Maggie Brown

“ Say to Dr. George these words from old Euphemia: 'The Lord do unto you and yours as ye do unto us in this sore need!' He will heed that message, if he's got a heart, not a stone, in him!"
With a shuddering groan, Oliver ran out into the pelting rain, bare-headed, on to the other end of Allonby Edge, where stood the White House with the red lamp, the home of the other Doctor Carew, the brother who had not spoken to Oliver's Father for three years. ”

“ Early in the morning she awoke to find that Dan was hot and restless. Dan, although he had enjoyed himself vastly the day before, had not been treated judiciously. The many sweet-meats that the children had insisted on giving him had upset his baby digestion. He awoke peevish, heavy-eyed, and highly feverish. Netty, who idolised him, went straight to her Mother to ask her opinion with regard to him.
"He's not well," said Netty; "he's not well a bit. I had best go at once and see the doctor, or take him round to the sixpenny dispensary." ”

“ She was a frail, small mortal, with long, smooth, yellow hair and anxious blue eyes, just the apple of everybody's eye in the Tile House.
"Father and Uncle George have never spoken to one another for three whole years. Everybody in Allonby Edge knows that, and so do you, Clary! Is it likely that the other Carews would be allowed to come to your birthday party—is it now, I ask?" Oliver, the eldest, put his hands in his pockets, and stood with his back to the empty fireplace, secretly flattering himself that even Father could not strike a more manly attitude. ”

“ But Geoffrey was quite decided. "Snap must have eaten the old thing up. Come along."
The children found their Mother and Uncle Percy sitting by the fire talking busily. What they were saying neither Mollie nor Geoffrey heard; they were too busy to listen, for on the table lay an open cardboard box, and in the box lay a lovely doll—blue eyes, pink cheeks, golden hair, dressed in the prettiest of dresses and cleanest of pinafores.
"Oh!" said Mollie.
"Oh!" said Geoffrey.
"There you are, young people," said Uncle Percy. "Yes, Mollie, that is the doll I promised you. Do you think you will like it?" ”

“ Our Clary is killed, and Father's away on his rounds among the hill-farms!"
Oliver's teeth chattered in his head, and his little knees knocked together as he stood with the rain-drops falling from his bare head on to his little shoulders.
"Did your Mother send you here for me?" Doctor George asked harshly.
"No; oh, no! We dared not tell Mother! Clary fell from the top of the Tile House to the hall floor, and she's all white and still. And Euphemia lifted her arm, and it fell double!"
Dr. George suddenly sat up straight. ”

“ Poor little Netty smiled rather faintly.
"You're looking dead-beat yourself," said the woman. "I can't make out what's come to all of you. There's Ben hadn't any appetite for his good plain breakfast. Now, you go and look after baby; I'm glad it's Saturday: you needn't be at school."
The day was hot, even hotter than the previous one. Mrs. Floss started off on her charing expedition, and Netty sat on the doorstep with the sick baby. Dan grew worse each moment. ”

“ She fell all the way down the banisters!" several of the boys spoke together.
"We were playing at the funicular, and she lost her balance!" The last words were sobbed out by Mark.
"Playing at the—what?" gasped Euphemia, in horror. "Boy!"—she clutched Oliver's shoulder—"flee to the White House and fetch Doctor George. Say it's life or death. The master's away for a long round on the hills at the farms. Tell them that. Go!"
"But, Euphemia—Uncle George would refuse to come inside our door!" stammered Oliver. ”

“ The train stopped, Mrs. Holmes got out, and presently returned with the baby. [Pg 15]
"By the way," she said, as she placed the child in Netty's arms, "is this your little brother?"
"No, ma'am, my little cousin," answered Netty, whose distress had rendered her wonderfully sharp and indifferent to the many lies she was telling. "He's my little cousin, ma'am, but I love him as if he were my own brother."
"So I can see, and he seems a dear little fellow, but what pale cheeks! Do you give the poor baby enough to eat?" ”

“ The baby's [Pg 11] best frock was made of Turkey-red cotton, very faded, and he had a small worn-out fifth-hand sun-bonnet tied under his chin, and his little legs were bare, but that did not matter—it was, indeed, rather an advantage this hot weather.
Ben frowned very much when he saw the baby.
"Now, what do you mean by this?" he cried; "how can you be Susy Minchin dragging that big baby about with you? You give it to Mrs. Court."
"No, no," pleaded poor Netty; "Mother said I wasn't to leave baby with Mrs. Court; we must bring Dan with us. There, Ben, you won't say no." ”

“ We will get rid of that doll; we will hide it." And then he whispered mysteriously: "We will bury it this very minute. Come along." And Mollie went, just pushing the doll into the box with all the papers, and hiding it under her pinafore.
They reached the garden without being seen, and Geoffrey began to dig the hole.
"It must be deep as deep as deep," said Mollie.
"Deeper than that," said Geoffrey.
But it is not easy to dig with a stick, and the hole was anything but deep when Nurse's voice was heard calling: "Miss Mollie! Master Geoffrey!"
"What shall we do?" said Geoffrey. ”

“ What do you want to get rid of the baby for? And what are you trying to hide from me, Netty?" [Pg 10]
"It's nothing really, Mother; it's just that Ben and I are going to walk to Battersea Park, and we've a penny apiece to buy buns. You won't stop us going, Mother?"
"Now aren't you an unnatural girl!" cried Mrs. Floss. "Why shouldn't you take the poor baby with you? Wouldn't he like a sight of the park and the green trees as well as you? If you take the baby with you, I'll give you each another penny, and an extra one for the baby, and you can all have a good time ”

“ Holmes, and she stooped and kissed Netty. "I will come round this evening to your house in order to see your Mother," she said. "I am going to be your friend in the future."
Mrs. Holmes was as good as her word. The baby quickly [Pg 24] got well again, Netty and Ben were forgiven, and were made bonâ-fide scholars at the Sunday-school. When the school feast came round the following year they were able to go to the feast, and as a matter of course had tickets; but a greater treat was in store, for there was a special ticket sent by the Ladies' Committee to no less a person than Dan himself. ”

“ Next to baby, Netty loved him best in the world. He beckoned to her now, looking very knowing.
"I say, come here—here's a lark," he said; "come round the corner and I'll show you something."
Netty jumped up and, staggering under the weight of the [Pg 7] heavy baby, approached the spot where Ben was waiting for her.
"Such a lark!" he continued; "you never heard tell anything like it. I say, Netty, what do you say to the seaside for a whole day, you and me together? We can go, yes, we can. To-morrow's the day; I have the tickets. What do you say?"
"Say?" cried Netty; "why, of course I say go ”

“ It's the way we run trains. We gen'lly do things different from the foreigners. Now then, I'll tie your little girl on your back with her sash-ends, and, if you hold on tight, you will both get to the bottom all right!"
And she might have got to her destination in safety had the passenger been a boy accustomed to banister sliding instead of a weak, fragile little girl. ”

“ What can be the matter? Perhaps Uncle John's killed, and they're going to make it up!" whispered the girls.
"You are sillies!" scornfully said Tony. "How can people make it up if they're dead?"
Ah, how, Tony? The time for that has gone by, indeed, boy! [Pg 37]
Of the two figures that fled through the rain, the doctor reached the Tile House first. In a trice he pushed aside Euphemia and he was kneeling beside the motionless little figure ”