Datasets:
Qilex
/
BabyLM_Small_Chunked

Dataset card Data Studio Files
xet
 Community
1
text
stringlengths
21
20.4k
"Dear child," said Mrs. Richards, with a sigh, "you're like enough to see that wish granted." "'At's good," said Jennie, cheerfully, taking her mother's words in quite a different spirit from that in which they were spoken; "it's so nice to be busy." And indeed it would appear that this small maiden--small even for her...
Between Jennie and the baby came three little boys, sturdy, healthy children, always clamoring for bread and butter, and frequent calls for bread and butter were becoming a serious matter in the policeman's household; for provisions were high, and it was not as easy to feed eight mouths as it had been to feed four. Thi...
It was a small, two-story, wooden house, standing back from the street, with a courtyard in front, in the corner of which grew an old butternut tree. It bore but few nuts in these latter days, to be sure, but it gave a fine shade in the summer, and the young occupants of the house took great pride and comfort in it. Th...
"And eyes to Willie," repeated his mother, tenderly laying her hand on his head. "And tongue to Tommy," added Willie, with a smile. Jennie laughed merrily; but as she was about to answer, the click of the gate was heard, and with shouts of "He's coming!" from Charlie, "Poppy, poppy!" from the younger boy, and a confuse...
He contrived to close the door, but as for getting farther with three pair of fat arms clasping his legs, that was quite impossible. The father laughed, threw his cap upon a chair, and catching up first one and then another of his captors, tossed them by turns in the air, gave each a hearty kiss, and set him on his fee...
"No, no, no!" rose from a chorus of young voices, with, "She didn't worry scarcely any to-day, farher," from Jennie, as she lifted her face for his kiss. Willie's turn came next, as rising from his chair with his hand outstretched, he made a step forward and reached his father's side. One eye was quite dark, but throug...
If Jennie did not resemble her father in size, she certainly did in feature. In both there were the same clear, honest gray eyes, the same crisp, short curls, the same ruddy cheeks and full red lips, the same look of kindly good-nature, with something of a spirit of fun and mischief sparkling through it. "You have; hav...
With this the head disappeared, and Jennie, obeying orders, followed. In five minutes they both returned, the head this time bringing the rest of the person with it, carrying a tray. Jennie held in her hands a covered dish, which she set upon the edge of the table with an air of great triumph. She was not tall enough t...
"So I thought," answered Mrs. Granby; "and it's the same with me about the ends meetin'. Now just supposin' we helped one another along a bit. You see they've raised my rent on me, and I can't afford it no way; besides that, my eyes is givin' out,--won't stand sewin' all day like they used to; so I'm not goin' out by t...
"Now you may uncover the dish, farher," said Jennie, as having brought a little stand and placed it at her mother's side, she led Willie to the table. Mr. Richards did so. "Broiled ham and eggs!" he exclaimed. "Why, the breath is 'most taken out of me! I know where the ham came from well enough, for I bought it myself,...
"'Yes, ma'am,' says I. "So, thinkin', I s'pose, 'twasn't for a poor seamstress like me to be so extravagant, she says, 'Eggs are high this season,--eight cents apiece.' "I didn't want to be settin' myself up, but I wasn't goin' to have her take no false notions about me, so I says, 'Yes, ma'am, but when a body's sick, ...
"'Not I, ma'am,' says I, 'but a friend of mine. Bad with the rheumatics these six months, and she's a mite of an ailin' baby, and don't fancy nothin' to eat unless it's somethin' delicate and fancy, so I just took a notion I'd get a couple of them eggs for her.' "And she says, 'I see you have a basket there, just let m...
All the time Mrs. Granby had been telling her story, she was pouring out tea, waiting on Mrs. Richards, spreading bread and butter for the children, and now having talked herself out of breath, she paused. At the last part of the story, the police-sergeant laid down his knife and fork, and looked up at her. "What is yo...
"I don't know, only a granddaughter; I don't know if it's the same name. Why, have you seen the child?" "I can't tell if it's the same," answered Richards, "but I've got a story for you to-night. I have been thinking all the afternoon I had a treat for Jennie." "Is it a duty story, farher?" asked his little daughter. "...
