CHAPTER IV.
SUSY'S WINGS.
Susy awoke next morning very much surprised to find the sun so high.Prudy was lying beside her, talking to herself.
"I don't feel very well," said the child; "but I'm pleasant; I mean tobe good all day."
"Why didn't you speak to me?" cried Susy, springing out of bed, "whenyou knew how I couldn't wait to see my present?"
"I would have woke you up, Susy, but I ain't well; I'm sick in myknees."
And Prudy limped about the room to show her sister how lame she was.But Susy was in too great a hurry to pay much attention to her, or tohelp her dress.
"Good morning, papa!" she exclaimed, the moment she entered the parlor;"now may I see the present?"
"Do you suppose you could wait till after breakfast, Susy?"
Aunt Madge smiled as she looked at the little eager face.
"I see you are going on with your lessons," said she.
"What lessons, auntie? Why, it is the holidays!"
"Lessons in patience, my dear. Isn't something always happening whichyou have to be patient about?"
Susy thought of Prudy's habit of disclosing secrets, Dotty's trying wayof destroying playthings; and now this long delay about her present. Shebegan to think there were a great many vexations in the world, and thatshe bore them remarkably well for such a little girl.
"Yes, thee must let patience have her perfect work, Susan," said grandmaRead, after the "silent blessing" had been asked at the table.
"Mayn't I go, too?" said Prudy, when she saw her father, her auntie, andSusy leaving the house just after breakfast.
And she went, as a matter of course; but the pavements were a littleslippery from sleet; and Prudy, who was never a famous walker, had asmuch as she could do, even with the help of her father's hand, to keepfrom falling.
"Why, Prudy," said Mr. Parlin, "what ails you this morning? You limp somuch that I believe you need crutches."
"I'm sick in my knee," replied Prudy, delighted to see that her lamenesswas observed. "If _you_ had my knee, and it hurt, you'd know how itfeels!"
By this time they had reached a livery stable; and, to Susy's surprise,her father stopped short, and said to a man who stood by the door, "Mr.Hill, my daughter has come to look at her pony."
Prudy was in a great fright at sight of so many horses, and needed allher auntie's attention; but Susy had no fear, and Mr. Parlin led heralong to a stall where stood a beautiful black pony, as gentle-lookingas a Newfoundland dog.
"How do you like him, Susy? Stroke his face, and talk to him."
"But, O, papa, you don't mean, you can't mean, he's my very own! A wholepony all to myself!"
"See what you think of his saddle, miss," said Mr. Hill, laughing atSusy's eagerness; and he led pony out, and threw over his back ahandsome side-saddle.
"Why, it seems as if I could just jump on without anybody touching me,"cried Susy.
"Not afraid a bit?" said Mr. Hill, as Mr. Parlin seated Susy in thesaddle, and gave her the reins. "Ponies throw people, sometimes."
"O, but my papa would never give me a bad pony," answered Susy, withperfect confidence.
Mr. Hill laughed again. He was a rough man; but he thought a child'sfaith in a parent was a beautiful thing.
He did not know many passages of Scripture, but thought he had readsomewhere, "And if he ask bread, will he give him a stone?" No; fathersare glad to give their "best gifts," and the little ones trust them.
"It's like sailing in a boat," cried Susy, riding back and forth aboutthe yard in great excitement; "why, it's just as easy as the swing inthe oilnut-tree at grandma Parlin's! O, papa, to think I should forgetto thank you!"
But perhaps Mr. Parlin regarded glowing cheeks and shining eyes as thevery best of thanks.
Prudy thought the pony a beautiful "baby horse;" wanted to ride, anddidn't want to; was afraid, and wasn't afraid, and, as her father said,"had as many minds as some politicians who are said to 'stand on thefence.'" By and by, after some coaxing, the timid little thing consentedto sit behind Susy, and cling round her waist, if her father would walkbeside her to make sure she didn't fall off. In this way they wenthome.
"I like to sit so I can hug my sister, while she drives the horse," saidPrudy; "besides, it hurts me to walk."
Mr. Parlin and aunt Madge smiled at the child's speeches, but gave nomore heed to this lameness of which she complained, than they did to anyof the rest of her little freaks.
Prudy liked to be pitied for every small hurt; and when Susy had a sorethroat, and wore a compress, she looked upon her with envy, and felt italmost as a personal slight that _her_ throat could not be wrapped in acompress too.
On their way they met "lame Jessie," a little girl with crooked spineand very high shoulders, who hobbled along on crutches.
"She's lamer than me," said Prudy. "Good morning, Jessie."
"I know what I've thought of," said Susy, who could talk of nothingwhich was not in some way connected with her pony. "I'm going to givethat girl some rides. How happy she will be, poor little Jessie!"
