"EIGHT COUSINS\n\nBy Louisa M. Alcott\n\n\n\n\nPreface\n\nThe Author is quite aware of the defects of this little story, many of\nwhich were unavoidable, as it first appeared serially. But, as Uncle\nAlec's experiment was intended to amuse the young folks, rather than\nsuggest educational improvements for the consideration of the elders,\nshe trusts that these shortcomings will be overlooked by the friends of\nthe Eight Cousins, and she will try to make amends in a second volume,\nwhich shall attempt to show The Rose in Bloom.\n\nL.M.A.\n\n\n\n\nChapter 1--Two Girls\n\nRose sat all alone in the big best parlor, with her little handkerchief\nlaid ready to catch the first tear, for she was thinking of her\ntroubles, and a shower was expected. She had retired to this room as a\ngood place in which to be miserable; for it was dark and still, full of\nancient furniture, sombre curtains, and hung all around with portraits\nof solemn old gentlemen in wigs, severe-nosed ladies in top-heavy caps,\nand staring children in little bob-tailed coats or short-waisted frocks.\nIt was an excellent place for woe; and the fitful spring rain that\npattered on the window-pane seemed to sob, \"Cry away: I'm with you.\"\n\nRose really did have some cause to be sad; for she had no mother, and\nhad lately lost her father also, which left her no home but this with\nher great-aunts. She had been with them only a week, and, though the\ndear old ladies had tried their best to make her happy, they had not\nsucceeded very well, for she was unlike any child they had ever seen,\nand they felt very much as if they had the care of a low-spirited\nbutterfly.\n\nThey had given her the freedom of the house, and for a day or two\nshe had amused herself roaming all over it, for it was a capital old\nmansion, and was full of all manner of odd nooks, charming rooms, and\nmysterious passages. Windows broke out in unexpected places, little\nbalconies overhung the garden most romantically, and there was a long\nupper hall full of curiosities from all parts of the world; for the\nCampbells had been sea-captains for generations.\n\nAunt Plenty had even allowed Rose to rummage in her great china closet\na spicy retreat, rich in all the \"goodies\" that children love; but Rose\nseemed to care little for these toothsome temptations; and when that\nhope failed, Aunt Plenty gave up in despair.\n\nGentle Aunt Peace had tried all sorts of pretty needle-work, and planned\na doll's wardrobe that would have won the heart of even an older child.\nBut Rose took little interest in pink satin hats and tiny hose, though\nshe sewed dutifully till her aunt caught her wiping tears away with the\ntrain of a wedding-dress, and that discovery put an end to the sewing\nsociety.\n\nThen both old ladies put their heads together and picked out the model\nchild of the neighbourhood to come and play with their niece. But\nAriadne Blish was the worst failure of all, for Rose could not bear the\nsight of her, and said she was so like a wax doll she longed to give\nher a pinch and see if she would squeak. So prim little Ariadne was sent\nhome, and the exhausted aunties left Rose to her own devices for a day\nor two.\n\nBad weather and a cold kept her in-doors, and she spent most of her time\nin the library where her father's books were stored. Here she read a\ngreat deal, cried a little, and dreamed many of the innocent bright\ndreams in which imaginative children find such comfort and delight. This\nsuited her better than anything else, but it was not good for her, and\nshe grew pale, heavy-eyed and listless, though Aunt Plenty gave her iron\nenough to make a cooking-stove, and Aunt Peace petted her like a poodle.\n\nSeeing this, the poor aunties racked their brains for a new amusement\nand determined to venture a bold stroke, though not very hopeful of its\nsuccess. They said nothing to Rose about their plan for this Saturday\nafternoon, but let her alone till the time came for the grand surprise,\nlittle dreaming that the odd child would find pleasure for herself in a\nmost unexpected quarter.\n\nBefore she had time to squeeze out a single tear a sound broke the\nstillness, making her prick up her ears. It was only the soft twitter\nof a bird, but it seemed to be a peculiarly gifted bird, for while she\nlistened the soft twitter changed to a lively whistle, then a trill, a\ncoo, a chirp, and ended in a musical mixture of all the notes, as if the\nbird burst out laughing. Rose laughed also, and, forgetting her woes,\njumped up, saying eagerly,\n\n\"It is a mocking-bird. Where is it?\"\n\nRunning down the long hall, she peeped out at both doors, but saw\nnothing feathered except a draggle-tailed chicken under a burdock leaf.\nShe listened again, and the sound seemed to be in the house. Away she\nwent, much excited by the chase, and following the changeful song, it\nled her to the china-closet door.\n\n\"In there? How funny!\" she said. But when she entered, not a bird\nappeared except the everlastingly kissing swallows on the Canton china\nthat lined the shelves. All of a sudden Rose's face brightened, and,\nsoftly opening the slide, she peered into the kitchen. But the music\nhad stopped, and all she saw was a girl in a blue apron scrubbing the\nhearth. Rose stared about her for a minute, and then asked abruptly,\n\n\"Did you hear that mocking-bird?\"\n\n\"I should call it a phebe-bird,\" answered the girl, looking up with a\ntwinkle in her black eyes.\n\n\"Where did it go?\"\n\n\"It is here still.\"\n\n\"Where?\"\n\n\"In my throat. Do you want to hear it?\"\n\n\"Oh, yes! I'll come in.\" And Rose crept through the slide to the wide\nshelf on the other side, being too hurried and puzzled to go round by\nthe door.\n\nThe girl wiped her hands, crossed her feet on the little island of\ncarpet where she was stranded in a sea of soap-suds, and then, sure\nenough, out of her slender throat came the swallow's twitter, the\nrobin's whistle, the blue-jay's call, the thrush's song, the wood-dove's\ncoo, and many another familiar note, all ending as before with the\nmusical ecstacy of a bobolink singing and swinging among the meadow\ngrass on a bright June day.\n\nRose was so astonished that she nearly fell off her perch, and when the\nlittle concert was over clapped her hands delightedly.\n\n\"Oh, it was lovely! Who taught you?\"\n\n\"The birds,\" answered the girl, with a smile, as she fell to work again.\n\n\"It is very wonderful! I can sing, but nothing half so fine as that.\nWhat is your name, please?\"\n\n\"Phebe Moore.\"\n\n\"I've heard of phebe-birds; but I don't believe the real ones could do\nthat,\" laughed Rose, adding, as she watched with interest the scattering\nof dabs of soft soap over the bricks, \"May I stay and see you work? It\nis very lonely in the parlor.\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed, if you want to,\" answered Phebe, wringing out her cloth in\na capable sort of way that impressed Rose very much.\n\n\"It must be fun to swash the water round and dig out the soap. I'd love\nto do it, only aunt wouldn't like it, I suppose,\" said Rose, quite taken\nwith the new employment.\n\n\"You'd soon get tired, so you'd better keep tidy and look on.\"\n\n\"I suppose you help your mother a good deal?\"\n\n\"I haven't got any folks.\"\n\n\"Why, where do you live, then?\"\n\n\"I'm going to live here, I hope. Debby wants some one to help round, and\nI've come to try for a week.\"\n\n\"I hope you will stay, for it is very dull,\" said Rose, who had taken a\nsudden fancy to this girl, who sung like a bird and worked like a woman.\n\n\"Hope I shall; for I'm fifteen now, and old enough to earn my own\nliving. You have come to stay a spell, haven't you?\" asked Phebe,\nlooking up at her guest and wondering how life could be dull to a girl\nwho wore a silk frock, a daintily frilled apron, a pretty locket, and\nhad her hair tied up with a velvet snood.\n\n\"Yes, I shall stay till my uncle comes. He is my guardian now, and I\ndon't know what he will do with me. Have you a guardian?\"\n\n\"My sakes, no! I was left on the poor-house steps a little mite of\na baby, and Miss Rogers took a liking to me, so I've been there ever\nsince. But she is dead now, and I take care of myself.\"\n\n\"How interesting! It is like Arabella Montgomery in the 'Gypsy's Child.'\nDid you ever read that sweet story?\" asked Rose, who was fond of tales\nof found-lings, and had read many.\n\n\"I don't have any books to read, and all the spare time I get I run off\ninto the woods; that rests me better than stories,\" answered Phebe, as\nshe finished one job and began on another.\n\nRose watched her as she got out a great pan of beans to look over, and\nwondered how it would seem to have life all work and no play. Presently\nPhebe seemed to think it was her turn to ask questions, and said,\nwistfully,\n\n\"You've had lots of schooling, I suppose?\"\n\n\"Oh, dear me, yes! I've been at boarding school nearly a year, and I'm\nalmost dead with lessons. The more I got, the more Miss Power gave me,\nand I was so miserable that I 'most cried my eyes out. Papa never gave\nme hard things to do, and he always taught me so pleasantly I loved to\nstudy. Oh, we were so happy and so fond of one another! But now he is\ngone, and I am left all alone.\"\n\nThe tear that would not come when Rose sat waiting for it came now of\nits own accord two of them in fact and rolled down her cheeks, telling\nthe tale of love and sorrow better than any words could do it.\n\nFor a minute there was no sound in the kitchen but the little daughter's\nsobbing and the sympathetic patter of the rain. Phebe stopped rattling\nher beans from one pan to another, and her eyes were full of pity as\nthey rested on the curly head bent down on Rose's knee, for she saw that\nthe heart under the pretty locket ached with its loss, and the dainty\napron was used to dry sadder tears than any she had ever shed.\n\nSomehow, she felt more contented with her brown calico gown and\nblue-checked pinafore; envy changed to compassion; and if she had dared\nshe would have gone and hugged her afflicted guest.\n\nFearing that might not be considered proper, she said, in her cheery\nvoice,\n\n\"I'm sure you ain't all alone with such a lot of folks belonging to\nyou, and all so rich and clever. You'll be petted to pieces, Debby says,\nbecause you are the only girl in the family.\"\n\nPhebe's last words made Rose smile in spite of her tears, and she looked\nout from behind her apron with an April face, saying in a tone of comic\ndistress,\n\n\"That's one of my troubles! I've got six aunts, and they all want\nme, and I don't know any of them very well. Papa named this place the\nAunt-hill, and now I see why.\"\n\nPhebe laughed with her as she said encouragingly,\n\n\"Everyone calls it so, and it's a real good name, for all the Mrs.\nCampbells live handy by, and keep coming up to see the old ladies.\"\n\n\"I could stand the aunts, but there are dozens of cousins, dreadful\nboys all of them, and I detest boys! Some of them came to see me last\nWednesday, but I was lying down, and when auntie came to call me I went\nunder the quilt and pretended to be asleep. I shall have to see them\nsome time, but I do dread it so.\" And Rose gave a shudder, for, having\nlived alone with her invalid father, she knew nothing of boys, and\nconsidered them a species of wild animal.\n\n\"Oh! I guess you'll like 'em. I've seen 'em flying round when they\ncome over from the Point, sometimes in their boats and sometimes\non horseback. If you like boats and horses, you'll enjoy yourself\nfirst-rate.\"\n\n\"But I don't! I'm afraid of horses, and boats make me ill, and I hate\nboys!\" And poor Rose wrung her hands at the awful prospect before her.\nOne of these horrors alone she could have borne, but all together were\ntoo much for her, and she began to think of a speedy return to the\ndetested school.\n\nPhebe laughed at her woe till the beans danced in the pan, but tried to\ncomfort her by suggesting a means of relief.\n\n\"Perhaps your uncle will take you away where there ain't any boys. Debby\nsays he is a real kind man, and always bring heaps of nice things when\nhe comes.\"\n\n\"Yes, but you see that is another trouble, for I don't know Uncle Alec\nat all. He hardly ever came to see us, though he sent me pretty things\nvery often. Now I belong to him, and shall have to mind him, till I am\neighteen. I may not like him a bit, and I fret about it all the time.\"\n\n\"Well, I wouldn't borrow trouble, but have a real good time. I'm sure I\nshould think I was in clover if I had folks and money, and nothing to\ndo but enjoy myself,\" began Phebe, but got no further, for a sudden rush\nand tumble outside made them both jump.\n\n\"It's thunder,\" said Phebe.\n\n\"It's a circus!\" cried Rose, who from her elevated perch had caught\nglimpses of a gay cart of some sort and several ponies with flying manes\nand tails.\n\nThe sound died away, and the girls were about to continue their\nconfidences when old Debby appeared, looking rather cross and sleepy\nafter her nap.\n\n\"You are wanted in the parlor, Miss Rose.\"\n\n\"Has anybody come?\"\n\n\"Little girls shouldn't ask questions, but do as they are bid,\" was all\nDebby would answer.\n\n\"I do hope it isn't Aunt Myra; she always scares me out of my wits\nasking how my cough is, and groaning over me as if I was going to die,\"\nsaid Rose, preparing to retire the way she came, for the slide, being\ncut for the admission of bouncing Christmas turkeys and puddings, was\nplenty large enough for a slender girl.\n\n\"Guess you'll wish it was Aunt Myra when you see who has come. Don't\nnever let me catch you coming into my kitchen that way again, or I'll\nshut you up in the big b'iler,\" growled Debby, who thought it her duty\nto snub children on all occasions.\n\n\n\nChapter 2--The Clan\n\nRose scrambled into the china-closet as rapidly as possible, and there\nrefreshed herself by making faces at Debby, while she settled her\nplumage and screwed up her courage. Then she crept softly down the hall\nand peeped into the parlor. No one appeared, and all was so still she\nfelt sure the company was upstairs. So she skipped boldly through the\nhalf-open folding-doors, to behold on the other side a sight that nearly\ntook her breath away.\n\nSeven boys stood in a row all ages, all sizes, all yellow-haired and\nblue-eyed, all in full Scotch costume, and all smiling, nodding, and\nsaying as with one voice, \"How are you, cousin?\"\n\nRose gave a little gasp, and looked wildly about her as if ready to fly,\nfor fear magnified the seven and the room seemed full of boys. Before\nshe could run, however, the tallest lad stepped out of the line, saying\npleasantly,\n\n\"Don't be frightened. This is the Clan come to welcome you; and I'm the\nchief, Archie, at your service.\"\n\nHe held out his hand as he spoke, and Rose timidly put her own into a\nbrown paw, which closed over the white morsel and held it as the chief\ncontinued his introductions.\n\n\"We came in full rig, for we always turn out in style on grand\noccasions. Hope you like it. Now I'll tell you who these chaps are, and\nthen we shall be all right. This big one is Prince Charlie, Aunt Clara's\nboy. She has but one, so he is an extra good one. This old fellow is\nMac, the bookworm, called Worm for short. This sweet creature is Steve\nthe Dandy. Look at his gloves and top-knot, if you please. They are Aunt\nJane's lads, and a precious pair you'd better believe. These are the\nBrats, my brothers, Geordie and Will, and Jamie the Baby. Now, my men,\nstep out and show your manners.\"\n\nAt this command, to Rose's great dismay, six more hands were offered,\nand it was evident that she was expected to shake them all. It was a\ntrying moment to the bashful child; but, remembering that they were her\nkinsmen come to welcome her, she tried her best to return the greeting\ncordially.\n\nThis impressive ceremony being over, the Clan broke ranks, and both\nrooms instantly appeared to be pervaded with boys. Rose hastily retired\nto the shelter of a big chair and sat there watching the invaders and\nwondering when her aunt would come and rescue her.\n\nAs if bound to do their duty manfully, yet rather oppressed by it, each\nlad paused beside her chair in his wanderings, made a brief remark,\nreceived a still briefer answer, and then sheered off with a relieved\nexpression.\n\nArchie came first, and, leaning over the chair-back, observed in a\npaternal tone,\n\n\"I'm glad you've come, cousin, and I hope you'll find the Aunt-hill\npretty jolly.\"\n\n\"I think I shall.\"\n\nMac shook his hair out of his eyes, stumbled over a stool, and asked\nabruptly,\n\n\"Did you bring any books with you?\"\n\n\"Four boxes full. They are in the library.\"\n\nMac vanished from the room, and Steve, striking an attitude which\ndisplayed his costume effectively, said with an affable smile,\n\n\"We were sorry not to see you last Wednesday. I hope your cold is\nbetter.\"\n\n\"Yes, thank you.\" And a smile began to dimple about Rose's mouth, as she\nremembered her retreat under the bed-cover.\n\nFeeling that he had been received with distinguished marks of attention,\nSteve strolled away with his topknot higher than ever, and Prince\nCharlie pranced across the room, saying in a free and easy tone,\n\n\"Mamma sent her love and hopes you will be well enough to come over for\na day next week. It must be desperately dull here for a little thing\nlike you.\"\n\n\"I'm thirteen and a half, though I do look small,\" cried Rose,\nforgetting her shyness in indignation at this insult to her newly\nacquired teens.\n\n\"Beg pardon, ma'am; never should have guessed it.\" And Charlie went off\nwith a laugh, glad to have struck a spark out of his meek cousin.\n\nGeordie and Will came together, two sturdy eleven and twelve year\nolders, and, fixing their round blue eyes on Rose, fired off a question\napiece, as if it was a shooting match and she the target.\n\n\"Did you bring your monkey?\"\n\n\"No; he is dead.\"\n\n\"Are you going to have a boat?\"\n\n\"I hope not.\"\n\nHere the two, with a right-about-face movement, abruptly marched away,\nand little Jamie demanded with childish frankness,\n\n\"Did you bring me anything nice?\"\n\n\"Yes, lots of candy,\" answered Rose, whereupon Jamie ascended into her\nlap with a sounding kiss and the announcement that he liked her very\nmuch.\n\nThis proceeding rather startled Rose, for the other lads looked and\nlaughed, and in her confusion she said hastily to the young usurper,\n\n\"Did you see the circus go by?\"\n\n\"When? Where?\" cried all the boys in great excitement at once.\n\n\"Just before you came. At least I thought it was a circus, for I saw a\nred and black sort of cart and ever so many little ponies, and--\"\n\nShe got no farther, for a general shout made her pause suddenly, as\nArchie explained the joke by saying in the middle of his laugh,\n\n\"It was our new dog-cart and the Shetland ponies. You'll never hear the\nlast of your circus, cousin.\"\n\n\"But there were so many, and they went so fast, and the cart was so very\nred,\" began Rose, trying to explain her mistake.\n\n\"Come and see them all!\" cried the Prince. And before she knew what was\nhappening, she was borne away to the barn and tumultuously introduced to\nthree shaggy ponies and the gay new dog-cart.