Ethel Calvert Phillips

“ So Mother and Sally and Alice, carrying Jack Tar, walked home along the rocky shore. The sea breeze blew their hair about their ears. The waves thundered up among the rocks and broke into creamy foam. The boats in the harbor danced up and down and bobbed about on the tossing gray water.
Then, suddenly, the sun shone out, warm and golden, and turned the whole world into blue and white. Blue sky, blue waves, white boats, and great white clouds! ”

“ This satisfied Alice, but Andy had a question to ask.
‘Aren’t there any little boy mermaids like me?’ asked Andy.
‘There are men,’ said Sally, ‘mermen, you call them, but nobody seems to think much about them. Let’s sail your boat, Andy. Have you a string?’
Indeed, Andy had a string, a long one, tied to the bow of ‘The Mermaid,’ and presently the children were running up and down the beach, the gay little boat sailing bravely along, dipping and bobbing about in the waves for all the world like the big boats anchored near by. ”

“ Andy was sure that he had never seen a prettier sight than his little sail-boat dancing on the waves, and he sat alone near the edge of the water letting ‘The Mermaid’ drift in and out long after the little girls had gone back to their sand-digging farther up the beach.
But Andy knew how to dig fully as well as he knew how to sail a boat. He flourished his blue shovel and fell to work with a will when he joined Sally and Alice, who sat cool and comfortable in the shade of the great lighthouse, that towered up and up into the air high above their heads. ”

“ Sally was always interested in Miss Neppy’s ‘Roomers,’ as they were called. Very often the ‘Roomer’ would be a tall young man or a pretty young lady who, every day, with paint box and easel, would go down to the rocks at the end of Sally’s street to paint pictures of the sea. They usually nodded and waved their hands at the little girl over the way who smiled at them from her doorstep in such friendly fashion. ‘Roomers’ seemed pleasant people to Sally, and she wished with all her heart that Mother and Aunt Bee would put signs in their front windows and take ‘Roomers,’ too. ”

“ She liked the way the cape folded back and showed the front of the dark blue frock. It is true that Sally had no dark blue dress at home, but surely a white one would look just as well.
Then Mother turned to go and Sally spoke.
‘Mother,’ said Sally, ‘I don’t want a tea-set and I don’t want a piano. I want a cape for my birthday present.’
‘A cape?’ said Mother in surprise. ‘Do you mean a red cape like the one in the window? Why, you don’t need a cape, Sally. Come upstairs now, and look at the toys.’
‘I want a cape,’ persisted Sally. ”

“ She doesn’t even make a face,’ said Alice, smiling proudly down on helpless Tilly Maud, who looked as miserable as a dolly could.
‘Paulina is not so good, I am afraid,’ said Sally, with a frown and a severe wave of her spoon. ‘She doesn’t want to open her mouth for me. Perhaps I shall have to hold her nose, next time.’
‘How can you,’ asked Alice, ‘when she hasn’t any nose?’
‘S-s-sh-sh!’ said Sally. ‘I only said that to make her behave. I don’t think these children are getting well fast enough, Alice. ”

“ And no sooner were their shoes and stockings taken off and they were comfortably settled in a pleasant place to dig, than along came Andy, with such a happy, smiling face that it made Sally and Alice smile, too, only to look at him.
No wonder Andy was happy, for not only did he carry a gay blue pail and shovel, but in his arms he bore a sail-boat, a brand-new sail-boat, fresh from Captain Ball’s shop not half an hour ago.
‘I am late,’ said Andy, smiling the broadest kind of a smile. ‘I am late because we went to a funny little shop to buy my boat. Isn’t she a beauty? ”

“ THE PERIWINKLE FAMILY
That night Sally couldn’t go to sleep.
She tossed and turned in her little white bed. She watched Snow White’s wings move lazily to and fro on the window-sill. She had two drinks of water. But still she couldn’t go to sleep.
‘Mother,’ called Sally, ‘Mother, I can’t go to sleep.’
So Mother came to smooth Sally’s pillow and to tuck in the bed covers that were sadly tumbled and twisted about. ”

“ But how could Sally help this when she was stirring up a great bowlful of thick brown mud?
‘I will make a big cake, I think, for Paulina,’ decided Sally. ‘Perhaps it will be a birthday cake with little sticks for candles.’
So round and round in the battered bowl went the old tin spoon, and out of Sally’s little blue watering-can came the water in a lively shower. Sally stirred and stirred and added more dirt.
‘It is too thin,’ said Cook Sally. ‘It is like jelly. I shall have to dig more dirt from this hole.’
But before Sally could even turn round she heard Mother’s voice calling. ”

