Eliza Orne White

“ Not that she disliked her grandmother. Peggy liked people of all ages. She did not like old ladies so well as people of her mother’s age, because the younger ones were so much more active; and she liked children better still, for the same reason; and boys even better than girls, because they never expected you to play dolls with them. Peggy did not care for dolls as Alice did. When the world was so full of live things that scampered and frisked, or flew or crawled, why tie one’s self down to make-believe people that could neither speak nor move? Pussy was much more interesting than any doll. ”

“ But Lady Jane scratched Alice’s hands in her desire to escape, and gave a flying leap back to the hammock.
Peggy almost decided to take her mother’s advice and let Diana keep the cat. She seemed to love her so very much, and to have so much less to make her happy than they had. It must be hard to lie still instead of being able to frisk about wherever one pleased. And yet, Diana looked happy. ”

“ Owen. “You are jealous because Alice wants Diana all to herself. It is very natural, but it is not a nice feeling.”
“I am not jealous of Diana,” said Peggy; “but I just can’t stand having Alice like to play with dolls better than to play with me. I could tell them fairy-stories, and see things on the wall.”
“But that is no treat for Alice. You can do that any night. What she wants is somebody who likes to play dolls just as much as she does. It is Alice’s birthday we are celebrating, not yours. ”

“ In the morning Peggy ran downstairs eagerly before she was dressed.
“Has she come, mother?” she asked.
“Has who come?” said her mother, whose mind was on starting the kitchen fire.
“Lady Jane.”
“No, she hasn’t come.”
“And it is so wet,” said Peggy, as she looked at the falling rain; “she’ll get drenched without any rubbers or raincoat.”
“You can be sure she is under shelter somewhere. A cat can always look out for herself.”
“But, mother, I’m worried about her.”
“I think,” said Mrs. Owen, as she put the oatmeal into the double-boiler, “that she has gone back to her old home.” ”

“ Peggy hastened to add, “but not for dolls. If a doll is delicate, she might get broken.”
“Our dolls are people,” Alice said, “aren’t they, Diana?”
“Certainly,” said Diana. “They are just as much people as the Rhode Island Reds are.”
“Indeed, they are not,” said Peggy. “My darling Rhode Island Reds are alive.”
“Your Rhode Island Reds could be killed and eaten,” said Alice. “Nobody would eat a doll any more than they would a person. And they look like people, and the Rhode Island Reds don’t.”
It was hard for Peggy to have Alice and Diana sleep together without wanting her. ”

“ So they went into Mrs. Butler’s cool parlor. This time it was crisp, thin gingerbread. One could eat several pieces and it seemed nothing at all. And all the time, the canary-bird in the sunshine was singing his glad song, “Spring is coming, spring is really coming,” he seemed to say, “and there will be daffodils out, and tulips and Mayflowers. And the days will grow longer and longer, and more and more sunshiny.” A clock on the mantelpiece struck the half-hour. That was not a joyous sound.
“I guess I ought to be going,” said Peggy. ”

“ I think a hundred rows of string-beans will be enough to start with, Mr. Farrell. I am afraid that is all my children can take care of. They are to help me with the garden. We haven’t much money; and we have to earn some or Peggy may have to go to live with her grandmother, and I just couldn’t stand that. I could not be separated from my child; and Peggy and Alice must always be together. Perhaps you can’t understand this, Mr. Farrell, never having been a mother yourself. It is no laughing matter,” she said, looking at old Michael reprovingly. ”

“ Now, Peggy, the better one knows people, the more one finds to like in them, if they are good people; and it is just a question of what we are looking out for most in this world, whether it is to be happy ourselves, or to try to make other people happy. If we are trying to be happy ourselves, all kinds of things turn up that we did not expect, to spoil our fun. ”

“ Alice was learning to hem and she took as careful stitches as a grown-up person. Peggy was divided between wanting to do what the others were doing and hating to be tied down. She made frequent trips to the kitchen for a drink of water and to see how Lady Jane was getting on.
“You can overcast these sleeves, Peggy,” her mother said later in the afternoon. “That is much easier than hemming.”
“It’s better than hemming,” Peggy said, “because you can take such long spidery stitches. But I just hate sewing. I’m never going to sew when I grow up.” ”