\n\nShe had never visited these regions before, and had her doubts as to the\npropriety of her being there now, but when she suggested that \"Auntie\nmight not like it,\" there was a general cry of,\n\n\"She told us to amuse you, and we can do it ever so much better out here\nthan poking round in the house.\"\n\n\"I'm afraid I shall get cold without my sacque,\" began Rose, who wanted\nto stay, but felt rather out of her element.\n\n\"No, you won't! We'll fix you,\" cried the lads, as one clapped his cap\non her head, another tied a rough jacket round her neck by the sleeves,\na third neatly smothered her in a carriage blanket, and a fourth threw\nopen the door of the old barouche that stood there, saying with a\nflourish,\n\n\"Step in, ma'am, and make yourself comfortable while we show you some\nfun.\"\n\nSo Rose sat in state enjoying herself very much, for the lads proceeded\nto dance a Highland Fling with a spirit and skill that made her clap her\nhands and laugh as she had not done for weeks.\n\n\"How is that, my lassie?\" asked the Prince, coming up all flushed and\nbreathless when the ballet was over.\n\n\"It was splendid! I never went to the theatre but once, and the dancing\nwas not half so pretty as this. What clever boys you must be!\" said\nRose, smiling upon her kinsmen like a little queen upon her subjects.\n\n\"Ah, we're a fine lot, and that is only the beginning of our larks. We\nhaven't got the pipes here or we'd,\n\n    'Sing for you, play for you\n     A dulcy melody,'\"\n\nanswered Charlie, looking much elated at her praise.\n\n\"I did not know we were Scotch; papa never said anything about it, or\nseemed to care about Scotland, except to have me sing the old ballads,\"\nsaid Rose, beginning to feel as if she had left America behind her\nsomewhere.\n\n\"Neither did we till lately. We've been reading Scott's novels, and all\nof a sudden we remembered that our grandfather was a Scotchman. So we\nhunted up the old stories, got a bagpipe, put on our plaids, and went\nin, heart and soul, for the glory of the Clan. We've been at it some\ntime now, and it's great fun. Our people like it, and I think we are a\npretty canny set.\"\n\nArchie said this from the other coach-step, where he had perched,\nwhile the rest climbed up before and behind to join in the chat as they\nrested.\n\n\"I'm Fitzjames and he's Roderick Dhu, and we'll give you the broadsword\ncombat some day. It's a great thing, you'd better believe,\" added the\nPrince.\n\n\"Yes, and you should hear Steve play the pipes. He makes 'em skirl like\na good one,\" cried Will from the box, eager to air the accomplishments\nof his race.\n\n\"Mac's the fellow to hunt up the old stories and tell us how to dress\nright, and pick out rousing bits for us to speak and sing,\" put in\nGeordie, saying a good word for the absent Worm.\n\n\"And what do you and Will do?\" asked Rose of Jamie, who sat beside her\nas if bound to keep her in sight till the promised gift had been handed\nover.\n\n\"Oh, I'm the little foot-page, and do errands, and Will and Geordie are\nthe troops when we march, and the stags when we hunt, and the traitors\nwhen we want to cut any heads off.\"\n\n\"They are very obliging, I'm sure,\" said Rose, whereat the \"utility men\"\nbeamed with modest pride and resolved to enact Wallace and Montrose as\nsoon as possible for their cousin's special benefit.\n\n\"Let's have a game of tag,\" cried the Prince, swinging himself up to a\nbeam with a sounding slap on Stevie's shoulder.\n\nRegardless of his gloves, Dandy tore after him, and the rest swarmed in\nevery direction as if bent on breaking their necks and dislocating their\njoints as rapidly as possible.\n\nIt was a new and astonishing spectacle to Rose, fresh from a prim\nboarding-school, and she watched the active lads with breathless\ninterest, thinking their antics far superior to those of Mops, the dear\ndeparted monkey.\n\nWill had just covered himself with glory by pitching off a high loft\nhead first and coming up all right, when Phebe appeared with a cloak,\nhood, and rubbers, also a message from Aunt Plenty that \"Miss Rose was\nto come in directly.\"\n\n\"All right; we'll bring her!\" answered Archie, issuing some mysterious\norder, which was so promptly obeyed that, before Rose could get out of\nthe carriage, the boys had caught hold of the pole and rattled her out\nof the barn, round the oval and up to the front door with a cheer that\nbrought two caps to an upper window, and caused Debby to cry aloud from\nthe back porch,\n\n\"Them harum-scarum boys will certainly be the death of that delicate\nlittle creter!\"\n\nBut the \"delicate little creter\" seemed all the better for her trip, and\nran up the steps looking rosy, gay, and dishevelled, to be received with\nlamentation by Aunt Plenty, who begged her to go and lie down at once.\n\n\"Oh, please don't! We have come to tea with our cousin, and we'll be as\ngood as gold if you'll let us stay, auntie,\" clamoured the boys, who\nnot only approved of \"our cousin\" but had no mind to lose their tea, for\nAunt Plenty's name but feebly expressed her bountiful nature.\n\n\"Well, dears, you can; only be quiet, and let Rose go and take her iron\nand be made tidy, and then we will see what we can find for supper,\"\nsaid the old lady as she trotted away, followed by a volley of\ndirections for the approaching feast.\n\n\"Marmalade for me, auntie.\"\n\n\"Plenty of plum-cake, please.\"\n\n\"Tell Debby to trot out the baked pears.\"\n\n\"I'm your man for lemon-pie, ma'am.\"\n\n\"Do have fritters; Rose will like 'em.\"\n\n\"She'd rather have tarts, I know.\"\n\nWhen Rose came down, fifteen minutes later, with every curl smoothed and\nher most beruffled apron on, she found the boys loafing about the long\nhall, and paused on the half-way landing to take an observation, for\ntill now she had not really examined her new-found cousins.\n\nThere was a strong family resemblance among them, though some of the\nyellow heads were darker than others, some of the cheeks brown instead\nof rosy, and the ages varied all the way from sixteen-year-old Archie\nto Jamie, who was ten years younger. None of them were especially\ncomely but the Prince, yet all were hearty, happy-looking lads, and Rose\ndecided that boys were not as dreadful as she had expected to find them.\n\nThey were all so characteristically employed that she could not help\nsmiling as she looked. Archie and Charlie, evidently great cronies, were\npacing up and down, shoulder to shoulder, whistling \"Bonnie Dundee\"; Mac\nwas reading in a corner, with his book close to his near-sighted eyes;\nDandy was arranging his hair before the oval glass in the hat-stand;\nGeordie and Will investigating the internal economy of the moon-faced\nclock; and Jamie lay kicking up his heels on the mat at the foot of the\nstairs, bent on demanding his sweeties the instant Rose appeared.\n\nShe guessed his intention, and forestalled his demand by dropping a\nhandful of sugar-plums down upon him.\n\nAt his cry of rapture the other lads looked up and smiled involuntarily,\nfor the little kinswoman standing there above was a winsome sight with\nher shy, soft eyes, bright hair, and laughing face. The black frock\nreminded them of her loss, and filled the boyish hearts with a kindly\ndesire to be good to \"our cousin,\" who had no longer any home but this.\n\n\"There she is, as fine as you please,\" cried Steve, kissing his hand to\nher.\n\n\"Come on, Missy; tea is ready,\" added the Prince encouragingly.\n\n\"I shall take her in.\" And Archie offered his arm with great dignity, an\nhonour that made Rose turn as red as a cherry and long to run upstairs\nagain.\n\nIt was a merry supper, and the two elder boys added much to the fun by\ntormenting the rest with dark hints of some interesting event which was\nabout to occur. Something uncommonly fine, they declared it was, but\nenveloped in the deepest mystery for the present.\n\n\"Did I ever see it?\" asked Jamie.\n\n\"Not to remember it; but Mac and Steve have, and liked it immensely,\"\nanswered Archie, thereby causing the two mentioned to neglect Debby's\ndelectable fritters for several minutes, while they cudgelled their\nbrains.\n\n\"Who will have it first?\" asked Will, with his mouth full of marmalade.\n\n\"Aunt Plenty, I guess.\"\n\n\"When will she have it?\" demanded Geordie, bouncing in his seat with\nimpatience.\n\n\"Sometime on Monday.\"\n\n\"Heart alive! what is the boy talking about?\" cried the old lady from\nbehind the tall urn, which left little to be seen but the topmost bow of\nher cap.\n\n\"Doesn't auntie know?\" asked a chorus of voices.\n\n\"No; and that's the best of the joke, for she is desperately fond of\nit.\"\n\n\"What colour is it?\" asked Rose, joining in the fun.\n\n\"Blue and brown.\"\n\n\"Is it good to eat?\" asked Jamie.\n\n\"Some people think so, but I shouldn't like to try it,\" answered\nCharlie, laughing so he split his tea.\n\n\"Who does it belong to?\" put in Steve.\n\nArchie and the Prince stared at one another rather blankly for a minute,\nthen Archie answered with a twinkle of the eye that made Charlie explode\nagain,\n\n\"To Grandfather Campbell.\"\n\nThis was a poser, and they gave up the puzzle, though Jamie confided\nto Rose that he did not think he could live till Monday without knowing\nwhat this remarkable thing was.\n\nSoon after tea the Clan departed, singing \"All the blue bonnets are over\nthe border,\" at the tops of their voices.\n\n\"Well, dear, how do you like your cousins?\" asked Aunt Plenty, as the\nlast pony frisked round the corner and the din died away.\n\n\"Pretty well, ma'am; but I like Phebe better.\" An answer which caused\nAunt Plenty to hold up her hands in despair and trot away to tell sister\nPeace that she never should understand that child, and it was a mercy\nAlec was coming soon to take the responsibility off their hands.\n\nFatigued by the unusual exertions of the afternoon, Rose curled herself\nup in the sofa corner to rest and think about the great mystery, little\nguessing that she was to know it first of all.\n\nRight in the middle of her meditations she fell asleep and dreamed she\nwas at home again in her own little bed. She seemed to wake and see her\nfather bending over her; to hear him say, \"My little Rose\"; to answer,\n\"Yes, papa\"; and then to feel him take her in his arms and kiss her\ntenderly. So sweet, so real was the dream, that she started up with a\ncry of joy to find herself in the arms of a brown, bearded man, who held\nher close, and whispered in a voice so like her father's that she clung\nto him involuntarily,\n\n\"This is my little girl, and I am Uncle Alec.\"\n\n\n\nChapter 3--Uncles\n\nWhen Rose woke next morning, she was not sure whether she had dreamed\nwhat occurred the night before, or it had actually happened. So she\nhopped up and dressed, although it was an hour earlier than she usually\nrose, for she could not sleep any more, being possessed with a strong\ndesire to slip down and see if the big portmanteau and packing cases\nwere really in the hall. She seemed to remember tumbling over them when\nshe went to bed, for the aunts had sent her off very punctually, because\nthey wanted their pet nephew all to themselves.\n\nThe sun was shining, and Rose opened her window to let in the soft May\nair fresh from the sea. As she leaned over her little balcony, watching\nan early bird get the worm, and wondering how she should like Uncle\nAlec, she saw a man leap the garden wall and come whistling up the path.\nAt first she thought it was some trespasser, but a second look showed\nher that it was her uncle returning from an early dip into the sea. She\nhad hardly dared to look at him the night before, because whenever she\ntried to do so she always found a pair of keen blue eyes looking at her.\nNow she could take a good stare at him as he lingered along, looking\nabout him as if glad to see the old place again.\n\nA brown, breezy man, in a blue jacket, with no hat on the curly head,\nwhich he shook now and then like a water dog; broad-shouldered, alert in\nhis motions, and with a general air of strength and stability about him\nwhich pleased Rose, though she could not explain the feeling of comfort\nit gave her. She had just said to herself, with a sense of relief, \"I\nguess I shall like him, though he looks as if he made people mind,\" when\nhe lifted his eyes to examine the budding horse-chestnut overhead,\nand saw the eager face peering down at him. He waved his hand to her,\nnodded, and called out in a bluff, cheery voice,\n\n\"You are on deck early, little niece.\"\n\n\"I got up to see if you had really come, uncle.\"\n\n\"Did you? Well, come down here and make sure of it.\"\n\n\"I'm not allowed to go out before breakfast, sir.\"\n\n\"Oh, indeed!\" with a shrug. \"Then I'll come aboard and salute,\" he\nadded; and, to Rose's great amazement, Uncle Alec went up one of the\npillars of the back piazza hand over hand, stepped across the roof,\nand swung himself into her balcony, saying, as he landed on the wide\nbalustrade: \"Have you any doubts about me now, ma'am?\"\n\nRose was so taken aback, she could only answer with a smile as she went\nto meet him.\n\n\"How does my girl do this morning?\" he asked, taking the little cold\nhand she gave him in both his big warm ones.\n\n\"Pretty well, thank you, sir.\"\n\n\"Ah, but it should be very well. Why isn't it?\"\n\n\"I always wake up with a headache, and feel tired.\"\n\n\"Don't you sleep well?\"\n\n\"I lie awake a long time, and then I dream, and my sleep does not seem\nto rest me much.\"\n\n\"What do you do all day?\"\n\n\"Oh, I read, and sew a little, and take naps, and sit with auntie.\"\n\n\"No running about out of doors, or house-work, or riding, hey?\"\n\n\"Aunt Plenty says I'm not strong enough for much exercise. I drive out\nwith her sometimes, but I don't care for it.\"\n\n\"I'm not surprised at that,\" said Uncle Alec, half to himself, adding,\nin his quick way: \"Who have you had to play with?\"\n\n\"No one but Ariadne Blish, and she was such a goose I couldn't bear\nher. The boys came yesterday, and seemed rather nice; but, of course, I\ncouldn't play with them.\"\n\n\"Why not?\"\n\n\"I'm too old to play with boys.\"\n\n\"Not a bit of it; that's just what you need, for you've been\nmolly-coddled too much. They are good lads, and you'll be mixed up with\nthem more or less for years to come, so you may as well be friends and\nplaymates at once. I will look you up some girls also, if I can find a\nsensible one who is not spoilt by her nonsensical education.\"\n\n\"Phebe is sensible, I'm sure, and I like her, though I only saw her\nyesterday,\" cried Rose, waking up suddenly.\n\n\"And who is Phebe, if you please?\"\n\nRose eagerly told all she knew, and Uncle Alec listened, with an odd\nsmile lurking about his mouth, though his eyes were quite sober as he\nwatched the face before him.\n\n\"I'm glad to see that you are not aristocratic in your tastes, but I\ndon't quite make out why you like this young lady from the poor-house.\"\n\n\"You may laugh at me, but I do. I can't tell why, only she seems so\nhappy and busy, and sings so beautifully, and is strong enough to scrub\nand sweep, and hasn't any troubles to plague her,\" said Rose, making a\nfunny jumble of reasons in her efforts to explain.\n\n\"How do you know that?\"\n\n\"Oh, I was telling her about mine, and asked if she had any, and she\nsaid, 'No, only I'd like to go to school, and I mean to some day.\"\n\n\"So she doesn't call desertion, poverty, and hard work, troubles? She's\na brave little girl, and I shall be proud to know her.\" And Uncle Alec\ngave an approving nod, that made Rose wish she had been the one to earn\nit.\n\n\"But what are these troubles of yours, child?\" he asked, after a minute\nof silence.\n\n\"Please don't ask me, uncle.\"\n\n\"Can't you tell them to me as well as to Phebe?\"\n\nSomething in his tone made Rose feel that it would be better to speak\nout and be done with it, so she answered, with sudden colour and averted\neyes,\n\n\"The greatest one was losing dear papa.\"\n\nAs she said that, Uncle Alec's arm came gently round her, and he drew\nher to him, saying, in the voice so like papa's,\n\n\"That is a trouble which I cannot cure, my child; but I shall try to\nmake you feel it less. What else, dear?\"\n\n\"I am so tired and poorly all the time, I can't do anything I want to,\nand it makes me cross,\" sighed Rose, rubbing the aching head like a\nfretful child.\n\n\"That we can cure and we will,\" said her uncle, with a decided nod\nthat made the curls bob on his head, to that Rose saw the gray ones\nunderneath the brown.\n\n\"Aunt Myra says I have no constitution, and never shall be strong,\"\nobserved Rose, in a pensive tone, as if it was rather a nice thing to be\nan invalid.\n\n\"Aunt Myra is a ahem! an excellent woman, but it is her hobby to believe\nthat everyone is tottering on the brink of the grave; and, upon my life,\nI believe she is offended if people don't fall into it! We will show her\nhow to make constitutions and turn pale-faced little ghosts into rosy,\nhearty girls. That's my business, you know,\" he added, more quietly, for\nhis sudden outburst had rather startled Rose.\n\n\"I had forgotten you were a doctor. I'm glad of it, for I do want to be\nwell, only I hope you won't give me much medicine, for I've taken quarts\nalready, and it does me no good.\"\n\nAs she spoke, Rose pointed to a little table just inside the window, on\nwhich appeared a regiment of bottles.\n\n\"Ah, ha! Now we'll see what mischief these blessed women have been at.\"\nAnd, making a long arm, Dr. Alec set the bottles on the wide railing\nbefore him, examined each carefully, smiled over some, frowned over\nothers, and said, as he put down the last: \"Now I'll show you the best\nway to take these messes.\" And, as quick as a flash, he sent one after\nanother smashing down into the posy-beds below.\n\n\"But Aunt Plenty won't like it; and Aunt Myra will be angry, for she\nsent most of them!\" cried Rose, half frightened and half pleased at such\nenergetic measures.\n\n\"You are my patient now, and I'll take the responsibility. My way of\ngiving physic is evidently the best, for you look better already,\" he\nsaid, laughing so infectiously that Rose followed suit, saying saucily,\n\n\"If I don't like your medicines any better than those, I shall throw\nthem into the garden, and then what will you do?\"\n\n\"When I prescribe such rubbish, I'll give you leave to pitch it\noverboard as soon as you like. Now what is the next trouble?\"\n\n\"I hoped you would forget to ask.\"\n\n\"But how can I help you if I don't know them? Come, let us have No. 3.\"\n\n\"It is very wrong, I suppose, but I do sometimes wish I had not quite so\nmany aunts. They are all very good to me, and I want to please them; but\nthey are so different, I feel sort of pulled to pieces among them,\" said\nRose, trying to express the emotions of a stray chicken with six hens\nall clucking over it at once.\n\nUncle Alec threw back his head and laughed like a boy, for he could\nentirely understand how the good ladies had each put in her oar and\ntried to paddle her own way, to the great disturbance of the waters and\nthe entire bewilderment of poor Rose.\n\n\"I intend to try a course of uncles now, and see how that suits your\nconstitution. I'm going to have you all to myself, and no one is to give\na word of advice unless I ask it. There is no other way to keep order\naboard, and I am captain of this little craft, for a time at least. What\ncomes next?