"Oh, that's good!" Whenever her father had a story to tell of anything which had happened to him during his daily duties, Jennie always called it a "duty story," and she was very eager for such anecdotes. [Illustration: decoration, end of chap. 1] [Illustration: Title decoration, chap. 2]
II. _THE POLICE-SERGEANT'S STORY._ Tea was over, the dishes neatly washed and put away by Mrs. Granby and Jennie, the three little boys snugly tucked in their cribs up-stairs, the baby lying quiet in its cradle, and Mrs. Granby seated at the corner of the table with her sewing. Jennie sat upon her father's knee, and Wi...
"When Neal brought her in, she looked round as if she expected to see some one, and so it seems she did; for he put her on thinking she'd find some of her own folks waiting for her. And when she saw there was no one there, such a disappointed look as came over her face, and her lip shook, and she clasped both little ha...
"Ay, bless her, I say, too," continued the policeman. "It was as pretty a bit of faith and trust as ever I saw; and after it she seemed some comforted, and sat quiet, watching the working of the wires, as if she was quite sure the One she'd looked to would bring her help. Well, I carried her round and showed her all th...
"That's all." "How old was she, farher?" "Five years old, she said, but she didn't look it. It seemed to me when I first saw her as if she was about your size; but you're bigger than she, though you don't make much show for your six years." "How funny she can't say 'R' when she's five years old!" said Jennie.
"Yes, almost as funny as that my girl of six can't say 'th,'" laughed the sergeant. Jennie smiled, colored, and hung her head. "And you thought maybe your lost child was Mrs. Stanton's granddaughter; did you?" asked Mrs. Granby. "Well, I thought it might be. Two children in that way of life ain't likely to be lost the ...
"No; she's 'most a stranger to me, and the scared girl didn't mention no names, only said little Bessie was missin'." "That's her then. Little Bradford's name was Bessie; so putting two and two together, I think they're one and the same." They talked a while longer of little Bessie and her pretty ways and her friend, t...
"The first thing I have to do is to see Dr. Schwitz, and find out how much we owe him for attending you and the children, off and on, these six months. I've asked him half a dozen times for his bill, but he always said 'no hurry' and he 'could wait;' and since he was so kind, and other things were so pressing, I've jus...
"Oh, Tom! Tom!" she broke forth, "Dr. Schwitz sent his bill this morning. A rough-looking man brought it, and he says the doctor must have it the first of the year, and--and--" She could get no farther. The poor woman! it was no wonder; she was sick and weak, and this unlooked-for trouble had quite broken her down. "No...
Then the policeman roused himself. "That's the hardest word you've spoken to me these ten years we've been married, Mary, woman," he said. "No, I thank the Lord again and again that that trouble hasn't come to me yet. What would I do without you, Mary, dear? How could I bear it to come home and not find you here,--neve...
"But we can't afford to go to law, Tom, any more than to pay this sum. Four hundred dollars!" "I would not wonder if Mr. Ray would see me through this," said Richards. "He's a good friend to me. I'll see him, anyhow. I never thought Dr. Schwitz would serve me like this; it's just revenge." "Have you offended him?" aske...
"And Willie?" said the poor mother. "Ah! that's the worst," answered Richards. "I'm afraid we sha'n't be able to have much done for Willie this next year; for even if Dr. Dawson will wait for his pay, there's all the expense that's to come before and after the operation; and I don't see how we are going to manage it." ...
[Illustration: Title decoration, chap. 3] III. _LITTLE PITCHERS._ Three young ladies sat talking over their work in the pleasant bow-window of Mrs. Stanton's sitting-room, while at a short distance from them two little curly heads bent over the great picture-book which lay upon the table. The eyes in the curly heads we...
"Annie," said Miss Carrie Hall, "I am sorry to hear of the severe affliction likely to befall your sister, Mrs. Bradford." "What is that?" asked Annie Stanton, looking up surprised. "I heard that Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Bradford's Aunt Patty, was coming to make her a visit." "Ah, poor Margaret!" said Annie Stanton, but she ...
