"Down to Miss Martin"s," was Hetty"s reply.
"I say, Hetty," said Jim, "do you think Miss Martin thought it was me who tried to frighten her the other night?"
"No," said Hetty.
"Well, I was afraid she did. Give a dog a bad name, you know, and he never gets rid of it."
"But, Jim, you don"t mean to speak of yourself that way?" said Hetty.
"Yes, I do; people believe anything of me, and I half the time get the credit of doing things that never came into my head."
"I only heard a little about Miss Martin"s fright; some one chased her, I believe."
"Yes, Sam Tompkins made believe he was a tramp, and scared her "most out of her wits. He ought to have been shot. I licked him when I heard he had tried to make out it was me who did it, and I"ll lick him again, too."
"Oh, don"t, Jim; you had better forget all about it."
"Indeed I won"t; I mean to make him repent it. See here, Hetty, I"ve got some tickets for the concert. Don"t you want to go?"
"Don"t I?" said Hetty; "I guess I do; but I can"t, you know."
"Why not?"
"Oh, I am not big enough yet," said Hetty, blushing.
"Now I"ll tell you what I"ll do. If you will ask Miss Martin to go, I"ll take you both, for, you see, I want to be sure that she doesn"t hold any ill-will against me; and if she goes, all the people hereabouts will know that I was not the mean sneaking coward who tried to frighten her."
"All right," said Hetty. "I understand; and I will go on now as fast as I can, and coax Miss Martin to go."
"Let me know what she says when you come back, and I"ll get the horse hitched, for father said he"d let me have the wagon."
"I will," said Hetty, already hastening on her way.
The teacher was sitting in rather a lonely and dejected mood at her window as Hetty"s bright face appeared before her. She was a young girl, with soft brown eyes and a patient expression. It was her first experience at district-school teaching, and she found it laborious.
Hetty soon told her errand, and in her eagerness so mixed up the concert and the custard and Matilda Ann"s new bonnet that Miss Martin was bewildered, but after a while made out what it all meant.
"So James Stokes wants me to go to the concert?"
"Yes, ma"am, and me too."
"Have you permission?"
"I"ll get it, Miss Martin. I"m sure mother"ll say "yes," and I sha"n"t tell any one but her. I want to surprise Matilda Ann, and I will get ready and come here, so that Jim Stokes needn"t go to our house."
"Please thank your mother kindly, Hetty, for the custard; it is so nice.
And tell James I shall be happy to go. I knew he was not the one who frightened me."
Away Hetty flew, as fast as possible, to arrange the matter at home.
Mrs. Hall could not say no, and Hetty soon exchanged her every-day clothes for her best gown and ribbons.
The Town-hall was crowded, and Hetty heard some one in a pink bonnet say, "Why, there"s our Hetty; how did the child get here?" Then she turned her smiling face upon Matilda Ann in triumph.
When the concert was half over, and the singers were taking a rest, a very grand-looking person came to Miss Martin and said: "How do you do, my dear Amy? I am so glad to see you! And who is this little friend with you?"
Then the teacher spoke very kindly of Hetty as one of her best pupils, and Jim was also introduced, and the grand-looking lady said some very pleasant things to them.
"Who is that?" whispered Hetty.
"It is my aunt," replied Miss Martin--"the one who gives me so many pretty things. She would like me to live with her, but I prefer to maintain myself. I could never dress half so tastefully if she did not give me such nice clothes."
"Oh," said Hetty, much pleased to hear this confirmation of her own charitable supposition. "May I tell mother about it?" she asked.
"Certainly," said Miss Martin; "I wish you would, for I don"t want to be thought extravagant."
From that time Miss Martin had no stancher friends than Jim and Hetty; and when one day Jim"s big brother led her up the aisle of the village church as a bride, there were two young people behind her in white gloves and ribbons who looked almost as bright and happy as the chief actors of the day.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "STRAYS."--FROM A PAINTING BY H. H. CAUTY.]
A LITTLE GIRL"S IMPRESSIONS OF MADEIRA.
BY KATIE C. YORKE.
It was a beautiful clear day in October when I had my first view of Madeira. The high blue mountains, the green sh.o.r.es, and the white city of Funchal gleaming in the distance, looked very lovely to us as we approached the island.
About noon we anch.o.r.ed at a little distance from the city, and swarms of row-boats came around the ship. Some of them were full of half-naked brown boys, and if we threw a piece of money into the beautiful blue water, they would dive down and catch it before it reached the bottom.
Some of the other boats were full of men, who came on board, bringing fans, canary-birds, parrots, feather flowers, basket-work, filigree jewelry, and many other things to sell.
We and some of the pa.s.sengers got into a row-boat, after a good deal of trouble, because there is always a heavy swell there, so one minute the boat was very high up, and the next very low down. When we had managed to get in, we rowed to the city. There were great waves dashing up on the sh.o.r.e, and four or five bare-legged men rushed into the water, and drew the boat on land just as a wave came in.
What was our surprise to see waiting for us, instead of a horse and carriage, a great sleigh drawn by bullocks. This is called a bullock-car in English, and a _carro_ in Portuguese. We got into one of them, with a great deal of laughter, and drove to the hotel. The driver walked by the side of the _carro_, and threw the end of a greasy rag first under one runner and then under the other, to make it run more easily.
When we arrived at the hotel, we found it was a great white building, with a lovely garden, which contained mango, guava, banana, custard-apple, and many other trees. Among them was what was called the moon-tree; it was covered with great white bell-like flowers, and was very beautiful. There were a great many gorgeous flowers and curious plants that we do not have in this country. The garden was surrounded by a wall eight feet high, and there were some fish-geraniums which reached above the top of it. There was a little arch covered with the night-blooming cereus, and that evening, when the buds had opened, we went out to see them in the moonlight. They were beautiful white blossoms, as large as your head, and had a faint perfume.
Next day we took a hammock ride about the town and surrounding country.
Each hammock was fitted out with a mattress, pillows, and canopy, and slung on a long pole carried by two men. We reclined lazily against the pillows, and enjoyed the ride very much. The men, when they went up hill, carried us feet downward, but once they forgot, and carried us feet upward, and as the hill was very steep, we felt as if we were standing on our heads.
The houses of Funchal are low; and covered with white stucco, which looks very neat, but those of the poor have only one window without any gla.s.s, and are very dark and dismal inside. The streets are narrow, and some of them very steep. We often pa.s.sed gardens surrounded by high walls, over which hung lovely flowering vines. Out in the country there were lantanas, geraniums, and fuchsias which seemed to be growing wild, and great cactus plants everywhere.