\"\n\nBut Rose stuck there, and grew so red, her uncle guessed what that\ntrouble was.\n\n\"I don't think I can tell this one. It wouldn't be polite, and I feel\npretty sure that it isn't going to be a trouble any more.\"\n\nAs she blushed and stammered over these words, Dr. Alec turned his eyes\naway to the distant sea, and said so seriously, so tenderly, that she\nfelt every word and long remembered them,\n\n\"My child, I don't expect you to love and trust me all at once, but I do\nwant you to believe that I shall give my whole heart to this new duty;\nand if I make mistakes, as I probably shall, no one will grieve over\nthem more bitterly than I. It is my fault that I am a stranger to you,\nwhen I want to be your best friend. That is one of my mistakes, and I\nnever repented it more deeply than I do now. Your father and I had a\ntrouble once, and I thought I could never forgive him; so I kept away\nfor years. Thank God, we made it all up the last time I saw him, and he\ntold me then, that if he was forced to leave her he should bequeath his\nlittle girl to me as a token of his love. I can't fill his place, but\nI shall try to be a father to her; and if she learns to love me half as\nwell as she did the good one she has lost, I shall be a proud and happy\nman. Will she believe this and try?\"\n\nSomething in Uncle Alec's face touched Rose to the heart, and when he\nheld out his hand with that anxious troubled look in his eyes, she was\nmoved to put up her innocent lips and seal the contract with a confiding\nkiss. The strong arm held her close a minute, and she felt the broad\nchest heave once as if with a great sigh of relief; but not a word was\nspoken till a tap at the door made both start.\n\nRose popped her head through the window to say \"come in,\" while Dr. Alec\nhastily rubbed the sleeve of his jacket across his eyes and began to\nwhistle again.\n\nPhebe appeared with a cup of coffee.\n\n\"Debby told me to bring this and help you get up,\" she said, opening her\nblack eyes wide, as if she wondered how on earth \"the sailor man\" got\nthere.\n\n\"I'm all dressed, so I don't need any help. I hope that is good and\nstrong,\" added Rose, eyeing the steaming cup with an eager look.\n\nBut she did not get it, for a brown hand took possession of it as her\nuncle said quickly,\n\n\"Hold hard, my lass, and let me overhaul that dose before you take it.\nDo you drink all this strong coffee every morning, Rose?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir, and I like it. Auntie says it 'tones' me up, and I always\nfeel better after it.\"\n\n\"This accounts for the sleepless nights, the flutter your heart gets\ninto at the least start, and this is why that cheek of yours is pale\nyellow instead of rosy red. No more coffee for you, my dear, and by and\nby you'll see that I am right. Any new milk downstairs, Phebe?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir, plenty right in from the barn.\"\n\n\"That's the drink for my patient. Go bring me a pitcherful, and another\ncup; I want a draught myself. This won't hurt the honeysuckles, for they\nhave no nerves to speak of.\" And, to Rose's great discomfort, the coffee\nwent after the medicine.\n\nDr. Alec saw the injured look she put on, but took no notice, and\npresently banished it by saying pleasantly,\n\n\"I've got a capital little cup among my traps, and I'll give it to you\nto drink your milk in, as it is made of wood that is supposed to improve\nwhatever is put into it something like a quassia cup. That reminds me;\none of the boxes Phebe wanted to lug upstairs last night is for you.\nKnowing that I was coming home to find a ready-made daughter, I picked\nup all sorts of odd and pretty trifles along the way, hoping she would\nbe able to find something she liked among them all. Early to-morrow\nwe'll have a grand rummage. Here's our milk! I propose the health of\nMiss Rose Campbell and drink it with all my heart.\"\n\nIt was impossible for Rose to pout with the prospect of a delightful\nboxful of gifts dancing before her eyes; so, in spite of herself, she\nsmiled as she drank her own health, and found that fresh milk was not a\nhard dose to take.\n\n\"Now I must be off, before I am caught again with my wig in a toss,\"\nsaid Dr. Alec, preparing to descend the way he came.\n\n\"Do you always go in and out like a cat, uncle?\" asked Rose, much amused\nat his odd ways.\n\n\"I used to sneak out of my window when I was a boy, so I need not\ndisturb the aunts, and now I rather like it, for it's the shortest road,\nand it keeps me limber when I have no rigging to climb. Good-bye till\nbreakfast.\" And away he went down the water-spout, over the roof, and\nvanished among the budding honey-suckles below.\n\n\"Ain't he a funny guardeen?\" exclaimed Phebe, as she went off with the\ncups.\n\n\"He is a very kind one, I think,\" answered Rose, following, to prowl\nround the big boxes and try to guess which was hers.\n\nWhen her uncle appeared at sound of the bell, he found her surveying\nwith an anxious face a new dish that smoked upon the table.\n\n\"Got a fresh trouble, Rosy?\" he asked, stroking her smooth head.\n\n\"Uncle, are you going to make me eat oatmeal?\" asked Rose, in a tragic\ntone.\n\n\"Don't you like it?\"\n\n\"I de-test it!\" answered Rose, with all the emphasis which a turned-up\nnose, a shudder, and a groan could give to the three words.\n\n\"You are not a true Scotchwoman, if you don't like the 'parritch.' It's\na pity, for I made it myself, and thought we'd have such a good time\nwith all that cream to float it in. Well, never mind.\" And he sat down\nwith a disappointed air.\n\nRose had made up her mind to be obstinate about it, because she did\nheartily \"detest\" the dish; but as Uncle Alec did not attempt to make\nher obey, she suddenly changed her mind and thought she would.\n\n\"I'll try to eat it to please you, uncle; but people are always saying\nhow wholesome it is, and that makes me hate it,\" she said, half-ashamed\nat her silly excuse.\n\n\"I do want you to like it, because I wish my girl to be as well and\nstrong as Jessie's boys, who are brought up on this in the good old\nfashion. No hot bread and fried stuff for them, and they are the biggest\nand bonniest lads of the lot. Bless you, auntie, and good morning!\"\n\nDr. Alec turned to greet the old lady, and, with a firm resolve to eat\nor die in the attempt, Rose sat down.\n\nIn five minutes she forgot what she was eating, so interested was she in\nthe chat that went on. It amused her very much to hear Aunt Plenty call\nher forty-year-old nephew \"my dear boy\"; and Uncle Alec was so full\nof lively gossip about all creation in general, and the Aunt-hill in\nparticular, that the detested porridge vanished without a murmur.\n\n\"You will go to church with us, I hope, Alec, if you are not too tired,\"\nsaid the old lady, when breakfast was over.\n\n\"I came all the way from Calcutta for that express purpose, ma'am. Only\nI must send the sisters word of my arrival, for they don't expect me\ntill to-morrow, you know, and there will be a row in church if those\nboys see me without warning.\"\n\n\"I'll send Ben up the hill, and you can step over to Myra's yourself; it\nwill please her, and you will have plenty of time.\"\n\nDr. Alec was off at once, and they saw no more of him till the old\nbarouche was at the door, and Aunt Plenty just rustling downstairs in\nher Sunday best, with Rose like a little black shadow behind her.\n\nAway they drove in state, and all the way Uncle Alec's hat was more off\nhis head than on, for everyone they met smiled and bowed, and gave him\nas blithe a greeting as the day permitted.\n\nIt was evident that the warning had been a wise one, for, in spite of\ntime and place, the lads were in such a ferment that their elders sat\nin momentary dread of an unseemly outbreak somewhere. It was simply\nimpossible to keep those fourteen eyes off Uncle Alec, and the dreadful\nthings that were done during sermon-time will hardly be believed.\n\nRose dared not look up after a while, for these bad boys vented their\nemotions upon her till she was ready to laugh and cry with mingled\namusement and vexation. Charlie winked rapturously at her behind his\nmother's fan; Mac openly pointed to the tall figure beside her; Jamie\nstared fixedly over the back of his pew, till Rose thought his round\neyes would drop out of his head; George fell over a stool and dropped\nthree books in his excitement; Will drew sailors and Chinamen on his\nclean cuffs, and displayed them, to Rose's great tribulation; Steve\nnearly upset the whole party by burning his nose with salts, as he\npretended to be overcome by his joy; even dignified Archie disgraced\nhimself by writing in his hymn book, \"Isn't he blue and brown?\" and\npassing it politely to Rose.\n\nHer only salvation was trying to fix her attention upon Uncle Mac\na portly, placid gentleman, who seemed entirely unconscious of the\niniquities of the Clan, and dozed peacefully in his pew corner. This was\nthe only uncle Rose had met for years, for Uncle Jem and Uncle Steve,\nthe husbands of Aunt Jessie and Aunt Clara, were at sea, and Aunt Myra\nwas a widow. Uncle Mac was a merchant, very rich and busy, and as quiet\nas a mouse at home, for he was in such a minority among the women folk\nhe dared not open his lips, and let his wife rule undisturbed.\n\nRose liked the big, kindly, silent man who came to her when papa died,\nwas always sending her splendid boxes of goodies at school, and often\ninvited her into his great warehouse, full of teas and spices, wines and\nall sorts of foreign fruits, there to eat and carry away whatever she\nliked. She had secretly regretted that he was not to be her guardian;\nbut since she had seen Uncle Alec she felt better about it, for she did\nnot particularly admire Aunt Jane.\n\nWhen church was over, Dr. Alec got into the porch as quickly as\npossible, and there the young bears had a hug all round, while the\nsisters shook hands and welcomed him with bright faces and glad hearts.\nRose was nearly crushed flat behind a door in that dangerous passage\nfrom pew to porch; but Uncle Mac rescued her, and put her into the\ncarriage for safe keeping.\n\n\"Now, girls, I want you to come and dine with Alec; Mac also, of course.\nBut I cannot ask the boys, for we did not expect this dear fellow till\ntomorrow, you know, so I made no preparations. Send the lads home, and\nlet them wait till Monday, for really I was shocked at their behaviour\nin church,\" said Aunt Plenty, as she followed Rose.\n\nIn any other place the defrauded boys would have set up a howl; as it\nwas, they growled and protested till Dr. Alec settled the matter by\nsaying,\n\n\"Never mind, old chaps, I'll make it up to you to-morrow, if you sheer\noff quietly; if you don't, not a blessed thing shall you have out of my\nbig boxes.\"\n\n\n\nChapter 4--Aunts\n\nAll dinner-time Rose felt that she was going to be talked about, and\nafterward she was sure of it, for Aunt Plenty whispered to her as they\nwent into the parlour,\n\n\"Run up and sit awhile with Sister Peace, my dear. She likes to have you\nread while she rests, and we are going to be busy.\"\n\nRose obeyed, and the quiet rooms above were so like a church that she\nsoon composed her ruffled feelings, and was unconsciously a little\nminister of happiness to the sweet old lady, who for years had sat there\npatiently waiting to be set free from pain.\n\nRose knew the sad romance of her life, and it gave a certain tender\ncharm to this great-aunt of hers, whom she already loved. When Peace was\ntwenty, she was about to be married; all was done, the wedding dress lay\nready, the flowers were waiting to be put on, the happy hour at hand,\nwhen word came that the lover was dead. They thought that gentle Peace\nwould die, too; but she bore it bravely, put away her bridal gear, took\nup her life afresh, and lived on a beautiful, meek woman, with hair as\nwhite as snow and cheeks that never bloomed again. She wore no black,\nbut soft, pale colours, as if always ready for the marriage that had\nnever come.\n\nFor thirty years she had lived on, fading slowly, but cheerful, busy,\nand full of interest in all that went on in the family; especially the\njoys and sorrows of the young girls growing up about her, and to them\nshe was adviser, confidante, and friend in all their tender trials and\ndelights. A truly beautiful old maiden, with her silvery hair, tranquil\nface, and an atmosphere of repose about her that soothed whoever came to\nher!\n\nAunt Plenty was utterly dissimilar, being a stout, brisk old lady, with\na sharp eye, a lively tongue, and a face like a winter-apple. Always\ntrotting, chatting, and bustling, she was a regular Martha, cumbered\nwith the cares of this world and quite happy in them.\n\nRose was right; and while she softly read psalms to Aunt Peace, the\nother ladies were talking about her little self in the frankest manner.\n\n\"Well, Alec, how do you like your ward?\" began Aunt Jane, as they all\nsettled down, and Uncle Mac deposited himself in a corner to finish his\ndoze.\n\n\"I should like her better if I could have begun at the beginning, and\nso got a fair start. Poor George led such a solitary life that the child\nhas suffered in many ways, and since he died she has been going on worse\nthan ever, judging from the state I find her in.\"\n\n\"My dear boy, we did what we thought best while waiting for you to wind\nup your affairs and get home. I always told George he was wrong to bring\nher up as he did; but he never took my advice, and now here we are with\nthis poor dear child upon our hands. I, for one, freely confess that\nI don't know what to do with her any more than if she was one of those\nstrange, outlandish birds you used to bring home from foreign parts.\"\nAnd Aunt Plenty gave a perplexed shake of the head which caused great\ncommotion among the stiff loops of purple ribbon that bristled all over\nthe cap like crocus buds.\n\n\"If my advice had been taken, she would have remained at the excellent\nschool where I placed her. But our aunt thought best to remove her\nbecause she complained, and she has been dawdling about ever since she\ncame. A most ruinous state of things for a morbid, spoilt girl like\nRose,\" said Mrs. Jane, severely.\n\nShe had never forgiven the old ladies for yielding to Rose's pathetic\npetition that she might wait her guardian's arrival before beginning\nanother term at the school, which was a regular Blimber hot-bed, and\nturned out many a feminine Toots.\n\n\"I never thought it the proper school for a child in good circumstances\nan heiress, in fact, as Rose is. It is all very well for girls who are\nto get their own living by teaching, and that sort of thing; but all\nshe needs is a year or two at a fashionable finishing school, so that at\neighteen she can come out with eclat,\" put in Aunt Clara, who had been a\nbeauty and a belle, and was still a handsome woman.\n\n\"Dear, dear! how short-sighted you all are to be discussing education\nand plans for the future, when this unhappy child is so plainly marked\nfor the tomb,\" sighed Aunt Myra, with a lugubrious sniff and a solemn\nwag of the funereal bonnet, which she refused to remove, being afflicted\nwith a chronic catarrh.\n\n\"Now, it is my opinion that the dear thing only wants freedom, rest, and\ncare. There is look in her eyes that goes to my heart, for it shows that\nshe feels the need of what none of us can give her a mother,\" said Aunt\nJessie, with tears in her own bright eyes at the thought of her boys\nbeing left, as Rose was, to the care of others.\n\nUncle Alec, who had listened silently as each spoke, turned quickly\ntowards the last sister, and said, with a decided nod of approval,\n\n\"You've got it, Jessie; and, with you to help me, I hope to make the\nchild feel that she is not quite fatherless and motherless.\"\n\n\"I'll do my best, Alec; and I think you will need me, for, wise as you\nare, you cannot understand a tender, timid little creature like Rose as\na woman can,\" said Mrs. Jessie, smiling back at him with a heart full of\nmotherly goodwill.\n\n\"I cannot help feeling that I, who have had a daughter of my own, can\nbest bring up a girl; and I am very much surprised that George did\nnot entrust her to me,\" observed Aunt Myra, with an air of melancholy\nimportance, for she was the only one who had given a daughter to\nthe family, and she felt that she had distinguished herself, though\nill-natured people said that she had dosed her darling to death.\n\n\"I never blamed him in the least, when I remember the perilous\nexperiments you tried with poor Carrie,\" began Mrs. Jane, in her hard\nvoice.\n\n\"Jane Campbell, I will not hear a word! My sainted Caroline is a sacred\nobject,\" cried Aunt Myra, rising as if to leave the room.\n\nDr. Alec detained her, feeling that he must define his position at once,\nand maintain it manfully if he hoped to have any success in his new\nundertaking.\n\n\"Now, my dear souls, don't let us quarrel and make Rose a bone of\ncontention though, upon my word, she is almost a bone, poor little lass!\nYou have had her among you for a year, and done what you liked. I cannot\nsay that your success is great, but that is owing to too many fingers in\nthe pie. Now, I intend to try my way for a year, and if at the end of it\nshe is not in better trim than now, I'll give up the case, and hand her\nover to someone else. That's fair, I think.\"\n\n\"She will not be here a year hence, poor darling, so no one need dread\nfuture responsibility,\" said Aunt Myra, folding her black gloves as if\nall ready for the funeral.\n\n\"By Jupiter! Myra, you are enough to damp the ardour of a saint!\" cried\nDr. Alec, with a sudden spark in his eyes. \"Your croaking will worry\nthat child out of her wits, for she is an imaginative puss, and will\nfret and fancy untold horrors. You have put it into her head that she\nhas no constitution, and she rather likes the idea. If she had not had a\npretty good one, she would have been 'marked for the tomb' by this\ntime, at the rate you have been going on with her. I will not have any\ninterference please understand that; so just wash your hands of her, and\nlet me manage till I want help, then I'll ask for it.\"\n\n\"Hear, hear!\" came from the corner where Uncle Mac was apparently wrapt\nin slumber.\n\n\"You were appointed guardian, so we can do nothing. But I predict that\nthe girl will be spoilt, utterly spoilt,\" answered Mrs. Jane, grimly.\n\n\"Thank you, sister. I have an idea that if a woman can bring up two boys\nas perfectly as you do yours, a man, if he devotes his whole mind to it,\nmay at least attempt as much with one girl,\" replied Dr. Alec, with a\nhumorous look that tickled the others immensely, for it was a well-known\nfact in the family that Jane's boys were more indulged than all the\nother lads put together.\n\n\"I am quite easy, for I really do think that Alec will improve the\nchild's health; and by the time his year is out, it will be quite soon\nenough for her to go to Madame Roccabella's and be finished off,\" said\nAunt Clara, settling her rings, and thinking, with languid satisfaction,\nof the time when she could bring out a pretty and accomplished niece.\n\n\"I suppose you will stay here in the old place, unless you think of\nmarrying, and it's high time you did,\" put in Mrs. Jane, much nettled at\nher brother's last hit.\n\n\"No, thank you. Come and have a cigar, Mac,\" said Dr. Alec, abruptly.