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Penelope's Irish Experiences-Part14_Kate Douglas Wiggin(1856-1923)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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it would have been all right; but you never do anything till a month



after it's too late. I've no patience with such a set of doshies,

dawdling around and leaving everything to go to rack and ruin!"



"Sure it was yourself that ruinated the thing," responded Molly,

with spirit, for the unaccustomed word 'doshy' had kindled her quick



Irish temper. "It's aisy handlin' the knob is used to, and faith it

would 'a' stuck there for you a twelvemonth!"



"They will be quarrelling soon," said Salemina nervously. "Do not

wait another instant; you are late enough now, and I insist on your



going. Make any excuse you see fit: say I am ill, say I am dead,

if you like, but don't tell the real excuse--it is too shiftless and



wretched and embarrassing. Don't cry, Benella. Molly, Oonah, go

downstairs to your work. Mrs. Waterford, I think perhaps you have



forgotten that we have already purchased raffle tickets, and we'll

not take any more for fear that we may draw the necklace. Good-bye,



dears; tell Lady Killbally I shall see her to-morrow."

Chapter XV. Penelope weaves a web.



'Why the shovel and tongs

To each other belongs,



And the kettle sings songs

Full of family glee,



While alone with your cup,

Like a hermit you sup,



Och hone, Widow Machree.'

Samuel Lover.



Francesca and I were gloomy enough, as we drove along facing each

other in Ballyfuchsia's one 'inside-car'--a strange and fearsome



vehicle, partaking of the nature of a broken-down omnibus, a hearse,

and an overgrown black beetle. It holds four, or at a squeeze six,



the seats being placed from stem to stern lengthwise, and the

balance being so delicate that the passengers, when going uphill,



are shaken into a heap at the door, which is represented by a ragged

leather flap. I have often seen it strew the hard highroad with



passengers, as it jolts up the steep incline that leads to

Ardnagreena, and the 'fares' who succeed in staying in always sit in



one another's laps a good part of the way--a method pleasing only to

relatives or intimate friends. Francesca and I agreed to tell the



real reason of Salemina's absence. "It is Ireland's fault, and I

will not have America blamed for it," she insisted; "but it is so



embarrassing to be going to the dinner ourselves, and leaving behind

the most important personage. Think of Dr. La Touche's



disappointment, think of Salemina's; and they'll never understand

why she couldn't have come in a dressing jacket. I shall advise her



to discharge Benella after this episode, for no one can tell the

effect it may have upon all our future lives, even those of the



doctor's two poor motherless children."

It is a four-mile drive to Balkilly Castle, and when we arrived



there we were so shaken that we had to retire to a dressing-room for

repairs. Then came the dreaded moment when we entered the great



hall and advanced to meet Lady Killbally, who looked over our heads

to greet the missing Salemina. Francesca's beauty, my supposed



genius, both fell flat; it was Salemina whose presence was

especially desired. The company was assembled, save for one guest



still more tardy than ourselves, and we had a moment or two to tell

our story as sympathetically as possible. It had an uncommonly good



reception, and, coupled with the Irish letter I read at dessert,

carried the dinner along on a basis of such laughter and good-



fellowship that finally there was no place for regret save in the

hearts of those who knew and loved Salemina--poor Salemina, spending



her dull, lonely evening in our rooms, and later on in her own

uneventful bed, if indeed she had been lucky enough to gain access



to that bed. I had hoped Lady Killbally would put one of us beside

Dr. La Touche, so that we might at least keep Salemina's memory



green by tactful conversation; but it was too large a company to

rearrange, and he had to sit by an empty chair, which perhaps was



just as salutary, after all. The dinner was very smart, and the

company interesting and clever, but my thoughts were elsewhere. As



there were fewer squires than dames at the feast, Lady Killbally




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