章节正文
"Let us take a little clean water and a soft bit of cotton," came
Cecily's clear voice from the kitchen, "and see if we can't clean
the molasses off. The coat and hat are both cloth, and molasses
isn't like grease."
"Well, we can try, but I wish the Story Girl would keep her cat
home," grumbled Felicity.
The Story Girl here flew out to defend her pet, and we four boys
sat on, miserablyconscious of Great-aunt Eliza, who never said a
word to us, despite her previously expressed desire to become
acquainted with us. She kept on looking at the photographs and
seemed quite oblivious of our presence.
Presently the girls returned, having, as transpired later, been so
successful in removing the traces of Paddy's mischief that it was
not deemed necessary to worry Great-aunt Eliza with any account of
it. Felicity announced tea and, while Cecily conveyed Great-aunt
Eliza out to the dining-room, lingered behind to consult with us
for a moment.
"Ought we to ask her to say grace?" she wanted to know.
"I know a story," said the Story Girl, "about Uncle Roger when he
was just a young man. He went to the house of a very deaf old
lady and when they sat down to the table she asked him to say
grace. Uncle Roger had never done such a thing in his life and he
turned as red as a beet and looked down and muttered, 'E-r-r,
please excuse me--I--I'm not accustomed to doing that.' Then he
looked up and the old lady said 'Amen,' loudly and cheerfully.
She thought Uncle Roger was saying grace all the time."
"I don't think it's right to tell funny stories about such
things," said Felicity coldly. "And I asked for your opinion, not
for a story."
"If we don't ask her, Felix must say it, for he's the only one who
can, and we must have it, or she'd be shocked."
"Oh, ask her--ask her," advised Felix hastily.
She was asked accordingly and said grace without any hesitation,
after which she proceeded to eat heartily of the excellent supper
Felicity had provided. The rusks were especially good and Great-
aunt Eliza ate three of them and praised them. Apart from that
she said little and during the first part of the meal we sat in
embarrassed silence. Towards the last, however, our tongues were
loosened, and the Story Girl told us a tragic tale of old
Charlottetown and a governor's wife who had died of a broken heart
in the early days of the colony.
"They say that story isn't true," said Felicity. "They say what
she really died of was indigestion. The Governor's wife who lives
there now is a relation of our own. She is a second cousin of
father's but we've never seen her. Her name was Agnes Clark. And
mind you, when father was a young man he was dead in love with her
and so was she with him."
"Who ever told you that?" exclaimed Dan.
"Aunt Olivia. And I've heard ma teasing father about it, too. Of
course, it was before father got acquainted with mother."
"Why didn't your father marry her?" I asked.
"Well, she just simply wouldn't marry him in the end. She got
over being in love with him. I guess she was pretty fickle. Aunt
Olivia said father felt awful about it for awhile, but he got over
it when he met ma. Ma was twice as good-looking as Agnes Clark.
Agnes was a sight for freckles, so Aunt Olivia says. But she and
father remained real good friends. Just think, if she had married
him we would have been the children of the Governor's wife."
"But she wouldn't have been the Governor's wife then," said Dan.
"I guess it's just as good being father's wife," declared Cecily
loyally.
"You might think so if you saw the Governor," chuckled Dan.
"Uncle Roger says it would be no harm to worship him because he
doesn't look like anything in the heavens above or on the earth
beneath or the waters under the earth."
"Oh, Uncle Roger just says that because he's on the opposite side
of politics," said Cecily. "The Governor isn't really so very
ugly. I saw him at the Markdale picnic two years ago. He's very
fat and bald and red-faced, but I've seen far worse looking men."
"I'm afraid your seat is too near the stove, Aunt Eliza," shouted
Felicity.
Our guest, whose face was certainly very much flushed, shook her
head.
"Oh, no, I'm very comfortable," she said. But her voice had the
effect of making us uncomfortable. There was a queer, uncertain
little sound in it. Was Great-aunt Eliza laughing at us? We
looked at her sharply but her face was very solemn. Only her eyes
had a suspicious appearance. Somehow, we did not talk much more
the rest of the meal.
When it was over Great-aunt Eliza said she was very sorry but she
must really go. Felicity politely urged her to stay, but was much
relieved when Great-aunt Eliza adhered to her intention of going.