\n\n\"Don't marry; women enough in the family already,\" muttered Uncle Mac;\nand then the gentlemen hastily fled.\n\n\"Aunt Peace would like to see you all, she says,\" was the message Rose\nbrought before the ladies could begin again.\n\n\"Hectic, hectic! dear me, dear me!\" murmured Aunt Myra, as the shadow\nof her gloomy bonnet fell upon Rose, and the stiff tips of a black glove\ntouched the cheek where the colour deepened under so many eyes.\n\n\"I am glad these pretty curls are natural; they will be invaluable by\nand by,\" said Aunt Clara, taking an observation with her head on one\nside.\n\n\"Now that your uncle has come, I no longer expect you to review the\nstudies of the past year. I trust your time will not be entirely wasted\nin frivolous sports, however,\" added Aunt Jane, sailing out of the room\nwith the air of a martyr.\n\nAunt Jessie said not a word, but kissed her little niece, with a look\nof tender sympathy that made Rose cling to her a minute, and follow her\nwith grateful eyes as the door closed behind her.\n\nAfter everybody had gone home, Dr. Alec paced up and down the lower\nhall in the twilight for an hour, thinking so intently that sometimes\nhe frowned, sometimes he smiled, and more than once he stood still in a\nbrown study. All of a sudden he said, half aloud, as if he had made up\nhis mind,\n\n\"I might as well begin at once, and give the child something new to\nthink about, for Myra's dismals and Jane's lectures have made her as\nblue as a little indigo bag.\"\n\nDiving into one of the trunks that stood in a corner, he brought up,\nafter a brisk rummage, a silken cushion, prettily embroidered, and a\nquaint cup of dark carved wood.\n\n\"This will do for a start,\" he said, as he plumped up the cushion and\ndusted the cup. \"It won't do to begin too energetically, or Rose will be\nfrightened. I must beguile her gently and pleasantly along till I've won\nher confidence, and then she will be ready for anything.\"\n\nJust then Phebe came out of the dining-room with a plate of brown bread,\nfor Rose had been allowed no hot biscuit for tea.\n\n\"I'll relieve you of some of that,\" said Dr. Alec, and, helping himself\nto a generous slice, he retired to the study, leaving Phebe to wonder at\nhis appetite.\n\nShe would have wondered still more if she had seen him making that brown\nbread into neat little pills, which he packed into an attractive ivory\nbox, out of which he emptied his own bits of lovage.\n\n\"There! if they insist on medicine, I'll order these, and no harm will\nbe done. I will have my own way, but I'll keep the peace, if possible,\nand confess the joke when my experiment has succeeded,\" he said to\nhimself, looking very much like a mischievous boy, as he went on with\nhis innocent prescriptions.\n\nRose was playing softly on the small organ that stood in the upper hall,\nso that Aunt Peace could enjoy it; and all the while he talked with the\nold ladies, Uncle Alec was listening to the fitful music of the child,\nand thinking of another Rose who used to play for him.\n\nAs the clock struck eight, he called out,\n\n\"Time for my girl to be abed, else she won't be up early, and I'm full\nof jolly plans for to-morrow. Come and see what I've found for you to\nbegin upon.\"\n\nRose ran in and listened with bright attentive face, while Dr. Alec said\nimpressively,\n\n\"In my wanderings over the face of the earth, I have picked up some\nexcellent remedies, and, as they are rather agreeable ones, I think you\nand I will try them. This is a herb-pillow, given to me by a wise old\nwoman when I was ill in India. It is filled with saffron, poppies, and\nother soothing plants; so lay your little head on it to-night, sleep\nsweetly without a dream, and wake to-morrow without a pain.\"\n\n\"Shall I really? How nice it smells.\" And Rose willingly received\nthe pretty pillow, and stood enjoying its faint, sweet odour, as she\nlistened to the doctor's next remedy.\n\n\"This is the cup I told you of. Its virtue depends, they say, on the\ndrinker filling it himself; so you must learn to milk. I'll teach you.\"\n\n\"I'm afraid I never can,\" said Rose; but she surveyed the cup with\nfavour, for a funny little imp danced on the handle, as if all ready to\ntake a header into the white sea below.\n\n\"Don't you think she ought to have something more strengthening than\nmilk, Alec? I really shall feel anxious if she does not have a tonic of\nsome sort,\" said Aunt Plenty, eyeing the new remedies suspiciously, for\nshe had more faith in her old-fashioned doses than all the magic cups\nand poppy pillows of the East.\n\n\"Well, ma'am, I'm willing to give her a pill, if you think best. It is\na very simple one, and very large quantities may be taken without harm.\nYou know hasheesh is the extract of hemp? Well, this is a preparation of\ncorn and rye, much used in old times, and I hope it will be again.\"\n\n\"Dear me, how singular!\" said Aunt Plenty, bringing her spectacles to\nbear upon the pills, with a face so full of respectful interest that it\nwas almost too much for Dr. Alec's gravity.\n\n\"Take one in the morning, and a good-night to you, my dear,\" he said,\ndismissing his patient with a hearty kiss.\n\nThen, as she vanished, he put both hands into his hair, exclaiming, with\na comical mixture of anxiety and amusement,\n\n\"When I think what I have undertaken, I declare to you, aunt, I feel\nlike running away and not coming back till Rose is eighteen!\"\n\n\n\nChapter 5--A Belt and a Box\n\nWhen Rose came out of her chamber, cup in hand, next morning, the first\nperson she saw was Uncle Alec standing on the threshold of the room\nopposite, which he appeared to be examining with care. When he heard her\nstep, he turned about and began to sing,\n\n\"Where are you going, my pretty maid?\"\n\n\"I'm going a-milking, sir, she said,\" answered Rose, waving the cup; and\nthen they finished the verse together in fine style.\n\nBefore either spoke, a head, in a nightcap so large and beruffled that\nit looked like a cabbage, popped out of a room farther down the hall,\nand an astonished voice exclaimed,\n\n\"What in the world are you doing about so early?\"\n\n\"Clearing our pipes for the day, ma'am. Look here, auntie, can I have\nthis room?\" said Dr. Alec, making her a sailor's bow.\n\n\"Any room you like, except sister's.\"\n\n\"Thanks. And may I go rummaging round in the garrets and glory-holes to\nfurnish it as I like?\"\n\n\"My dear boy, you may turn the house upside down if you will only stay\nin it.\"\n\n\"That's a handsome offer, I'm sure. I'll stay, ma'am; here's my little\nanchor, so you will get more than you want of me this time.\"\n\n\"That's impossible! Put on your jacket, Rose. Don't tire her out\nwith antics, Alec. Yes, sister, I'm coming!\" and the cabbage vanished\nsuddenly.\n\nThe first milking lesson was a droll one; but after several scares and\nmany vain attempts, Rose at last managed to fill her cup, while Ben\nheld Clover's tail so that it could not flap, and Dr. Alec kept her\nfrom turning to stare at the new milkmaid, who objected to both these\nproceedings very much.\n\n\"You look chilly in spite of all this laughing. Take a smart run round\nthe garden and get up a glow,\" said the doctor, as they left the barn.\n\n\"I'm too old for running, uncle; Miss Power said it was not lady-like\nfor girls in their teens,\" answered Rose, primly.\n\n\"I take the liberty of differing from Madame Prunes and Prisms, and, as\nyour physician, I order you to run. Off with you!\" said Uncle Alec, with\na look and a gesture that made Rose scurry away as fast as she could go.\n\nAnxious to please him, she raced round the beds till she came back to\nthe porch where he stood, and, dropping down upon the steps, she sat\npanting, with cheeks as rosy as the rigolette on her shoulders.\n\n\"Very well done, child; I see you have not lost the use of your limbs\nthough you are in your teens. That belt is too tight; unfasten it, then\nyou can take a long breath without panting so.\"\n\n\"It isn't tight, sir; I can breathe perfectly well,\" began Rose, trying\nto compose herself.\n\nHer uncle's only answer was to lift her up and unhook the new belt of\nwhich she was so proud. The moment the clasp was open the belt flew\napart several inches, for it was impossible to restrain the involuntary\nsigh of relief that flatly contradicted her words.\n\n\"Why, I didn't know it was tight! it didn't feel so a bit. Of course it\nwould open if I puff like this, but I never do, because I hardly ever\nrun,\" explained Rose, rather discomfited by this discovery.\n\n\"I see you don't half fill your lungs, and so you can wear this absurd\nthing without feeling it. The idea of cramping a tender little waist\nin a stiff band of leather and steel just when it ought to be growing,\"\nsaid Dr. Alec, surveying the belt with great disfavour as he put the\nclasp forward several holes, to Rose's secret dismay, for she was proud\nof her slender figure, and daily rejoiced that she wasn't as stout\nas Luly Miller, a former schoolmate, who vainly tried to repress her\nplumpness.\n\n\"It will fall off if it is so loose,\" she said anxiously, as she stood\nwatching him pull her precious belt about.\n\n\"Not if you keep taking long breaths to hold it on. That is what I want\nyou to do, and when you have filled this out we will go on enlarging it\ntill your waist is more like that of Hebe, goddess of health, and less\nlike that of a fashion-plate the ugliest thing imaginable.\"\n\n\"How it does look!\" and Rose gave a glance of scorn at the loose belt\nhanging round her trim little waist. \"It will be lost, and then I shall\nfeel badly, for it cost ever so much, and is real steel and Russia\nleather. Just smell how nice.\"\n\n\"If it is lost I'll give you a better one. A soft silken sash is much\nfitter for a pretty child like you than a plated harness like this; and\nI've got no end of Italian scarfs and Turkish sashes among my traps. Ah!\nthat makes you feel better, doesn't it?\" and he pinched the cheek that\nhad suddenly dimpled with a smile.\n\n\"It is very silly of me, but I can't help liking to know that\" here she\nstopped and blushed and held down her head, ashamed to add, \"you think I\nam pretty.\"\n\nDr. Alec's eyed twinkled, but he said very soberly,\n\n\"Rose, are you vain?\"\n\n\"I'm afraid I am,\" answered a very meek voice from behind the veil of\nhair that hid the red face.\n\n\"That is a sad fault.\" And he sighed as if grieved at the confession.\n\n\"I know it is, and I try not to be; but people praise me, and I can't\nhelp liking it, for I really don't think I am repulsive.\"\n\nThe last word and the funny tone in which it was uttered were too\nmuch for Dr. Alec, and he laughed in spite of himself, to Rose's great\nrelief.\n\n\"I quite agree with you; and in order that you may be still less\nrepulsive, I want you to grow as fine a girl as Phebe.\"\n\n\"Phebe!\" and Rose looked so amazed that her uncle nearly went off again.\n\n\"Yes, Phebe; for she has what you need health. If you dear little girls\nwould only learn what real beauty is, and not pinch and starve and\nbleach yourselves out so, you'd save an immense deal of time and money\nand pain. A happy soul in a healthy body makes the best sort of beauty\nfor man or woman. Do you understand that, my dear?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir,\" answered Rose, much taken down by this comparison with the\ngirl from the poor-house. It nettled her sadly, and she showed that it\ndid by saying quickly,\n\n\"I suppose you would like to have me sweep and scrub, and wear an old\nbrown dress, and go round with my sleeves rolled up, as Phebe does?\"\n\n\"I should very much, if you could work as well as she does, and show as\nstrong a pair of arms as she can. I haven't seen a prettier picture for\nsome time than she made of herself this morning, up to the elbows in\nsuds, singing like a blackbird whilst she scrubbed on the back stoop.\"\n\n\"Well, I do think you are the queerest man that ever lived!\" was all\nRose could find to say after this display of bad taste.\n\n\"I haven't begun to show you my oddities yet, so you must make up your\nmind to worse shocks than this,\" he said, with such a whimsical look\nthat she was glad the sound of a bell prevented her showing more plainly\nwhat a blow her little vanities had already received.\n\n\"You will find your box all open up in auntie's parlor, and there you\ncan amuse her and yourself by rummaging to your heart's content; I've\ngot to be cruising round all the morning getting my room to rights,\"\nsaid Dr. Alec, as they rose from breakfast.\n\n\"Can't I help you, uncle?\" asked Rose, quite burning to be useful.\n\n\"No, thank you, I'm going to borrow Phebe for a while, if Aunt Plenty\ncan spare her.\"\n\n\"Anybody anything, Alec. You will want me, I know, so I'll give orders\nabout dinner and be all ready to lend a hand\"; and the old lady bustled\naway full of interest and good-will.\n\n\"Uncle will find that I can do some things that Phebe can't, so now!\"\nthought Rose, with a toss of the head as she flew to Aunt Peace and the\nlong-desired box.\n\nEvery little girl can easily imagine what an extra good time she had\ndiving into a sea of treasures and fishing up one pretty thing after\nanother, till the air was full of the mingled odours of musk and\nsandalwood, the room gay with bright colours, and Rose in a rapture of\ndelight. She began to forgive Dr. Alec for the oatmeal diet when she saw\na lovely ivory workbox; became resigned to the state of her belt when\nshe found a pile of rainbow-coloured sashes; and when she came to some\ndistractingly pretty bottles of attar of rose, she felt that they almost\natoned for the great sin of thinking Phebe the finer girl of the two.\n\nDr. Alec meanwhile had apparently taken Aunt Plenty at her word, and was\nturning the house upside down. A general revolution was evidently going\non in the green-room, for the dark damask curtains were seen bundling\naway in Phebe's arms; the air-tight stove retiring to the cellar on\nBen's shoulder; and the great bedstead going up garret in a fragmentary\nstate, escorted by three bearers. Aunt Plenty was constantly on the trot\namong her store-rooms, camphor-chests, and linen-closets, looking as if\nthe new order of things both amazed and amused her.\n\nHalf the peculiar performances of Dr. Alec cannot be revealed; but as\nRose glanced up from her box now and then she caught glimpses of him\nstriding by, bearing a bamboo chair, a pair of ancient andirons, a queer\nJapanese screen, a rug or two, and finally a large bathing-pan upon his\nhead.\n\n\"What a curious room it will be,\" she said, as she sat resting and\nrefreshing herself with \"Lumps of Delight,\" all the way from Cairo.\n\n\"I fancy you will like it, deary,\" answered Aunt Peace, looking up with\na smile from some pretty trifle she was making with blue silk and white\nmuslin.\n\nRose did not see the smile, for just at that moment her uncle paused\nat the door, and she sprang up to dance before him, saying, with a face\nfull of childish happiness,\n\n\"Look at me! look at me! I'm splendid I don't know myself. I haven't put\nthese things on right, I dare say, but I do like them so much!\"\n\n\"You look as gay as a parrot in your fez and cabaja, and it does my\nheart good to see the little black shadow turned into a rainbow,\"\nsaid Uncle Alec, surveying the bright figure before him with great\napprobation.\n\nHe did not say it, but he thought she made a much prettier picture than\nPhebe at the wash-tub, for she had stuck a purple fez on her blonde\nhead, tied several brilliant scarfs about her waist, and put on a truly\ngorgeous scarlet jacket with a golden sun embroidered on the back, a\nsilver moon on the front, and stars of all sizes on the sleeves. A pair\nof Turkish slippers adorned her feet, and necklaces of amber, coral, and\nfiligree hung about her neck, while one hand held a smelling-bottle, and\nthe other the spicy box of oriental sweetmeats.\n\n\"I feel like a girl in the 'Arabian Nights,' and expect to find a magic\ncarpet or a wonderful talisman somewhere. Only I don't see how I ever\ncan thank you for all these lovely things,\" she said, stopping her\ndance, as if suddenly oppressed with gratitude.\n\n\"I'll tell you how by leaving off the black clothes, that never should\nhave been kept so long on such a child, and wearing the gay ones I've\nbrought. It will do your spirits good, and cheer up this sober old\nhouse. Won't it, auntie?\"\n\n\"I think you are right, Alec, and it is fortunate that we have not\nbegun on her spring clothes yet, for Myra thought she ought not to wear\nanything brighter than violet, and she is too pale for that.\"\n\n\"You just let me direct Miss Hemming how to make some of these things.\nYou will be surprised to see how much I know about piping hems and\ngathering arm-holes and shirring biases,\" began Dr. Alec, patting a pile\nof muslin, cloth and silk with a knowing air.\n\nAunt Peace and Rose laughed so that he could not display his knowledge\nany farther, till they stopped, when he said good-naturedly,\n\n\"That will go a great way toward filling out the belt, so laugh away,\nMorgiana, and I'll go back to my work, or I never shall be done.\"\n\n\"I couldn't help it, 'shirred biases' were so very funny!\" Rose said,\nas she turned to her box after the splendid laugh. \"But really, auntie,\"\nshe added soberly, \"I feel as if I ought not to have so many nice\nthings. I suppose it wouldn't do to give Phebe some of them? Uncle might\nnot like it.\"\n\n\"He would not mind; but they are not suitable for Phebe. Some of the\ndresses you are done with would be more useful, if they can be made over\nto fit her,\" answered Aunt Peace in the prudent, moderate tone which is\nso trying to our feelings when we indulge in little fits of charitable\nenthusiasm.\n\n\"I'd rather give her new ones, for I think she is a little bit proud\nand might not like old things. If she was my sister it would do, because\nsisters don't mind, but she isn't, and that makes it bad, you see. I\nknow how I can manage beautifully; I'll adopt her!\" and Rose looked\nquite radiant with this new idea.\n\n\"I'm afraid you could not do it legally till you are older, but you\nmight see if she likes the plan, and at any rate you can be very kind to\nher, for in one sense we are all sisters, and should help one another.\"\n\nThe sweet old face looked at her so kindly that Rose was fired with a\ndesire to settle the matter at once, and rushed away to the kitchen,\njust as she was. Phebe was there, polishing up the antique andirons so\nbusily that she started when a voice cried out: \"Smell that, taste this,\nand look at me!\"\n\nPhebe sniffed attar of rose, crunched the \"Lump of Delight\" tucked into\nher mouth, and stared with all her eyes at little Morgiana prancing\nabout the room like a brilliant paroquet.\n\n\"My stars, ain't you splendid!\" was all she could say, holding up two\ndusty hands.\n\n\"I've got heaps of lovely things upstairs, and I'll show them all to\nyou, and I'd go halves, only auntie thinks they wouldn't be useful, so\nI shall give you something else; and you won't mind, will you? because I\nwant to adopt you as Arabella was in the story. Won't that be nice?\"\n\n\"Why, Miss Rose, have you lost your wits?