Julia Charlotte Maitland

“ Did she suppose there were no mice in London? I could answer for the contrary. The servants were perpetually complaining not only of mice, but of rats; and only the day before I started, I had heard them declare that they could not do without a cat any longer. A most active life was open to her. The only danger was, that she might find too much to do, and that her love of neatness and comfort might be revolted by the dark crannies and gloomy cellars in which she had to seek her work. But as for being useless, that was indeed an idle fear any where for any body who wished to work. ”

“ She admired the moonlight in the Diorama; now I shall make just such a moon in her drawing.' And while he spoke, a great yellow moon, like a guinea, rose in the midst of poor Margaret's brilliant sunset.
'That's the thing,' said Geoffrey; 'and now I shall put the cow jumping over it, and the little dog laughing to see such sport. [65] Some figures always improve the foreground.'
'Oh, you have quite spoilt it!' cried Willy. 'How I wish I could stop you! I cannot imagine how you can like to be so mischievous and disagreeable. ”

“ But as we were very hungry, we left John and our master to express their surprise to each other, while we turned our steps towards the kitchen. Even there, before we got any dinner, we were doomed to encounter a sharp fire of exclamations from the servants; and really such incessant expressions of amazement began to be almost mortifying. Approbation is pleasant enough, but astonishment gives the idea that people had not thought one capable of even one's own little good deeds. However, we bore it all with good humour, and were soon caressed and fed to our complete satisfaction. ”

“ Every body was fond of Willy, and anxious to amuse and comfort him. All that happened out of doors was told to him; all the kindest friends and pleasantest visitors came to see him; the new books were brought to him to read first; the best fruit and flowers always set apart for him; and all the in-door occupations arranged as much as possible with a view to his convenience. He and his little sister Rose were the dearest friends in the world, and certain to take part in whatever interested each other. ”

“ Shaking a paw with Craven was a thing I would not do; and my master, a good sportsman himself, entered into my feelings.
"The dog was thoroughly provoked by your bad shooting, Craven," said he, "and you will never make either him or me believe it was his fault. But try again. There is no necessity for you to be a sportsman; but if you choose to do a thing at all, you had better do it properly; and you may learn as well as any body else, if you will not fancy yourself perfect. We will all go out together to-day." ”

“ So saying, he wandered from stall to stall, asking the price of every thing, as if his purse was as full as his stomach.
'How much is that sailor kite?' 'Two shillings, sir.'—'How much is that bat?' 'Seven and sixpence.'—'How much is that wooden box with secret drawer?' 'Three shillings.'
'How provoking!' he exclaimed. 'I want heaps of things, and this stupid sixpence is no good at all.'
'It is better than nothing,' said Edward. 'It is not every day that one's aunt sends one five shillings, to spend in the bazaar; and in common times sixpence is not to be despised. ”

“ I am content to shun danger and avoid blame; but it is your nature to meet peril and to court praise."
"You are rather inconsistent," interrupted I, somewhat nettled: "one of your objections to coming with me was, that you thought you could be of no use in London; and now you are wishing to be altogether unnoticed."
"I do not see any contradiction," she replied; "one may be useful without being conspicuous. If I can fill my own little post quietly, so as to please you and my master, I am content that no one else should even know of my existence. ”

“ No; such I have only contemplated from a respectful distance as I lay on my stall in the bazaar, while they towered sublime in the midst of the toys, the wonder and admiration of every passing child. I am not even one of those less magnificent, but still dignified, leathern-skinned individuals, requiring clothes to take off and put on, and a cradle to sleep in, with sheets, blankets, and every thing complete. Neither can I found my claim to notice upon any thing odd or unusual in my appearance: I am not a negro doll, with wide mouth and woolly hair ”

“ But my master and John were quiet enough, and they examined the gate, and the footsteps outside, and decided that there certainly had been an attempt to break into the house, but that the robbers had been frightened away by me.
"It has been a narrow escape for them, sir," said John; "for if they had succeeded in getting in, the dog would have pinned them."
"Captain has done his duty well," said my master, "and no one can call him useless any more."
"It is a good thing no one was hurt," added Lily; "but I am glad they were frightened. Perhaps the fright will cure them." ”