When Felicity took her to the spare room Cecily slipped upstairs
and presently came back with a little parcel in her hand.
"What have you got there?" demanded Felicity suspiciously.
"A--a little bag of rose-leaves," faltered Cecily. "I thought I'd
give them to Aunt Eliza."
"The idea! Don't you do such a thing," said Felicity
contemptuously. "She'd think you were crazy."
"She was awfully nice when I asked her for her name for the
quilt," protested Cecily, "and she took a ten-cent section after
all. So I'd like to give her the rose-leaves--and I'm going to,
too, Miss Felicity."
Great-aunt Eliza accepted the little gift quite graciously, bade
us all good-bye, said she had enjoyed herself very much, left
messages for father and mother, and finally betook herself away.
We watched her cross the yard, tall, stately, erect, and disappear
down the lane. Then, as often aforetime, we gathered together in
the cheer of the red hearth-flame, while outside the wind of a
winter twilight sang through fair white valleys brimmed with a
reddening sunset, and a faint, serene, silver-cold star glimmered
over the willow at the gate.
"Well," said Felicity, drawing a relieved breath, "I'm glad she's
gone. She certainly is queer, just as mother said."
"It's a different kind of queerness from what I expected, though,"
said the Story Girl meditatively. "There's something I can't
quite make out about Aunt Eliza. I don't think I altogether like
her."
"I'm precious sure I don't," said Dan.
"Oh, well, never mind. She's gone now and that's the last of it,"
said Cecily comfortingly .
But it wasn't the last of it--not by any manner of means was it!
When our grown-ups returned almost the first words Aunt Janet said
were,
"And so you had the Governor's wife to tea?"
We all stared at her.
"I don't know what you mean," said Felicity. "We had nobody to
tea except Great-aunt Eliza. She came this afternoon and--"
"Great-aunt Eliza? Nonsense," said Aunt Janet. "Aunt Eliza was in
town today. She had tea with us at Aunt Louisa's. But wasn't
Mrs. Governor Lesley here? We met her on her way back to
Charlottetown and she told us she was. She said she was visiting
a friend in Carlisle and thought she'd call to see father for old
acquaintance sake. What in the world are all you children staring
like that for? Your eyes are like saucers."
"There was a lady here to tea," said Felicity miserably, "but we
thought it was Great-aunt Eliza--she never SAID she wasn't--I
thought she acted queer--and we all yelled at her as if she was
deaf--and said things to each other about her nose--and Pat
running over her clothes--"
"She must have heard all you said while I was showing her the
photographs, Dan," cried Cecily.
"And about the Governor at tea time," chuckled unrepentant Dan.
"I want to know what all this means," said Aunt Janet sternly.
She knew in due time, after she had pieced the story together from
our disjointed accounts. She was horrified, and Uncle Alec was
mildly disturbed, but Uncle Roger roared with laughter and Aunt
Olivia echoed it.
"To think you should have so little sense!" said Aunt Janet in a
disgusted tone.
"I think it was real mean of her to pretend she was deaf," said
Felicity, almost on the verge of tears.
"That was Agnes Clark all over," chuckled Uncle Roger. "How she
must have enjoyed this afternoon!"
She had enjoyed it, as we learned the next day, when a letter came
from her.
"Dear Cecily and all the rest of you," wrote the Governor's wife,
"I want to ask you to forgive me for pretending to be Aunt Eliza.
I suspect it was a little horrid of me, but really I couldn't
resist the temptation, and if you will forgive me for it I will
forgive you for the things you said about the Governor, and we
will all be good friends. You know the Governor is a very nice
man, though he has the misfortune not to be handsome.
"I had just a splendid time at your place, and I envy your Aunt
Eliza her nephews and nieces. You were all so nice to me, and I
didn't dare to be a bit nice to you lest I should give myself
away. But I'll make up for that when you come to see me at
Government House, as you all must the very next time you come to
town. I'm so sorry I didn't see Paddy, for I love pussy cats,
even if they do track molasses over my clothes. And, Cecily,
thank you ever so much for that little bag of pot-pourri. It
smells like a hundred rose gardens, and I have put it between the
sheets for my very sparest room bed, where you shall sleep when
you come to see me, you dear thing. And the Governor wants you to
put his name on the quilt square, too, in the ten-cent section.