"Why does Mrs. Bradford invite her when she always makes herself so disagreeable?" asked Miss Ellis. "She comes self-invited," replied Annie. "Margaret did not ask her." "I should think not, considering the circumstances under which they last parted," said Carrie Hall. "Oh, Margaret has long since forgotten and forgive...
"I should decline it if I were in the place of Mr. and Mrs. Bradford," said Carrie. "I fear I should do the same," replied Annie, "but Margaret and Mr. Bradford are more forgiving. I am quite sure though that they look upon this visit as a duty to be endured, not a pleasure to be enjoyed, especially as the children are...
"Shall you ever forget the day we stopped at your sister's house on our way home from school, and found Mrs. Lawrence and nurse having a battle royal over Maggie?" asked the laughing Carrie. "No, indeed! Nurse, with Maggie on one arm and Bessie on the other, fairly dancing about the room in her efforts to save the form...
"But what caused the trouble?" asked Laura Ellis. "Oh, some trifling mischief of Maggie's, for which auntie undertook to punish her severely. Nurse interfered, and where the battle would have stopped, had not Henry and Margaret arrived, it is difficult to tell." "But surely she did not leave your brother's house in ang...
"Greatly to your sister's relief, I should think," said Laura. "Why, what a very disagreeable inmate she must be, Annie! I am sure I pity Mrs. Bradford and all her family, if they are to undergo another visit from her now." "Yes," said Annie. "Some sudden freak has taken her, and she has written to say that she will be...
They meant no harm, these gay girls. Not one of them but would have been shocked at the thought that she was poisoning the minds of the dear little children whom they all loved towards the aged relative whom they were bound to reverence and respect. They had not imagined that Maggie and Bessie were attending to their c...
Yes, what is said cannot be unsaid. Each little word, as it is spoken, goes forth on its errand of good or evil, and can never be recalled. Perhaps Aunt Annie would have regretted her thoughtlessness still more if she had seen and heard the little girls as they stood together in the hall. They had no thought of old Din...
"Maggie," said Bessie, "do you remember about that Patty woman?" "Yes," answered Maggie, "I did not remember about her till Aunt Annie and Miss Carrie said that, but I do now; and oh, Bessie, she's _awful_! I wish, I wish mamma would not let her come. She's the shockingest person you ever saw." "Aunt Annie said mamma d...
Bessie was almost as much troubled, but she put her arm about her sister and said, "Never matter, dear Maggie, papa and mamma won't let her do anything to us." "But suppose papa and mamma both had to go out and leave us, as they did that day she behaved so," said Maggie. "Nursey has so many to take care of now, and may...
"How could you help it if she wanted to, Maggie?" "I'd say, 'Beware, woman!'" said Maggie, drawing her eyebrows into a frown, and extending her hand with the forefinger raised in a threatening manner. "Oh!" said Bessie, "what does that mean?" "I don't quite know," said Maggie, slowly, "but it frightens people very much...
"It don't frighten me a bit when you say it." "'Cause you don't have a guilty conscience; but if you had, you'd be, oh, so afraid!" "How do you know I would?" "I'll tell you," said Maggie. "Uncle John had a picture paper the other day, and in it was a picture of a woman coming in at the door, and she had her hands up s...
"Do you think she has a guilty conscience, Maggie?" "Course she has; how could she help it?" "And will she yun away and never be seen again?" "I guess so," said Maggie; "anyhow, I hope she will."
"I wonder why mamma did not tell us she was coming," said Bessie. "We'll ask her to-morrow. We can't do it to-night because it will be so late before she comes home from Riverside and we'll be asleep, but we'll do it in the morning. And now, don't let's think about that shocking person any more. We'll go and ask Dinah ...
[Illustration: decoration, end of chap. 3] [Illustration: Title decoration, chap. 4] IV. _PAPA'S STORY._
The next morning while they were at breakfast, the postman brought three letters for papa and mamma. "Margaret," said Mr. Bradford, looking up from one of his, "this is from Aunt Patty to say that she will put off her visit until spring." Maggie and Bessie both looked up. "Oh!" said Mrs. Bradford, in a tone as if she w...
