Betsy

“ Betsy was screaming too, and when a wagon passing by stopped and a big, broad-shouldered farmer jumped down laughing, put the end of the rope over his shoulder, and just walked off with the whole lot of them till he had pulled them clear off their feet, Elizabeth Ann found herself rolling over and over with a breathless, squirming mass of children, her shrill laughter rising even above the shouts of merriment of the others. ”

“ Then he managed to pull his jaws apart and chewed loudly and visibly, tossing his head, opening his mouth wide till Betsy could see the sticky, brown candy draped in melting festoons all over his big white teeth and red gullet. Then with a gulp he had swallowed it all down and was whining for more, striking softly at the little girl’s skirt with his forepaw. “Oh, you eat it too fast!” cried Betsy, but she shared her next lot with him too. The sun had gone down over Hemlock Mountain by this time, and the big slope above her was all deep blue shadow. ”

“ Betsy, if you see the tallest girl you ever saw, and she wears a dark diadem, and has big black eyes and a face so lovely it blinds you, why you have seen Her, and you balk, right on the spot, and stand like the rock of Gibraltar, until you make me see her, too. ”

“ Miss Betsy, who had a great deal of good-nature, and somewhat extremely engaging in her manner of behaviour, soon gained the affection not only of the governess, but of all the young ladies; but as girls, as well as women, have their favourites, to whom they may communicate their little secrets, there was one who above all the others was distinguished by her. Miss Forward, for so she was called, was also very fond of Miss Betsy. ”

“ They all drew a long breath and began to talk loudly and cheerfully about the weather and Aunt Frances’s trip and how Aunt Harriet was and which room Aunt Frances was to have and would she leave her wraps down in the hall or take them upstairs—and, in the midst of this, Betsy, her heart ready to burst, dashed out of doors, followed by Shep. She ran madly toward the barn. She did not know where she was going. She only knew that she must run and jump and shout, or she would explode. ”

“ Scarce could this passionate lover contain himself till he got out of the house. The manner in which Miss Flora had spoke of Miss Betsy, added fresh fuel to the jealousies he was before possessed of: but, how great soever his disturbance was, he found, on his return home, somewhat which made all he had known before seem light and trifling. ”

“ They all piled in, the horses stepped off, the wheels grated on the stones. And just at that moment a dismal sound of sobbing wails reached them from the woodshed back of the schoolhouse. The children tumbled out as fast as they had tumbled in, and ran back, Betsy and Ralph at their head. There in the woodshed was little ’Lias, huddled in the corner behind some wood, crying and crying and crying, digging his fists into his eyes, his face all smeared with tears and dirt. And he was dressed again in his filthy, torn old overalls and ragged shirt. ”

“ This roused me.
"'What ails my Betsy?" I said, taking her in my arms. She still sobbed, and pushed me from her.
"'I am the most unfortunate girl in the world, she cried. 'I love a man, and he is a coward.'
"'A coward, Betsy!' cried I. 'What do you mean? I am no coward. I fear not the face of clay.'
"Turning to me with one of her sweet smiles—
"'I am not deceived, then, in my Bill?' she said. 'He is not afraid of Long Ned?'
"'No, my love; nor of the whole gang, one after another—one down, another come on,' said I. 'Are we friends again?'
"'O Bill, we are more than friends,' she sobbed. ”

“ Cousin Ann was making some buttonholes in the shirt-waist she had constructed that afternoon, Aunt Abigail was darning socks, and Uncle Henry was mending a piece of harness. Shep lay on the couch and snored until he got so noisy they couldn’t stand it, and Cousin Ann poked him in the ribs and he woke up snorting and gurgling and looking around very sheepishly. Every time this happened it made Betsy laugh. She held Eleanor, who didn’t snore at all, but made the prettiest little tea-kettle-singing purr deep in her throat, and opened and sheathed her needle-like claws in Betsy’s dress. ”

“ Every minute full of new delights, and all too short. Hunger pressed them at an early hour to take their nooning, and they refreshed themselves with the contents of the basket, and drank tin cups of nectar from the opalescent pool. Van sat up and begged and did every trick he knew in payment for the largess with which Betsy rewarded him. ”

