"Well, then, if you can"t," returned Mr. Starbird, looking very innocent, "perhaps you can tell me what day of the month it is?"
There was a general uproar then.
"Have you been making fools of us, Frank Starbird?" cried James and Rachel, seizing him, one by the hair, the other by the ears.
"April Fools! April Fools!" exclaimed all the children together,--all except Dorcas.
"It"s the best fool I ever heard of," said William Parlin; "but how did you do it, sir?"
"Yes, explain yourself," said James and Rachel. "Was mother in the secret?"
"No; but Dorcas was. Let go my hair, James, and I"ll speak.--Fact is, I happened to find that rag baby out there on the scaffold this afternoon with that pocket on its neck, and so I dreamed a dream to suit myself."
"Yes," said Dorcas; "and I told him just how Israel Crossman looked, and all about Siller Noonin, and didn"t he say it off like a book?"
"Wasn"t it a dream, then?" asked little Patty.
"No, dear; it was only nonsense."
"Well, then, I didn"t put my dolly out there,--did I?"
"Yes, of course you did," said her mother; "only you have forgotten it."
But Patty looked puzzled. She could not recollect that ever so long ago, the day the beggar girl came to the house, she had cured Polly Dolly Adaline"s sore throat with her mother"s quilted pocket, and then had carried the sick dolly out to the barn, "so she could get well faster where there wasn"t any noise."
No, Patty could not recollect this, and the whole thing was a mystery to her.
"Children," said Mrs. Lyman, looking up from her stockings, as soon as there was a chance to speak, "I have one word to say on this subject: whenever you hear of signs and wonders, don"t believe in them till you"ve sifted them to the bottom. And when you"ve done that, mark my words, you"ll find there"s no more substance to them than there is to Francis Starbird"s April Fool Dream."
"True," said Rachel and James; and then, as half a dozen of the younger ones had gone out, they had a quiet talk, five or six of them, round the fire, and Patty went to sleep sitting on Mr. Starbird"s knee.
CHAPTER XIV.
SPINNING.
So Patty had her dollar back; and now what to do with it was the question. She thought of a great many things to buy, but always grew tired of them before she had fairly made up her mind.
At last she went to her mother, and said, "Mamma, I"m only a little girl, and don"t know much; won"t you please tell me what to get?"
"Do you really wish me to decide for you, my dear? And will you be satisfied with my choice?"
"Yes, mamma, I truly will be satisfied. But--but--you don"t want to give my dollar to the heathens--do you? It"s all clear silver, and I s"pect _coppers_ just as good for those heathens, mamma."
"What makes you think copper is just as good, my child?"
"Because that"s what people put into the box; and when they put any silver in, it"s in little bits of pieces. I don"t s"pect the heathens know the difference."
Mrs. Lyman smiled, though at the same time she was sorry to think how selfish people are, and how little they are willing to give away.
"Let me ask you a question, dear. How would you like to have me carry this dollar to Mrs. Chase and Mrs. Potter, and tell them my little girl sent it for them to give to some poor child?"
Patty looked up in surprise.
"If you are going to give it to a poor child, mamma, can"t you do it "thout telling folks?"
"Yes, I could. I didn"t know, though, but you"d like to have Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Chase hear of it."
A pink blush crept over Patty"s face, and away up to the top of her forehead.
"O, mamma, I don"t! I don"t!"
"Well, I believe you, my dear. You have seen a little of the folly of trying to show off. And that reminds me--Yes, I have a very good idea; and when your papa goes to Augusta next week, I will send your dollar, and have him buy you something you can always keep."
Patty liked the sound of that, and when her father came home from Augusta with a little round trunk in his hands, she could hardly wait for him to get into the house. He had brought her a little red Bible, with clasp covers. It was the first whole Bible she had ever owned. She was much pleased, and has kept the little book all these years, though its beauty is quite gone by this time. It is very precious to her, because these words are on one of the fly-leaves in her dear mother"s own writing: "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven."
Time pa.s.sed on, and on, and on. Patty"s wrists grew so strong that she was trusted to milk a small red cow, though she must still have been quite a little girl, for she could not remember which was the cow"s right side, and had to mark her bag with a piece of chalk. Very soon she had two cows to milk, just as Mary and Moses had; and Moses, who was an early bird, used to wake her from a sound sleep by calling out, "Come, come, Patty! Dr. Chase"s cows are out! Mary and I have milked! Up, up, Patty! Why don"t you start?"
Patty thought it was very hard to be called so early in the morning.
What did she care for Dr. Chase"s cows? She was tired of hearing Moses talk about them. Poor little creature! She always ran down stairs, rubbing her eyes, and her mother comforted her by saying,--
"Never mind it. After you have milked your cows and turned them out, you may go to bed again, my dear, and have another nap."
Patty always thought she would do it; but after the work was done, she was no longer sleepy, and did not wish to go to bed.
When she was ten years old, she learned to spin cotton. Her mother first carded it into rolls, and then Patty "roped" it, and spun it on a wheel; but the spindle was so high up that she was obliged to have a board to walk back and forth upon. She liked it as well as any other work, for she had a "knack" at spinning; but the older she grew, the less time she had for play. Her mother, though very kind to her children, did not seem to think it made much difference whether they played or not. She never praised Patty; but once the little girl overheard her telling some ladies that her youngest daughter was a "natural worker," and "the smartest child she had." Of course that pleased Patty very much, and afterwards she was brisker than ever.
Her stint was three skeins of cotton a day; and sometimes, when she was spinning it, Linda Chase would come up in the chamber and look on.
Linda could not draw a thread without pulling the cotton all to pieces, and it amazed her to see Patty"s spindle whirl so fast; for it went at a wonderful rate, especially when any one was looking on.
"I"m spinning warp for my new gown," said Patty; "and Rachel is going to weave it."
"What color will it be?"
"Blue and copperas, in little checks," replied Patty.
Linda knew what copperas color was,--it was a dull yellow.
""Twill only be for me to go to school in," explained Patty. "I shall have it for my _not-very-best_. By and by I"m going to learn how to spin linen on that little flax-wheel, and Rachel will weave me some table-cloths, and sheets, and pillow-cases, just as she does for Dorcas. Guess why she weaves them for Dorcas."
"I"m sure I can"t guess. Because she wants to, I suppose."
"Look here--it"s a secret. Dorcas is going to be married by and by, and that is the reason Mr. Starbird comes here on that white-faced horse. He doesn"t come to see the rest of us; he comes to see Dorcas."
Patty stopped her wheel in her eagerness.