“ Alice said. “Don’t you see how different she is? She’s her daughter. She hasn’t so many stripes on her tail, and she’s a lighter gray. And she’s got a different character.”
“Has she?” said their grandmother, as pussy began to sharpen her claws on the sofa. “It seems to me her nature is very much the same. Do you let her come into the parlor?”
“Sometimes,” said Mrs. Owen. “If the children see that she doesn’t go up into the bedrooms and make small footmarks on the bed quilts—that is all I ask.”
“You don’t like cats very well, do you, grandmother?” said Peggy. ”

“ Carter was leaving the room, she said, “I’ll come back in a few minutes, for I want to take them home before Lady Jane comes back from her afternoon walk. She’d be terribly worried if she found they were gone. So you’ll have to choose your kitten quickly.”
“Can we choose whatever one we want?” Peggy asked.
“Almost any one,” said Diana. “We’ve each chosen for ourselves, but I’ll let you choose mine if you want her; and I don’t believe Tom would mind if you chose his. I’m not sure about Christopher—he’s so decided.” ”

“ It was Miss Pauline Thornton who put the idea of a surprise party into Peggy’s head. She came over one rainy evening to tell Mrs. Owen about a surprise party the Sewing Circle was to give to the minister’s wife on her fiftieth birthday. Miss Pauline Thornton lived with her father in the large gray stone house behind the stone wall on which Peggy was fond of walking. She was a great friend of Mrs. Owens, who could never understand why the children did not like her, for she was tall and good-looking and always wore beautiful clothes. Older people found her very agreeable and efficient. ”

“ It is such a nice picture, Alice,” she cried, “let’s have a surprise party of just hens for mother!”
“That would be great!” said Alice.
“We’d ask Mrs. Horton and Clara and Miss Rand.”
“They wouldn’t come all the way from New York.”
“They might come. Sometimes they do come for a week-end, and her birthday comes on a Saturday. And we’ll ask all the Carters, of course. Each family need only give one hen.”
“And Miss Pauline Thornton,” said Alice. “They have lots of hens.”
“No,” said Peggy firmly; “I’m not going to ask her. She’d spoil the party.” ”

“ Owen were busy in the kitchen, making the large biscuits and cookies, and the small ones, even Alice had begun to get tired of playing with dolls.
“Can’t we come out in the kitchen and help you?” she asked.
“No, I don’t need your help.”
“Can’t Peggy come in and play games with us?”
“No, Peggy is helping me.”
“I am very busy,” said Peggy. “You can play games by yourselves.”
Then Alice realized how flat every game seemed without Peggy. It was all right so long as they were playing dolls, but one could not play dolls all day. The geography game would be a pleasant change. ”

“ Diana had on a brown cap made of beaver fur that almost matched her golden-brown hair. And over this, to make sure she did not take cold, was a thick, brown veil. Wrapped around her shoulders and pinned with a large gilt pin, in the shape of a feather, was a warm, green-and-blue plaid shawl. Under this was her own brown coat, and under that, a blue sweater. Peggy undid her wraps and pulled off her blue mittens.
They had a fire in the parlor because Diana was coming, and they gave Diana the small company chair that their grandmother used to sit in when she was a little girl. ”

“ She hoped it would not be too hard for Mrs. Owen to have a Thanksgiving dinner in her own old house; if she did not feel like it, she would understand.119
Dear Mrs. Carter Mrs. Owen replied—
It would be much harder to stay at home than to go to you. The greatest cause I have for Thanksgiving this year is the fact that you are my friend, and that Diana is the friend of my children. Since we had to leave the house, I am glad it is you who are living in it.
Faithfully yours
Mary Owen
So the children had a happy Thanksgiving, even without the Thanksgiving egg. ”