\"\n\nNo wonder Phebe asked, for Rose talked very fast, and looked so odd in\nher new costume, and was so eager she could not stop to explain. Seeing\nPhebe's bewilderment, she quieted down and said, with a pretty air of\nearnestness,\n\n\"It isn't fair that I should have so much and you so little, and I want\nto be as good to you as if you were my sister, for Aunt Peace says we\nare all sisters really. I thought if I adopted you as much as I can now,\nit would be nicer. Will you let me, please?\"\n\nTo Rose's great surprise, Phebe sat down on the floor and hid her face\nin her apron for a minute without answering a word.\n\n\"Oh, dear, now she's offended, and I don't know what to do,\" thought\nRose, much discouraged by this reception of her offer.\n\n\"Please, forgive me; I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, and hope you\nwon't think--\" she faltered presently, feeling that she must undo the\nmischief, if possible.\n\nBut Phebe gave her another surprise, by dropping the apron and showing\na face all smiles, in spite of tears in the eyes, as she put both arms\nround Rose and said, with a laugh and sob,\n\n\"I think you are the dearest girl in the world, and I'll let you do\nanything you like with me.\"\n\n\"Then you do like the plan? You didn't cry because I seemed to be kind\nof patronising? I truly didn't mean to be,\" cried Rose, delighted.\n\n\"I guess I do like it! and cried because no one was ever so good to me\nbefore, and I couldn't help it. As for patronising, you may walk on me\nif you want to, and I won't mind,\" said Phebe, in a burst of gratitude,\nfor the words, \"we are sisters\" went straight to her lonely heart and\nnestled there.\n\n\"Well, now, we can play I'm a good sprite out of the box, or, what is\nbetter, a fairy godmother come down the chimney, and you are Cinderella,\nand must say what you want,\" said Rose, trying to put the question\ndelicately.\n\nPhebe understood that, for she had a good deal of natural refinement,\nthough she did come from the poor-house.\n\n\"I don't feel as if I wanted anything now, Miss Rose, but to find some\nway of thanking you for all you've done,\" she said, rubbing off a tear\nthat went rolling down the bridge of her nose in the most unromantic\nway.\n\n\"Why, I haven't done anything but given you a bit of candy! Here, have\nsome more, and eat 'em while you work, and think what I can do. I must\ngo and clear up, so good-bye, and don't forget I've adopted you.\"\n\n\"You've given me sweeter things than candy, and I'm not likely to forget\nit.\" And carefully wiping off the brick-dust, Phebe pressed the little\nhand Rose offered warmly in both her hard ones, while the black eyes\nfollowed the departing visitor with a grateful look that made them very\nsoft and bright.\n\n\n\nChapter 6--Uncle Alec's Room\n\nSoon after dinner, and before she had got acquainted with half her\nnew possessions, Dr. Alec proposed a drive, to carry round the first\ninstalment of gifts to the aunts and cousins. Rose was quite ready to\ngo, being anxious to try a certain soft burnous from the box, which\nnot only possessed a most engaging little hood, but had funny tassels\nbobbing in all directions.\n\nThe big carriage was full of parcels, and even Ben's seat was loaded\nwith Indian war clubs, a Chinese kite of immense size, and a pair of\npolished ox-horns from Africa. Uncle Alec, very blue as to his clothes,\nand very brown as to his face, sat bolt upright, surveying well\nknown places with interest, while Rose, feeling unusually elegant and\ncomfortable, leaned back folded in her soft mantle, and played she was\nan Eastern princess making a royal progress among her subjects.\n\nAt three of the places their calls were brief, for Aunt Myra's catarrh\nwas unusually bad; Aunt Clara had a room full of company; and Aunt\nJane showed such a tendency to discuss the population, productions, and\npolitics of Europe, Asia and Africa, that even Dr. Alec was dismayed,\nand got away as soon as possible.\n\n\"Now we will have a good time! I do hope the boys will be at home,\" said\nRose, with a sigh of relief, as they wound yet higher up the hill to\nAunt Jessie's.\n\n\"I left this for the last call, so that we might find the lads just in\nfrom school. Yes, there is Jamie on the gate watching for us; now you'll\nsee the Clan gather; they are always swarming about together.\"\n\nThe instant Jamie saw the approaching guests he gave a shrill whistle,\nwhich was answered by echoes from meadow, house and barn, as the cousins\ncame running from all directions, shouting, \"Hooray for Uncle Alec!\"\nThey went at the carriage like highwaymen, robbed it of every parcel,\ntook the occupants prisoners, and marched them into the house with great\nexultation.\n\n\"Little Mum! little Mum! here they are with lots of goodies! Come down\nand see the fun right away! Quick!\" bawled Will and Geordie amidst a\ngeneral ripping off of papers and a reckless cutting of strings that\nsoon turned the tidy room into a chaos.\n\nDown came Aunt Jessie with her pretty cap half on, but such a beaming\nface below it that one rather thought the fly-away head-gear an\nimprovement than otherwise. She had hardly time to greet Rose and the\ndoctor before the boys were about her, each clamouring for her to see\nhis gift and rejoice over it with him, for \"little Mum\" went halves in\neverything. The great horns skirmished about her as if to toss her to\nthe ceiling; the war clubs hurtled over her head as if to annihilate\nher; an amazing medley from the four quarters of the globe filled her\nlap, and seven excited boys all talked to her at once.\n\nBut she liked it; oh dear, yes! and sat smiling, admiring, and\nexplaining, quite untroubled by the din, which made Rose cover up her\nears and Dr. Alec threaten instant flight if the riot was not quelled.\nThat threat produced a lull, and while the uncle received thanks in one\ncorner, the aunt had some little confidences made to her in the other.\n\n\"Well, dear, and how are things going with you now? Better, I hope, than\nthey were a week ago.\"\n\n\"Aunt Jessie, I think I'm going to be very happy, now uncle has come.\nHe does the queerest things, but he is so good to me I can't help\nloving him\"; and, nestling closer to little Mum, Rose told all that had\nhappened, ending with a rapturous account of the splendid box.\n\n\"I am very glad, dear. But, Rose, I must warn you of one thing; don't\nlet uncle spoil you.\"\n\n\"But I like to be spoilt, auntie.\"\n\n\"I don't doubt it; but if you turn out badly when the year is over he\nwill be blamed, and his experiment prove a failure. That would be a\npity, wouldn't it? when he wants to do so much for you, and can do it if\nhis kind heart does not get in the way of his good judgment.\"\n\n\"I never thought of that, and I'll try not to be spoilt. But how can I\nhelp it?\" asked Rose anxiously.\n\n\"By not complaining of the wholesome things he wants you to do; by\ngiving him cheerful obedience as well as love; and even making some\nsmall sacrifices for his sake.\"\n\n\"I will, I truly will! and when I get in a worry about things may I come\nto you? Uncle told me to, and I feel as if I shouldn't be afraid.\"\n\n\"You may, darling; this is the place where little troubles are best\ncured, and this is what mothers are for, I fancy\"; and Aunt Jessie drew\nthe curly head to her shoulder with a tender look that proved how well\nshe knew what medicine the child most needed.\n\nIt was so sweet and comfortable that Rose sat still enjoying it till a\nlittle voice said,\n\n\"Mamma, don't you think Pokey would like some of my shells? Rose gave\nPhebe some of her nice things, and it was very good of her. Can I?\"\n\n\"Who is Pokey?\" asked Rose, popping up her head, attracted by the odd\nname.\n\n\"My dolly; do you want to see her?\" asked Jamie, who had been much\nimpressed by the tale of adoption he had overheard.\n\n\"Yes; I'm fond of dollies, only don't tell the boys, or they will laugh\nat me.\"\n\n\"They don't laugh at me, and they play with my dolly a great deal; but\nshe likes me best\"; and Jamie ran away to produce his pet.\n\n\"I brought my old doll, but I keep her hidden because I am too big to\nplay with her, and yet I can't bear to throw her away, I'm so fond of\nher,\" said Rose, continuing her confidences in a whisper.\n\n\"You can come and play with Jamie's whenever you like, for we believe in\ndollies up here,\" began Aunt Jessie, smiling to herself as if something\namused her.\n\nJust then Jamie came back, and Rose understood the smile, for his dolly\nproved to be a pretty four-year-old little girl, who trotted in as fast\nas her fat legs would carry her, and making straight for the shells,\nscrambled up an armful, saying, with a laugh that showed her little\nwhite teeth,\n\n\"All for Dimmy and me, for Dimmy and me!\"\n\n\"That's my dolly; isn't she a nice one?\" asked Jamie, proudly surveying\nhis pet with his hands behind him and his short legs rather far apart a\nmanly attitude copied from his brothers.\n\n\"She is a dear dolly. But why call her Pokey?\" asked Rose, charmed with\nthe new plaything.\n\n\"She is such an inquisitive little body she is always poking that mite\nof a nose into everything; and as Paul Pry did not suit, the boys fell\nto calling her Pokey. Not a pretty name, but very expressive.\"\n\nIt certainly was, for, having examined the shells, the busy tot laid\nhold of everything she could find, and continued her researches till\nArchie caught her sucking his carved ivory chessmen to see if they were\nnot barley sugar. Rice paper pictures were also discovered crumpled up\nin her tiny pocket, and she nearly smashed Will's ostrich egg by trying\nto sit upon it.\n\n\"Here, Jim, take her away; she's worse than the puppies, and we can't\nhave her round,\" commanded the elder brother, picking her up and handing\nher over to the little fellow, who received her with open arms and the\nwarning remark,\n\n\"You'd better mind what you do, for I'm going to 'dopt Pokey like\nRose did Phebe, and then you'll have to be very good to her, you big\nfellows.\"\n\n\"'Dopt away, baby, and I'll give you a cage to keep her in, or you won't\nhave her long, for she is getting worse than a monkey\"; and Archie went\nback to his mates, while Aunt Jessie, foreseeing a crisis, proposed that\nJamie should take his dolly home, as she was borrowed, and it was time\nher visit ended.\n\n\"My dolly is better than yours, isn't she? 'cause she can walk and talk\nand sing and dance, and yours can't do anything, can she?\" asked Jamie\nwith pride, as he regarded his Pokey, who just then had been moved to\nexecute a funny little jig and warble the well-known couplet,\n\n    \"'Puss-tat, puss-tat, where you been?'\n     'I been Lunnin, to saw a Tween.\"'\n\nAfter which superb display she retired, escorted by Jamie, both making a\nfearful din blowing on conch shells.\n\n\"We must tear ourselves away, Rose, because I want to get you home\nbefore sunset. Will you come for a drive, Jessie?\" said Dr. Alec, as the\nmusic died away in the distance.\n\n\"No, thank you; but I see the boys want a scamper, so, if you don't\nmind, they may escort you home, but not go in. That is only allowed on\nholidays.\"\n\nThe words were hardly out of Aunt Jessie's mouth when Archie said, in a\ntone of command,\n\n\"Pass the word, lads. Boot and saddle, and be quick about it.\"\n\n\"All right!\" And in a moment not a vestige of boy remained but the\nlitter on the floor.\n\nThe cavalcade went down the hill at a pace that made Rose cling to her\nuncle's arm, for the fat old horses got excited by the antics of the\nponies careering all about them, and went as fast as they could pelt,\nwith the gay dog-cart rattling in front, for Archie and Charlie scorned\nshelties since this magnificent equipage had been set up. Ben enjoyed\nthe fun, and the lads cut up capers till Rose declared that \"circus\" was\nthe proper name for them after all.\n\nWhen they reached the house they dismounted, and stood, three on each\nside the steps, in martial attitudes, while her ladyship was handed out\nwith great elegance by Uncle Alec. Then the Clan saluted, mounted at\nword of command, and with a wild whoop tore down the avenue in what they\nconsidered the true Arab style.\n\n\"That was splendid, now it is safely ended,\" said Rose, skipping up\nthe steps with her head over her shoulder to watch the dear tassels bob\nabout.\n\n\"I shall get you a pony as soon as you are a little stronger,\" said Dr.\nAlec, watching her with a smile.\n\n\"Oh, I couldn't ride one of those horrid, frisky little beasts! They\nroll their eyes and bounce about so, I should die of fright,\" cried\nRose, clasping her hands tragically.\n\n\"Are you a coward?\"\n\n\"About horses I am.\"\n\n\"Never mind, then; come and see my new room\"; and he led the way\nupstairs without another word.\n\nAs Rose followed she remembered her promise to Aunt Jessie, and was\nsorry she had objected so decidedly. She was a great deal more sorry\nfive minutes later, and well she might be.\n\n\"Now, take a good look, and tell me what you think of it,\" said Dr.\nAlec, opening the door and letting her enter before him, while Phebe was\nseen whisking down the backstairs with a dust-pan.\n\nRose walked to the middle of the room, stood still, and gazed about her\nwith eyes that brightened as they looked, for all was changed.\n\nThis chamber had been built out over the library to suit some fancy, and\nhad been unused for years, except at Christmas times, when the old house\noverflowed. It had three windows one to the east, that overlooked the\nbay; one to the south, where the horse-chestnuts waved their green\nfans; and one to the west, towards the hill and the evening sky. A ruddy\nsunset burned there now, filling the room with an enchanted glow; the\nsoft murmur of the sea was heard, and a robin chirped \"Good-night!\"\namong the budding trees.\n\nRose saw and heard these things first, and felt their beauty with a\nchild's quick instinct; then her eye took in the altered aspect of the\nroom, once so shrouded, still and solitary, now so full of light and\nwarmth and simple luxury.\n\nIndia matting covered the floor, with a gay rug here and there;\nthe antique andirons shone on the wide hearth, where a cheery blaze\ndispelled the dampness of the long-closed room. Bamboo lounges and\nchairs stood about, and quaint little tables in cosy corners; one\nbearing a pretty basket, one a desk, and on a third lay several\nfamiliar-looking books. In a recess stood a narrow white bed, with a\nlovely Madonna hanging over it. The Japanese screen half-folded back\nshowed a delicate toilet service of blue and white set forth on a marble\nslab, and near by was the great bath-pan, with Turkish towels and a\nsponge as big as Rose's head.\n\n\"Uncle must love cold water like a duck,\" she thought, with a shiver.\n\nThen her eye went on to the tall cabinet, where a half-open door\nrevealed a tempting array of the drawers, shelves and \"cubby holes,\"\nwhich so delight the hearts of children.\n\n\"What a grand place for my new things,\" she thought, wondering what her\nuncle kept in that cedar retreat.\n\n\"Oh me, what a sweet toilet table!\" was her next mental exclamation, as\nshe approached this inviting spot.\n\nA round old-fashioned mirror hung over it, with a gilt eagle a-top,\nholding in his beak the knot of blue ribbon that tied up a curtain\nof muslin falling on either side of the table, where appeared little\nivory-handled brushes, two slender silver candle-sticks, a porcelain\nmatch-box, several pretty trays for small matters, and, most imposing of\nall, a plump blue silk cushion, coquettishly trimmed with lace, and pink\nrose-buds at the corners.\n\nThat cushion rather astonished Rose; in fact, the whole table did, and\nshe was just thinking, with a sly smile,\n\n\"Uncle is a dandy, but I never should have guessed it,\" when he opened\nthe door of a large closet, saying, with a careless wave of the hand,\n\n\"Men like plenty of room for their rattle-traps; don't you think that\nought to satisfy me?\"\n\nRose peeped in and gave a start, though all she saw was what one usually\nfinds in closets clothes and boots, boxes and bags. Ah! but you see\nthese clothes were small black and white frocks; the row of little boots\nthat stood below had never been on Dr. Alec's feet; the green bandbox\nhad a gray veil straying out of it, and yes! the bag hanging on the door\nwas certainly her own piece-bag, with a hole in one corner. She gave\na quick look round the room and understood now why it had seemed too\ndainty for a man, why her Testament and Prayer Book were on the table\nby the bed, and what those rose-buds meant on the blue cushion. It came\nupon her in one delicious burst that this little paradise was all for\nher, and, not knowing how else to express her gratitude, she caught Dr.\nAlec round the neck, saying impetuously,\n\n\"O uncle, you are too good to me! I'll do anything you ask me; ride wild\nhorses and take freezing baths and eat bad-tasting messes, and let my\nclothes hang on me, to show how much I thank you for this dear, sweet,\nlovely room!\"\n\n\"You like it, then? But why do you think it is yours, my lass?\" asked\nDr. Alec, as he sat down looking well pleased, and drew his excited\nlittle niece to his knee.\n\n\"I don't think, I know it is for me; I see it in your face, and I feel\nas if I didn't half deserve it. Aunt Jessie said you would spoil me, and\nI must not let you. I'm afraid this looks like it, and perhaps oh me!\nperhaps I ought not to have this beautiful room after all!\" and Rose\ntried to look as if she could be heroic enough to give it up if it was\nbest.\n\n\"I owe Mrs. Jessie one for that,\" said Dr. Alec, trying to frown, though\nin his secret soul he felt that she was quite right. Then he smiled that\ncordial smile, which was like sunshine on his brown face, as he said,\n\n\"This is part of the cure, Rose, and I put you here that you might take\nmy three great remedies in the best and easiest way. Plenty of sun,\nfresh air, and cold water; also cheerful surroundings, and some work;\nfor Phebe is to show you how to take care of this room, and be your\nlittle maid as well as friend and teacher. Does that sound hard and\ndisagreeable to you, dear?\"\n\n\"No, sir; very, very pleasant, and I'll do my best to be a good patient.\nBut I really don't think anyone could be sick in this delightful\nroom,\" she said, with a long sigh of happiness as her eye went from one\npleasant object to another.\n\n\"Then you like my sort of medicine better than Aunt Myra's, and don't\nwant to throw it out of the window, hey?\"\n\n\n\nChapter 7--A Trip to China\n\n\"Come, little girl, I've got another dose for you. I fancy you won't\ntake it as well as you did the last, but you will like it better after a\nwhile,\" said Dr. Alec, about a week after the grand surprise.\n\nRose was sitting in her pretty room, where she would gladly have spent\nall her time if it had been allowed; but she looked up with a smile, for\nshe had ceased to fear her uncle's remedies, and was always ready to try\na new one. The last had been a set of light gardening tools, with which\nshe had helped him put the flower-beds in order, learning all sorts of\nnew and pleasant things about the plants as she worked, for, though she\nhad studied botany at school, it seemed very dry stuff compared with\nUncle Alec's lively lesson.\n\n\"What is it now?\" she asked, shutting her work-box without a murmur.\n\n\"Salt-water.\"\n\n\"How must I take it?