"Holloa!" said Fred, in a voice of dismay, "Aunt Patty is not coming here again; is she? You'll have to look out and mind your P's and Q's, Midget and Bess, if that is the case. We'll all have to for that matter. Whew-ee, can't she scold though! I remember her tongue if it is four years since I heard it." "Fred, Fred!"...
"I see you expect to find it difficult, papa," said the rogue, with a mischievous twinkle of his eye. Before Mr. Bradford had time to answer, Mrs. Bradford, who had been reading her letter, exclaimed joyfully,-- "Dear Elizabeth Rush says she will come to us at New Year, and make us a long visit. I wish she could have c...
"Indeed, I am, mamma; I do love Aunt Bessie, and the colonel will be glad too." "That's jolly!" exclaimed Fred; and a chorus of voices about the table told that Aunt Bessie's coming was looked forward to with very different feelings from those which Aunt Patty's excited. "Mamma," said Maggie suddenly, as they were abou...
"But, mamma, if you had forty children, the house would be so full there would never be room for Aunt Patty." The boys laughed, but mamma was grave in a moment. "Do you remember Aunt Patty, my darling?" she asked, looking rather anxiously at Maggie. "Oh, yes, mamma, I remember her ever so well," answered poor Maggie, c...
"I thought you had quite forgotten her, dear," said her mother. "I had, mamma, but yesterday Aunt Annie and Miss Carrie were talking about her, and then I remembered her, oh! so well, and how fierce she looked and what a loud voice she had, and how she scolded, mamma, and how angry she used to be, and oh! mamma, she's ...
"And Uncle Ruthven is coming home," said Maggie. "Grandmamma had a letter from him last night, and she said he promised to come before the winter was over; and _won't_ we all be happy then?" Mamma kissed her little daughter's April face, on which the tears were not dry before smiles were dancing in their place, and in ...
"And will your Aunt Patty be here when he comes, my dear lady?" she asked. "I think not," said Mrs. Bradford, at which mammy looked well pleased, though she said no more; but Maggie and Bessie understood the look quite well. Mrs. Bradford had intended by and by to talk to her children of Mrs. Lawrence and to tell them ...
Presently she came to one which quite puzzled her. On the front of the picture was the figure of a woman with an eagle upon her shoulder, intended to represent America or Liberty; while farther back stood a man with a gun in his hand and a lion at his side, who was meant for John Bull of England. Miss America had her a...
Papa found he was not likely to want for listeners, as three or four eager voices answered. "Wait a moment, dear," he said, as Bessie came to take her usual place upon his knee, and rising, he unlocked a cabinet secretary which stood at the side of the fireplace in his library. This secretary was an object of great int...
"Why, she looks like our Maggie!" said Harry. "Only don't flatter yourself you are such a beauty as that, Midget," said Fred, mischievously. "Oh, Fred," said Bessie, "my Maggie is a great deal prettier, and I don't believe that lady was so good as Maggie either." "She may have been very good," said Harry, "but I don't ...
"Was she a relation of yours, papa?" asked Fred. "Yes," answered Mr. Bradford, "and I am going to tell you a story about her." "One summer, a good many years ago, two boys were staying on their uncle's farm in the country. Their father and mother were travelling in Europe, and had left them in this uncle's care while t...
"Ahem," said Mr. Bradford, with a twinkle in his eye, as he saw Fred's knowing look. "Well, I will call the oldest boy by my own name, Henry, and the youngest we will call Aleck." "Oh," said Fred, "and the aunt's name was, I suppose--" "Henrietta," said his father, quickly; "and if you have any remarks to make, Fred, p...
"Henry was a strong, healthy boy, who had never known a day's sickness; but Aleck was a weak, delicate, nervous little fellow, who could bear no excitement nor fatigue. Different as they were, however, the affection between them was very great. Gentle little Aleck looked up to his elder and stronger brother with a love...
"'You'd better take care; she'll hear you,' said Henry, as he heard Aleck's stifled laughter; and the next moment, through a crack in the bin, he saw his aunt's head appearing above the stairs. Any stranger might have wondered why the boys were so much afraid of her. She was a tall, handsome lady, not old, though the h...
