Peggie

“ Peggie, what did you mean by a little bird?" pouted Prue.
"Ha! ha! ha!" Peggie screamed with laughter. "So the only bird you can think of now is a Robin! Why, Prue, you foolish coz, what is the use of setting your heart on him? You know you can not have him."
"And suppose I can not; is not that enough to make any woman set her heart on a man?" cried Prue. "Take those nasty things out of the room, Peggy; the smell of them makes me quite sick."
Peggie started to go, sniffing them voluptuously. "Poor Robin!" she murmured; "'tis well he can not see how his roses are treated. Nasty things, indeed! ”

“ Peggie admitted frankly. "But even as you are, you must be a great deal prettier than the sort of women a highwayman would be used to."
"Why, Peggie, do you think—do you suppose Robin has women-thieves for friends? Pick-pockets, perhaps—or Gipsies! Yet he looks like a gentleman. Highwaymen are sometimes brave and chivalrous—one hears of their doing generous things—they are not like common malefactors—"
"They get hanged, all the same," said Peggie unthinkingly.
"Oh! Peggie, you wicked, cruel creature; how dare you say such things!" cried Prue indignantly. "Robin hanged! Never, never! ”

“ That comes from trouting without a hat. But we’re all glad to be tanned. Nobody will believe we have had a wonderful vacation in the sunshine and open air unless we can show tan.”
It was all fully arranged that day about the return trip. Jean was to accompany the girls back, and Peggie would go when Miss Honoria returned. Nothing was said definitely about what the precious skeleton represented in a monetary way, but from the smile on Mrs. Sandy’s face when it was spoken of, and Peggie’s bubbling happiness, the girls knew that all trouble in that line had been wiped away. ”

“ And he's lain down wi his bonnie Peggie.
Up then spak the bonny Lowland lass,
And wow! but she spak wondrous sorrie;
'I'se warrant my mither wad hae a gay sair heart
To see me lien here wi you, my Willie.'
'In my father's house there's feather-beds,
Feather-beds, and blankets mony;
They're a' mine, and they'll sune be thine,
And what needs your mither be sae sorrie, Peggie? ”

“ D. ‘Donald of the Isles,’ Buchan’s Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 155.
E. ‘Glasgow Peggy,’ Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs, I, 70.
F. ‘The Young Maclean,’ Alexander Laing’s MS., p. 5.
“Common in stalls,” says Motherwell, “under this title [‘Glasgow Peggie’] , or that of the ‘Earl of Hume,’ or ‘The Banks of Omey:’” Minstrelsy, p. xciii, note 133. In his MS., p. 90, the stall-copy is said to be better than the imperfect C a.
A young Highlander comes to Glasgow and is smitten with bonnie Peggie. Her father says the Highlander may steal cow or ewe, but not Peggie ”

“ Mr. Halfpenny went back to his own office, astonished and marvelling. What on earth were these revelations which Barthorpe hinted at—these unpleasant truths which would so wound and hurt Peggie Wynne? Could it be possible that there really was some mystery about that will of which only Barthorpe knew the secret? It was incomprehensible to Mr. Halfpenny that any man could be so cool, so apparently cocksure about matters as Barthorpe was unless he felt absolutely certain of his own case. ”

“ The four men who had preceded him were standing in the study when Barthorpe drove up to the house—standing around Peggie, who was obviously ill at ease and distressed. And when Barthorpe’s voice was heard in the hall, Mr. Halfpenny spoke in decisive tones.
“We must understand matters at once,” he said. “There is no use in beating about the bush. ”

“ Friday morning brought Barthorpe to Mr. Halfpenny’s offices in good time. He came alone; a few minutes after his arrival Peggie Wynne, nervous and frightened, came, attended by Mr. Tertius and Professor Cox-Raythwaite. All these people were at once ushered into Mr. Halfpenny’s private room, where polite, if constrained, greetings passed. At five minutes past ten o’clock Mr. Halfpenny looked at Barthorpe.
“We’re only waiting for Mr. Burchill,” he remarked. ”

