Emma Leslie

“ Don't you wish mother had money enough to buy some new frocks?"
"Why, of course I do, little stupid!" said Fanny, crossly, as though she thought Selina had spoken like this on purpose to vex and annoy her; and then that her mother must have told the children all about the watch.
"I dare say mother will manage somehow," said Minnie, after a pause.
But Selina shook her head. "Mother can't make new frocks out of nothing," she said. ”

“ Selina pouted. "It was all teacher's fault," she grumbled. "She made me go back into the class and sit down because I pushed past Bella Hinton, and the little stupid cried about it."
"Well, it was unkind to push a poor little lame thing like Bella," said Minnie, reproachfully.
"Oh, well, people have to look after themselves if they don't want to be left behind," said Selina.
"My dear, I hope you are not going to make that your rule of life," said her mother. "For I am afraid, if you do, yours will not be a very happy one, nor will your friends have much happiness through you." ”

“ I hope it won't be too late for her to come out on Monday," said Eliza. "You see, I am to begin the regular nursery work next week, and I shall not have a holiday for a month, so that it will be a pity if she comes another day, when I can't see her."
"Yes, it would; and I think I must send another letter to her mistress, asking her to spare Eliza for Monday afternoon, if she cannot come out for the day."
"Oh yes, mother, do!" said Eliza, clapping her hands, and making almost as much noise as Selina herself. ”

“ Lloyd looked at her in amazement.
"Another place!" she repeated. "Have you told your mother and father what you intend to do?"
"No, ma'am, not yet; but I dare say I shall before I leave."
"Do you think your mother will be pleased to hear that you have done this without asking her advice? When you were coming here, she wisely came to see me first and judge what sort of a home you were likely to have with me. I suppose you have been tempted by the offer of higher wages?" concluded Mrs. Lloyd.
"Yes, partly," answered Fanny. "Everybody wants as much money as they can get," added the girl. ”

“ Almost at the same moment Miriam touched her on the shoulder.
"Just the girl I wanted to see!" she exclaimed. "I want you to come out a bit earlier to-morrow. Meet me at a quarter to six instead of six o'clock."
"I only wish I could," answered Fanny; "but the missus is going to have company to tea, and I may have a job to get away at six."
"What a bother, to be sure!" exclaimed Miriam. "Some of our folks are going out to tea, and so I can get away earlier. I do think it is a shame that poor servants can be muddled about as we are, we ought to be able to claim our own time and stick to it. ”

“ Then she stooped down and took the little boy in her arms.
"Master Eustace, God can take care of us in this dark place," she whispered. "He knows where we are and all about us."
The little fellow raised his head and tried to stop his tears.
"I'm so tired," he said, with a gasp. "If I wasn't so tired and my legs so stiff, I'd climb up this bank and help you to get out, but I can't, Eliza."
"No, dear, we must just stop here and let God take care of us. The water won't stop in the cave for all the time. When the tide goes down, the water will all run out again," she said. ”

“ Eliza nestled up to her mother's side, looking up at her with affectionate pride.
"Yes, I know what a dear mother she is," she said.
"You and Fanny ought to be proud of her," said Jessie.
"Oh, we are! we are!" said Eliza, warmly; but still she was very glad that somebody else should learn to appreciate her mother; and she talked to Jessie about her visit to the seaside, and explained how it was she and Master Eustace were shut up in the cave. ”

“ I know just where my head used to reach when she was at home," said Eliza, with flashing eyes.
"Why, I declare you are growing like Fanny, my girl," said her father.
"I hope not," said Jack, quickly; "one Fanny is enough in the family. Have you seen anything of her this week, mother?" he asked.
Mrs. Brown shook her head. "I have been waiting for Eliza to come home, that I might have something to write about," she said.
"You have written now, haven't you, mother?" said Brown.
"Yes; but I am afraid she won't get the letter until Monday morning. Selina was rather late in posting it." ”

“ My girl, my Fanny, is not dead. She is not, indeed, sir. It is all a mistake."
The Vicar looked at her in astonishment, and then he said—
"How did you hear this, Mrs. Brown?"
"From the hospital, sir. I had the letter this morning. There was one from Fanny too, and I have sent them both to my husband."
The Vicar hardly knew what to think. Like Mrs. Tate, he feared it must be the effect of her illness from which the poor woman was suffering. He talked to her for several minutes, and tried to persuade her not to tell Eliza until she had some further confirmation of the news. ”

“ Mrs. Brown looked at Jack in silence for a moment, while she took the key of the door from her pocket; then she said, in a changed tone—
"Jack, we must keep this to ourselves, if Fanny isn't indoors. I am still to keep your father very quiet, the doctor says, and it will never do to upset him about Fanny just now. And he will be cross if he hears that she has had leave to come home, and not come."
"But where could she go?" asked Jack. "She doesn't know anybody out there, does she?"
"She may have made friends!" said his mother. ”