“ Margaret was one of those generous people who never resent an injury done to themselves. If Geoffrey had spoilt any body else's drawing, she would have been the first to punish him; but now she was much more vexed at Willy's distress than at the destruction of her own work, and instead of scolding Geoffrey, she gave herself up to consoling Willy. ”

“ Lily took great pains with me; but after all, hers were but minor accomplishments, and I was not allowed to devote my whole attention to mere tricks or amusements. I was not born to be a lap-dog, and it was necessary that I should be educated for the more important business of life. Under my master's careful training, my natural talents were developed, and my defects subdued, till I was pronounced by the best judges to be the cleverest setter in the country. My master himself was a capital sportsman, and I was as proud of him as he was of me. ”

“ So she sewed me up, and I looked very smart; and if there happened to be any unseemly cobbling, she hid it with beads or spangles. Once I remember a very long stitch baffled all her contrivances, and she said I must pretend it was a new-fashioned sort of embroidery.
But Susan scorned all make-shifts. Nothing could have been more unfounded than my fears of becoming ragged or dirty. My attire was plain and suited to my station, but most scrupulously finished. She saw no reason why my clothes should not be made to take off and on, as well as if I had been a doll three feet high. ”

“ I did myself credit, and my master did me justice, and I was happy in my ignorance of coming events. Craven shot and missed, and shot and missed again; but my master's laugh stopped him whenever he was beginning to lay the blame on dog or gun.
"Bad workmen always find fault with their tools, Craven," said my master. "Take better aim."
John tried to teach him, but he would listen to no advice.
It is seldom that a person's fault or folly injures himself alone, and, alas for me! I was the victim of Craven's conceit and obstinacy. ”

“ Susan, my little mistress, was a child of about the same age as Rose when she first bought me; but Susan had no money to spend in toys, and very little time to play with them, though she enjoyed them as much as Rose herself. She gave me a [97] hearty welcome; and though she could offer me no furnished house, with its elegancies and comforts, she assigned me the best place in her power—the corner of a shelf on which she kept her books, slate, needlework, and inkstand. And there I lived, sitting on my trunk, and observing human life from a new point of view. ”

“ There are more in the world than I who would know how to do nothing but eat it. If I had been a wild dog, used to the habits of savage life, I might have hunted down some smaller animal as wild as myself, torn it to pieces, and devoured it raw; but I was a civilised creature, so altered by education, that in my hunting days I always brought the game to my master instead of eating it myself; and here, on the London [Pg 71] high road, there was not even game to be caught. ”

“ For I had already lived long enough to be aware that the existence of a doll, like that of every thing else, has its limits. Either by sudden accidents, such as loss of limbs, or by the daily wear and tear of life, decay gradually makes its progress in us, and we fade away as surely as the most delicate of the fragile race of mortals. ”

“ Though a polite dog both by birth and breeding, I was too honest and independent to show the same respect and cordiality towards those whom I liked and those whom I despised; and though very grateful for the smallest favours from [Pg 5] persons I esteemed, no flattery, caresses, or benefactions could induce me to strike up an intimacy with one who did not please me. If I had been able to speak, I should have expressed my opinions without ceremony; and it often surprised me that my master, who could say what he pleased, did not quarrel with people, and tell them all their faults openly. ”

“ He seemed to enjoy going out in his wheel-chair more than any thing; but one day he observed that the summer was fast coming to an end, and that then he must shut himself up in his room, for that he minded the cold more than he used.
'I wish we lived in a warmer country,' said Rose; 'perhaps then you might get better.'
'I do not know about living,' replied Willy. 'England is the best country to live in; but I certainly should like to be out of the way of the cold for this next winter.'
'Why do not you tell Papa so?' asked Rose. ”

“ To point at a bird immovably till my master's never-failing shot gave the signal for my running to fetch the foolish thing and lay it at his feet, was to my mind the greatest enjoyment and the first object in life. ”

“ I have often wondered at the extreme dislike which boys have to dolls. I was the most inoffensive creature possible, giving myself no airs, and interfering with nobody; yet even the gentle Willy was indifferent to me. Edward, though he protected Rose in [68] her patronage of me, despised me thoroughly himself; and Geoffrey never lost an opportunity of expressing his mortal hatred to me. I shrunk from Edward's contemptuous notice, but I was not at all afraid of him, well knowing that neither he nor Willy would hurt a hair of my head ”

