"Well, she ought to be ashamed," said he, "with all her money to give you a corn-basket of a thing like that. Ella doesn"t wear such a one, I can tell you."
Just then the first bell rang, and Sal, who had mischievously recommended a mustard poultice, as being the most likely to draw Mrs.
Bender"s spine to a head, started to go saying, "she wanted to be there in season, so as to see the folks come in."
Accordingly they again set forward, attracting more attention, and causing more remarks, than any two who had pa.s.sed through Chicopee for a long time. On reaching the church, Sal requested the s.e.xton to give her a seat which would command a view of the greater part of the congregation, and he accordingly led them to the farthest extremity of one of the side galleries. Mary had been there at church before, but as she had always sat near the door, she did not know in what part of the building Mrs. Campbell"s pew was located. As she leaned over the railing, however, she concluded that the large square one with crimson velvet cushions must be hers. Erelong the bell began to toll, and soon a lady dressed in deep mourning appeared, and pa.s.sing up the middle aisle, entered the richly cushioned pew. She was accompanied by a little girl, tastefully dressed in a frock of light-blue silk tissue.
A handsome French straw hat was set jauntily on one side of her head, and her long curls hung over her white neck and shoulders. Mary knew that this was Ella, and involuntarily starting up, she leaned forward far enough to bring her bonnet directly in sight of some thoughtless girls, who immediately commenced t.i.ttering, and pointing her out to those near them.
Blushing scarlet, the poor girl sank back into the seat, saying half aloud, "O, I wish I hadn"t come."
"What"s the matter?" said Sal. "Has somebody laughed at you? I"ll warrant there has;" and leaning over the railing herself, she shook her fist threateningly at the girls, whose eyes were still directed that way.
Mary felt instinctively that her companion was attracting more attention than her bonnet; and twitching her dress bade her sit down.
Sal obeyed; but she had no opportunity that morning of deciding whether the sermon were grammatical or not, for she was constantly on the look out, and whenever she saw any one scrutinizing Mary or herself more closely than they ought, a shake of her fist and a horrid face warned them to desist. Twice during church time Mary thought, nay felt sure that she caught her sister"s eye, but it was quickly withdrawn, as if unwilling to be recognized.
When church was out, Sal insisted upon going down immediately; so they descended together to the porch below, reaching it just as Mrs.
Campbell appeared in the doorway. Had she chosen, Mary could have touched the lady"s dress as she pa.s.sed; but she rather shrank from being seen, and would probably not have been observed at all, had not Sal planted herself directly in front of Mrs. Campbell, saying loudly enough for all near her to hear, "Madam, do you not recognize your munificent gift of charity in yonder amazing bonnet?" at the same time pointing towards Mary, who nervously grasped the strings of her hat, as if to remove the offensive article.
Mrs. Campbell haughtily pushed Sal aside, and advancing towards the child, said, "I am glad to see you at church Mary, and hope you will now come regularly. You can accompany Ella home after the Sabbath school, if you like."
The words and manner were so cold and formal, that Mary was obliged to force down her tears before she replied, that she was going to her mother"s grave, and wanted Ella to go with her.
"It is pretty warm to walk so far, but if Ella wishes it she has my permission. Only tell her not to get red and heated," said Mrs.
Campbell; and gathering up the folds of her rich silk, the texture of which Sal Furbush had been examining, and comparing with her own plum-color, she walked away.
Scarcely was she gone, when Jenny Lincoln came tripping up, and seizing both Mary"s hands, exclaimed, "I am real glad you are here. I thought you hadn"t come, until I heard them talking about a crazy woman. But let"s go to my cla.s.s, and you"ll have a chance to see Ella while the scholars are getting their seats."
Mary accompanied her young friend to a pew, at the door of which she met her sister face to face. There was a sudden exclamation of joy on Mary"s part, and an attempt to throw her arms around Ella"s neck, but the little girl drew back, and merely offering her hand, said, "Oh, it"s you, isn"t it? I didn"t know you, you looked so queer."
"Heavens! what a head-dress! Big as our carriage top any day!" was the next exclamation which reached Mary"s ear, as Rose Lincoln brushed past. Glancing from her sister to Rose, Mary half determined to tear the bonnet from her head and trample it under her feet, but Jenny softly squeezed her hand, and whispered, "Don"t mind what Rose says; I love you, and so does Billy Bender. I saw him in the village yesterday, and asked him if he didn"t, and he said he did."
