VIII.
_FRANKY._
But although such a great and delightful alteration had taken place inMrs. Lawrence, and although Mrs. Bradford and Miss Rush did all theycould to make the children feel kindly towards her, it was some daysbefore things went at all smoothly between the old lady and the littleones, and Annie Stanton, seeing the consequence of her thoughtlessness,had more than once reason to regret it, and to take to herself a lessonto refrain from evil speaking.
Maggie and Bessie, it is true, were too old and too well behaved tospeak their fear and their dislike openly, by word or action, but itwas plainly to be seen in their looks and manners. Poor Aunt Patty! Sheheard the sweet, childish voices prattling about the house, ringingout so freely and joyfully in peals of merry laughter, or singing tosimple music the pretty hymns and songs their dear mother and Mrs. Rushhad taught them; but the moment she appeared, sweet song, innocenttalk, and gay laugh were hushed; the little ones were either silent,or whispered to one another in subdued, timid tones. Little feet wouldcome pattering, or skipping along the hall, a small, curly head peepwithin the door, and then vanish at sight of her, while a whisper of"She's there; let's run," told the cause of its sudden disappearance.She saw them clinging around their other friends and relations withloving confidence, climbing upon their knees, clasping their necks,pressing sweet kisses on their cheeks and lips, asking freely forall the interest, sympathy, and affection they needed. Father andmother, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, Colonel and Mrs. Rush, thevery servants, who had been long in the house, all came in for a shareof childish love and trust. But for her they had nothing but shy,downcast looks, timid, half-whispered answers; they shrank from thetouch of her hand, ran from her presence. Yes, poor Aunt Patty! thepunishment was a severe one, and, apart from the pain it gave her, itwas hard for a proud spirit such as hers to bear. But she said nothing,did not even complain to Mrs. Bradford of the reception she had metwith from Maggie and Bessie, and it was only by Uncle Ruthven's accountand the confession of the little girls that their mamma knew what hadoccurred.
On the morning after Mrs. Lawrence's arrival, Maggie, as usual, broughtthe "Complete Family" to her mother to have the spelling corrected, andMrs. Bradford found written, "'Beware, woman!' is not a bit of use. Itdon't frighten people a bit; not even gilty conshuns, and Uncle Johnjust teased me I know. It is real mean."
Mamma asked the meaning of this, and, in a very aggrieved manner,Maggie told her of Uncle John's explanation of the picture, and howshe thought she would try the experiment on Aunt Patty when she hadinsisted on taking the baby.
"But it was all of no purpose, mamma," said Maggie, in a very injuredtone; "she did not care at all, but just stood there, looking madderand madder."
Mamma could scarcely wonder that Aunt Patty had looked "madder andmadder," and she told Maggie that she thought her aunt wished to bekind and good since she had not uttered one word of complaint at therude reception she had met with. But the little girl did not see itwith her mother's eyes, and could not be persuaded to think less hardlyof Aunt Patty.
But that rogue, Franky, was not afraid to show his feelings. He was abold little monkey, full of life and spirits, and always in mischief;and now he seemed to have set himself purposely to defy and brave Mrs.Lawrence, acting as if he wished to see how far he could go withoutmeeting punishment at her hands. This sad behavior of Franky's wasparticularly unfortunate, because the old lady had taken a special lovefor the little boy, fancying he looked like the dear father who so manyyears ago had been drowned beneath the blue waters of the Swiss lake.
A day or two after Aunt Patty came, she, with Mrs. Bradford and MissRush, was in the parlor with three or four morning visitors. Frankyhad just learned to open the nursery door for himself, and this pieceof knowledge he made the most of, watching his chance and slippingout the moment nurse's eye was turned from him. Finding one of theseopportunities for which he was so eager, he ran out and went softlydown-stairs, fearing to hear nurse calling him back. But nurse did notmiss him at first, and he reached the parlor in triumph. Here the doorstood partly open, and putting in his head, he looked around the room.No one noticed the roguish little face, with its mischievous, dancingeyes, for all the ladies were listening to Aunt Patty, as she toldthem some very interesting anecdote.
Suddenly there came from the door, in clear, childish tones, "Ladies,ladies, does Patty stold oo? Oo better wun away, she stolds verydreadful."
After which Master Franky ran away himself as fast as his feet couldcarry him, laughing and chuckling as he mounted the stairs, as if hehad done something very fine.
Mrs. Lawrence went straight on with her story, not pausing for aninstant, though that she heard quite as plainly as any one else was tobe seen by the flush of color on her cheek, and the uplifting of thealready upright head.