“ But just then Alice uttered a cry and pointed out into the water.
‘Look! Look!’ cried Alice. ‘It is a fish, a fish out there in the water. It is a whale, I know it is, a big blue whale.’
Sally and Andy followed Alice’s pointing finger. There on the surface of the waves they [92] could plainly see a number of objects, red and blue, that seemed to be swimming toward them at a rapid rate.
‘They look like people’s heads,’ said Sally. ”

“ But then, who is the wolf?’
‘Why, Tippy, of course,’ answered Father, smiling back.
‘Oh, oh!’ said Sally, squeezing Father’s hand. ‘Will you write and tell Aunt Sarah about it, about the cape and little Red Ridinghood’s sister, and the wolf?’
‘Yes, I will,’ promised Father. ‘I will write to her to-night.’
‘But, Father,’ said Sally, after a moment, ‘will you tell her that Tippy is a good wolf, that he is not bad? ”

“ While Alice, not waiting for Andy’s nod, spoke up.
‘My doll, Jack Tar, came from Captain Ball’s, too.’
‘Isn’t she a beauty?’ asked Andy again. ‘Here is her name, painted on the side, just like a real boat. “The Mermaid” she is called, and I know what a mermaid is, too. Mother told me.’
‘So do I,’ said Sally proudly. ‘They are little girls and their mothers who live under the ocean, and they have tails like fish. They swim and dive and play in the water all day long.’
‘They are very pretty, too,’ added Andy. ‘Mother said so. ”

“ If only the big brown-and-gold bumble bee, humming over the roses, could [67] have droned, ‘Sally, keep away from those mud pies.’ If only the birds, flying high in the sky, could have chirped, ‘Sally, keep away from those mud pies.’ If only Snow White, Sally’s little wooden dove, could have warned her away. But Snow White was fastened to Sally’s window-sill in the front of the house, so of course he couldn’t know what Sally was about. And Buff was asleep on the window-sill, and Tippy was tied in Aunt Bee’s cellar. There was really no one to keep Sally away from those mud pies. ”

“ So upstairs went Sally, and round and round [131] the toy department she and Mother walked. Sally had never seen so many toys before in all her life.
She saw tea-sets and tea-tables, stoves and pianos. She saw dolls and their carriages, their cribs, their bureaus, and even their bathtubs. She saw toy animals and games, doll-houses, trains, and boats. There were picture books and painting sets, there were balls and blocks. There were really no toys made for a little girl’s pleasure that Sally did not see. ”

“ It would break Sally’s heart to make Aunt Bee cry, but she simply couldn’t bear it if Aunt Bee should laugh at her when she was in such trouble. So Sally herself began to cry again. It was the only thing she could think of to do.
[72] Then Aunt Bee spoke. She was neither laughing nor crying, and her voice was very gentle indeed.
‘Sally, don’t cry,’ she whispered, ‘don’t let Mother hear you cry. She is going to have such a nice party to-day. You and I will slip into the house. We won’t let any one see us. And I will put clean clothes on you as fast as I can. ”

“ He has a little shop. See, she can bend her arms and legs, and she will never, never break.’
Nancy Lee was a sturdy, strong little doll made of wood from head to foot, with eyes of ocean blue and a neat row of yellow curls. Her back was as stiff as a poker, quite different from the floppy rag doll whom Sally now lifted from her bed.
‘Here is Paulina,’ said Sally, trying to straighten the dolly’s drooping head. ‘She is as old as I am, and almost as worn-out looking as [19] your Tilly Maud. But I love her even if she is dirty and old.’
‘They are the best to sleep with,’ said Alice soberly. ”

“ It grew to be almost a chant, Sally said it so many times.
‘To-morrow morning I will sweep the doorstep again and earn another penny,’ said she. ‘That will make fifteen cents, and fifteen cents is enough to buy anybody a present, I think.’
The next morning a final sweeping of the doorway brought the sum up to fifteen cents. So Mother and Sally, as happy as could be, started off for a shopping trip in town.
Going to town was different from going to the city. A trip to the city meant a ride on the train, rather a long ride, and a home-coming so late that after supper you must go straight to bed. ”

“ And I left it on the top of the pile, too, because, when I ironed it, I saw that the hem was ripped. Go get the apron, Sally, and let us look at it, do.’
Out of the lowest dresser drawer Sally pulled the apron, all crumpled into a ball. And, would you believe it, when Sally and Miss Neppy and Father looked at it, the apron was not torn at all, the hem was only ripped. It seemed too good to be true.
‘Mother will mend it,’ said Sally joyfully. ‘She told me to bring it home with me. Mother will mend it, Miss Neppy.’
And Sally put both arms about Miss Neppy’s neck and gave her a tight, tight hug. ”

“ But I can’t do anything at all, and I do want to give a present to my Aunt Bee.’
[76] ‘Why, yes, you can do something, Sally,’ said Mother, with a smile. ‘You can sweep. You know how you like to sweep with your little broom. Now every day that you sweep the doorstep clean, I will give you a penny for it. Don’t you think you could do that?’
‘Will you really give me a penny?’ asked Sally, hopping about for joy. ‘Will you, Mother? I will sweep the doorstep as clean as a pin. ”