“ Nobody better. He will tell you what he would tell no one else,” said the Professor. “You’re the person. Am I not right, Tertius?”
“I think you are right,” assented Mr. Tertius. “Yes, I think so.”
“But—he’s in prison!” said Peggie. “Will they let me?”
“Oh, that’s all right,” answered the Professor. “Halfpenny will arrange that like winking. You must go at once—and Selwood there will go with you. Far better for you two young people to go than for either Halfpenny, or Tertius, or myself. Youth invites confidence.” ”

“ Now, sir!” he went on, with a motion of his hand towards the younger solicitor. “Pray let us hear you.”
“In my own fashion,” retorted Barthorpe. “You’re not a judge, you know. Very good—if I give pain to you, Peggie, it’s not my fault. Now, Mr. Halfpenny,” he continued, turning and pointing contemptuously to Mr. Tertius, “as this is wholly informal, I’ll begin with an informal yet pertinent question, to you. Do you know who that man really is?”
“I believe that gentleman, sir, to be Mr. John Christopher Tertius, and my very good and much-esteemed friend,” replied Mr. Halfpenny, with asperity. ”

“ These were a few of the speeches that reached Peggy’s ears from among the dolls who were all round her.
The Lord Chancellor still kept his good-natured expression of face, as if they were all making a great fuss about nothing, but he would put up with it for the sake of pleasing them. “Now, look here,” he said in a persuasive voice, “I think there’s a great deal in what you say, and I should be the last one to want to go against you. A more intelligent and intellectual-looking crowd I have seldom set eyes on, and it’s a real pleasure to address you.” ”

“ How is’t you dare shine when there’s no fine gentleman a-comin’ from the east; no gallant with disheveled locks, powdered shoulders, disordered mien, distracted looks, spurs a-digging into his beast, lips apart, heart beating like spent rabbit’s, and ‘Peggy, lovely Peggy,’ the clapper to his eager tongue at every jolt of his saddle, every rut of his way? Go cloud yourself, I say! since Sir Percy tarries. ”

“ And she went flitting about through the long grass, hither and thither like a will-o'-the-wisp, her long hair floating around her, her arms waving in gestures sometimes fantastic, but always graceful. Peggy could think of nothing but her cousin Rita, as she used to dance in the old days at Fernley. What a pair she and Grace would make! What a mercy they had never come together. Moreover, her heart, the heart of a farmer's daughter, smote her at the treading down of the grass. ”

“ The whole effect was bewildering, but so gay and cheerful that Peggy sighed as she glanced back at her own bare white walls, at the bureau with its sober brush and comb, and the polished table where the writing-case lay in solitary state. She could not imagine living in a room like that other: she should stifle, and throw half the things out of the window; but it would be nice to have just a few more things! If she had only thought! Jean would have been glad to share the nests with her, and she could have had the rattlesnake skin, for had she not killed him herself? ”

“ By the way, where was it this time?”
“In a cracker,” said Peggy.
“Ah, I know those crackers,” said the Giant. “One Fairy one to ten million common ones is the average. Let me congratulate you! You’ll be allowed six visits from me, and six wishes each time, before the Ring disappears again. Very liberal, I call it.”
“Do you mean you can let me have everything I wish for, like what happens in the Fairy stories?” asked Peggy in a state of great excitement, and she began to jump about in a very un-grown-up way. “Oh, I wish—I wish this tree was made of chocolate!” she screamed. ”

“ What does Peggy say about it?"
"Girls! girls!" cried Miss Cortlandt. "Will you please be silent for a moment? Peggy has not had a chance to say a word yet, and I for one want to hear her story. Have you got your breath yet, Peggy? because we all want to hear, very much indeed." ”

