"At night my mamma comes up stairs,-- She comes to hear me say my prayers; And while I"m kneeling on her knee, She always kisses little me."
When it came to the last line the poor child buried her face in the pillow. Papa was good, and grandma was good; but there was no one like anybody"s own mamma, after all.
""She always kisses little me,"" murmured Dotty. ""She _always_ kisses little me." She gives me twenty kisses when I go to bed, "cept when I"m naughty, and then I don"t have but ten."
Dotty counted the number of k.n.o.bs on the bureau drawers, and then went on:--
"I think if I was in my mamma"s place, and had _me_ to take care of, I"d throw me out of the window; I wouldn"t keep such a girl!"
Dotty had great satisfaction in scolding herself when she was all alone.
It was a way she had of "doing her own punishing."
Presently, while engaged in the soothing business of calling herself names, she dropped off to sleep. She dreamed of red wherries and "white waves;" but never once dreamed that her mother had come, and was bending over the bed, actually "kissing little me."
"Poor thing," said Mrs. Parlin to herself, "if she doesn"t have a settled fever I shall be thankful. Will the time ever come when my little daughter will learn to obey her mother?"
Mrs. Parlin stole out of the room very softly; but a sly little rogue, observing that she left the creaking door a little ajar, watched an opportunity, and stole in on her "tipsy toes." It was "wee Katie." Mrs.
Parlin had brought her home, to keep her out of the way of Mrs.
Clifford, who was still quite ill.
The first thing which roused Dotty to consciousness was a feeling of suffocation. O, was she in the bay? Was she drowning? Something lay very close over her mouth; but it was not water: in fact it was a pillow; and on the pillow sat little Katie with her whole weight. But being a very restless child, it is not likely she would have remained in that position long enough to strangle her cousin, even if Dotty had not thrown up her arms and released herself suddenly.
"Why, Katie Clifford, is that you?"
"Yes, this is me!" replied Katie, with a voice as sweet as a wind-harp.
"You didn"t know _I_ was comin". You turned your face away: you wouldn"t look to me!"
"I s"pose I was asleep, Katie. You didn"t mean to sit down on my head, _did_ you, darling?"
"Yes, I did meant to. But you is sick. Folks mus"n"t talk."
"No," replied Dotty, smiling, "when folks are sick they mustn"t talk."
"Well," said Katie, putting her finger on her lip, "_they is_!"
"O, Katie!" cried Dotty, a new idea seizing her, "where"s mother? Did she come with you?"
Katie shook her head.
"My dee mamma velly sick."
"Yes, I know; but where"s _my_ mamma? Did she come with you in the cars?"
Katie shook her head again.
"Who did come with you, then? You didn"t come alone?"
"No, there was folks."
By this time Dotty had sprung out of bed, and was rushing out of the room to learn whether her mother had come. Mrs. Parlin met her at the door.
"My darling child," said she, hugging and kissing her just as tenderly as if she had never been "wherrying." "You"d better lie down again, and let me bathe your head."
Dotty sprang into bed instantly. She was glad her mother had asked her to do something, so she might prove her desire to obey. She liked the touch of those cool fingers on her forehead.
"O, mamma," said she, "you do make me feel better. It felt a while ago as if they were beating drums in there."
"Is your neck stiff, dear?"
Katie thrust her little prying fingers under Dotty"s chin, tickling her, of course.
"No, auntie," said she, ""tisn"t any stiff, her neck isn"t."
"But it"s sore, mother. Not so sore, though, as it was when Jennie Vanee and I got caught in the thunder and lightning."
After she had said this, Dotty blushed, for the words recalled to her mind another act of disobedience. No wonder she had thought herself such a naughty girl, fit only to be thrown out of the window!
"What sort of a child has Dotty been since I have been gone?" asked Mrs.
Parlin of Mrs. Eastman, as they both sat by the bedside.
Mrs. Eastman stroked the sheet with her white, jewelled hand before she replied. She was thinking how the little girl had turned the house upside down, and, as she believed, made Johnny more mischievous than ever; so she hesitated a moment.
"A tolerably good child."
This was all Mrs. Eastman could say; and it was as much as Mrs. Parlin had dared hope. She knew how Johnny and Dotty encouraged each other in rude behavior. She looked at her beautiful little daughter with pain, and wondered, as she had many times wondered before, if these bitter experiences she was suffering would ever have the effect to make her a better child.
Dotty did not understand the tender, regretful glance of her mother"s eyes. She was not as yet very well acquainted with the English language, and did not know what "tolerably" meant; she supposed it meant "remarkably."
"It"s so queer," she thought, "that auntie should tell my mamma I"ve been tol"ably good! Why, I haven"t, I know I haven"t: I"ve been tol"ably bad!"
She looked up at her auntie in surprise, and at that moment there entered into her small mind a doubt of Mrs. Eastman"s truthfulness. It was a very faint doubt, which she did not express even to herself. It was almost incredible that a grown-up lady should tell the "thing which is not," or even color the truth by so much as the shadow of a shade.
Still, when auntie had called Dotty a tol"ably good girl, she must have known it was a mistake!
Dotty did not have a fever; but for several days she was not at all well, and spent most of the time in her grandmamma"s room, on the lounge. It would have been a good opportunity for reflection, if Katie had not been in the house. As it was, Dotty did think of her own conduct for several minutes at a time, during the intervals when Katie was not dancing attendance upon her. She decided never to disobey her mother again, and said so. This, you remember, was nothing new; she had made the same resolve fifty times before, and broken it as often.
Johnny, her little companion in naughtiness, escaped without so much as a sore throat; but he suffered in another way. His father, learning of his exploit upon the water, and being greatly incensed, punished him severely. It was not often that Johnny was corrected, and this time he was very indignant. He reflected that if it had not been for Dotty Dimple his sin would not have been found out. Dotty had ceased to be a "brick;" she was a tell-tale--a hateful, mean tell-tale; and he wished she would go home and stay there.
"I"ll pay her for this business," said Johnny, talking to his boots.
Just how he was going to "pay" his little cousin he did not know. As for being sorry for his disobedience, I doubt if Johnny thought of such a thing. He knew he had been in much peril, and now, while the remembrance of the fright was still fresh in his mind, he was not likely to fall into the same temptation again--that was all.
Johnny missed his little lively cousin in his out-of-door sports; but he was so angry with her that he scarcely ever went up stairs to see her; and when he did go, amused himself by putting his mouth down to her ear, and crying,--
"E, for shame, Dot Parlin! Fore I"d run and tell!"
But Dotty did not know that her cousin Johnny was harboring such bitter thoughts against her. She had a high temper herself; but anger did not rankle in her heart for days and days, as it did in Johnny"s. She was not eager, like him, for revenge.
The Parlins were now making ready to go into their new hired house.