"O, Hollis," moaned the little one, stirred by sudden jealousy.
"Hullelo! I forgot you, Topknot.--You"re my heart"s jewel; that"s generally understood. When I say I like Prue, I mean next after you."
The jealous Fly was satisfied, and folded her little wings against Horace"s breast. Prudy felt greatly soothed, but her cap-strings were still shaking, and she could not trust her voice to speak. Nothing more was said for some time. Dotty clattered away at the dishes, kitty purred by the stove, and Horace rocked his little sister, who clung about his neck like an everlasting pea. Presently he stopped rocking, and exclaimed,--
"Why, what"s the matter with my Toddlekins? What makes her breathe so short?"
"My froat"s short; that"s what is it," replied the little philosopher, closing her eyes, as if she did not choose to talk.
"But how does your throat feel, Topknot?"
"Feels bad; why?"
"Girls, this child has a sore throat, and a high fever. Her hands are as hot as pepper."
Dotty wrung the dish-cloth tragically.
"She"s going to have the measles; you see"f she don"t."
"Hush!" said Prudy, springing up, and tucking back her sleeves. "Let"s give her a warm bath. That"s what mother does when we are sick, before ever she sends for the doctor."
"I"d _ravver_ have a _turkey-wash_," said Fly, rousing a little, and then dropping her head again.
"There, she"s lost her senses; I knew she would," said Dotty, walking the floor.
"Do stop that, Dot. She has her senses as clear as you have. When she says _turkey-wash_, she means a Turkish bath; it takes me to interpret.
She had a very gentle Turkish bath once. Liked it--didn"t you, Fly?
Can"t you rub her real hard with a crash towel, girls? That will be almost as good."
"Of course we can," said Prudy, forgetting her gust of indignation entirely; "and what could be nicer than this little bathroom, with the silver faucets and ivory tub. Come, Fly, and have your turkey-wash.
"Twill make you feel a great deal better."
After a nice bath, at which Prudy and Dotty presided, the little one was dressed in her nightie, and set on her brother"s knee again.
"Prudy said I"d feel better to be baved," said she, looking thoughtfully at the gas-light; "but now I was baved, and I don"t feel any diffunt; I feel just"s I did by-fore."
"When can she have taken such a cold?" said Horace; "don"t you see, Prue, she can"t breathe out of her nose?"
Then Fly remembered the orange-man, and something made her face grow red in a minute; but it was not the white tea.
"Pitiful about my signess," sighed she, and thought she would never, never tell of her own disobedience. But Horace saw the blush and heard the sigh.
"I am glad Fly always minds," said he, looking straight into the little guilty face. "For G.o.d sees everything she does," whispered he, solemnly.
Horace never spoke of such subjects to other people; you would not suppose they were much in his mind; but to this precious little sister he gave his best thoughts, so far as he could make her understand them.
"For G.o.d sees everything she does."
Fly did not speak for as much as a minute, and then she said, timidly,--
"Hollis, I want to ask you sumpin; does G.o.d wear spetticles?"
"No, dear; no, indeed."
"O, I thought He did."
"But He sees us in the light and in the dark, Topknot."
The child winced.
"Can He see Hisself athout looking in the gla.s.s?"
"Yes, I suppose so."
"Then, when I go up to G.o.d, I"ll find He has four eyes,--two to see Hisself, and two to see other things. O, dear, I"m so sick, I guess I will go up to G.o.d."
The housekeeper was listening from the next room.
"That child"s voice is growing hoa.r.s.e. I must go and look into this business," thought she.
She knocked at the children"s door.
"I came to ask if I can do anything for you, young ladies."
Mrs. Fixfax had heard a great deal of the play, and had been in a state of amus.e.m.e.nt all day, without seeing the actors; and when she caught sight of them now, she had to twist her mouth very hard, "to keep her teeth in."
The magnificent Lady Magnifico, the ridiculous Dr. Moonshine, and the becapped Mother Hubbard, all replied in chorus, "O, yes"m, we were going to ring for you. Do you see what ails the baby."
Mrs. Fixfax approached the child in such a tender, motherly way, that Horace was ashamed of having compared her face to "a platter of cold hash." She had a strong, sensible look, as if she were capable of carrying a whole hospital full of children through all sorts of diseases; and Prudy and Horace, who had begun to have an unpleasant feeling of responsibility, were greatly relieved.
"You don"t think it"s anything but a cold--do you, Mrs. Fixfax? I don"t know much about sickness."
Mrs. Fixfax allowed herself to smile this time, as her eye rested on the Mother Hubbard cap.
"No, I don"t see anything alarming yet. If this was my child, I should just gargle her throat with salt and water, wrap a pork rind round her neck, and put her to bed."
Fly objected to nothing, if she could only sleep with her own brother Hollis. When told she might do so, she tried to clap her hands; but her heart was heavy, and her throat was sore; so all she could do was to kiss him and cry.
"And now, my dears, how do you enjoy housekeeping?" asked Mrs. Fixfax, carelessly, as she attended to Fly"s throat.
"No--ot very much," returned Dr. Moonshine, faintly; for no one else seemed ready to speak. "Rather hard on the head of the family. Don"t you say so, Prue?"
But Prudy could not answer, on account of a throbbing at the roots of her tongue.
"I see you have been taking an early dinner," contined Mrs. Fixfax, very coolly, as if she had no idea the children before her were half starved.
"Ye--es"m."