Elsie was opening her lips to speak, but Mrs. Dinsmore bade her be silent, and then went on. "She pretends it is all on account of conscientious scruples. "It isn"t fit for the Sabbath," she says. Now _I_ say it is a great piece of impertinence for a child of her years to set up her opinion against yours and mine; and I know very well it is nothing but an excuse, because she doesn"t choose to be obliging."
"Of _course_ it is; nothing in the _world_ but an excuse," responded Mr. Dinsmore, hotly.
Elsie"s face flushed, and she answered a little indignantly,
"No, grandpa, indeed it is _not_ merely an excuse, but--"
"Do you _dare_ to contradict me, you impertinent little hussy?" cried the old gentleman, interrupting her in the middle of her sentence; and catching her by the arm, he shook her violently; then picking her up and setting her down hard upon a chair, he said, "Now, miss, sit you there until your father comes home, then we will see what _he_ thinks of such impertinence; and if he doesn"t give you the complete whipping you deserve, I miss my guess."
"Please, grandpa, I--"
"Hold your tongue! don"t dare to speak another word until your father comes home," said he, threateningly. "If you don"t choose to say what you"re wanted to, you shall not talk at all."
Then, going to the door, he called a servant and bade him tell "Mr.
Horace," as soon as he returned, that he wished to see him.
For the next half-hour--and a very long one it seemed to her--Elsie sat there wishing for, and yet dreading her father"s coming. Would he inflict upon her the punishment which her grandfather evidently wished her to receive, without pausing to inquire into the merits of the case?
or would he listen patiently to _her_ story? And even if he did, might he not still think her deserving of punishment? She could not answer these questions to her own satisfaction. A few months ago she would have been certain of a very severe chastis.e.m.e.nt, and even now she trembled with fear; for though she knew beyond a doubt that he loved her dearly, she knew also that he was a strict and severe disciplinarian, and never excused her faults.
At last her ear caught the sound of his step in the hall, and her heart beat fast and faster as it drew nearer, until he entered, and addressing his father, asked, "Did you wish to see me, sir?"
"Yes, Horace, I want you to attend to this girl," replied the old gentleman, with a motion of the head toward Elsie. "She has been very impertinent to me."
"What! _Elsie_ impertinent! is it possible? I certainly expected better things of her."
His tone expressed great surprise, and turning to his little daughter, he regarded her with a grave, sad look that brought the tears to her eyes; dearly as she loved him, it seemed almost harder to bear than the old expression of stern severity.
"It is hard to believe," he said, "that my little Elsie would be guilty of such conduct; but if she has been, of course she must be punished, for I cannot allow anything of the kind. Go. Elsie, to my dressing-room and remain there until I come to you."
"Papa--" she began, bursting into tears.
"Hush!" he said, with something of the old sternness; "not a word; but obey me instantly."
Then, as Elsie went sobbing from the room, he seated himself, and turning to his father, said, "Now, sir, if you please, I should like to hear the whole story; precisely what Elsie has done and said, and what was the provocation; for _that_ must also be taken into the account, in order that I may be able to do her justice."
"If you do her _justice_, you will whip her well," remarked his father in a tone of asperity.
Horace colored violently, for nothing aroused his ire sooner than any interference between him and his child; but controlling himself, he replied quite calmly, "If I find her deserving of punishment, I will not spare her; but I should be sorry indeed to punish her unjustly.
Will you be so good as to tell me what she has done?"
Mr. Dinsmore referred him to his wife for the commencement of the trouble, and she made out as bad a case against Elsie as possible; but even then there seemed to her father to be very little to condemn; and when Mrs. Dinsmore was obliged to acknowledge that it was Elsie"s refusal to humor Enna in her desire for a particular story which Elsie thought it not best to relate on the Sabbath, he bit his lip with vexation, and told her in a haughty tone, that though he did not approve of Elsie"s strict notions regarding such matters, yet he wished her to understand that _his_ daughter was not to be made a slave to Enna"s whims. If she _chose_ to tell her a story, or to do anything else for her amus.e.m.e.nt, he had no objection, but she was never to be _forced_ to do it against her inclination, and Enna must understand that it was done as a favor, and not at all as her right.
"You are right enough there, Horace," remarked his father, "but that does not excuse Elsie for her impertinence to me. In the first place, I must say I agree with my wife in thinking it quite a piece of impertinence for a child of her years to set up her opinion against mine; and besides, she contradicted me flatly."