"When you get your sleigh," said Mr. Parlin.
"My sleigh, papa? How many more presents are coming?"
"It is hard to tell, Susy; one gift makes way for another, you see.First comes the pony; but how can he live without a stable, and a groomto feed him? Then what is a pony worth without a saddle? And, as onedoes not wish always to ride pony-back, a sleigh is the next thing."
"But, papa, you know in the summer!"
"Yes, my dear, in the summer, if we all live, there must be a lightcarriage made on purpose for you."
"There is one thing more that pony needs," said aunt Madge, stroking hiseyebrows, "and that is, a name."
"O, I never thought of that," said Susy; "help me find a name, auntie."
"Let me think. I should call him something good and pleasant. Think ofsomething good and pleasant Think of something you like very much."
"O, Frosted Cake," cried Prudy: "wouldn't that be pleasant? Susy lovesthat."
"I should like to name him for the American Eagle," said Susy, who hadheard some patriotic speeches from her cousin Percy; "only you couldn'tpet that name, could you?"
"You might call him Don Carlos, or Don Pedro," suggested Mr. Parlin.
"No, papa; only think of Donny: that is like Donkey! You haven't anylong ears, _have_ you, pony? If you had, I'd call you Little Pitcher,for 'little pitchers have great ears.' That makes me think of Mr. Allen,auntie. How big his ears are, you know? _Is_ it because his teacherpulled them so?"
"O, call him 'Gustus,'" cried Prudy.
"But that would soon be Gusty," said aunt Madge, "and would sound toomuch like the east wind."
"Dear me," sighed Susy; "who'd ever think it was such hard work to findnames?"
"O, look," said Prudy, as they passed a jaded old horse; "there is apony just exactly like this! Only it's twice as big, you know, and not a_bit_ such a color!"
"Well, there, Prudy," said Susy, disdainfully, "I thought, when youbegan to speak, you was going to tell something! Why don't you wait tillyou have something to say? Please give me a list of names, papa."
"There's Speedwell, Lightfoot, Zephyr, Prince, Will-o'-the-wisp--"
"I might call him Wispy," broke in Susy. "Zephyr is good, only it makesyou think of worsteds."
"Now, listen," said aunt Madge; "you might call him Elephant, just forsport, because he is in reality so very little. Or, on the other hand,you might find the least speck of a name, like Firefly, or Midge."
"I don't like any of those," replied Susy, still dissatisfied.
"I see," said aunt Madge, laughing, "nothing will please you but a greatname. What say to Pegasus, a flying horse, which poets are said to ride?It might be shortened to Peggy."
"Now, auntie, you wouldn't have this beautiful pony called Peggy; youknow you wouldn't! the one my father bought on purpose for me! But wasthere such a horse, truly?"
"O, no; there is an old fable, which, as we say, is
'as true now as itever was,' of a glorious creature with wings, and whoever mounts himgets a flying ride into the clouds. But the trouble is to catch him!"
"O, I wish my pony could fly," said Susy, gazing dreamily at his blackmane and sleek sides. "The first place I'd go to would be the moon; andthere I'd stay till I built a castle as big as a city. I'd come homeevery night, so mother wouldn't be frightened, and fly up in themorning, and--and--"
"See here," said Prudy, who had for some time been trying to speak;"call him _Wings_!"
"So I will," answered Susy, quickly, "and I'll make believe he flies inthe air like a bird. Now, auntie, what do you think of Wings?"
"Odd enough, I'm sure, my dear."
"Well, _I_ like it," returned Susy, with a positive shake of the head."It's of no use to keep fussing so long over a name, and I feel a greatdeal easier, now I've made up my mind! Dear little Wings, you prick upyour ears, and I know you like it, too. I wish you had a soul, so youcould be taken to church, and christened like a baby."
Just here Susy was startled by a sudden laugh from cousin Percy, whohad for some moments been walking behind the pony unobserved.
"You're enough to frighten any one to death," she screamed, "creepingabout like a cat."
Susy had a foolish dread of being laughed at.
"Creeping like a cat," echoed Percy, "while you creep like a snail! Whatwill you take for your pony, that can fly in the air like a bird, butcan't walk on the ground any better than a goose?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Susy, quite excited: "ifyou want to see anybody ride fast, just look here." And she started thepony at full speed, regardless of Prudy, who was so frightened, that sheseized poor Wings by his flowing mane, and called out for her sister tostop. But Susy dashed on at a flying pace, and Percy cried after her,"O, Susy, cousin Susy, what think of your Christmas present? Will youremember not to eat it, and not to hang it on a nail? Susy, Susy?"
There was hardly a happier child living than Susy, during thosedelightful holidays. She said to herself, sometimes, that this was sucha beautiful world, she couldn't think of a single thing that wasn't assplendid as it could be.