"Dan's cubby-hole was a small room shut off from the rest of the hayloft, where one of the farm hands kept his tools; and here the boys went, shutting and bolting the door behind them. They worked away for more than an hour, when Aleck asked his brother if he did not smell smoke. "'Not I,' said Henry; 'that little nose...
"'Aleck, you must stay here one moment until I bring the ladder. I can let myself down from this little window, but cannot carry you. Stand close to it, dear boy, and do not be frightened.' "Stretching out from the window, he contrived to reach an old worn-out leader which would scarcely bear his weight, and to slide t...
"But what made her so unhappy, papa, and why were the boys so afraid of her?" asked Maggie. "Well, dear, I must say that it was her violent temper, and her wish to control every one about her, which made her so much feared not only by the boys, but by all who lived with her. But perhaps when I tell you a little more, y...
"No, darling," said her father; "for I think my Bessie is learning, with God's help, to control her quick temper so well that we may hope it will not give her much trouble when she is older. It is not for you more than for your brothers and sister. But I have a reason for wishing you all to see that it was more the mis...
"But now trouble, such as she had never dreamed of, came to this poor girl. They were in Switzerland, and one bright, sunny day, when no one thought of a storm, her husband and father went out in a small boat on the Lake of Geneva. There sometimes arises over this lake a terrible north-east wind, which comes up very su...
"Did not Aleck love her after the fire?" asked Bessie. "I think he was very grateful to her, dear, but I am afraid he never became very fond of her. He was a gentle, timid little fellow, and though his aunt was never harsh to him, it used to frighten him to see her severity with other people." "I'd have loved her, even...
"No, I wouldn't, Harry; and I would try to be patient, even if she scolded me like--like Aunt Patty." "And what if she was Aunt Patty?" said Fred. "But then she wasn't, you know." "But she was," said papa, smiling.
Maggie and Bessie opened their eyes very wide at this astonishing news. "You said her name was Henrietta, papa," said Maggie. "Aunt Patty's name is also Henrietta," replied Mr. Bradford, "and when she was young, she was generally called so." "And Henry was this Henry, our own papa," said Fred, laying his hand on his fa...
"Well, now," said Mr. Bradford, "if Aunt Patty comes to us by and by, and is not always as gentle as she might be, will my little children remember how much she has had to try her, and how much there is in her which is really good and unselfish?" The boys promised readily enough, and Bessie said doubtfully that she wou...
Mr. Bradford feared that his story had been almost in vain so far as his little girls were concerned, and indeed it was so. They could not make the pretty lady in the picture, the poor young wife whose husband and father had been drowned before her very eyes, or the brave, generous woman who had saved little Aleck, one...
_LIGHT THROUGH THE CLOUDS._ Christmas with all its pleasures had come and gone, enjoyed perhaps as much by the policeman's children as it was by the little Bradfords in their wealthier home. For though the former had not the means of the latter with which to make merry, they had contented spirits and grateful hearts, a...
"Your ma sent me up here," said the woman. "She is busy below, and she told me to come up and wait for her here." So Maggie allowed the stranger to pass her, and she took a chair which stood near the door. Maggie saw that she looked very cold, but had not the courage to ask her to come nearer the fire. After a moment, ...
"Are you the little lady who was lost a couple of months ago?" she asked. "No," said Maggie, at once interested, "that was our Bessie; but we found her again." "Oh, yes, I know that. I heard all about her from Policeman Richards, who looked after her when she was up to the station." "Bessie, Bessie!" called Maggie, "he...
At this, Bessie came running from the inner room. "Well," said the woman, laughing heartily, "it is nice to be looked at for the sake of one's friends when one is not much to look at for one's self." "I think you're pretty much to look at," said Bessie. "I think you have a nice, pleasant face. How is my policeman?" "He...
"He's one of my policemen," said Bessie. "I have three,--one who helps us over the crossing; the one who found me when I came lost; and the one who was so good to me in his station-house." "And that is my friend, Sergeant Richards. Well, he's a mighty nice fellow." "Yes, he is," said Bessie, "and I'd like to see him ag...