“ They never even looked at the children, any more than if they were in another world. In fact she had felt the school was in another world.
“Ralph, it’s your turn to get the water,” said the teacher, handing him a pail. “Want to go along?” said Ralph gruffly to Ellen and Betsy. He led the way and the little girls walked after him. Now that she was out of a crowd Elizabeth Ann felt all her shyness come down on her like a black cloud, drying up her mouth and turning her hands and feet cold as ice. Into one of these cold hands she felt small, warm fingers slide. ”

“ Munden, Madam,' said he, 'not finding you at home, has taken the liberty to call on you here, in order to conduct you where you are to pass the evening.'—'He must be a happy man, indeed, that dare take such liberties,' cried Sir Frederick, somewhat fiercely. 'Many take more than they are allowed to do,' said Miss Betsy. ”

“ Betsy stood by the girl's elbow, all quivering earnestness.
"Do what, kiddie?" asked the girl in a good-natured surprise.
"Everything!" said Betsy, compendiously. "Everything! Wash the dishes, tend the booth; you can go dance! I'll do it for twenty cents."
The eyes of the girl and the man met in high amusement. "My! Aren't we up and coming!" said the man. "You're most as big as a pint-cup, aren't you?" he said to Betsy. ”

“ By and by, after Cousin Ann had popped some corn, old Shep got off the couch and came to stand by Betsy’s knee to get an occasional handful. Eleanor opened one eye, recognized a friend, and shut it sleepily. But the little kitten woke up in terrible alarm to see that hideous monster so near him, and prepared to sell his life dearly. He bristled up his ridiculous little tail, opened his absurd, little pink mouth in a soft, baby s-s-s-, and struck savagely at old Shep’s good-natured face with a soft little paw. Betsy felt her heart overflow with amusement and pride in the intrepid little morsel. ”

“ I looked inquiringly at Betsy.
"Oh, that is the poet," said she; "a gentle beggar by nature and profession, he has no shift but his verses, and a poor shift it makes for him. He bothers the gentry with his rhymes; sometimes gets kicked out, sometimes a six-pence. Hand him, when done, a glass Bill; he has been more fortunate than usual, if he has one of his own. He had better attended to teaching his scholars than song-writing. ”

“ The little girl who lived on the next plantation came over to see Betsy’s dress and after she had shown it to her, Betsy had to tell her that she would not have an opportunity to wear it. She thought, too, that it would make her grandmother feel badly if she were to know of her disappointment, so she sat with her in her big, sunny room in the afternoon and read to her and was a smiling little girl all the time. Late in the day Betsy went down to the kitchen and made corn bread. She was almost as good a cook as was her mother. The corn bread was as yellow as gold, and as light as sponge cake. ”

“ Each girl had taken her bundle of poverty-stricken clothes and had carried it to the hollow trysting-tree. This being in a most secluded spot, they were not observed when they changed their appearance and assumed the characters of old women.
“You look so funny,” giggled Betsy when Elizabeth, in a much stained and faded skirt of Electra’s, an old worsted shawl, and a battered felt hat tied down over her ears, announced that she was ready and how did she look.
Betsy was more respectable in a cast-off skirt of Elizabeth’s, a black shawl over her head, and a basket on her arm. ”

“ Miss Betsy had now no person that professed a serious passion for her; but, as she had yet never seen the man capable of inspiring her with the least emotions of tenderness, she was quite easy as to that point, and wished nothing beyond what she enjoyed, the pleasure of being told she was very handsome, and gallanted about by a great number of those who go by the name of very pretty fellows. ”

“ Betsy could have cried with disappointment; but she and the other girls, putting their heads together for comfort, told each other that there was time enough yet. Mr. Pond would not leave town till tomorrow. Perhaps ... there was still some hope.
But that afternoon even this last hope was dashed. As they gathered at the schoolhouse, the girls fresh and crisp in their newly starched dresses, with red or blue hair-ribbons, the boys very self-conscious in their dark suits, clean collars, new caps (all but Ralph) , and blacked shoes, there was no little ’Lias. ”