He then went on to repeat what he had said, and Elsie"s denial of the charge, using her exact words, but quite a different tone, and suppressing the fact that he had interrupted her before she had finished her sentence.
Elsie"s tone, though slightly indignant, had still been respectful, but from her grandfather"s rehearsal of the scene her father received the impression that she had been exceedingly saucy, and he left the room with the intention of giving her almost as severe a punishment as her grandfather would have prescribed.
On the way up to his room, however, his anger had a little time to cool, and it occurred to him that it would be no more than just to hear _her_ side of the story ere he condemned her.
Elsie was seated on a couch at the far side of the room, and as he entered she turned on him a tearful, pleading look, that went straight to his heart.
His face was grave and sad, but there was very little sternness in it, as he sat down and took her in his arms.
For a moment he held her without speaking, while she lifted her eyes timidly to his face. Then he said, as he gently stroked the hair back from her forehead, "I am very sorry, _very sorry indeed_, to hear so bad an account of my little daughter. I am afraid I shall have to punish her, and I don"t like to do it."
She answered not a word, but burst into tears, and hiding her face on his breast, sobbed aloud.
"I will not condemn you unheard, Elsie," he said after a moment"s pause; "tell me how you came to be so impertinent to your grandfather."
"I did not mean to be saucy, papa, indeed I did not," she sobbed.
"Stop crying then, daughter," he said kindly, "and tell me all about it. I know there was some trouble between you and Enna, and I want you to tell me all that occurred, and every word spoken by either of you, as well as all that pa.s.sed between Mrs. Dinsmore, your grandfather, and yourself. I am very glad that I can trust my little girl to speak the truth. I am quite sure she would not tell a falsehood even to save herself from punishment," he added tenderly.
"Thank you, dear papa, for saying that," said Elsie, raising her head and almost smiling through her tears. "I will _try_ to tell it just as it happened."
She then told her story simply and truthfully, repeating, as he bade her, every word that had pa.s.sed between Enna and herself, and between her and her grandparents. Her words to her grandfather sounded very different, repeated in her quiet, respectful tones; and when she added that if he would have allowed her, she was going on to explain that it was not any unwillingness to oblige Enna, but the fear of doing wrong, that led her to refuse her request, her father thought that after all she deserved very little blame.
"Do you think I was very saucy, papa?" she asked anxiously, when she had finished her story.
"So much depends upon the tone, Elsie," he said, "that I can hardly tell; if you used the same tone in speaking to your grandpa that you did in repeating your words to me just now, I don"t think it was _very_ impertinent; though the words themselves were not as respectful as they ought to have been. You must always treat my father quite as respectfully as you do me; and I think with him, too, that there is something quite impertinent in a little girl like you setting up her opinion against that of her elders. You must never try it with me, my daughter."
Elsie hung down her head in silence for a moment, then asked in a tremulous tone, "Are you going to punish me, papa?"
"Yes," he said, "but first I am going to take you down-stairs and make you beg your grandfather"s pardon. I see you don"t want to do it," he added, looking keenly into her face, "but you _must_, and I hope I shall not be obliged to _enforce_ obedience to my commands."
"I will do whatever you bid me, papa," she sobbed, "but I did not mean to be saucy. Please, papa, tell me what to say."
"You must say, Grandpa, I did not intend to be impertinent to you, and I am very sorry for whatever may have seemed saucy in my words or tones; will you please to forgive me, and I will try always to be perfectly respectful in future. You can say all that with truth, I think?"
"Yes, papa, I _am_ sorry, and I _do_ intend to be respectful to grandpa always," she answered, brushing away her tears, and putting her hand in his.
He then led her into her grandfather"s presence, saying: "Elsie has come to beg your pardon, sir."
"That is as it should be," replied the old gentleman, glancing triumphantly at his wife; "I told her you would not uphold her in any such impertinence."
"No," said his son, with some displeasure in his tone; "I will neither uphold her in wrongdoing, nor suffer her to be imposed upon. Speak, my daughter, and say what I bade you."
Elsie sobbed out the required words.
"Yes, I must forgive you, of course," replied her grandfather, coldly, "but I hope your father is not going to let you off without proper punishment."
"I will attend to that; I certainly intend to punish her _as she deserves_" said his son, laying a marked emphasis upon the concluding words of his sentence.
Elsie wholly misunderstood him, and so trembled with fear as he led her from the room, that she could scarcely walk; seeing which, he took her in his arms and carried her up-stairs, she sobbing on his shoulder.
He did not speak until he had locked the door, carried her across the room, and seated himself upon the couch again, with her upon his knee.