\"\n\n\"Put on the new suit Miss Hemming sent home yesterday, and come down to\nthe beach; then I'll show you.\"\n\n\"Yes, sir,\" answered Rose obediently, adding to herself, with a shiver,\nas he went off: \"It is too early for bathing, so I know it is something\nto do with a dreadful boat.\"\n\nPutting on the new suit of blue flannel, prettily trimmed with white,\nand the little sailor-hat with long streamers, diverted her mind from\nthe approaching trial, till a shrill whistle reminded her that her uncle\nwas waiting. Away she ran through the garden, down the sandy path, out\nupon the strip of beach that belonged to the house, and here she found\nDr. Alec busy with a slender red and white boat that lay rocking on the\nrising tide.\n\n\"That is a dear little boat; and 'Bonnie Belle' is a pretty name,\" she\nsaid, trying not to show how nervous she felt.\n\n\"It is for you; so sit in the stern and learn to steer, till you are\nready to learn to row.\"\n\n\"Do all boats wiggle about in that way?\" she asked, lingering as if to\ntie her hat more firmly.\n\n\"Oh, yes, pitch about like nutshells when the sea is a bit rough,\"\nanswered her sailor uncle, never guessing her secret woe.\n\n\"Is it rough to-day?\"\n\n\"Not very; it looks a trifle squally to the eastward, but we are all\nright till the wind changes. Come.\"\n\n\"Can you swim, uncle?\" asked Rose, clutching at his arm as he took her\nhand.\n\n\"Like a fish. Now then.\"\n\n\"Oh, please hold me very tight till I get there! Why do you have the\nstern so far away?\" and, stifling several squeaks of alarm in her\npassage, Rose crept to the distant seat, and sat there holding on with\nboth hands and looking as if she expected every wave to bring a sudden\nshipwreck.\n\nUncle Alec took no notice of her fear, but patiently instructed her in\nthe art of steering, till she was so absorbed in remembering which was\nstarboard and which larboard, that she forgot to say \"OW!\" every time a\nbig wave slapped against the boat.\n\n\"Now where shall we go?\" she asked, as the wind blew freshly in her\nface, and a few, long swift strokes sent them half across the little\nbay.\n\n\"Suppose we go to China?\"\n\n\"Isn't that rather a long voyage?\"\n\n\"Not as I go. Steer round the Point into the harbour, and I'll give you\na glimpse of China in twenty minutes or so.\"\n\n\"I should like that!\" and Rose sat wondering what he meant, while she\nenjoyed the new sights all about her.\n\nBehind them the green Aunt-hill sloped gently upward to the grove at\nthe top, and all along the seaward side stood familiar houses, stately,\ncosy, or picturesque. As they rounded the Point, the great bay opened\nbefore them full of shipping, and the city lay beyond, its spires rising\nabove the tall masts with their gay streamers.\n\n\"Are we going there?\" she asked, for she had never seen this aspect of\nthe rich and busy old city before.\n\n\"Yes. Uncle Mac has a ship just in from Hong Kong, and I thought you\nwould like to go and see it.\"\n\n\"Oh, I should. I love dearly to go poking about in the warehouses with\nUncle Mac; everything is so curious and new to me; and I'm specially\ninterested in China because you have been there.\"\n\n\"I'll show you two genuine Chinamen who have just arrived. You will like\nto welcome Whang Lo and Fun See, I'm sure.\"\n\n\"Don't ask me to speak to them, uncle; I shall be sure to laugh at the\nodd names and the pig-tails and the slanting eyes. Please let me just\ntrot round after you; I like that best.\"\n\n\"Very well; now steer toward the wharf where the big ship with the queer\nflag is. That's the 'Rajah,' and we will go aboard if we can.\"\n\nIn among the ships they went, by the wharves where the water was green\nand still, and queer barnacles grew on the slippery piles. Odd smells\nsaluted her nose, and odd sights met her eyes, but Rose liked it all,\nand played she was really landing in Hong Kong when they glided up to\nthe steps in the shadow of the tall \"Rajah.\" Boxes and bales were rising\nout of the hold and being carried into the warehouse by stout porters,\nwho tugged and bawled and clattered about with small trucks, or worked\ncranes with iron claws that came down and clutched heavy weights,\nwhisking them aloft to where wide doors like mouths swallowed them up.\n\nDr. Alec took her aboard the ship, and she had the satisfaction of\npoking her inquisitive little nose into every available corner, at the\nrisk of being crushed, lost, or drowned.\n\n\"Well, child, how would you like to take a voyage round the world with\nme in a jolly old craft like this?\" asked her uncle, as they rested a\nminute in the captain's cabin.\n\n\"I should like to see the world, but not in such a small, untidy, smelly\nplace as this. We would go in a yacht all clean and comfortable;\nCharlie says that is the proper way,\" answered Rose, surveying the close\nquarters with little favour.\n\n\"You are not a true Campbell if you don't like the smell of tar and\nsalt-water, nor Charlie either, with his luxurious yacht. Now come\nashore and chin-chin with the Celestials.\"\n\nAfter a delightful progress through the great warehouse, peeping and\npicking as they went, they found Uncle Mac and the yellow gentlemen in\nhis private room, where samples, gifts, curiosities, and newly arrived\ntreasures of all sorts were piled up in pleasing pro-fusion and\ncon-fusion.\n\nAs soon as possible Rose retired to a corner, with a porcelain god\non one side, a green dragon on the other, and, what was still more\nembarrassing, Fun See sat on a tea-chest in front, and stared at her\nwith his beady black eyes till she did not know where to look.\n\nMr. Whang Lo was an elderly gentleman in American costume, with his\npig-tail neatly wound round his head. He spoke English, and was talking\nbusily with Uncle Mac in the most commonplace way so Rose considered him\na failure. But Fun See was delightfully Chinese from his junk-like shoes\nto the button on his pagoda hat; for he had got himself up in style, and\nwas a mass of silk jackets and slouchy trousers. He was short and fat,\nand waddled comically; his eyes were very \"slanting,\" as Rose said; his\nqueue was long, so were his nails; his yellow face was plump and shiny,\nand he was altogether a highly satisfactory Chinaman.\n\nUncle Alec told her that Fun See had come out to be educated and could\nonly speak a little pigeon English; so she must be kind to the poor\nfellow, for he was only a lad, though he looked nearly as old as Mr.\nWhang Lo. Rose said she would be kind; but had not the least idea how to\nentertain the queer guest, who looked as if he had walked out of one of\nthe rice-paper landscapes on the wall, and sat nodding at her so like a\ntoy Mandarin that she could hardly keep sober.\n\nIn the midst of her polite perplexity, Uncle Mac saw the two young\npeople gazing wistfully at one another, and seemed to enjoy the joke\nof this making acquaintance under difficulties. Taking a box from his\ntable, he gave it to Fun See, with an order that seemed to please him\nvery much.\n\nDescending from his perch, he fell to unpacking it with great neatness\nand despatch, while Rose watched him, wondering what was going to\nhappen. Presently, out from the wrappings came a teapot, which caused\nher to clasp her hands with delight, for it was made in the likeness of\na plump little Chinaman. His hat was the cover, his queue the handle,\nand his pipe the nose. It stood upon feet in shoes turned up at the\ntoes, and the smile on the fat, sleepy face was so like that on Fun's\nwhen he displayed the teapot, that Rose couldn't help laughing, which\npleased him much.\n\nTwo pretty cups with covers, and a fine scarlet tray completed the\nset, and made one long to have a \"dish of tea,\" even in Chinese style,\nwithout cream or sugar.\n\nWhen he had arranged them on a little table before her, Fun signified in\npantomime that they were hers, from her uncle. She returned her thanks\nin the same way, whereupon he returned to his tea-chest, and, having\nno other means of communication, they sat smiling and nodding at one\nanother in an absurd sort of way till a new idea seemed to strike\nFun. Tumbling off his seat, he waddled away as fast as his petticoats\npermitted, leaving Rose hoping that he had not gone to get a roasted\nrat, a stewed puppy, or any other foreign mess which civility would\noblige her to eat.\n\nWhile she waited for her funny new friend, she improved her mind in a\nway that would have charmed Aunt Jane. The gentlemen were talking over\nall sorts of things, and she listened attentively, storing up much\nof what she heard, for she had an excellent memory, and longed to\ndistinguish herself by being able to produce some useful information\nwhen reproached with her ignorance.\n\nShe was just trying to impress upon her mind that Amoy was two hundred\nand eighty miles from Hong Kong, when Fun came scuffling back, bearing\nwhat she thought was a small sword, till he unfurled an immense fan, and\npresented it with a string of Chinese compliments, the meaning of\nwhich would have amused her even more than the sound, if she could have\nunderstood it.\n\nShe had never seen such an astonishing fan, and at once became absorbed\nin examining it. Of course, there was no perspective whatever, which\nonly gave it a peculiar charm to Rose, for in one place a lovely lady,\nwith blue knitting-needles in her hair, sat directly upon the spire of a\nstately pagoda. In another charming view a brook appeared to flow in at\nthe front door of a stout gentleman's house, and out at his chimney. In\na third a zig-zag wall went up into the sky like a flash of lightning,\nand a bird with two tails was apparently brooding over a fisherman whose\nboat was just going aground upon the moon.\n\nIt was altogether a fascinating thing, and she would have sat wafting it\nto and fro all the afternoon, to Fun's great satisfaction, if Dr. Alec's\nattention had not suddenly been called to her by a breeze from the big\nfan that blew his hair into his eyes, and reminded him that they must\ngo. So the pretty china was repacked, Rose furled her fan, and with\nseveral parcels of choice teas for the old ladies stowed away in Dr.\nAlec's pockets, they took their leave, after Fun had saluted them with\n\"the three bendings and the nine knockings,\" as they salute the Emperor,\nor \"Son of Heaven,\" at home.\n\n\"I feel as if I had really been to China, and I'm sure I look so,\" said\nRose, as they glided out of the shadow of the \"Rajah.\"\n\nShe certainly did, for Mr. Whang Lo had given her a Chinese umbrella;\nUncle Alec had got some lanterns to light up her balcony; the great fan\nlay in her lap, and the tea-set reposed at her feet.\n\n\"This is not a bad way to study geography, is it?\" asked her uncle, who\nhad observed her attention to the talk.\n\n\"It is a very pleasant way, and I really think I have learned more about\nChina to-day than in all the lessons I had at school, though I used to\nrattle off the answers as fast as I could go. No one explained anything\nto us, so all I remember is that tea and silk come from there, and the\nwomen have little bits of feet. I saw Fun looking at mine, and he must\nhave thought them perfectly immense,\" answered Rose, surveying her stout\nboots with sudden contempt.\n\n\"We will have out the maps and the globe, and I'll show you some of my\njourneys, telling stories as we go. That will be next best to doing it\nactually.\"\n\n\"You are so fond of travelling, I should think it would be very dull for\nyou here, uncle. Do you know, Aunt Plenty says she is sure you will be\noff in a year or two.\"\n\n\"Very likely.\"\n\n\"Oh, me! what shall I do then?\" sighed Rose, in a tone of despair that\nmade Uncle Alec's face brighten with a look of genuine pleasure as he\nsaid significantly,\n\n\"Next time I go I shall take my little anchor with me. How will that\nsuit?\"\n\n\"Really, uncle?\"\n\n\"Really, niece.\"\n\nRose gave a little bounce of rapture which caused the boat to \"wiggle\"\nin a way that speedily quieted her down. But she sat beaming joyfully\nand trying to think which of some hundred questions she would ask first,\nwhen Dr. Alec said, pointing to a boat that was coming up behind them in\ngreat style,\n\n\"How well those fellows row! Look at them, and take notes for your own\nuse by and by.\"\n\nThe \"Stormy Petrel\" was manned by half a dozen jaunty looking sailors,\nwho made a fine display of blue shirts and shiny hats, with stars and\nanchors in every direction.\n\n\"How beautifully they go, and they are only boys. Why, I do believe they\nare our boys! Yes, I see Charlie laughing over his shoulder. Row, uncle,\nrow! Oh, please do, and not let them catch up with us!\" cried Rose, in\nsuch a state of excitement that the new umbrella nearly went overboard.\n\n\"All right, here we go!\" and away they did go with a long steady sweep\nof the oars that carried the \"Bonnie Belle\" through the water with a\nrush.\n\nThe lads pulled their prettiest, but Dr. Alec would have reached the\nPoint first, if Rose, in her flurry, had not retarded him by jerking the\nrudder ropes in a most unseamanlike way, and just as she got right again\nher hat blew off. That put an end to the race, and while they were still\nfishing for the hat the other boat came alongside, with all the oars in\nthe air, and the jolly young tars ready for a frolic.\n\n\"Did you catch a crab, uncle?\"\n\n\"No, a blue-fish,\" he answered, as the dripping hat was landed on a seat\nto dry.\n\n\"What have you been doing?\"\n\n\"Seeing Fun.\"\n\n\"Good for you, Rose! I know what you mean. We are going to have him up\nto show us how to fly the big kite, for we can't get the hang of it.\nIsn't he great fun, though?\"\n\n\"No, little Fun.\"\n\n\"Come, stop joking, and show us what you've got.\"\n\n\"You'd better hoist that fan for a sail.\"\n\n\"Lend Dandy your umbrella; he hates to burn his pretty nose.\"\n\n\"I say, uncle, are you going to have a Feast of Lanterns?\"\n\n\"No, I'm going to have a feast of bread and butter, for it's tea-time.\nIf that black cloud doesn't lie, we shall have a gust before long,\nso you had better get home as soon as you can, or your mother will be\nanxious, Archie.\"\n\n\"Ay, ay, skipper. Good-night, Rose; come out often, and we'll teach you\nall there is to know about rowing,\" was Charlie's modest invitation.\n\nThen the boats parted company, and across the water from the \"Petrel's\"\ncrew came a verse from one of the Nonsense songs in which the boys\ndelighted.\n\n    \"Oh, Timballoo! how happy we are,\n     We live in a sieve and a crockery jar!\n     And all night long, in the starlight pale,\n     We sail away, with a pea-green sail,\n     And whistle and warble a moony song\n     To the echoing sound of a coppery gong.\n     Far and few, far and few\n     Are the lands where the Jumblies live;\n     Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,\n     And they went to sea in a sieve.\"\n\n\n\nChapter 8--And what came of it\n\n\"Uncle, could you lend me a ninepence? I'll return it as soon as I get\nmy pocket-money,\" said Rose, coming into the library in a great hurry\nthat evening.\n\n\"I think I could, and I won't charge any interest for it, so you need\nnot be in any hurry to repay me. Come back here and help me settle these\nbooks if you have nothing pleasanter to do,\" answered Dr. Alec, handing\nout the money with that readiness which is so delightful when we ask\nsmall loans.\n\n\"I'll come in a minute; I've been longing to fix my books, but didn't\ndare to touch them, because you always shake your head when I read.\"\n\n\"I shall shake my head when you write, if you don't do it better than\nyou did in making out this catalogue.\"\n\n\"I know it's bad, but I was in a hurry when I did it, and I am in one\nnow.\" And away went Rose, glad to escape a lecture.\n\nBut she got it when she came back, for Uncle Alec was still knitting\nhis brows over the list of books, and sternly demanded, pointing to a\ntipsy-looking title staggering down the page,\n\n\"Is that meant for 'Pulverized Bones,' ma'am?\"\n\n\"No, sir; it's 'Paradise Lost.'\"\n\n\"Well, I'm glad to know it, for I began to think you were planning to\nstudy surgery or farming. And what is this, if you please? 'Babies'\nAprons' is all I can make of it.\"\n\nRose looked hard at the scrawl, and presently announced, with an air of\nsuperior wisdom,\n\n\"Oh, that's 'Bacon's Essays.'\"\n\n\"Miss Power did not teach anything so old-fashioned as writing, I see.\nNow look at this memorandum Aunt Plenty gave me, and see what a handsome\nplain hand that is. She went to a dame-school and learnt a few useful\nthings well; that is better than a smattering of half a dozen so-called\nhigher branches, I take the liberty of thinking.\"\n\n\"Well, I'm sure I was considered a bright girl at school, and learned\neverything I was taught. Luly and me were the first in all our classes,\nand 'specially praised for our French and music and those sort of\nthings,\" said Rose, rather offended at Uncle Alec's criticism.\n\n\"I dare say; but if your French grammar was no better than your English,\nI think the praise was not deserved, my dear.\"\n\n\"Why, uncle, we did study English grammar, and I could parse\nbeautifully. Miss Power used to have us up to show off when people came.\nI don't see but I talk as right as most girls.\"\n\n\"I dare say you do, but we are all too careless about our English. Now,\nthink a minute, and tell me if these expressions are correct 'Luly and\nme,' 'those sort of things,' and 'as right as most girls.'\"\n\nRose pulled her pet curl and put up her lip, but had to own that she was\nwrong, and said meekly, after a pause which threatened to be sulky,\n\n\"I suppose I should have said 'Luly and I,' in that case, and 'that sort\nof things' and 'rightly,' though 'correctly' would have been a better\nword, I guess.\"\n\n\"Thank you; and if you will kindly drop 'I guess,' I shall like my\nlittle Yankee all the better. Now, see here, Rosy, I don't pretend\nto set myself up for a model in anything, and you may come down on my\ngrammar, manners or morals as often as you think I'm wrong, and I'll\nthank you. I've been knocking about the world for years, and have got\ncareless, but I want my girl to be what I call well-educated, even if\nshe studies nothing but the three 'Rs' for a year to come. Let us be\nthorough, no matter how slowly we go.\"\n\nHe spoke so earnestly and looked so sorry to have ruffled her that\nRose went and sat on the arm of his chair, saying, with a pretty air of\npenitence,\n\n\"I'm sorry I was cross, uncle, when I ought to thank you for taking\nso much interest in me. I guess no, I think you are right about being\nthorough, for I used to understand a great deal better when papa taught\nme a few lessons than when Miss Power hurried me through so many. I\ndeclare my head used to be such a jumble of French and German, history\nand arithmetic, grammar and music, I used to feel sometimes as if it\nwould split. I'm sure I don't wonder it ached.\" And she held on to it as\nif the mere memory of the \"jumble\" made it swim.\n\n\"Yet that is considered an excellent school, I find, and I dare say it\nwould be if the benighted lady did not think it necessary to cram her\npupils like Thanks-giving turkeys, instead of feeding them in a natural\nand wholesome way. It is the fault with most American schools, and the\npoor little heads will go on aching till we learn better.