“ Nature herself did well by me. I am a fine setter, of a size that a Newfoundland dog could not despise, and a beauty that a Blenheim spaniel might envy. With a white and brown curly coat, drooping ears, bushy tail, a delicate pink nose, and good-natured [Pg 4] brown eyes, active, strong, honest, gentle, and obedient, I have always felt a conscious pride and pleasure in being a thoroughly well-bred dog. ”

“ Before I had been long in the house, she said one evening that she had an hour to spare, and that she would make me some clothes.
'Well and good,' answered her mother; 'only be sure to put your best work in them. If you mind your work, the doll will be of great use to you, and you can play without wasting your time.'
This was good hearing for Susan and me, and she spent most of her leisure in working for me. While she was thus employed, I came down from my shelf, and was treated with as much consideration as when Rose and her companions waited at my table. ”

“ We had now, in our way, a long conversation, during which we became pretty well acquainted with each other's dispositions; and in due time we descended the stairs together in perfect amity; I gravely walked step by step, and looking up benignly at the gambols of little Pussy, who, now in high spirits, had no idea of coming down in a regular way, but must scramble up the banisters, hang by her claws from the hand-rail, recover herself instantaneously when within an inch of falling headlong into the hall, and play a hundred other wild tricks. ”

“ My young mistress devoted every spare moment to the enjoyment of my company, and set no limits to her caresses and compliments; while I in return regarded her with all the gratitude and affection which a doll can feel. My faculties as well as my feelings were called into fresh exercise; for though I had no longer the wide range of observation afforded by the daily crowd of strangers in the bazaar, I had the new advantage of making intimate acquaintance with a small circle of friends. ”

“ Welcome guests on kitchen hearthstone or on drawing-room rug, treated as pets by the servants, as friends by our master, and agreeable company by his acquaintances, no animals have ever passed a happier life. Lily has often been to see us; and next to the pleasure of being once more caressed by her own hand, was that of hearing our story told to her husband by her own lips, and our friendship mentioned with approbation to her little son.
It may seem absurd to suppose that a human being can profit by the history of a dog ”

“ Our fellow-creatures are so kind to us, that we are seldom called upon to fulfil any but small duties towards them, or what you would consider such; for I cannot allow any duty to be small, especially that of doing as we would be done by. If we do not fulfil that in trifles, we shall probably never fulfil it at all. This is a serious thought, Geoffrey.'
Geoffrey looked up; and as he seemed inclined to listen, Margaret continued talking to him kindly but gravely, bringing many things before his mind as duties [81] which he had hitherto considered to be matters of indifference. ”

“ But no; people would persevere in being kind to me. I might be as ill-tempered as I pleased; nobody punished, or even scolded me; and whenever I chose to be in good humour, my friends were always ready to meet me half-way. Indeed, I never was quite sure whether they noticed my ill-temper or not. But I did not try to come round, though certainly sulking did not conduce to my comfort. I once heard my master remark, in reference to some disagreeable human being, that ill-tempered people made themselves more unhappy than they made others; so I suppose sulking does not always agree even with men ”

“ I have often heard even grown-up people remark, 'How ingeniously that doll's wig is put on, and how nicely it is arranged!' while at the same time my rising vanity was crushed by the insinuation that I had an absurd smirk or a ridiculous stare. ”

“ A word or look from Lily managed me completely; and her gentle warning of "Oh, Captain," has often recalled me to good manners when I was on the point of breaking out into fury against some obnoxious person. Willing subject as I was, I yet looked upon myself in some manner as her guardian and protector, and it would have fared ill with man or beast who had attempted to molest her.
As I mentioned before, I was not allowed to come much into the drawing-room; but Lily found many opportunities of noticing me. ”

“ My principal intention, or rather aim, in writing this little Book, was to amuse Children by a story founded on one of their favorite diversions, and to inculcate a few such minor morals as my little plot might be strong enough to carry; chiefly the domestic happiness produced by kind tempers and consideration for others. And further, I wished to say a word in favor of that good old-fashioned plaything, the Doll, which one now sometimes hears decried by sensible people who have no children of their own. ”