"Tell Dan I enjoyed his comments on the photographs very much.
They were quite a refreshingcontrast to the usual explanations of
'who's who.' And Felicity, your rusks were perfection. Do send me
your recipe for them, there's a darling.
"Yours most cordially,
AGNES CLARK LESLEY.
"Well, it was decent of her to apologize, anyhow," commented Dan.
"If we only hadn't said that about the Governor," moaned Felicity.
"How did you make your rusks?" asked Aunt Janet. "There was no
baking-powder in the house, and I never could get them right with
soda and cream of tartar."
"There was plenty of baking-powder in the pantry," said Felicity.
"No, there wasn't a particle. I used the last making those
cookies Thursday morning."
"But I found another can nearly full, away back on the top shelf,
ma,--the one with the yellow label. I guess you forgot it was
there."
Aunt Janet stared at her pretty daughter blankly. Then amazement
gave place to horror.
"Felicity King!" she exclaimed. "You don't mean to tell me that
you raised those rusks with the stuff that was in that old yellow can?"
"Yes, I did," faltered Felicity, beginning to look scared. "Why,
ma, what was the matter with it?"
"Matter! That stuff was TOOTH-POWDER, that's what it was. Your
Cousin Myra broke the bottle her tooth-powder was in when she was
here last winter and I gave her that old can to keep it in. She
forgot to take it when she went away and I put it on that top
shelf. I declare you must all have been bewitched yesterday."
Poor, poor Felicity! If she had not always been so horribly vain
over her cooking and so scornfully contemptuous of other people's
aspirations and mistakes along that line, I could have found it in
my heart to pity her.
The Story Girl would have been more than human if she had not
betrayed a little triumphantamusement, but Peter stood up for his
lady manfully.
"The rusks were splendid, anyhow, so what difference does it make
Cecily's clear voice from the kitchen, "and see if we can't clean
the molasses off. The coat and hat are both cloth, and molasses
isn't like grease."
"Well, we can try, but I wish the Story Girl would keep her cat
home," grumbled Felicity.
The Story Girl here flew out to defend her pet, and we four boys
sat on, miserablyconscious of Great-aunt Eliza, who never said a
word to us, despite her previously expressed desire to become
acquainted with us. She kept on looking at the photographs and
seemed quite oblivious of our presence.
Presently the girls returned, having, as transpired later, been so
successful in removing the traces of Paddy's mischief that it was
not deemed necessary to worry Great-aunt Eliza with any account of
it. Felicity announced tea and, while Cecily conveyed Great-aunt
Eliza out to the dining-room, lingered behind to consult with us
for a moment.
"Ought we to ask her to say grace?" she wanted to know.
"I know a story," said the Story Girl, "about Uncle Roger when he
was just a young man. He went to the house of a very deaf old
lady and when they sat down to the table she asked him to say
grace. Uncle Roger had never done such a thing in his life and he
turned as red as a beet and looked down and muttered, 'E-r-r,
please excuse me--I--I'm not accustomed to doing that.' Then he
looked up and the old lady said 'Amen,' loudly and cheerfully.
She thought Uncle Roger was saying grace all the time."
"I don't think it's right to tell funny stories about such
things," said Felicity coldly. "And I asked for your opinion, not
for a story."
"If we don't ask her, Felix must say it, for he's the only one who
can, and we must have it, or she'd be shocked."
"Oh, ask her--ask her," advised Felix hastily.
She was asked accordingly and said grace without any hesitation,
after which she proceeded to eat heartily of the excellent supper
Felicity had provided. The rusks were especially good and Great-
aunt Eliza ate three of them and praised them. Apart from that
she said little and during the first part of the meal we sat in
embarrassed silence. Towards the last, however, our tongues were
loosened, and the Story Girl told us a tragic tale of old
Charlottetown and a governor's wife who had died of a broken heart
in the early days of the colony.
"They say that story isn't true," said Felicity. "They say what
she really died of was indigestion. The Governor's wife who lives
there now is a relation of our own. She is a second cousin of
father's but we've never seen her. Her name was Agnes Clark. And
mind you, when father was a young man he was dead in love with her
and so was she with him."