“ An attack of tonsilitis it was, and Van must not [90] be allowed to disturb her. Thus, even in the house there was no liberty. Betsy’s door was shut, and the lonesome little prisoner might not have her comforting. Mary was good to him in the kitchen, but at every opportunity he would slip away upstairs and paw at Betsy’s door. There was no way to separate him from his beloved mistress, except to keep him outside the house. So all day long he ran sadly up and down, with his chain attached to a long wire that stretched from the apple tree to the honeysuckle porch. ”

“ But you must do your best to remember. Little girls must be nice in every way.”
That evening, when Uncle Ben came to dinner, he was greeted by an apparition all in white. Betsy stood by her chair with a shy look at him, to observe the effect of her transformation.
“As I live,—a fairy,—out of a story-book! Or was there a fairy godmother somewhere, and is this Cinderella? Where is the Prince?”
Betsy laughed and seated herself, and Aunt Kate noticed that at the end of the meal she reached down shyly, and wiped her mouth on the corner of her napkin. ”

“ WHO can blame Betsy for being heavy-hearted on that day in early spring when she sailed away from St. Helena, toward the colder country that was her real home? Even though her parents and her brothers and sister were with her, she felt that she was leaving behind much that was dear. She loved the lonely, mountainous island where she had lived so long. ”

“ Miss Forward had a great deal of the coquette in her nature; she knew how to play at fast-and-loose with her lover; and, young as she was, took a pride in mingling pain with the pleasure she bestowed. Miss Betsy was a witness of all the airs the other gave herself on this occasion, and the artifices she made use of, in order to secure the continuance of his addresses: so that, thus early initiated into the mystery of courtship, it is not to be wondered at, that when she came to the practice, she was so little at a loss. ”

“ Betsy was greatly excited. She had been asked to dress as one of a party of haymakers, and ride in a big haywagon, all draped with red, white, and blue. Her big brown eyes danced as she [144] talked it over the evening before, with Treesa and Mary.
“Why can’t the Boy-Heart ride wit’ you in the waggin?” said Mary. “He’d make a foine show, sittin’ up so grand besoide yez.”
“He’d be great!” said Betsy, clapping her hands. “I’ll put his chain on him, so he can’t get away. He’ll be the finest thing in the show. I’ll ask Aunt Kate. Van, do you want to ride in the procession?” ”

“ Cousin Ann, in a very short old skirt and a man’s coat and high rubber boots, was just poking some more wood into the big fire which blazed furiously under the broad, flat pan where the sap was boiling. The rough, brown hut was filled with white steam and that sweetest of all odors, hot maple syrup. Cousin Ann turned her head, her face very red with the heat of the fire, and nodded at the child.
“Hello, Betsy, you’re just in time. I’ve saved out a cupful of hot syrup for you, all ready to wax.” ”

“ In a minute more some one ran up the steps, and Mrs. Bruce, in a long light wrap, a chiffon scarf falling from her elaborately dressed hair, came swiftly into the room.
Betsy met the flashing eyes in dismay. She hurried to meet her. ”

“ An’ what’ll Miss Betsy be doin’ to yez?”
When the parade was over and Betsy had returned to the house, she looked Van over despairingly.
“Oh, Vanny-Boy! After all I’ve taught you about manners—think what you’ve done. You’ve disturbed a good pig who wasn’t trying to do anything but look beautiful. You’ve been disobedient. You’ve let your feelings run away with you. No decent dog was ever so dirty. ”

“ As they crossed the barnyard the calf approached them playfully, leaping stiff-legged into the air, and making a pretense of butting at them with its hornless young head.
Betsy and Shep often played with the calf in this way by the half-hour, and she thought nothing of it now; hardly noticed it, in fact.
But Aunt Frances gave a loud, piercing shriek, as though she were being cut into pieces. “Help! help!” she screamed. “Betsy! Oh, Betsy!”
She had turned as white as a sheet and could not take a single step forward. “It’s nothing! ”

“ I hate to be a telltale, but I want you to know just how fine Elizabeth really is. She would rather take the blame herself than have the real person suffer.”
“Oh dear, Betsy, that is asking a good deal. Perhaps I should not make such a promise, yet if it exonerates Elizabeth I should be glad to know. Yes, I will keep the secret.”
“I will tell you what I think and why I think it,” began Betsy, and went on to relate how she had discovered the lunch box with the nibbled cake and all the rest of it, ending up with: “It would be just like Bert to do it; he is so full of mischief. ”