“ It was my own ten shillings that I paid for the watch."
"Watch, indeed!" exclaimed her mother, as though the very word was an offence to her. "What do you know about buying a watch?—a bit of a girl in her first place. You need all the money you can earn to keep you in decent clothes, to say nothing of what you owe me for all the things I have had to buy to make you tidy, and give you a fair start in service." ”

“ Just as her father reached home, Eliza came from the Vicarage to spend an hour or two with him.
"This is your day, daddy, and Monday is to be Fanny's day," said the girl. "I am going to have another holiday on Monday, so that I may see everybody, and Fanny is to come on Monday."
"My bonnie lassie! Why, you look almost as well as Fanny herself," exclaimed Brown, holding his girl at arm's length to admire her.
"I shall know whether I have really grown, as people say I have, when Fanny comes, and I can stand at the side of her. ”

“ Mrs. Lloyd looked somewhat surprised. "The lady is coming to see me about your character, I suppose?" she said.
"I don't know, ma'am. She didn't say anything about that," answered Fanny.
"You think she is going to take you without a character?" asked Mrs. Lloyd.
"I don't know. I told her I had been living here, and gave her your address."
"Then perhaps she will call and see me," said Mrs. Lloyd. "I hope she will; it is always more satisfactory. How many are there in family at this place?" asked her friend; for she was a true friend to Fanny if she could only have believed it. ”

“ It is not fair to treat your father like this," added Mrs. Brown, in a reproachful tone.
"There, mother, hold your tongue. I thought what it would be when you said you would walk with me. You always find something to grumble about. I had to go somewhere else before I could go to meet father. I am sure I have got as much to grumble at as he has, for I was waiting and looking about at that corner all church-time. I do think if father really wanted to see me, he might have waited a bit longer."
Mrs. Brown was angry at the manner in which Fanny spoke. ”

“ But the man still shook his head. "We cannot do business that way," he said.
"Give me back the ten shillings I paid the woman, and keep the watch," she said, pushing it towards him.
But he was not to be moved. "We never return money under any circumstances," he said.
"Very well, you'll never have a farthing more of mine. You may send the police as much as you like, and I'll tell the magistrate how you cheat poor servant girls;" and snatching up her watch, Miriam walked out of the shop, not tearful, like Fanny was, but angry and defiant. ”

“ Mrs. Brown saw Minnie from the bedroom window before she reached the door, and she came down to see what had happened, for she had caught sight of the large official envelope, and she wondered what fresh trouble it could bring to her.
"What is it, Minnie?" she asked, as the little girl reached the doorstep.
"Selina had this letter, mother. She was afraid to give it to you for fear it should make you ill; but I thought you had better have it;" and Minnie handed the letter to her mother. ”

“ Brown spoke very seriously, and Minnie looked up at her mother in wondering surprise. "It was only a little thing, mother," she said, by way of excuse for Selina.
"Yes, dear, it is, I know, only a little thing. Straws, too, are little things; but by the way they float on the top of a stream they show which way the tide is running, or the stream flowing; and so a little girl, who will push a lame schoolfellow aside to be able to run past her, will be likely to grow up a selfish girl, considering only her own convenience and pleasure rather than the wishes and wants of other people. ”

“ The friends were too much occupied with their own affairs to notice him, but went on eagerly with their talk.
"You are to have ten pounds a year!" repeated Miriam. "Well, you are in luck! And only sixteen, too!"
Fanny laughed. "They think I am eighteen," she said. "The lady asked if I was eighteen, and I said, 'Not quite.' And she said, 'Well, you look quite eighteen, and so I think you will suit me.'"
"I don't think much of Mortimer Street," remarked Miriam. "I suppose there are a swarm of children." ”

“ Nobody keeps servants to look at, of course; but when an untrained girl, like you were, comes into a house like this, a mistress has to be at a good deal of trouble before she is of very much use. I know what it is when I have to begin teaching what I do at home. Why, it is easier to wash up tea-things than to teach a girl to do it properly, and it is the same with other things."
"Oh, well, I believe Mrs. Lloyd likes to teach girls, and to worry them too," retorted Fanny. "Of course, Eliza never gave anybody any trouble," she added, with something like a sneer. ”

“ To enter the dark hole required some courage, but she took care not to let Eustace see that she had any fear, although she could hardly repress a shudder.
"It's like real Robinson Crusoe, isn't it?" said the little boy, trying hard to keep up his courage. "You are a girl, and girls don't like these things like men do, I suppose."
"No, they don't," said Eliza; "but girls' frocks are handy sometimes, and if you take hold of mine, and keep close to me, we can help each other to get down the steps better." ”

“ She made no remark about this when Jack was speaking, but she could not help thinking of it, and could not contradict the children when, one after the other, they each in their own way said that Fanny always took care of herself first.
"Wait a bit, wait a bit, Jack," said his father, at last. "I like fair play, and Fan isn't here to defend herself, and she hasn't been tried yet, and so we can't say what she may do." Brown was very fond of his elder daughter, and could not bear to hear her blamed. "What do you say, mother?" he suddenly asked, turning to his wife. ”