"Does she have a great deal of trouble?" asked Maggie, who by this time felt quite sociable. "Doesn't she though!" answered Mrs. Granby. "Trouble enough; and she's awful bad herself with the rheumatics, and a sickly baby, and a blind boy, and debts to pay, and that scandal of a doctor, and no way of laying up much; for...
"Oh, mamma!" exclaimed Bessie, as her mother just then entered the room, "what do you think? This very nice woman lives with my station policeman, who was so kind to me, and his name is Yichards, and he has a lame baby and a sick wife and a blind boy, and no doctor to pay, and the children must be fed, and a great deal...
"Bessie told me how kind he was to her," said Mrs. Bradford. "Yes, ma'am; there isn't a living thing that he wouldn't be kind to, and it does pass me to know what folks like him are so afflicted for. However, it's the Lord's work, and I've no call to question his doings. But the little ladies were just asking me about ...
"'Oh, do help them! Mamma, couldn't you help them?' "But I could see the mother was a bit backward about offerin' help, thinkin', I s'pose, that you and Mary wasn't used to charity, and not knowin' how you'd take it; so she puts it on the plea of its bein' Christmas time." And here Mrs. Granby paused, having at last ta...
"Since your friends are so pressed just now, I suppose they have not been able to make much preparation for Christmas." "Precious little, ma'am," answered Mrs. Granby; "for Sergeant Richards don't think it right to spend a penny he can help when he's owin' others. But we couldn't let the children quite forget it was Ch...
"No," said Mrs. Bradford, smiling. "I have here a couple of merino dresses of Maggie's, and a warm sack, which she has outgrown. They are too good to give to any one who would not take care of them, and I laid them aside until I should find some one to whom they would be of use. Do you think Mrs. Richards would be hurt...
"What shall we do for the blind boy?" asked Bessie. "We want to make him happy." "Perhaps he would like a book," said mamma. "But he couldn't see to read it, mamma." "Oh, I dare say some one would read it to him," said Mrs. Bradford. "Does he not like that?" she asked of Mrs. Granby.
"Yes, ma'am. His mother reads to him mostly all the time when the baby is quiet. It's about all she can do, and it's his greatest pleasure, dear boy, to have her read out the books he and Jennie get at Sunday-school every Sunday." "Can he go to Sunday-school when he's blind?" asked Maggie. "Why, yes, honey. Every Sunda...
There is no need to tell Mrs. Granby's delight, or the thanks which she poured out. If Mrs. Bradford had given her a most magnificent present for herself, it would not have pleased her half so much as did these trifles for the policeman's children. That evening, after the little ones were all in bed, Mrs. Granby told M...
"Sit you still, Sergeant Richards," she said. "I'm on my feet, and I'll just open the door." Which she did, and saw a tall gentleman standing there, who asked if Mr. Richards was in. "He is, sir," she answered, and then saying to herself, "I hope he's got special business for him that he'll pay him well for," threw ope...
"Yes, sir," answered Richards, placing a chair for his visitor. "You see I know many as don't know me. Can I be of any service to you, sir?" "I came to have a talk with you, if you are at leisure," said Mr. Bradford. "Perhaps you may think I am taking a liberty, but my wife heard to-day, through your friend, that you w...
"And I couldn't bear, sir," he said, "that the old folks shouldn't have a decent burying. So that used up what we had put by for a rainy day. Maybe I was foolish, but you see they were Mary's people, and we had feeling about it. But sure enough, no sooner was the money gone than the rainy day came, and stormy enough it...
"Yes, sir, and I suppose I might use that for a handle against him; but I don't like to, for I can't say but that the man was real kind to me and mine before that. If he presses me too hard, I may have to; but I can't bear to do it." "Will you put the matter in my hands, and let me see this Dr. Schwitz?" asked Mr. Brad...
"I don't know what claim I have upon you for such kindness, sir," said Richards, "but if you knew what a load you have taken from me, I am sure you would feel repaid." "I am repaid, more than repaid," said Mr. Bradford, with a smile; "for I feel that I am only paying a debt." The policeman looked surprised. "You were v...