“ She left her chair at breakfast three times to hug Father close, and, if she could, she would have hurried Mother off to the train an hour before it started.
Once on the train there was so much to be seen from the window that Sally had little time to talk.
Green meadows, fields of corn, a brook with cows knee-deep in the shade. Over a bridge, [127] through a dark tunnel, with every now and then a glimpse of the sparkling sea.
On and on thundered the train. Sometimes it would stop at a small village station to let an old woman with a basket climb on or off. ”

“ What would Father say to-night? Was she to buy her present now or to wait four long, long [125] weeks? Sally could think and talk of nothing else.
‘If I am very good all day long, don’t you think Father will say, “Buy your present now?”’ Sally asked Aunt Bee, and Aunt Bee thought it likely that he would.
Then Sally went over to visit Alice, and she and Alice talked and talked about the present that might be bought the very next day.
‘A tea-set,’ said Alice at once. ‘I don’t think there is anything nicer than a tea-set. ”

“ And this sofa has a broken leg. It can’t stay downstairs. So sometimes I play it is a ship, and sometimes a train. It is anything I like. Now what shall we play this morning, Alice? You tell first what you want to play.’
‘I would like to play “house,”’ said Alice promptly. ‘I like “house” best of all. Tilly Maud is sick. She ought to go to bed.’
‘So is Paulina,’ returned Sally, well pleased with this idea. ‘See how red her face is! She has measles, I think. And Dora and Nora and Flora ought to go to bed, too. ”

“ Can you see the birds in the nest? And here on the edge of the path is the hole where the old toad lives. He comes out for a walk every night when the sun goes down. And here is my swing, Alice. Do you like to swing?’
[13] Yes, Alice liked to swing.
And it was while they were playing happily together that Sally heard Aunt Bee’s voice calling,
‘Sally! Sally! Here come Mother and Father up the street!’
Sally could scarcely believe it. It seemed such a short time ago that she had watched them out of sight on their way to the city. ”

“ Alice whispered back, ‘I don’t know.’
But after a pause she said, ‘I think that I like the boy best, because I never have had a boy doll. Have you?’
‘No,’ returned Sally, ‘I never have. And, if we play together, it will be much better if you have a boy and I have a girl, instead of having them just exactly alike.’
‘I think his name is pretty, too,’ said Alice thoughtfully. ‘Jack Tar.’
‘That means a sailor,’ said Sally, who was [32] wise in ways of the sea. ‘And Nancy Lee means a sailor girl, you know. There is a song about her. Father whistles it. ”

“ Seaweed, and periwinkles, and little crabs, and jellyfish. Sometimes we go to the beach, and play in the water and dig in the sand and find shells, pink and lavender and blue. Oh, I am so glad that you have come to stay!’
And Sally squeezed Alice’s arm so violently in her gladness that Jack Tar was only just saved from a tumble to the street.
Once home, Mother went over the way to call on Miss Neppy and to meet Alice’s mother, she said.
So Sally with Nancy Lee, and Alice with Jack Tar walked up and down and up and down the street. ”

“ It is too bad he should miss the party just because he is not very sociable.’
So Buff was coaxed through the hedge to join the party, and Tippy was placed the other side of the tree to gnaw his bone. The cake was cut [12] and passed about. Milk was poured from a tall amber pitcher into the delicate pink-and-white cups. And Sally and Alice and Aunt Bee smiled at one another as they said over and over again what a pleasant party they were having under the black-cherry tree. ”

“ She learned of Tippy’s wrongdoing, of poor Tilly Maud’s fate. She admired Jack Tar and [36] agreed that he might be turned into a girl at a moment’s notice, and without the least harm to his feelings, too.
‘Really the most boyish thing about him is his hair,’ said Aunt Bee. ‘And if he wore a little cap or a ribbon I don’t believe Captain Ball himself could tell whether he were Jack Tar or Nancy Lee.’
‘But I like him to be a boy,’ said Alice. ‘I like a boy baby and a boy doll just as well as girls.’
‘And so do I,’ said agreeable Aunt Bee. ”

“ He saw the broom.
With one great fling he tossed Tilly Maud up in the air, and then off rushed Tippy and out of sight before you could say ‘Jack Robinson.’
At a nod from Mother down the steps darted Sally, but, oh! what a sad dolly it was that she brought back and laid on the porch at Mother’s and Alice’s feet.
Dirty, wet, bedraggled, torn!
Tears sprang to Sally’s eyes and tears rolled [27] down Alice’s cheeks as they looked at poor, miserable Tilly Maud lying there.
Even Mother’s face grew sober for a moment. Then she stooped and tenderly raised Tilly Maud from the ground. ”