black silk stockings, and told every one that the legs were so handsome an artist put them in a picture of General Washington; which was quite true, as any one may see when they look at the famous picture in Boston.
Well, Poppy behaved herself respectably for a day or two; but the house was rather dull, she missed Nelly, wanted to run in the street, and longed to see mamma. She amused herself as well as she could with picture-books, patchwork, and the old cat; but, not being a quiet, proper, little Rosamond sort of a child, she got tired of hemming neat pocket-handkerchiefs, and putting her needle carefully away when she had done. She wanted to romp and shout, and slide down the banisters, and riot about; so, when she couldn"t be quiet another minute, she went up into a great empty room at the top of the house, and cut up all sorts of capers. Her great delight was to lean out of the window as far as she could, and look at the people in the street, with her head upside down.