"Oh, that, sir? Who could help it? And that was a very tiny seed to bring forth such a harvest as this." "It was 'bread cast upon the waters,'" said Mr. Bradford, "and to those who give in the Lord's name, he gives again 'good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.'" But the policeman had not even ye...
VI. _UNCLE RUTHVEN._ Christmas brought no Uncle Ruthven, but Christmas week brought Miss Elizabeth Rush, the sweet "Aunt Bessie" whom all the children loved so dearly. And it was no wonder they were fond of her, for she was almost as gentle and patient with them as mamma herself; and, like her brother, the colonel, had...
"Yes," said Bessie; "I wonder somebody don't write a book about us." "And call it 'The Happy Family,'" said Fred, mischievously, "after those celebrated bears and dogs and cats and mice who live together in the most peaceable manner so long as they have no teeth and claws, but who immediately fall to and eat one anothe...
"I am glad you understand yourself so well, any way," returned Colonel Rush, drily. Fred and the colonel were very fond of joking and sparring in this fashion, but Bessie always looked very sober while it was going on; for she could not bear anything that sounded like disputing, even in play; and perhaps she was about ...
"No, we'll tell mamma we have a secret, and we'll let her know by and by; but I want her to be very much surprised as well as the rest of the people. Bessie, I'm going to write a book, and you may help me, if you like." "Oh!" said Bessie. "And what will it be about, Maggie?" "About ourselves. You put it in my head to d...
"No; I think we will call it 'The Complete Family,'" said Maggie. "That sounds nicer and more booky; don't you think so?" "Yes," said Bessie, looking at her sister with great admiration. "And when are you going to begin it?" "To-day," said Maggie. "I'll ask mamma for some paper, and I'll write some every day till it's ...
"I don't know," said Maggie; "I'll see what you say. I wouldn't like people to know it was me." The book was begun that very day, but it had gone little farther than the title and chapter first, before they found they should be obliged to take mamma into the secret at once. There were so many long words which they wish...
"CHAPTER I. "Once upon a time, there lived a family named Happy; only that was not their real name, and you wish you had known them, and they are alive yet, because none of them have died. This was the most interesting and happiest family that ever lived. And God was so very good to them that they ought to have been th...
There had been quite a family party at dinner, for it was Aunt Bessie's birthday, and the colonel and Mrs. Rush were always considered as belonging to the family now. Besides these, there were grandmamma and Aunt Annie, Grandpapa Duncan, Uncle John, and Aunt Helen, all assembled to do honor to Aunt Bessie. Dinner was o...
[Illustration: Bessie's Friends. p. 124.] "And to think of him," she said, wiping the tears of joy from her eyes,--"to think of him asking for his old mammy 'most before he had done with his greetings to the gentlefolks! And him putting his arm about me and giving me a kiss as hearty as he used when he was a boy; and h...
"The Happys had a very happy thing happen to them witch delited them very much. They had a travelling uncle who came home to them at last; but he staid away ten years and did not come home even to see his mother, and I think he ort to don't you? But now he is come and has brought so many trunks and boxes with such lots...
"That is it," said her uncle. "What becomes of all your r's? Say Ruthven." "Er--er--er--Yuthven," said Bessie, trying very hard at the r. Mr. Stanton shook his head and laughed. "I can talk plainer than I used to," said Bessie. "I used to call Aunt Bessie's name very crooked, but I don't now."
"What did you use to call it?" "I used to say _Libasus_; but now I can say it plain, _Lisabus_." "A vast improvement, certainly," said Mr. Stanton, "but you can't manage the R's yet, hey? Well, they will come one of these days, I suppose." "They'd better," said Fred, who was hanging over his uncle's shoulder, "or it wi...
"You don't make a very pleasant prospect for me to be in," said Bessie, looking from brother to uncle with grave displeasure, "and if a little boy like you, Fred, says that to me when I am a big lady, I shall say, 'My dear, you are very impertinent.'" "And quite right, too," said Uncle Ruthven. "If all the little boys ...