As for poor Mrs. Bradford, it was very mortifying for her; but what wasto be done? Nothing, just nothing, as far as Aunt Patty was concerned.It was not a thing for which pardon could well be asked or an apologymade, and Mrs. Bradford thought the best way was to pass it over insilence. She talked very seriously to Franky, but it seemed impossibleto make the little boy understand that he had done wrong; and, althoughnothing quite as bad as this occurred again for several days, hestill seemed determined to make war upon Aunt Patty whenever he couldfind a chance of doing so. And yet, strange to say, this unruly younggentleman was the first one of the children to make friends with hisold auntie; and it came about in this way:--
Aunt Bessie had brought as her Christmas gift to Franky a tiny pairof embroidered slippers, which were, as her namesake said, "perferlycunning," and in which the little boy took great pride. Nurse, also,thought a great deal of these slippers, and was very choice of them,allowing Franky to wear them only while she was dressing or undressinghim. But one day when she brought him in from his walk, she foundhis feet very cold, and taking off his walking-shoes, she put onthe slippers, and planted him in front of the fire, telling him to"toast his toes." No sooner did the little toes begin to feel at allcomfortable than Franky looked around for some way of putting themto what he considered their proper use; namely, trotting about. Thattempting nursery-door stood ajar, nurse's eyes were turned another way,and in half a minute he was off again. Mammy missed him very soon, andsent Jane to look for him. She met him coming up-stairs, and broughthim back to the nursery with a look in his eye which nurse knew meantthat he had been in mischief. And was it possible? He was in hisstocking feet! The precious slippers were missing. In vain did the oldwoman question him; he would give her no answer, only looking at herwith roguishness dancing in every dimple on his chubby face; and invain did Jane search the halls and staircase. So at last nurse took himto his mother, and very unwilling he was to go, knowing right well thathe had been naughty, and that now he would be obliged to confess it.
"Where are your slippers, Franky?" asked Mrs. Bradford, when nurse hadtold her story.
Franky hung his head and put his finger into his mouth, then lifted hisface coaxingly to his mother for a kiss.
"Mamma cannot kiss you till you are a good boy," said Mrs. Bradford,and repeated her question, "Where are your slippers?"
"In Patty's pottet," said Franky, seeing that his mother would have ananswer, and thinking he had best have it out.
"And how came they in Aunt Patty's pocket?"
"She put dem dere hersef," answered the child.
"Did she take them off your feet, Franky?"
"No, mamma," answered Franky, liking these questions still less than hehad done the others.
"How did they come off then?"
"Me trow dem at Patty," said Franky.
At last, after much more questioning and some whimpering from thechild, he was brought to confess that he had gone to the library,where he found Aunt Patty. Defying her as usual, and trying how farhe could go, without punishment, he had called her "bad old sing,"and many other naughty names; but finding this did not bring theexpected scolding, he had pulled off first one an
d then the other ofhis slippers and thrown them at the old lady. These Mrs. Lawrence hadpicked up and put in her pocket, still without speaking. Little Frankycould not tell how sorrow and anger were both struggling in her heartbeneath that grave silence.
When Mrs. Bradford had found out all Franky could or would tell, shetold him he was a very naughty little boy, and since he had behavedso badly to Aunt Patty, he must go at once and ask her pardon. ThisFranky had no mind to do. He liked very well to brave Aunt Patty froma safe distance; but he did not care to trust himself within reachof the punishment he knew he so justly deserved. Besides, he was ina naughty, obstinate mood, and would not obey his mother as readilyas usual. But mamma was determined, as it was right she should be,and after rather a hard battle with her little son, she carried himdown-stairs, still sobbing, but subdued and penitent, to beg AuntPatty's forgiveness.
"Me sorry, me do so any more," said Franky, meaning he would do so nomore.
To his surprise, and also somewhat to his mother's, the old lady caughthim in her arms, and covered his face with kisses, while a tear or twoshone in her eye.
"Don't ky; me dood now," lisped Franky, forgetting all his fear, andputting up his hand to wipe away her tears; and from this minute AuntPatty and Franky were the best of friends. Indeed, so indulgent didshe become to him, that papa and mamma were quite afraid he wouldbe spoiled; for the little gentleman, finding out his power, lordedit over her pretty well. Mrs. Bradford, coming in unexpectedly oneday, actually found the old lady on her hands and knees, in a corner,playing the part of a horse eating hay from a manger; while Franky,clothes-brush in hand, was, much to his own satisfaction, pretending torub her down, making the hissing noise used by coachmen when they currya horse, and positively refusing to allow his patient playfellow torise.
But Maggie and Bessie could not be persuaded to be at all friendlyor sociable with Aunt Patty. True, after their first dread of herwore off, and they found she was by no means so terrible as they hadimagined, they no longer scampered off at the least sound of her voiceor glimpse of her skirts, as they had done at first; and Bessie evenfound courage to speak to her now and then, always looking however,as if she thought she was running a great risk, and could not tellwhat would be the consequence of such boldness. For after all they hadheard, our little girls found it impossible to believe that such agreat change had taken place in Aunt Patty, and were always watchingfor some outbreak of temper.
Unhappily there was one thing which stood much in Aunt Patty's way, notonly with the children, but perhaps with some grown people also, andthat was her old way of meddling and finding fault with things whichdid not concern her. This she did, almost without knowing it; for soit is, where we have long indulged in a habit, it becomes, as it were,a part of ourselves, and the older we grow, the harder it is to ridourselves of it. And there are few things which sooner rouse the evilpassions and dislike of others than this trick of fault-finding wherewe have no right or need to do so, or of meddling with that which doesnot concern us. So Mrs. Lawrence, without intending it, was constantlyfretting and aggravating those around her while Maggie and Bessie, whothought that all their mamma did or said was quite perfect, were amazedand indignant when they heard her rules and wishes questioned andfound fault with, and sometimes even set aside by Aunt Patty, if shethought another way better.
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Title decoration, chap. 9]