It required more than Billy Bender"s love to soothe Mary then. Her sister"s cool reception, so different from what she had antic.i.p.ated, had stung her heart; and sitting down near the door, she burst into a pa.s.sionate fit of tears. Jenny, who was really distressed, occasionally pressed her hand in token of sympathy, at the same time offering her cloves, peanuts and sugar-plums. There was a brighter flush, too, than usual, on Ella"s cheek, for she knew that she had done wrong, and she so jumbled together the words of her lesson, that the teacher made her repeat it twice, asking her what was the matter.
By the time Sabbath school was over, Mary had dried her tears; and determining to make one more advance towards her sister, she said, "Won"t you go to mother"s grave with me? I want to tell you about little Allie. I have taught her to call your name most as plain as _I_ can."
Ella looked down at her embroidered pantalets, and hanging her head on one side, said, "Oh, it"s so dusty. I"m afraid I"ll get all dirt,--and hot, too. Mamma doesn"t like to have me get hot."
"Why not?" asked Jenny, who always wished to know the reason of things.
""Cause it makes folks" skin rough, and break out," was Ella"s reply.
"Oh, pshaw!" returned Jenny, with a vain attempt to turn up her little bit of a nose. "I play every day till I am most roasted, and my skin ain"t half as rough as yours. But say, will you go with Mary? for if you don"t I shall!"
"I guess I won"t," said Ella, and then, anxious to make Mary feel a little comfortable, she added, "Mamma says Mary"s coming to see me before long, and then we"ll have a real good time. I"ve lots of pretty things--two silk dresses, and I wear French gaiters like these every day."
Glancing first at Mary, and then at Ella, Jenny replied, "Pho, that"s nothing; Mary knows more than you do, any way. Why, she can say every speck of the multiplication table, and you only know the 10"s!"
When Ella was angry, or felt annoyed, she generally cried; and now declaring that she knew more than the 10"s she began to cry; and announcing her intention of never speaking to Jenny again "as long as she lived and breathed," she walked away, while Mary and Jenny proceeded together towards the burying ground. With a bitter cry Mary threw herself upon her mother"s grave, and wept for a long, long time.
"It would not be so bad," said Mary, "if there was any body left, but I am all alone in the world. Ella does not love me--n.o.body loves me."
It was in vain that Jenny told her of Billy Bender"s love, of her own, and George Moreland"s too. Mary only wept the more, wishing that she had died, and Allie too. At last remembering that she had left Sal Furbush behind her, and knowing that it was time for her to go, she arose, and leaning on Jenny, whose arm was pa.s.sed lovingly about her, she started to return.
Afternoon service had commenced ere they reached the church, and as Mary had no desire of again subjecting her bonnet to the ridicule of Rose Lincoln, and as Jenny had much rather stay out doors in the shade, they sat down upon the steps, wondering where Sal Furbush had taken herself. "I mean to look in and see if she is here," said Jenny, and advancing on tiptoe to the open door, she cast her eye over the people within; then clapping her hand over her mouth to keep back a laugh, she returned to Mary, saying, "Oh, if it isn"t the funniest thing in the world. There sits Sal in Mrs. Campbell"s pew, fanning herself with that great palm-leaf, and shaking her fist at Ella every time she stirs!"
It seems that Sal had amused herself during the intermission by examining and trying the different pews, and taking a fancy to Mrs.
Campbell"s, she had snugly ensconced herself in one corner of it, greatly to the fear and mortification of Ella, who chanced to be the only one of the family present. When service was out, Sal gathered up her umbrella and courtesying her way through the crowd, soon found Mary and started for home, declaring the clergyman to be "a well-read grammarian, only a trifle too emphatic in his delivery."
As they were descending the long hill which led to the river bridge, Mr. Lincoln"s carriage pa.s.sed them, and Jenny, who was inside, seized the reins, saying, "Please, pa, stop and let them ride--there"s n.o.body but Rose and me in here, and it is so hot and so far."
Mr. Lincoln might possibly have complied with his daughter"s request, had not Rose chirrupped to the spirited horses, and said, "Don"t, father, for mercy"s sake! ask those paupers to ride."
So the carriage dashed on, but Mary forgot the long walk by remembering the glance of affection which Jenny gave her as she looked back from the window. Sal seemed unusually silent, and even forgot to take off her shoes and stockings when she reached the river bridge.