\"\n\nThis was one of Dr. Alec's hobbies, and Rose was afraid he was off for\na gallop, but he reined himself in and gave her thoughts a new turn by\nsaying suddenly, as he pulled out a fat pocket-book,\n\n\"Uncle Mac has put all your affairs into my hands now, and here is your\nmonth's pocket money. You keep your own little accounts, I suppose?\"\n\n\"Thank you. Yes, Uncle Mac gave me an account book when I went to\nschool, and I used to put down my expenses, but I couldn't make them go\nvery well, for figures are the one thing I am not at all clever about,\"\nsaid Rose, rummaging in her desk for a dilapidated little book, which\nshe was ashamed to show when she found it.\n\n\"Well, as figures are rather important things to most of us, and you may\nhave a good many accounts to keep some day, wouldn't it be wise to\nbegin at once and learn to manage your pennies before the pounds come to\nperplex you?\"\n\n\"I thought you would do all that fussy part and take care of the pounds,\nas you call them. Need I worry about it? I do hate sums, so!\"\n\n\"I shall take care of things till you are of age, but I mean that you\nshall know how your property is managed, and do as much of it as you can\nby and by; then you won't be dependent on the honesty of other people.\"\n\n\"Gracious me! as if I wouldn't trust you with millions of billions if I\nhad them,\" cried Rose, scandalised at the mere suggestion.\n\n\"Ah, but I might be tempted; guardians are sometimes; so you'd better\nkeep your eye on me, and in order to do that you must learn all about\nthese affairs,\" answered Dr. Alec, as he made an entry in his own very\nneat account-book.\n\nRose peeped over his shoulder at it, and then turned to the arithmetical\npuzzle in her hand with a sigh of despair.\n\n\"Uncle, when you add up your expenses do you ever find you have got more\nmoney than you had in the beginning?\"\n\n\"No; I usually find that I have a good deal less than I had in the\nbeginning. Are you troubled in the peculiar way you mention?\"\n\n\"Yes; it is very curious, but I never can make things come out square.\"\n\n\"Perhaps I can help you,\" began Uncle Alec, in the most respectful tone.\n\n\"I think you had better, for if I have got to keep accounts I may as\nwell begin in the right way. But please don't laugh! I know I'm very\nstupid, and my book is a disgrace, but I never could get it straight.\"\nAnd with great trepidation, Rose gave up her funny little accounts.\n\nIt really was good in Dr. Alec not to laugh, and Rose felt deeply\ngrateful when he said in a mildly suggestive tone,\n\n\"The dollars and cents seem to be rather mixed, perhaps if I just\nstraightened them out a bit we should find things all right.\"\n\n\"Please do, and then show me on a fresh leaf how to make mine look nice\nand ship-shape as yours do.\"\n\nAs Rose stood by him watching the ease with which he quickly brought\norder out of chaos, she privately resolved to hunt up her old arithmetic\nand perfect herself in the four first rules, with a good tug at\nfractions, before she read any more fairy tales.\n\n\"Am I a rich girl, uncle?\" she asked suddenly, as he was copying a\ncolumn of figures.\n\n\"Rather a poor one, I should say, since you had to borrow a ninepence.\"\n\n\"That was your fault, because you forgot my pocket-money. But, really,\nshall I be rich by and by?\"\n\n\"I am afraid you will.\"\n\n\"Why afraid, uncle?\"\n\n\"Too much money is a bad thing.\"\n\n\"But I can give it away, you know; that is always the pleasantest part\nof having it I think.\"\n\n\"I'm glad you feel so, for you can do much good with your fortune if you\nknow how to use it well.\"\n\n\"You shall teach me, and when I am a woman we will set up a school where\nnothing but the three R's shall be taught, and all the children live\non oatmeal, and the girls have waists a yard round,\" said Rose, with a\nsudden saucy smile dimpling her cheeks.\n\n\"You are an impertinent little baggage, to turn on me in that way right\nin the midst of my first attempt at teaching. Never mind, I'll have an\nextra bitter dose for you next time, miss.\"\n\n\"I knew you wanted to laugh, so I gave you a chance. Now, I will be\ngood, master, and do my lesson nicely.\"\n\nSo Dr. Alec had his laugh, and then Rose sat down and took a lesson in\naccounts which she never forgot.\n\n\"Now come and read aloud to me; my eyes are tired, and it is pleasant to\nsit here by the fire while the rain pours outside and Aunt Jane lectures\nupstairs,\" said Uncle Alec, when last month's accounts had been put in\ngood order and a fresh page neatly begun.\n\nRose liked to read aloud, and gladly gave him the chapter in \"Nicholas\nNickleby\" where the Miss Kenwigses take their French lesson. She did her\nvery best, feeling that she was being criticised, and hoping that she\nmight not be found wanting in this as in other things.\n\n\"Shall I go on, sir?\" she asked very meekly, when the chapter ended.\n\n\"If you are not tired, dear. It is a pleasure to hear you, for you read\nremarkably well,\" was the answer that filled her heart with pride and\npleasure.\n\n\"Do you really think so, uncle? I'm so glad! Papa taught me, and I read\nfor hours to him, but I thought perhaps, he liked it because he was fond\nof me.\"\n\n\"So am I; but you really do read unusually well, and I'm very glad of\nit, for it is a rare accomplishment, and one I value highly. Come here\nin this cosy, low chair; the light is better, and I can pull these curls\nif you go too fast. I see you are going to be a great comfort as well\nas a great credit to your old uncle, Rosy.\" And Dr. Alec drew her close\nbeside him with such a fatherly look and tone that she felt it would\nbe very easy to love and obey him, since he knew how to mix praise and\nblame so pleasantly together.\n\nAnother chapter was just finished, when the sound of a carriage warned\nthem that Aunt Jane was about to depart. Before they could go to meet\nher, however, she appeared in the doorway looking like an unusually tall\nmummy in her waterproof, with her glasses shining like cat's eyes from\nthe depths of the hood.\n\n\"Just as I thought! petting that child to death and letting her sit up\nlate reading trash. I do hope you feel the weight of the responsibility\nyou have taken upon yourself, Alec,\" she said, with a certain grim sort\nof satisfaction at seeing things go wrong.\n\n\"I think I have a very realising sense of it, sister Jane,\" answered\nDr. Alec, with a comical shrug of the shoulders and a glance at Rose's\nbright face.\n\n\"It is sad to see a great girl wasting these precious hours so. Now, my\nboys have studied all day, and Mac is still at his books, I've no doubt,\nwhile you have not had a lesson since you came, I suspect.\"\n\n\"I've had five to-day, ma'am,\" was Rose's very unexpected answer.\n\n\"I'm glad to hear it; and what were they, pray?\" Rose looked very demure\nas she replied,\n\n\"Navigation, geography, grammar, arithmetic, and keeping my temper.\"\n\n\"Queer lessons, I fancy; and what have you learned from this remarkable\nmixture, I should like to know?\"\n\nA naughty sparkle came into Rose's eyes as she answered, with a droll\nlook at her uncle,\n\n\"I can't tell you all, ma'am, but I have collected some useful\ninformation about China, which you may like, especially the teas. The\nbest are Lapsing Souchong, Assam Pekoe, rare Ankoe, Flowery Pekoe,\nHowqua's mixture, Scented Caper, Padral tea, black Congou, and green\nTwankey. Shanghai is on the Woosung River. Hong Kong means 'Island of\nSweet waters.' Singapore is 'Lion's Town.' 'Chops' are the boats they\nlive in; and they drink tea out of little saucers. Principal productions\nare porcelain, tea, cinnamon, shawls, tin, tamarinds and opium. They\nhave beautiful temples and queer gods; and in Canton is the Dwelling of\nthe Holy Pigs, fourteen of them, very big, and all blind.\"\n\nThe effect of this remarkable burst was immense, especially the fact\nlast mentioned. It entirely took the wind out of Aunt Jane's sails; it\nwas so sudden, so varied and unexpected, that she had not a word to say.\nThe glasses remained fixed full upon Rose for a moment, and then, with\na hasty \"Oh, indeed!\" the excellent lady bundled into her carriage and\ndrove away, somewhat bewildered and very much disturbed.\n\nShe would have been more so if she had seen her reprehensible\nbrother-in-law dancing a triumphal polka down the hall with Rose in\nhonour of having silenced the enemy's battery for once.\n\n\n\nChapter 9--Phebe's Secret\n\n\"Why do you keep smiling to yourself, Phebe?\" asked Rose, as they were\nworking together one morning, for Dr. Alec considered house-work the\nbest sort of gymnastics for girls; so Rose took lessons of Phebe in\nsweeping, dusting and bed-making.\n\n\"I was thinking about a nice little secret I know, and couldn't help\nsmiling.\"\n\n\"Shall I know it, sometime?\"\n\n\"Guess you will.\"\n\n\"Shall I like it?\"\n\n\"Oh, won't you, though!\"\n\n\"Will it happen soon?\"\n\n\"Sometime this week.\"\n\n\"I know what it is! The boys are going to have fireworks on the fourth,\nand have got some surprise for me. Haven't they?\"\n\n\"That's telling.\"\n\n\"Well, I can wait; only tell me one thing is uncle in it?\"\n\n\"Of course he is; there's never any fun without him.\"\n\n\"Then it's all right, and sure to be nice.\"\n\nRose went out on the balcony to shake the rugs, and, having given them\na vigorous beating, hung them on the balustrade to air, while she took a\nlook at her plants. Several tall vases and jars stood there, and a month\nof June sun and rain had worked wonders with the seeds and slips she had\nplanted. Morning-glories and nasturtiums ran all over the bars, making\nhaste to bloom. Scarlet beans and honeysuckles were climbing up from\nbelow to meet their pretty neighbours, and the woodbine was hanging its\ngreen festoons wherever it could cling.\n\nThe waters of the bay were dancing in the sunshine, a fresh wind stirred\nthe chestnut-trees with a pleasant sound, and the garden below was full\nof roses, butterflies and bees. A great chirping and twittering went on\namong the birds, busy with their summer house-keeping, and, far away,\nthe white-winged gulls were dipping and diving in the sea, where ships,\nlike larger birds, went sailing to and fro.\n\n\"Oh, Phebe, it's such a lovely day, I do wish your fine secret was going\nto happen right away! I feel just like having a good time; don't you?\"\nsaid Rose, waving her arms as if she was going to fly.\n\n\"I often feel that way, but I have to wait for my good times, and don't\nstop working to wish for 'em. There, now you can finish as soon as the\ndust settles; I must go do my stairs,\" and Phebe trudged away with the\nbroom, singing as she went.\n\nRose leaned where she was, and fell to thinking how many good times\nshe had had lately, for the gardening had prospered finely, and she was\nlearning to swim and row, and there were drives and walks, and quiet\nhours of reading and talk with Uncle Alec, and, best of all, the old\npain and ennui seldom troubled her now. She could work and play all\nday, sleep sweetly all night, and enjoy life with the zest of a healthy,\nhappy child. She was far from being as strong and hearty as Phebe, but\nshe was getting on; the once pale cheeks had colour in them now, the\nhands were growing plump and brown, and the belt was not much too loose.\nNo one talked to her about her health, and she forgot that she had \"no\nconstitution.\" She took no medicine but Dr. Alec's three great remedies,\nand they seemed to suit her excellently. Aunt Plenty said it was the\npills; but, as no second batch had ever followed the first, I think the\nold lady was mistaken.\n\nRose looked worthy of her name as she stood smiling to herself over\na happier secret than any Phebe had a secret which she did not know\nherself till she found out, some years later, the magic of good health.\n\n    \"'Look only,' said the brownie,\n     'At the pretty gown of blue,\n     At the kerchief pinned about her head,\n     And at her little shoe,\"'\n\nsaid a voice from below, as a great cabbage-rose came flying against her\ncheek.\n\n\"What is the princess dreaming about up there in her hanging-garden?\"\nadded Dr. Alec as she flung back a morning-glory.\n\n\"I was wishing I could do something pleasant this fine day; something\nvery new and interesting, for the wind makes me feel frisky and gay.\"\n\n\"Suppose we take a pull over to the Island? I intended to go this\nafternoon; but if you feel more like it now, we can be off at once.\"\n\n\"I do! I do! I'll come in fifteen minutes, uncle. I must just scrabble\nmy room to rights, for Phebe has got a great deal to do.\"\n\nRose caught up the rugs and vanished as she spoke, while Dr. Alec went\nin, saying to himself, with an indulgent smile,\n\n\"It may upset things a trifle, but half a child's pleasure consists in\nhaving their fun when they want it.\"\n\nNever did duster flap more briskly than the one Rose used that day, and\nnever was a room \"scrabbled\" to rights in such haste as hers. Tables and\nchairs flew into their places as if alive; curtains shook as if a gale\nwas blowing; china rattled and small articles tumbled about as if a\nyoung earthquake was playing with them. The boating suit went on in a\ntwinkling, and Rose was off with a hop and a skip, little dreaming how\nmany hours it would be before she saw her pretty room again.\n\nUncle Alec was putting a large basket into the boat when she arrived,\nand before they were off Phebe came running down with a queer, knobby\nbundle done up in a water-proof.\n\n\"We can't eat half that luncheon, and I know we shall not need so many\nwraps. I wouldn't lumber the boat up so,\" said Rose, who still had\nsecret scares when on the water.\n\n\"Couldn't you make a smaller parcel, Phebe?\" asked Dr. Alec, eyeing the\nbundle suspiciously.\n\n\"No, sir, not in such a hurry,\" and Phebe laughed as she gave a\nparticularly large knob a good poke.\n\n\"Well, it will do for ballast. Don't forget the note to Mrs. Jessie, I\nbeg of you.\"\n\n\"No, sir. I'll send it right off,\" and Phebe ran up the bank as if she\nhad wings to her feet.\n\n\"We'll take a look at the lighthouse first, for you have not been there\nyet, and it is worth seeing. By the time we have done that it will be\npretty warm, and we will have lunch under the trees on the Island.\"\n\nRose was ready for anything, and enjoyed her visit to the lighthouse on\nthe Point very much, especially climbing up the narrow stairs and going\ninside the great lantern. They made a long stay, for Dr. Alec seemed in\nno hurry to go, and kept looking through his spy-glass as if he expected\nto discover something remarkable on sea or land. It was past twelve\nbefore they reached the Island, and Rose was ready for her lunch long\nbefore she got it.\n\n\"Now this is lovely! I do wish the boys were here. Won't it be nice to\nhave them with us all their vacation? Why, it begins to-day, doesn't it?\nOh, I wish I'd remembered it sooner, and perhaps they would have come\nwith us,\" she said, as they lay luxuriously eating sandwiches under the\nold apple-tree.\n\n\"So we might. Next time we won't be in such a hurry. I expect the lads\nwill take our heads off when they find us out,\" answered Dr. Alec,\nplacidly drinking cold tea.\n\n\"Uncle, I smell a frying sort of a smell,\" Rose said, pausing suddenly\nas she was putting away the remains of the lunch half an hour later.\n\n\"So do I; it is fish, I think.\"\n\nFor a moment they both sat with their noses in the air, sniffing like\nhounds; then Dr. Alec sprang up, saying with great decision,\n\n\"Now, this won't do! No one is permitted on this island without asking\nleave. I must see who dares to fry fish on my private property.\"\n\nTaking the basket on one arm and the bundle on the other, he strode away\ntowards the traitorous smell, looking as fierce as a lion, while Rose\nmarched behind under her umbrella.\n\n\"We are Robinson Crusoe and his man Friday going to see if the savages\nhave come,\" she said presently, for her fancy was full of the dear old\nstories that all children love so well.\n\n\"And there they are! Two tents and two boats, as I live! These rascals\nmean to enjoy themselves, that's evident.\"\n\n\"There ought to be more boats and no tents. I wonder where the prisoners\nare?\"\n\n\"There are traces of them,\" and Dr. Alec pointed to the heads and tails\nof fishes strewn on the grass.\n\n\"And there are more,\" said Rose, laughing, as she pointed to a scarlet\nheap of what looked like lobsters.\n\n\"The savages are probably eating their victims now; don't you hear the\nknives rattle in that tent?\"\n\n\"We ought to creep up and peep; Crusoe was cautious, you know, and\nFriday scared out of his wits,\" added Rose, still keeping up the joke.\n\n\"But this Crusoe is going to pounce upon them, regardless of\nconsequences. If I am killed and eaten, you seize the basket and run for\nthe boat; there are provisions enough for your voyage home.\"\n\nWith that Uncle Alec slipped round to the front of the tent and, casting\nin the big bundle like a bomb-shell, roared out, in a voice of thunder,\n\n\"Pirates, surrender!\"\n\nA crash, a shout, a laugh, and out came the savages, brandishing knives\nand forks, chicken bones, and tin mugs, and all fell upon the intruder,\npommelling him unmercifully as they cried,\n\n\"You came too soon! We are not half ready! You've spoilt it all! Where\nis Rose?\"\n\n\"Here I am,\" answered a half-stifled voice, and Rose was discovered\nsitting on the pile of red flannel bathing clothes, which she had\nmistaken for lobsters, and where she had fallen in a fit of merriment\nwhen she discovered that the cannibals were her merry cousins.\n\n\"You good-for-nothing boys! You are always bursting out upon me in some\nridiculous way, and I always get taken in because I'm not used to such\npranks. Uncle is as bad as the rest, and it's great fun,\" she said,\nas the lads came round her, half scolding, half welcoming, and wholly\nenjoying the double surprise.\n\n\"You were not to come till afternoon, and mamma was to be here to\nreceive you. Everything is in a mess now, except your tent; we got that\nin order the first thing, and you can sit there and see us work,\" said\nArchie, doing the honours as usual.\n\n\"Rose felt it in her bones, as Dolly says, that something was in the\nwind, and wanted to be off at once. So I let her come, and should\nhave kept her away an hour longer if your fish had not betrayed you,\"\nexplained Uncle Alec, subsiding from a ferocious Crusoe into his\ngood-natured self again.\n\n\"As this seat is rather damp, I think I'll rise,\" said Rose, as the\nexcitement lessened a little.\n\nSeveral fishy hands helped her up, and Charlie said, as he scattered the\nscarlet garments over the grass with an oar,\n\n\"We had a jolly good swim before dinner, and I told the Brats to spread\nthese to dry. Hope you brought your things, Rose, for you belong to the\nLobsters, you know, and we can have no end of fun teaching you to dive\nand float and tread water.\"\n\n\"I didn't bring anything--\" began Rose, but was interrupted by the Brats\n(otherwise Will and Geordie), who appeared bearing the big bundle, so\nmuch demoralised by its fall that a red flannel tunic trailed out at one\nend and a little blue dressing-gown at the other, while the knobs proved\nto be a toilet-case, rubbers, and a silver mug.