"Who ever told you that?" exclaimed Dan.
"Aunt Olivia. And I've heard ma teasing father about it, too. Of
course, it was before father got acquainted with mother."
"Why didn't your father marry her?" I asked.
"Well, she just simply wouldn't marry him in the end. She got
over being in love with him. I guess she was pretty fickle. Aunt
Olivia said father felt awful about it for awhile, but he got over
it when he met ma. Ma was twice as good-looking as Agnes Clark.
Agnes was a sight for freckles, so Aunt Olivia says. But she and
father remained real good friends. Just think, if she had married
him we would have been the children of the Governor's wife."
"But she wouldn't have been the Governor's wife then," said Dan.
"I guess it's just as good being father's wife," declared Cecily
loyally.
"You might think so if you saw the Governor," chuckled Dan.
"Uncle Roger says it would be no harm to worship him because he
doesn't look like anything in the heavens above or on the earth
beneath or the waters under the earth."
"Oh, Uncle Roger just says that because he's on the opposite side
of politics," said Cecily. "The Governor isn't really so very
ugly. I saw him at the Markdale picnic two years ago. He's very
fat and bald and red-faced, but I've seen far worse looking men."
"I'm afraid your seat is too near the stove, Aunt Eliza," shouted
Felicity.
Our guest, whose face was certainly very much flushed, shook her
head.
"Oh, no, I'm very comfortable," she said. But her voice had the
effect of making us uncomfortable. There was a queer, uncertain
little sound in it. Was Great-aunt Eliza laughing at us? We
looked at her sharply but her face was very solemn. Only her eyes
had a suspicious appearance. Somehow, we did not talk much more
the rest of the meal.
When it was over Great-aunt Eliza said she was very sorry but she
must really go. Felicity politely urged her to stay, but was much
relieved when Great-aunt Eliza adhered to her intention of going.
When Felicity took her to the spare room Cecily slipped upstairs
and presently came back with a little parcel in her hand.
"What have you got there?" demanded Felicity suspiciously.
"A--a little bag of rose-leaves," faltered Cecily. "I thought I'd
give them to Aunt Eliza."
"The idea! Don't you do such a thing," said Felicity
contemptuously. "She'd think you were crazy."
"She was awfully nice when I asked her for her name for the
quilt," protested Cecily, "and she took a ten-cent section after
all. So I'd like to give her the rose-leaves--and I'm going to,
too, Miss Felicity."
Great-aunt Eliza accepted the little gift quite graciously, bade
us all good-bye, said she had enjoyed herself very much, left
messages for father and mother, and finally betook herself away.
We watched her cross the yard, tall, stately, erect, and disappear
down the lane. Then, as often aforetime, we gathered together in
the cheer of the red hearth-flame, while outside the wind of a
winter twilight sang through fair white valleys brimmed with a
reddening sunset, and a faint, serene, silver-cold star glimmered
over the willow at the gate.
"Well," said Felicity, drawing a relieved breath, "I'm glad she's
gone. She certainly is queer, just as mother said."
"It's a different kind of queerness from what I expected, though,"
said the Story Girl meditatively. "There's something I can't
quite make out about Aunt Eliza. I don't think I altogether like
her."
"I'm precious sure I don't," said Dan.
"Oh, well, never mind. She's gone now and that's the last of it,"
said Cecily comfortingly .
But it wasn't the last of it--not by any manner of means was it!
When our grown-ups returned almost the first words Aunt Janet said
were,
"And so you had the Governor's wife to tea?"
We all stared at her.
"I don't know what you mean," said Felicity. "We had nobody to
tea except Great-aunt Eliza. She came this afternoon and--"
"Great-aunt Eliza? Nonsense," said Aunt Janet. "Aunt Eliza was in
town today. She had tea with us at Aunt Louisa's. But wasn't
Mrs. Governor Lesley here? We met her on her way back to
Charlottetown and she told us she was. She said she was visiting
a friend in Carlisle and thought she'd call to see father for old
acquaintance sake. What in the world are all you children staring
like that for? Your eyes are like saucers."