“ Peggy didn’t mean to do another picture of the fifth Adventure, but Mother particularly wanted one of the Pixies, so she had to do this, as the Ball-room one was too difficult to do. The Pixies are just shouting out, “This is Mazing, this is!” and Peggy is trying to catch two of them. You can see how tired and giddy the Giant must have got with wandering about amongst so many Snowmen. He is just wiping his face with his red handkerchief. Peggy made herself so very ugly by mistake, and didn’t know how to change it.
“Do try to remember as we go what ‘Mazing’ means,” said Peggy. “I wish I knew. ”

“ They are such dears, Peggy. The one with the red hair is a genius. You should see his Latin prose! The fat one is a lovable little soul, but terribly stupid and lazy; a great trial to my patience. I suppose Mellicent has told you all about my work, and how happy I am? The parents are such charming, cultivated people. The mother is a sister of Professor Reid, the gentleman who is with us now.” She rolled her eyes meaningly towards the cadaverous-looking man who had fled to the end of the room at Peggy’s approach. ”

“ And all the while the old charwoman is speaking between her bits of broken teeth, Peggy hears that other voice uplifted, ringing, gay, glad, care-free, as it seems to her strained ears, up and down the darkening little street, tapping at the window-panes, tapping at her heart-strings and stretching them to such a tension of anger, outraged pride, and wounded affection as never Lady suffered before. ”

“ Peggy and Alice went across the street and they ran along until they thought they had reached a spot that might appeal to Sol. This was the Thornton place, which was a bower of green with its partly open foliage.
“I’m sure he’ll be here,” said Peggy. “I’d come here if I were a canary. Oh, Alice, listen!” From somewhere, far, far above them, there came delicious trills and the joyous sound that Peggy longed to make herself. Nothing but a canary could sing like that. “Spring has come and I am free; and the world is too beautiful for anything,” he seemed to say.59
“It is Sol ”

“ A stout lady and two slim daughters, looking more like fashion-plates than Peggy could have believed it possible for any human creatures to do, stood discussing a knotty point together in the centre of the floor, their voluminous skirts shutting out the view beyond. ”

“ Then his thoughts turned to Peggy—Peggy, square-built, determined, masterful, capable; just the very person to grapple with difficulties; a woman whose nerve a regiment of duchesses would fail to shake. ”

“ Will you have a penny ride with us round the grounds on the back of a dromedary?”
“My dear Peggy! Anything in reason to enjoy the pleasure of your society, but really—”
“Nobody shall come with us to the Zoo who is too proud to ride on the dromedary,” said Peggy firmly. “I told you you would be shocked, and you see I was right; but Mellicent and I have no pride at all where animals are concerned, and we intend to do every possible thing that can be done. We will have to defer our next meeting for another occasion, Major Darcy.” ”

“ The prince told her he had been bewitched by a frog godmother, who condemned him to remain in that horrid shape until a young girl could be found who would either consent to marry him or sit upon his knee. Peggy was very glad to have such an ending of her adventure. So they were married at once, and were then very happy. When they went back for a wedding visit to Peggy's mother, they found she had taken all the gold and silver and moved away to a distant country; and they never saw the wicked woman more. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If another man had been rash enough to disturb their flowering, they would have sulked for the rest of the season, and made him suffer for his boldness; but no plant ever sulked at Robert Darcy. He had simply to lay it down in any spot he liked, and, behold, it grew and flourished! His fingers seemed to possess the power to impart health and strength, and, thanks to his care, Peggy soon felt safe from ridicule, at least on the score of her garden, and could devote herself with an easy mind to the work indoors. ”

“ Whose birthday is it, Peggy? Yours or your mother’s?”
“Mother’s,” said Peggy, hanging her head.
“Pauline is a good sort,” said Miss Betsy. “There is no use in disliking good people, Peggy. I think it had better be a small party, for your mother would not want the care of many hens, and, besides, small parties are the most fun. We’ll ask all of the Carters—that will make five.”
“Six with Uncle Joe—I know he’ll come on ’specially for it, if I ask him,” said Peggy. “He needn’t bring a hen, because he belongs to the family. There’s to be just one hen for every family.” ”