Sophie May

“ As if Johnny did not have fun all day, and every day, whether his mother was at home or abroad!
"Prudy," said Dotty, "good by, for Johnny 'n' I are going down to the beach to get some shells."
Prudy looked up from her writing.
"Don't go near the water," said she; then throwing her arms about her little sister, she sang,—
"If you love me as I love you,
[71] No knife shall cut our love in two."
"Well, I do," replied Dotty, with an affectionate hug, "and I sha'n't go near the water."
"You won't forget?" said Prudy, anxiously. "You know mamma's as afraid of the water as she can be." ”

“ Her skin was dark; her eyes were black, and remarkably bright. When I saw her, she was thirteen years old; and you may know, Dotty, that by that time her face could not well be very pleasant: temper always leaves its marks."
Dotty looked at her little plump hands, as if she expected to see black spots on them.
"Sometimes Harriet beat her head against the wall so violently that there seemed to be danger of her dashing her brains out."
Dotty looked up quite bravely. This dreadful little girl was worse than she had ever been! O, yes!
"Wasn't she crazy, mamma?" [28]
Mrs. Parlin shook her head. ”

“ Dotty had taken the first false step; she had listened to the voice of temptation, and every persuasive word of Solly's left her weaker than it had found her.
"My mamma doesn't ever 'low me to sail."
"You couldn't sail in a wherry if you were to try," said Johnny. "Come, Sol, don't stop to bother: who wants girls? They just spoil the fun."
"For shame!" said the more polite Solomon, drawing himself up and looking very manly; "the girls shall go if they want to. Only just round the curve."
Dotty liked Solly at that moment very much. ”

“ The earnestness of their faces is very striking as Susy brandishes a pail, Dotty a glass pitcher, and Prudy a watering-pot, in the delusive hope that they are making themselves useful.
After this, when the children have had a troubled sleep, and wake in the morning to find the house actually on fire, the horror is something always to be remembered. Flames are already bursting out of some of the lower windows. It is no longer of any use to pour water. There is no time to be lost. Mrs. Parlin hurries the children [43] down stairs, and out of the house, under their grandmother's protection. ”

“ Thee must be aware, Alice, that it is only by the Lord's mercy thee is safe on dry land, instead of being drowned in the depths of the sea."
Dotty shuddered, and curled her crimson face more closely against the white kerchief.
"But I will not chide thee now. Thy mother will do what is right and proper when she comes home. But now thee must have a bowl of ginger tea, and go straight to bed." ”

“ You knew at once, as you looked at the people who gathered around the table that morning, that they all loved one another; and family love makes any house seem like home.
Grandma Read was there in her plain Quaker cap, with the nicely-starched kerchief crossed upon her bosom; Mr. Parlin in his drab dressing-gown, lined with crimson; Mrs. Parlin in a print wrapper, with a linen collar at the throat, her hair as smooth as satin; the three little girls all neatly dressed, and all happy but Dotty. ”

“ Prudy, always ready with her trap to catch a sunbeam, says that after all there are other little girls in the world worse off than they are. Susy thinks not. [44]
"O, children, you are young and can't realize it; but this is awful!"
Dotty tries to be more wretched than ever, to satisfy her eldest sister's ideas of justice. She sends out from her throat a sound of agony, which resembles a howl.
Prudy's chief consolation is in remembering, as she says, that "God knows we are afire." Prudy is always sure God will not let anything happen that is too dreadful. ”

“ Dreadful things may and do happen in this world, but, as a general rule, they do not last a great while. The fire did its work, and then stopped. It was fearful while it raged, and it left a pitiful wreck; still, as Mrs. Parlin said, it was "not so bad but it might have been worse." "Nothing," she always declared, "ought to make us really unhappy except sin."
"And here we are, all alive," said she, with tearful eyes, as she tried to put her arms around the three little girls at once. "All alive and well! ”

“ As you go by me, each of you, I must strike you just as many times as you were minutes late. Now go home, and eat rice for your dinners."
"Well, I don't think it's much of a play, any way," said Johnny.
"Who said it was?" retorted Florence. [65] "Susy and I didn't want to come down; we did it just to please you."
"Please me!" sniffed Johnny. "I wanted to play poison, out in the yard!"
"I do wish," thought Susy, privately, "that cousin Flossy would be more polite to little Johnny. I really think he wouldn't be so rude if she would treat him as a lady should." ”

“ We've got a charade, 'Crisis.' Half of us are going to play it for the other half to [148] guess. We only want to weigh you, with a yardstick through an old shawl; that's all. Come, let us pin you up; there's a goody girl."
"I don't want to be a goody girl. I'm too big to be goody. If you want a baby to make believe with, why don't you take Flyaway? She's littler than me."
"There, there!" said Prudy, coming to the rescue, "you needn't do a single thing, Dotty, if you don't want to. We didn't know but you'd like to play be weighed, you can squeal so be-you-tifully!" ”