"There was a lady here to tea," said Felicity miserably, "but we
thought it was Great-aunt Eliza--she never SAID she wasn't--I
thought she acted queer--and we all yelled at her as if she was
deaf--and said things to each other about her nose--and Pat
running over her clothes--"
"She must have heard all you said while I was showing her the
photographs, Dan," cried Cecily.
"And about the Governor at tea time," chuckled unrepentant Dan.
"I want to know what all this means," said Aunt Janet sternly.
She knew in due time, after she had pieced the story together from
our disjointed accounts. She was horrified, and Uncle Alec was
mildly disturbed, but Uncle Roger roared with laughter and Aunt
Olivia echoed it.
"To think you should have so little sense!" said Aunt Janet in a
disgusted tone.
"I think it was real mean of her to pretend she was deaf," said
Felicity, almost on the verge of tears.
"That was Agnes Clark all over," chuckled Uncle Roger. "How she
must have enjoyed this afternoon!"
She had enjoyed it, as we learned the next day, when a letter came
from her.
"Dear Cecily and all the rest of you," wrote the Governor's wife,
"I want to ask you to forgive me for pretending to be Aunt Eliza.
I suspect it was a little horrid of me, but really I couldn't
resist the temptation, and if you will forgive me for it I will
forgive you for the things you said about the Governor, and we
will all be good friends. You know the Governor is a very nice
man, though he has the misfortune not to be handsome.
"I had just a splendid time at your place, and I envy your Aunt
Eliza her nephews and nieces. You were all so nice to me, and I
didn't dare to be a bit nice to you lest I should give myself
away. But I'll make up for that when you come to see me at
Government House, as you all must the very next time you come to
town. I'm so sorry I didn't see Paddy, for I love pussy cats,
even if they do track molasses over my clothes. And, Cecily,
thank you ever so much for that little bag of pot-pourri. It
smells like a hundred rose gardens, and I have put it between the
sheets for my very sparest room bed, where you shall sleep when
you come to see me, you dear thing. And the Governor wants you to
put his name on the quilt square, too, in the ten-cent section.
"Tell Dan I enjoyed his comments on the photographs very much.
They were quite a refreshingcontrast to the usual explanations of
'who's who.' And Felicity, your rusks were perfection. Do send me
your recipe for them, there's a darling.
"Yours most cordially,
AGNES CLARK LESLEY.
"Well, it was decent of her to apologize, anyhow," commented Dan.
"If we only hadn't said that about the Governor," moaned Felicity.
"How did you make your rusks?" asked Aunt Janet. "There was no
baking-powder in the house, and I never could get them right with
soda and cream of tartar."
"There was plenty of baking-powder in the pantry," said Felicity.
"No, there wasn't a particle. I used the last making those
cookies Thursday morning."
"But I found another can nearly full, away back on the top shelf,
ma,--the one with the yellow label. I guess you forgot it was
there."
Aunt Janet stared at her pretty daughter blankly. Then amazement
gave place to horror.
"Felicity King!" she exclaimed. "You don't mean to tell me that
you raised those rusks with the stuff that was in that old yellow can?"
"Yes, I did," faltered Felicity, beginning to look scared. "Why,
ma, what was the matter with it?"
"Matter! That stuff was TOOTH-POWDER, that's what it was. Your
Cousin Myra broke the bottle her tooth-powder was in when she was
here last winter and I gave her that old can to keep it in. She
forgot to take it when she went away and I put it on that top
shelf. I declare you must all have been bewitched yesterday."
Poor, poor Felicity! If she had not always been so horribly vain
over her cooking and so scornfully contemptuous of other people's
aspirations and mistakes along that line, I could have found it in
my heart to pity her.
The Story Girl would have been more than human if she had not
betrayed a little triumphantamusement, but Peter stood up for his
lady manfully.