“ But if you were my pussy-cat, instead of my child, and you preferred to live with a little girl who was sick half the time, and had so few pleasures, and if you had four furry children, and the Carters wanted to keep them, I should be glad to have everybody happy.”
“All but me, mother,” said Alice, “and Peggy—she will miss Lady Jane.”
“I am sure they will let you have one of the kittens,” said Mrs. Owen. “In about two months you can have one of them.”
“Not for two months?” said Peggy. “Oh, mother, think of a catless house for two months. It will be so desolate.” ”

“ The grocery store was a place full of interest—there were such delightful things to be seen. There was a box full of oranges and another full of grapefruit, and a lady was buying some raisins. Peggy was sure her mother would like some raisins if she had only happened to remember about them, and it would be such a good chance to get some oranges and grapefruit. But she remembered that her mother had not liked it at all when she had brought back some oranges once that she had not been told to order, so she turned regretfully from the oranges and grapefruit to the lemons that were in another box. ”

“ See what a bushy tail he has.”
“Peggy, do attend to your work.”
“Mother, you can’t expect me to work all the time on such a sunshiny day. It is just as important to watch squirrels and birds.”
“Well, perhaps it is for you, but not for me. I can’t put up squirrels for my neighbors by the cold-pack process.”
When it came to the preserving of the strawberries, Peggy and Alice were so interested that they went out into the kitchen so as to watch the whole process.
“Children, you mustn’t eat any more of the strawberries,” said their mother. “Remember, I am putting them up for other people.” ”

“ Peggy said. “If I ever grow up I shall have friends who like to do interesting things, and read fairy-stories, and talk on nice subjects, the way Miss Betsy Porter does. Oh, Alice,” she said, shutting up her eyes and then opening them wide, “I am beginning to see things on the wall. Look and see what is coming.”
Alice stared at the wall, in the darkness, but as usual, she could see nothing. “What do you see?” she asked.107
“Hens!” Peggy exclaimed dramatically; “white ones, Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rocks, yellow ones—all kinds, a regular procession; and I see ladies, too, in bright dresses. ”

“ Horton would like to give a pair—she has so many. I’ll suggest they send Rhode Island Reds—it is better to have all of a kind.”
“I think it would be more fun to have them different,” said Peggy.
“They get along better if they are all of a kind,” said Miss Betsy. “I have too many kinds, but I can give you another Rhode Island Red. It is like the Jews and the Italians—they are happier in a quarter by themselves.” ”

“ Leave her beloved Rhode Island Reds, Peggy was thinking, just as Henrietta had hatched out twelve downy, fluffy balls? Why, they would be big chickens when they came back. Leave Lady Janet? was Alice’s thought. No sea-bathing and boating could make up for the loss of her friendly little face.145
“Could I take Lady Janet with me, grandmother?” Alice asked.
“I hardly think so. A cat does not like to be moved.”
“It is very kind of you to think of it,” said Mrs. Owen, “but I am afraid I shall have to stay right here by my garden and my hens.”
“Oh, have you hens?” Mrs. Owen asked. ”

“ She turned and looked at Christopher. “If you are so mean as not to let my sister have the kitten she wants when Lady Jane is her cat, I shall never speak to you as long as I live. I think you are a selfish pig. You can keep all four kittens. There are plenty of kittens in town. Good-bye, Diana.”75
“Oh, don’t go,” said Diana, looking very much worried. “Christopher was only teasing her.”
This was true, but Peggy was not sure of it. She thought Diana wanted to make peace.
“Peggy doesn’t really mean it,” Alice said. “Sometimes she gets angry, but she doesn’t stay angry. ”

“ Butler has lost Sol; and I know I can find him. So please give us our dinner quick.”
“Who is Sol?” Mrs. Owen asked.
“The canary—I know I can find him. I can tell him by his song, and then I can climb up and put his cage in a tree and get him back into it.”
“He won’t come back once he’s free: Gilbert says he won’t,” said Alice.58
“Don’t you pay any attention to what Gilbert says,” said Peggy.
Mrs. Owen was very much interested. “Peggy is right,” she said. “I once knew of a canary-bird that escaped and went back into his old cage. If you can only find him it is not impossible.” ”