“ Dotty did not know why she liked Mandoline so well, but like her she did. Mrs. Parlin was afraid Mandoline had not been taught to respect the truth, and had often desired her little daughter not to play with the beautiful Jewess.
But "Lina" went to Mrs. Eastman's, and Mrs. Eastman petted her. Dotty thought it could not be wrong to associate with a little girl her auntie liked so well.
"Come with us, Lina," said Johnny.
"Where are you going?"
"Going to make a Bunger Hill Monuement," replied Dotty. "We know where the shells grow real thick."
"But I've lost my shaker. A dog's got it." ”

“ Why didn't you speak?"
"O, it isn't anywhere near breakfast time, Dotty; Norah hasn't ground the coffee yet."
"Then I should think she might! She knows I'm hungry, and that makes her be [13] as slow as a board nail!—I'll tell you what I wish, Prudy. I wish the whole world was a 'normous cling-stone peach, so I could keep eating for always, and never come to the stone."
"I don't know," replied Prudy, pleasantly. "I believe I'd rather have it a Bartlett pear—dead ripe."
"H'm! You may have your old Bartnot pears, Prudy Parlin; nobody wants 'em but just you! ”

“ The children don't dare go out after dark, for they suppose there are demons up in the [66] high trees, just ready to dart down and whisk them off."
"Angeline tells just such stories her own self," said Dotty.
"Then she's a heathen," said Florence, who usually spoke the first thought that came into her head.
"If that's the case," retorted Angeline, with dignity, "you'd better all walk out of this kitchen before you are entirely ruined."
As Angeline was evidently in earnest, the children slowly took their way into the dining-room.
"Are there real live ghosts, though, Susy?" ”

“ Her mother had also forbidden her to go on the water, and had declared that Solomon was too young to manage a boat; but neither Lina nor her brother had very tender consciences. If they did wrong things, and nobody knew it, it was all very well; but if they were found out—ah! then was the time to be sorry! Dotty's conscience had been much better educated than theirs: it gave her plenty of warning, which she would not heed, and tried to stifle by talking.
"It isn't a sail boat. When my mamma went in the scursion, then it was a sail boat, and the wind whistled so the sails shook dreadfully. ”

“ Come, Dot Parlin; if you don't like poison, come out and play soldier."
"I don't want to play a single thing; so there, now, Johnny Eastman!"
"Then you're a cross old party, miss."
"I'm not a party at all. I'm only one girl." [57]
"O, Dotty!" called Prudy from the cellar-way; "take care! take care!"
"So I am taking care," returned Dotty, stoutly. "For my own mother doesn't 'low me to go out doors and get rained on, and he knows it."
It was coming, Prudy feared—her sister's naughty temper. She saw a shadow no larger than a man's hand; but it would not do to let it grow. ”

“ And began to spin and dance round. We couldn't stop it from dancing; the more we held on, the quicker it went. Way up and down, grandma, and the rain raining, and our feet all sopping, and pouring right into that wherry like a—a catara-duct. They were all afraid but me, and I was awful afraid too. You see I thought we should tip right over, and I didn't want to be drowned, and couldn't swim."
"Why, Dotty, how you make me tremble!" cried Prudy.
"The way Johnny paddled!" continued [109] Dotty, triumphantly. "Solly said he couldn't. I could have paddled better, only I didn't dare to." ”

“ Parlin expected to do to-day was to make the house as pleasant as possible. Susy was allowed to attend to the flowers; the three others looked on, and watched Mrs. Parlin, while she made vinegar candy, filled some tarts with jelly, and helped Norah set the supper-table.
"How nice!" said Prudy, rubbing her hands. "Sometimes I don't much care if our house was burnt up."
"Nor I either," said Dotty. "This house has got a good deal the best places to hide in." ”

“ Lina yielded. The three children tripped along together, taking up Freddy Jackson on the way—a deaf and dumb boy, who only knew when it thundered by the jar he could feel. Everybody was kind to Freddy. Dotty Dimple, with all her faults, was never known to be impatient with the poor boy.
The children reached the sea-shore, which was somewhere "near the water," though Dotty had assured Prudy to the contrary. Shell-gathering is more exciting work than picking strawberries in the country; for strawberries are all very much alike, whereas shells present some variety. ”

“ Put a knife through, and they don't know it. No blood, no bones, no anything. Go through a keyhole. Will they, though? Prudy don't believe it. Am I anywhere near a keyhole? I don't know. I've gone and hid, and I can't find myself. I'm somewhere, but I don't know where."
Dotty began to feel very uncomfortable. There was no longer the slightest satisfaction in the thought of frightening the family. [161] She was frightened herself, and with the worst kind of fear—the fear of the supernatural.
"I can't see the leastest thing, and I can't hear anything, either. Ghosts don't make any noise. ”

“ For when the lion fits were on, it was always safest to let the unhappy child alone. Prudy, who had no more temper than a humming-bird, and Susy, who was only moderately fretful once in a while, were made very unhappy by Dotty's dreadful behavior. ”