"The rusks were splendid, anyhow, so what difference does it make
- conscious [´kɔnʃəs]
a.意识的；自觉的 (初中英语单词) - despite [di´spait] prep.尽管 (初中英语单词)
- mischief [´mistʃif] n.伤害；故障；调皮 (初中英语单词)
- account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)
- consult [kən´sʌlt] v.商量；磋商；请教 (初中英语单词)
- coldly [´kəuldli] ad.冷淡地 (初中英语单词)
- accordingly [ə´kɔ:diŋli] ad.因此；从而；依照 (初中英语单词)
- awhile [ə´wail] ad.少顷；片刻 (初中英语单词)
- worship [´wə:ʃip] n.&v.崇拜；敬仰 (初中英语单词)
- governor [´gʌvənə] n.总督；州长 (初中英语单词)
- sharply [´ʃɑ:pli] ad.锋利地；剧烈地 (初中英语单词)
- solemn [´sɔləm] a.严肃的；隆重的 (初中英语单词)
- intention [in´tenʃən] n.意图；打算；意义 (初中英语单词)
- presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
- parcel [´pɑ:sl] n.包裹；一批 vt.区分 (初中英语单词)
- twilight [´twailait] n.黎明；黄昏 (初中英语单词)
- sunset [´sʌnset] n.日落；晚霞 (初中英语单词)
- willow [´wiləu] n.柳树 (初中英语单词)
- breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)
- altogether [,ɔ:ltə´geðə] ad.完全；总而言之 (初中英语单词)
- laughter [´lɑ:ftə] n.笑，笑声 (初中英语单词)
- pretend [pri´tend] v.假装；借口；妄求 (初中英语单词)
- forgive [fə´giv] vt.原谅，谅解，宽恕 (初中英语单词)
- suspect [´sʌspekt, sə´spekt] v.怀疑；觉得 n.嫌疑犯 (初中英语单词)
- contrast [´kɔntrɑ:st] n.对比 v.使对比(照) (初中英语单词)
- beginning [bi´giniŋ] n.开始，开端；起源 (初中英语单词)
- amusement [ə´mju:zmənt] n.娱乐；文娱设施 (初中英语单词)
- previously [´pri:viəsli] ad.预先；以前 (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- heartily [´hɑ:tili] ad.衷心地；亲切地 (高中英语单词)
- tragic [´trædʒik] a.悲剧的；悲惨的 (高中英语单词)
- picnic [´piknik] n.郊游 vi.(去)野餐 (高中英语单词)
- uncomfortable [ʌn´kʌmftəbəl] a.不舒服的，不自在的 (高中英语单词)
- suspicious [sə´spiʃəs] a.可疑的，多疑的 (高中英语单词)
- politely [pə´laitli] ad.温和地；文雅地 (高中英语单词)
- awfully [´ɔ:fuli] ad.令人畏惧地 (高中英语单词)
- stately [´steitli] a.庄严的，雄伟的 (高中英语单词)
- serene [si´ri:n] n.&a.清澈的；宁静的 (高中英语单词)
- learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)
- horrid [´hɔrid] a.令人讨厌的；极糟的 (高中英语单词)
- temptation [temp´teiʃən] n.引诱，诱惑(物) (高中英语单词)
- misfortune [mis´fɔ:tʃən] n.不幸；灾祸 (高中英语单词)
- perfection [pə´fekʃən] n.完美；极致；熟练 (高中英语单词)
- recipe [´resipi] n.食谱；决窍；处方 (高中英语单词)
- decent [´di:sənt] a.体面的，正派的 (高中英语单词)
- particle [´pɑ:tikl] n.微粒；极小量 (高中英语单词)
- molasses [mə´læsiz] n.糖浆，糖蜜 (英语四级单词)
- graciously [´greiʃəsli] ad.仁慈地，和蔼庄重地 (英语四级单词)
- drawing [´drɔ:iŋ] n.画图；制图；图样 (英语四级单词)
- triumphant [trai´ʌmfənt] a.胜利的；洋洋得意的 (英语四级单词)
- miserably [´mizərəbli] ad.悲惨地；糟糕地 (英语六级单词)
- felicity [fi´lisiti] n.幸福；(措词)适当 (英语六级单词)
- fickle [´fikəl] a.轻浮的；多变的 (英语六级单词)
- good-looking [] a.漂亮的，美貌的 (英语六级单词)
- refreshing [ri´freʃiŋ] a.使心神爽快的 (英语六级单词)
- horribly [´hɔrəbli] ad.恐怖地 (英语六级单词)
- contemptuous [kən´temptjuəs] a.蔑视的；傲慢的 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
京公网安备 11011202003401号
