CHAPTER XX.
PERSIMMONS.
The September days passed away and the October days came and found Rubyboth happy and good. She had not forgotten her home nor her dearmother and father, but she was learning to love her new home verydearly, and she had tried so hard to be good and give the teachers aslittle trouble as possible that they were all very fond of her. Shefound her lessons very pleasant, and as she loved study and wasambitious to always have perfect lessons she was very near the head inall her classes.
Twice a week she wrote long letters home to her mother, and told herall about her doings; and her mother was so much better that she wasable to write to Ruby two or three times a week,--such loving lettersthat Ruby always wished for a little while that she could put herselfin an envelope and send herself home to her mother, instead of waitingfor Christmas. Ruby was doing so well that both her Aunt Emma and herfather and mother wanted her to stay until the end of the term at anyrate. Ruby hoped that when she went home she would be able to takewith her at least one of the five prizes which were to be given atChristmas. There was a composition prize, a deportment prize, a prizefor grammar, one for spelling, and one for improvement in music. Rubyhad worked so hard in all her classes, and had been so careful to keepall the rules, that she was quite sure that she should take at leastone prize home with her to show her father and mother how hard she hadtried to be good.
If Ruthy could only have been with her, Ruby would have been quitecontented; but with all her new friends she still missed the dearlittle friend who had been like a sister to her all her life.
A great many things that had seemed hard to Ruby when she first camewere becoming so natural to her now that she never thought anythingabout them. The courtesying was no longer any trouble to her; on thecontrary, she really liked it, and she amused her Aunt Emma one day bytelling her that she thought that when she went home she should alwayscourtesy to her father and mother when she went out of the room; for ifit was respectful to courtesy to her teachers, it was certainlyrespectful to courtesy to any one else of whom she thought a greatdeal. She had learned to like egg-plant just as well as she didanything else, so her trouble over that had melted away into thin air;and she had found Agnes Van Kirk a very good friend to have, for shewas a little girl who tried very hard to do right herself, and helpedRuby to do right, too.
Agnes was going to be a teacher some day, she hoped, and she was veryfond of talking to Ruby about her plans. She was going to have a largeboarding-school, and she was not quite sure whether she would have hergirls courtesy or not when they went out of a room.
"Perhaps it will be old-fashioned by that time, you know," she said toRuby, when the two girls had counted how many years must pass awaybefore Agnes should have completed her education and opened her school."Of course I should not teach my girls to do old-fashioned things, thatwould make people laugh at them, but I want them to do everything thatis nice. I mean to be such a teacher as Miss Chapman. She neverscolds, but all the girls mind her, and even those who break the rulesalways wish they had n't when she looks at them. I can hardly wait, Iam in such a hurry to begin my school."
"And I will come and see you, and look at the girls the way that ladylooked at us the other day when she came to visit the school," saidRuby. "Do you remember how beautifully she was dressed, Agnes, and howpretty she was? I wonder if she meant to send her little girl here,and that was why she came. Won't it be fun to go and visit your schoolwhen I don't have any of the lessons to study, nor anything. I will bevery grand, and they will never guess that we used to be little girlsand go to school together. I don't want to be a school-teacher,though."
"What do you want to be?" asked Agnes.
"I think I shall write books," announced Ruby.
"Why, what ever made you think of that?" asked Agnes, in astonishment."You don't even like to write compositions, and how could you everwrite books?"
"Oh, compositions are different from books," returned Ruby, airily. "Iam sure I could write poetry, I like it so much. There is n't anythingI like better than poetry day. I wish it was poetry day every Friday,instead of every other one being compositions. I don't thinkcompositions are at all interesting. We have to write a compositionfor next time upon one of our walks. I think I will write about ourwalk this afternoon. I don't think there is ever very much to writeabout the walks we take. We just go out two and two, and we see thesame things every time, and that is all there is of it."
"Perhaps something may happen to-day to give you something to writeabout," Agnes answered; and though she had only spoken in fun, withoutany idea that her words would come true, something did happen thatafternoon, quite out of the usual course, and I am not sure but thatRuby would have rather that it had not happened, and that she wouldhave had less to write about.
Miss Ketchum announced at the close of the afternoon school that thegirls would go for their walk half an hour earlier than usual, as theywere going to gather persimmons, and would want to have more time thanfor their regular walk.
This gathering of persimmons was a treat looked forward to by thegirls, and they were very much pleased when they heard that they wereto go this afternoon. They each had a little basket in which to bringhome their spoils, and Ruby was quite as excited as the rest of them,wondering whether she would find enough to fill her basket. It was thefirst of November, and there had been several slight frosts, which,Ruby heard the teachers say, ought to ripen the persimmons.