“ Susy and Prudy need not have feared that the little people would not have a good time; the "surprise party" was a perfect success, and Dotty's ill-humor made no one unhappy but her sensitive sisters. Meanwhile the wretched child was lying on the pantry floor, thinking very confused thoughts.
"I wish I was dead. No I don't. I'm too wicked. But I wasn't any wickeder 'n that girl. She said Susy Parlin had a bad sister. What made her say that? She knew I'd hear. I'm glad I shook her. No, I'm sorry. It was murder—the Bible says so. Johnny murdered too—murdered me. ”

“ If the sky had continued fair, it may be [85] Dotty would not have felt so guilty, though you and I know the weather had nothing to do with the sin; disobedience is disobedience always, whether it rains or shines.
The little Jewess grew very pale, said she was dizzy, and wished to change places with Dotty.
"Keep still, can't you, girls?" cried Johnny; "if you fuss round so the boat'll be sure to upset." ”

“ Eastman's truthfulness. It was a very faint doubt, which she did not express even to herself. It was almost incredible that a grown-up lady should tell the "thing which is not," or even [121] color the truth by so much as the shadow of a shade. Still, when auntie had called Dotty a tol'ably good girl, she must have known it was a mistake!
Dotty did not have a fever; but for several days she was not at all well, and spent most of the time in her grandmamma's room, on the lounge. It would have been a good opportunity for reflection, if Katie had not been in the house. ”

“ The motion was certainly pleasant, and for a few moments Dotty was quite delighted, thinking over and over again,—
"Mamma won't care; it's nothing but a wherry, and the wind doesn't blow."
Then she suddenly remembered her promise to Prudy, not to go "anywhere near the water." [81]
"And I never thought I should. I never s'posed I should see Solly Rosenberg. I didn't know he was in this city. Prudy'd like it just as well as I do, if she was in here, and knew 'twas a wherry." ”

“ Angeline says they do."
"I don't believe it," said Prudy, stoutly; "my mother told me 'twasn't true."
"P'r'aps mamma doesn't wake up in the night," said Dotty, "and p'r'aps the ghosts never come where she is. Why, Prudy, they're made out o' nothing! If you stick a knife into 'em it goes right through, and don't touch their blood, for they haven't got any blood. They don't care for knives—they're just like bubbles."
"I don't believe it," replied Prudy, again. "I think it's wicked. My mother wouldn't like it if she knew how much you sat in Angeline's lap and talked about ghosts. ”

“ Flossy wouldn't mind. But now I think of it, Prudy, we can't play school, for girls don't go to school in India."
"Make believe you are boys, then," observed Johnny, whose interest in the game had flagged since he knew that Hindoos were not sharks.
"We'll play it's six o'clock in the morning," continued Susy.
"That isn't school time," remonstrated Dotty.
"O, yes, it is, in India. I'm the teacher. Give me a stick, please."
"Here's my old riding-whip," said Flossy, producing it from the wood-box. Things were tucked away in very queer places at Mrs. Eastman's. ”

“ I've gone and hid. Nobody'll ever find me. My father'll say, 'Why, where's that child?' And my mother'll say, 'I don't know.' And [159] they'll hunt all over the house; and I shall keep my head in my apron, and won't say a word.
"Then Prudy'll say, 'O, my darling sister Dotty! How sweet and good she was!'
"And they'll think I'm dead! And Susy'll cry out loud, and tell Percy, and he'll say, 'O, how sorry I am I said "I devise you to let that child alone"!'"
Dotty sighed as she pictured to herself Percy's conscience-stricken face. ”

“ Town, mamma? A town is houses."
"She was paid for it by men in the town. I don't know whether this woman tried to teach Harriet in the right way or not. It may be she had so much to do that she thought it less trouble to punish her when she was naughty than to instruct her how to be good." [30]
"O, yes; I s'pose she struck her with a stick," said Dotty, patting her forefingers together—"just this way."
"Harriet had the care of one of Mrs. Gray's children, a lively little boy about two years old."
"Was he cunning? As cunning as Katie Clifford? ”

“ The boat would not go near the shore: anywhere else but there. The sky grew more and more threatening, and the wind increased in force.
"We're going to be drow—drow—drownded!" screamed Dotty; "and I told you so: I knew it before! O, if Susy was here with a shingle!"
"We're going to be drownded!" cried Lina; "and, Solly Rosenberg, you hadn't oughter made me come!"
"And you told an awful, wicked story," struck in Dotty, "for, Solly Rosenberg, you said you's old enough to row, and you're [92] nowhere near old enough; and, O! O! O! you don't know how. And I'll tell my father! ”

“ Johnny's wickeder 'n ever I was.
"Prudy thought I ought to be a baby. Percy thought so. He said, 'I devise you [158] to let that child alone.' I'm going to let him alone! All the time! Did I want to fall off that yardstick, right into the tolly-blow?
"There's Prudy: she can be good; it doesn't hurt her. It hurts me to be good; it tires me all up.
"And here it is, as dark as a pickpocket." (Dotty raised her head and took a survey.) "Why, the moon can't get here, nor the sun. Is this down cellar? No, I didn't see any stairs. ”