Mary saw there was something weighing upon her mind, but she forbore asking any questions, knowing that Sal would in her own good time make her thoughts known. They had nearly reached home, when Sal suddenly turned aside, and seating herself upon a rock under a white beech-tree, said, "Miss Howard, I"ve been thinking what a splendid minister was spoiled when they put dresses on me! Oh how hard I had to hold myself to-day to keep from extemporizing to the congregation. I reckon there wouldn"t have been quite so many nodding as there were."
In the excitement of the moment Sal arose, and throwing out her eyes, gesticulated in a manner rather alarming to Mary, who had never before seen so wild a look in the crazy woman"s eyes. Soon, however, her mood changed, and resuming her seat, she continued in a milder tone, "Did you ever hear that I was an auth.o.r.ess?"
"An auth.o.r.ess!" repeated Mary--"an auth.o.r.ess! Why no; are you?"
"To be sure I am," answered Sal. "What"s to hinder. Haven"t I told you repeatedly, that I once possessed an unusually large amount of judgment; and this, added to my knowledge of grammar, and uncommon powers of imagination, enabled me to produce a work which, but for an unaccountable freak of the publisher, would have rendered my name immortal."
"I don"t understand," said Mary, and Sally continued: "You see, I wrote about six hundred pages of foolscap, which the publisher to whom it was sent for examination was impolite enough to return, together with a note, containing, as I suppose, his reasons for rejection; but if he thinks I read it he"s mistaken. I merely glanced at the words, "Dear Madam--We regret--" and then threw it aside. It was a terrible disappointment, and came near turning my brain; but there are other publishing houses in the world, and one of these days I shall astonish mankind. But come, we must hasten on, or the gormandizers will eat up those custard pies which I found in the cellar with the bra.s.s-kettle covered over them."
Accordingly they started for home, but found, as Sal had predicted, that supper was over and the pies all gone. By a little dexterous management, however, she managed to find half of one, which Miss Grundy had tucked away under an empty candle-box for her own future eating.
CHAPTER IX.
THE NEW BONNET.
The next morning, for a wonder. Jenny Lincoln was up before the sun, and in the large dark closet which adjoined her sleeping room, she rummaged through band-boxes and on the top shelves until she found and brought to light a straw hat, which was new the fall before, but which her mother had decided unfit to appear again in the city. Jenny had heard the unkind remarks which Mary"s odd-looking bonnet elicited, and she now determined to give her this one, though she did not dare to do so without her mother"s consent. So after breakfast, when her mother was seated at her work in the parlor, Jenny drew near, making known her request, and asking permission to carry the bonnet to Mary herself.
"Mercy on me!" said Mrs. Lincoln, "what won"t you think of next, and where did you get such vulgar taste. It must have been from your father, for I am sure you never took it from me. I dare say, now, you had rather play with that town pauper than with the richest child in Boston."
For a moment Jenny was silent, and then as a new idea came into her head, she said, "Ma, if you should die, and pa should die, and every body should die, and we hadn"t any money, wouldn"t I have to be a town pauper?"
"What absurd questions you ask," said Mrs. Lincoln, overturning a work-box to find a spool of cotton, which lay directly on top. "Do what you please with the bonnet, which I fancy you"ll find as much too small for Mary as the one she now has is too large."
Jenny felt fearful of this, but "where there"s a will there"s a way;"
and after considering a moment, she went in quest of her sister, who had one just like it. Rose did not care a fig for the bonnet, and after a while she agreed to part with it on condition that Jenny would give her a coral bracelet, with gold clasps, which she had long coveted. This fanciful little ornament was a birth-day present from Billy and at first Jenny thought that nothing would tempt her to part with it, but as Rose was decided, she finally yielded the point, brushing away a tear as she placed the bracelet in her sister"s hand.
Then putting the bonnet in a basket, and covering it with a newspaper, she started for the poor-house.
"Good morning, Miss Grundy," said she, as she appeared in the doorway.
"May I see Mary, just a little minute? I"ve got something for her."
Miss Grundy was crosser than usual this morning on account of a sudden illness which had come upon Patsy, so she jerked her shoulders, and without turning her head, replied, "It"s Monday mornin", and Mary ain"t goin" to be hindered by big bugs nor n.o.body else. Here "tis goin" on nine o"clock, and them dishes not done yet! If you want to see her, you can go into the back room where she is."