"That is funny," she said to herself. "I should think it would spoilpersimmons to be frozen. I never heard of anything being betterbecause it had been out in the frost. I wonder what persimmons arelike, anyway."
Ruby had never seen any persimmons in her life, as they did not grownear her home, and she had a vague idea that they were like apples,only smaller, perhaps. It did not take the girls very long to getready, and in a little while they were all on their way, so happy thatit was hard work to keep in procession, and not lose step with eachother.
It was a beautiful day. The sky was so blue that not the tiniestlittle white cloud was floating about upon it anywhere, and the air wasnot very cold. There was just enough frostiness to make warm wrapsvery pleasant, and to make the girls find a brisk gait delightful.
The leaves had all dropped from the trees, and their bare, brown limbsstood out sharp and clear against the sky, and Ruby wondered whetherthe persimmons would not have fallen from the tree, too. She did n'task any questions, however, but made up her mind to wait and see forherself. It was very hard for Ruby to admit that she did not knowanything; and although Agnes could have told her all about thepersimmons, she preferred to wait rather than ask her.
It was quite a long walk to the field where the persimmon-tree grewwhich was considered the special property of the school. In the woodsthere were several persimmon-trees, but the boys knew where thosepersimmons grew, and gathered them as soon as they ripened, and veryoften before they were ready to eat; so it was of no use going there tolook for any. This tree stood in a field that belonged to a friend ofMiss Chapman's, and he always kept it just for the girls, and waswilling to send out his man to shake the tree and knock the persimmonsdown for them, if Jack Frost had not done it already. As soon as theyreached the field, and the bars were let down, the girls could breaktheir ranks and rush for the persimmon-tree, which grew in the middleof the field. It did not look very inviting, Ruby thought, as she ranalong with the others. All the leaves had dropped off except a fewwhich dangled as if the next puff of wind would send them down upon theground with the others; and the persimmons, which hung thickly upon thebranches, did not look at all as Ruby had fancied that they would.
There were several lying upon the ground, and Ruby wondered at thegirls for picking them up so eagerly. They were all shrivelled, andthe least touch would break their skins. Indeed some of them infalling had broken, and were lying in bunches, all mashed together.Ruby did not want any such looking persimmons as those, and she lookedcarefully a
bout for nice round ones, that were firm and hard.
"Come over here, Ruby," called Agnes. "Here are ever so many, and suchnice ones. I am getting lots."
Ruby glanced over and saw that those in Agnes' basket were just thekind that she did not want.
"I see some here," she answered, and so she picked up the firm, hardfruit as quickly as she could.
Presently she wondered what they tasted like, and she put one in hermouth.
Did you ever have your mouth puckered up by a green persimmon? If youhave, then you will know just how Ruby's mouth felt; and if you havenot, you must imagine it, for I am sure I cannot tell you about it. Itwas a very green persimmon that Ruby had tasted, and she had taken sucha bite of it before she could stop herself that it seemed to her asthough she would never be able to open her mouth again. She was quitefrightened at the way her mouth felt, and her eyes filled with tears asshe went over to Agnes.
"Oh, it has done something to my mouth, and puckered it all up," shesaid, trying to keep from crying. "I never had such a dreadful feelingin my mouth. Do you suppose it will ever come out again? Oh, it isworse than a toothache, it truly is."
"OH, IT HAS DONE SOMETHING TO MY MOUTH!" (missing frombook)]
"You must have eaten one that was not quite ripe," said Agnes. "Let mesee; oh, that one would pucker your mouth dreadfully, for it is n'tnearly ready to eat yet. See, it is only these soft ones that areripe, and the hard ones will all pucker one's mouth."
"And I thought that these soft ones were n't good," said Ruby, indismay, "and I have gathered only these old puckery ones. I could notthink what you picked up the squashed ones for."
How many times that afternoon Ruby wished she had known more aboutpersimmons, or that she had asked some of the other girls somethingabout them.
Her mouth seemed to grow more puckery every moment, and she wonderedwhether it would ever be any better. It did not feel as if it would,and she could not be persuaded to taste a ripe persimmon, for she hadhad enough of persimmons. She emptied her basket out, and did not wantto touch another, though the girls assured her that the ripe ones weredelicious.
She was very glad when at last the girls had gathered as many as theywanted, and they were ready to go home again.
She went upstairs to her room, and Aunt Emma did what she could torelieve the puckered little mouth; but there was but little that couldbe done except to wait patiently for time to take the puckers out of it.
Ruby was quite sure that it would take a year, and when she woke up thefollowing morning and found that there was nothing to remind her of thepersimmon, she was delighted as well as surprised, but it was a longtime before she wanted to hear any more about persimmons.