\n\n\"Oh, that sly Phebe! This was the secret, and she bundled up those\nthings after I went down to the boat,\" cried Rose, with sparkling eyes.\n\n\"Guess something is smashed inside, for a bit of glass fell out,\"\nobserved Will, as they deposited the bundle at her feet.\n\n\"Catch a girl going anywhere without a looking-glass. We haven't got one\namong the whole lot of us,\" added Mac, with masculine scorn.\n\n\"Dandy has; I caught him touching up his wig behind the trees after our\nswim,\" cut in Geordie, wagging a derisive finger at Steve, who promptly\nsilenced him by a smart rap on the head with the drum-stick he had just\npolished off.\n\n\"Come, come, you lazy lubbers, fall to work, or we shall not be ready\nfor mamma. Take Rose's things to her tent, and tell her all about it,\nPrince. Mac and Steve, you cut away and bring up the rest of the straw;\nand you small chaps, clear off the table, if you have stuffed all you\ncan. Please, uncle, I'd like your advice about the boundary lines and\nthe best place for the kitchen.\"\n\nEveryone obeyed the chief, and Rose was escorted to her tent by Charlie,\nwho devoted himself to her service. She was charmed with her quarters,\nand still more so with the programme which he unfolded before her as\nthey worked.\n\n\"We always camp out somewhere in vacation, and this year we thought we'd\ntry the Island. It is handy, and our fireworks will show off well from\nhere.\"\n\n\"Shall we stay over the Fourth? Three whole days! Oh, me! what a frolic\nit will be!\"\n\n\"Bless your heart, we often camp for a week, we big fellows; but this\nyear the small chaps wanted to come, so we let them. We have great\nlarks, as you'll see; for we have a cave and play Captain Kidd, and have\nshipwrecks, and races, and all sorts of games. Arch and I are rather\npast that kind of thing now, but we do it to please the children,\" added\nCharlie, with a sudden recollection of his sixteen years.\n\n\"I had no idea boys had such good times. Their plays never seemed a bit\ninteresting before. But I suppose that was because I never knew any boys\nvery well, or perhaps you are unusually nice ones,\" observed Rose, with\nan artless air of appreciation that was very flattering.\n\n\"We are a pretty clever set, I fancy; but we have a good many\nadvantages, you see. There are a tribe of us, to begin with; then our\nfamily has been here for ages, and we have plenty of 'spondulics,' so\nwe can rather lord it over the other fellows, and do as we like. There,\nma'am, you can hang your smashed glass on that nail and do up your back\nhair as fine as you please. You can have a blue blanket or a red one,\nand a straw pillow or an air cushion for your head, whichever you like.\nYou can trim up to any extent, and be as free and easy as squaws in a\nwigwam, for this corner is set apart for you ladies and we never cross\nthe line uncle is drawing until we ask leave. Anything more I can do for\nyou, cousin?\"\n\n\"No, thank you. I think I'll leave the rest till auntie comes, and go\nand help you somewhere else, if I may.\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed, come on and see to the kitchen. Can you cook?\" asked\nCharlie, as he led the way to the rocky nook where Archie was putting up\na sail-cloth awning.\n\n\"I can make tea and toast bread.\"\n\n\"Well, we'll shew you how to fry fish, and make chowder. Now you just\nset these pots and pans round tastefully, and sort of tidy up a bit,\nfor Aunt Jessie insists on doing some of the work, and I want it to be\ndecent here.\"\n\nBy four o'clock the camp was in order, and the weary workers settled\ndown on Lookout Rock to watch for Mrs. Jessie and Jamie, who was never\nfar from mamma's apron string. They looked like a flock of blue-birds,\nall being in sailor rig, with blue ribbon enough flying from the seven\nhats to have set up a milliner. Very tuneful blue-birds they were, too,\nfor all the lads sang, and the echo of their happy voices reached Mrs.\nJessie long before she saw them.\n\nThe moment the boat hove in sight up went the Island flag, and the\nblue-jackets cheered lustily, as they did on every possible occasion,\nlike true young Americans. This welcome was answered by the flapping of\na handkerchief and the shrill \"Rah! Rah! Rah!\" of the one small tar\nwho stood in the stern waving his hat manfully, while a maternal hand\nclutched him firmly in the rear.\n\nCleopatra landing from her golden galley never received a heartier\ngreeting than \"Little Mum\" as she was borne to her tent by the young\nfolk, for love of whom she smilingly resigned herself to three days of\ndiscomfort; while Jamie immediately attached himself to Rose, assuring\nher of his protection from the manifold perils which might assail them.\n\nTaught by long experience that boys are always hungry, Aunt Jessie soon\nproposed supper, and proceeded to get it, enveloped in an immense apron,\nwith an old hat of Archie's stuck atop of her cap. Rose helped, and\ntried to be as handy as Phebe, though the peculiar style of table she\nhad to set made it no easy task. It was accomplished at last, and a\nvery happy party lay about under the trees, eating and drinking out of\nanyone's plate and cup, and quite untroubled by the frequent appearance\nof ants and spiders in places which these interesting insects are not\nexpected to adorn.\n\n\"I never thought I should like to wash dishes, but I do,\" said Rose,\nas she sat in a boat after supper lazily rinsing plates in the sea, and\nrocking luxuriously as she wiped them.\n\n\"Mum is mighty particular; we just give 'em a scrub with sand, and dust\n'em off with a bit of paper. It's much the best way, I think,\" replied\nGeordie, who reposed in another boat alongside.\n\n\"How Phebe would like this! I wonder uncle did not have her come.\"\n\n\"I believe he tried to, but Dolly was as cross as two sticks, and said\nshe couldn't spare her. I'm sorry, for we all like the Phebe bird, and\nshe'd chirp like a good one out here, wouldn't she?\"\n\n\"She ought to have a holiday like the rest of us. It's too bad to leave\nher out.\"\n\nThis thought came back to Rose several times that evening, for Phebe\nwould have added much to the little concert they had in the moonlight,\nwould have enjoyed the stories told, been quick at guessing the\nconundrums, and laughed with all her heart at the fun. The merry going\nto bed would have been the best of all, for Rose wanted someone to\ncuddle under the blue blanket with her, there to whisper and giggle and\ntell secrets, as girls delight to do.\n\nLong after the rest were asleep, Rose lay wide awake, excited by the\nnovelty of all about her, and a thought that had come into her mind. Far\naway she heard a city clock strike twelve; a large star like a mild eye\npeeped in at the opening of the tent, and the soft plash of the waves\nseemed calling her to come out. Aunt Jessie lay fast asleep, with Jamie\nrolled up like a kitten at her feet, and neither stirred as Rose in her\nwrapper crept out to see how the world looked at midnight.\n\nShe found it very lovely, and sat down on a cracker keg to enjoy it with\na heart full of the innocent sentiment of her years. Fortunately, Dr.\nAlec saw her before she had time to catch cold, for coming out to tie\nback the door-flap of his tent for more air, he beheld the small\nfigure perched in the moonlight. Having no fear of ghosts, he quietly\napproached, and, seeing that she was wide awake, said, with a hand on\nher shining hair,\n\n\"What is my girl doing here?\"\n\n\"Having a good time,\" answered Rose, not at all startled.\n\n\"I wonder what she was thinking about with such a sober look.\"\n\n\"The story you told of the brave sailor who gave up his place on the\nraft to the woman, and the last drop of water to the poor baby. People\nwho make sacrifices are very much loved and admired, aren't they?\" she\nasked, earnestly.\n\n\"If the sacrifice is a true one. But many of the bravest never are\nknown, and get no praise. That does not lessen their beauty, though\nperhaps it makes them harder, for we all like sympathy,\" and Dr. Alec\nsighed a patient sort of sigh.\n\n\"I suppose you have made a great many? Would you mind telling me one of\nthem?\" asked Rose, arrested by the sigh.\n\n\"My last was to give up smoking,\" was the very unromantic answer to her\npensive question.\n\n\"Why did you?\"\n\n\"Bad example for the boys.\"\n\n\"That was very good of you, uncle! Was it hard?\"\n\n\"I'm ashamed to say it was. But as a wise old fellow once said, 'It is\nnecessary to do right; it is not necessary to be happy.'\"\n\nRose pondered over the saying as if it pleased her, and then said, with\na clear, bright look,\n\n\"A real sacrifice is giving up something you want or enjoy very much,\nisn't it?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Doing it one's own self because one loves another person very much and\nwants her to be happy?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"And doing it pleasantly, and being glad about it, and not minding the\npraise if it doesn't come?\"\n\n\"Yes, dear, that is the true spirit of self-sacrifice; you seem to\nunderstand it, and I dare say you will have many chances in your life to\ntry the real thing. I hope they won't be very hard ones.\"\n\n\"I think they will,\" began Rose, and there stopped short.\n\n\"Well, make one now, and go to sleep, or my girl will be ill to-morrow,\nand then the aunts will say camping out was bad for her.\"\n\n\"I'll go good night!\" and throwing him a kiss, the little ghost\nvanished, leaving Uncle Alec to pace the shore and think about some of\nthe unsuspected sacrifices that had made him what he was.\n\n\n\nChapter 10--Rose's Sacrifice\n\nThere certainly were \"larks\" on Campbell's Island next day, as Charlie\nhad foretold, and Rose took her part in them like one intent on enjoying\nevery minute to the utmost. There was a merry breakfast, a successful\nfishing expedition, and then the lobsters came out in full force, for\neven Aunt Jessie appeared in red flannel. There was nothing Uncle Alec\ncould not do in the water, and the boys tried their best to equal him in\nstrength and skill, so there was a great diving and ducking, for every\none was bent on distinguishing himself.\n\nRose swam out far beyond her depth, with uncle to float her back; Aunt\nJessie splashed placidly in the shallow pools, with Jamie paddling near\nby like a little whale beside its mother; while the lads careered about,\nlooking like a flock of distracted flamingoes, and acting like the\nfamous dancing party in \"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.\"\n\nNothing but chowder would have lured them from their gambols in the\nbriny deep; that time-honoured dish demanded the concentrated action\nof several mighty minds; so the \"Water Babies\" came ashore and fell to\ncooking.\n\nIt is unnecessary to say that, when done, it was the most remarkable\nchowder ever cooked, and the quantity eaten would have amazed the\nworld if the secret had been divulged. After this exertion a siesta\nwas considered the thing, and people lay about in tents or out as they\npleased, the boys looking like warriors slumbering where they fell.\n\nThe elders had just settled to a comfortable nap when the youngsters\nrose, refreshed and ready for further exploits. A hint sent them all off\nto the cave, and there were discovered bows and arrows, battle clubs,\nold swords, and various relics of an interesting nature. Perched upon\na commanding rock, with Jamie to \"splain\" things to her, Rose beheld\na series of stirring scenes enacted with great vigour and historical\naccuracy by her gifted relatives.\n\nCaptain Cook was murdered by the natives of Owhyhee in the most\nthrilling manner. Captain Kidd buried untold wealth in the chowder\nkettle at the dead of night, and shot both the trusting villains who\nshared the secret of the hiding place. Sinbad came ashore there and had\nmanifold adventures, and numberless wrecks bestrewed the sands.\n\nRose considered them by far the most exciting dramas she had ever\nwitnessed; and when the performance closed with a grand ballet of Feejee\nIslanders, whose barbaric yells alarmed the gulls, she had no words in\nwhich to express her gratification.\n\nAnother swim at sunset, another merry evening on the rocks watching the\nlighted steamers pass seaward and the pleasure-boats come into port,\nended the second day of the camping out, and sent everyone to bed early\nthat they might be ready for the festivities of the morrow.\n\n\"Archie, didn't I hear uncle ask you to row home in the morning for\nfresh milk and things?\"\n\n\"Yes, why?\"\n\n\"Please, may I go too? I have something of great importance to arrange;\nyou know I was carried off in a hurry,\" Rose said in a confidential\nwhisper as she was bidding her cousins good night.\n\n\"I'm willing, and I guess Charlie won't mind.\"\n\n\"Thank you; be sure you stand by me when I ask leave in the morning, and\ndon't say anything till then, except to Charlie. Promise,\" urged Rose,\nso eagerly, that Archie struck an attitude and cried dramatically,\n\n\"By yonder moon I swear!\"\n\n\"Hush! it's all right, go along\"; and Rose departed as if satisfied.\n\n\"She's a queer little thing, isn't she, Prince?\"\n\n\"Rather a nice little thing, I think. I'm quite fond of her.\"\n\nRose's quick ears caught both remarks, and she retired to her tent,\nsaying to herself with sleepy dignity,\n\n\"Little thing, indeed! Those boys talk as if I was a baby. They will\ntreat me with more respect after to-morrow, I guess.\"\n\nArchie did stand by her in the morning, and her request was readily\ngranted, as the lads were coming directly back. Off they went, and Rose\nwaved her hand to the islanders with a somewhat pensive air, for an\nheroic purpose glowed within her, and the spirit of self-sacrifice was\nabout to be illustrated in a new and touching manner.\n\nWhile the boys got the milk Rose ran to Phebe, ordered her to leave her\ndishes, to put on her hat, and take a note back to Uncle Alec, which\nwould explain this somewhat mysterious performance. Phebe obeyed, and\nwhen she went to the boat Rose accompanied her, telling the boys she was\nnot ready to go yet, but they could, some of them, come for her when she\nhung a white signal on her balcony.\n\n\"But why not come now? What are you about, miss? Uncle won't like it,\"\nprotested Charlie, in great amazement.\n\n\"Just do as I tell you, little boy; uncle will understand and explain.\nObey, as Phebe does, and ask no questions. I can have secrets as well\nas other people\"; and Rose walked off with an air of lofty independence\nthat impressed her friends immensely.\n\n\"It's some plot between uncle and herself, so we won't meddle. All\nright, Phebe? Pull away, Prince\"; and off they went to be received with\nmuch surprise by the islanders.\n\nThis was the note Phebe bore:\n\n\"Dear Uncle, I am going to take Phebe's place to-day, and let her have\nall the fun she can. Please don't mind what she says, but keep her, and\ntell the boys to be very good to her for my sake. Don't think it is easy\nto do this; it is very hard to give up the best day of all, but I feel\nso selfish to have all the pleasure and Phebe none, that I wish to make\nthis sacrifice. Do let me, and don't laugh at it; I truly do not wish to\nbe praised, and I truly want to do it. Love to all from,\n\n\"Rose.\"\n\n\"Bless the little dear, what a generous heart she has! Shall we go after\nher, Jessie, or let her have her way?\" said Dr. Alec, after the first\nmingled amusement and astonishment had subsided.\n\n\"Let her alone, and don't spoil her little sacrifice. She means it, I\nknow, and the best way in which we can show our respect for her effort\nis to give Phebe a pleasant day. I'm sure she has earned it\"; and Mrs.\nJessie made a sign to the boys to suppress their disappointment and\nexert themselves to please Rose's guest.\n\nPhebe was with difficulty kept from going straight home, and declared\nthat she should not enjoy herself one bit without Miss Rose.\n\n\"She won't hold out all day, and we shall see her paddling back before\nnoon, I'll wager anything,\" said Charlie; and the rest so strongly\ninclined to his opinion that they resigned themselves to the loss of the\nlittle queen of the revels, sure that it would be only a temporary one.\n\nBut hour after hour passed, and no signal appeared on the balcony,\nthough Phebe watched it hopefully. No passing boat brought the truant\nback, though more than one pair of eyes looked out for the bright hair\nunder the round hat; and sunset came, bringing no Rose but the lovely\ncolour in the western sky.\n\n\"I really did not think the child had it in her. I fancied it was a bit\nof sentiment, but I see she was in earnest, and means that her sacrifice\nshall be a true one. Dear little soul! I'll make it up to her a thousand\ntimes over, and beg her pardon for thinking it might be done for\neffect,\" Dr. Alec said remorsefully, as he strained his eyes through the\ndusk, fancying he saw a small figure sitting in the garden as it had sat\non the keg the night before, laying the generous little plot that had\ncost more than he could guess.\n\n\"Well, she can't help seeing the fireworks, any way, unless she is\ngoose enough to think she must hide in a dark closet and not look,\" said\nArchie, who was rather disgusted at Rose's seeming ingratitude.\n\n\"She will see ours capitally, but miss the big ones on the hill, unless\npapa has forgotten all about them,\" added Steve, cutting short the\nharangue Mac had begun upon the festivals of the ancients.\n\n\"I'm sure the sight of her will be better than the finest fireworks\nthat ever went off,\" said Phebe, meditating an elopement with one of the\nboats if she could get a chance.\n\n\"Let things work; if she resists a brilliant invitation we give her she\nwill be a heroine,\" added Uncle Alec, secretly hoping that she would\nnot.\n\nMeanwhile Rose had spent a quiet, busy day helping Dolly, waiting on\nAunt Peace, and steadily resisting Aunt Plenty's attempts to send her\nback to the happy island. It had been hard in the morning to come\nin from the bright world outside, with flags flying, cannon booming,\ncrackers popping, and everyone making ready for a holiday, and go to\nwashing cups, while Dolly grumbled and the aunts lamented. It was very\nhard to see the day go by, knowing how gay each hour must have been\nacross the water, and how a word from her would take her where she\nlonged to be with all her heart. But it was hardest of all when evening\ncame and Aunt Peace was asleep, Aunt Plenty seeing a gossip in the\nparlor, Dolly established in the porch to enjoy the show, and nothing\nleft for the little maid to do but sit alone in her balcony and watch\nthe gay rockets whizz up from island, hill, and city, while bands played\nand boats laden with happy people went to and fro in the fitful light.\n\nThen it must be confessed that a tear or two dimmed the blue eyes, and\nonce, when a very brilliant display illuminated the island for a moment,\nand she fancied she saw the tents, the curly head went down on the\nrailing, and a wide-awake nasturtium heard a little whisper,\n\n\"I hope someone wishes I was there!\"\n\nThe tears were all gone, however, and she was watching the hill and\nisland answer each other with what Jamie called \"whizzers, whirligigs\nand busters,\" and smiling as she thought how hard the boys must be\nworking to keep up such a steady fire, when Uncle Mac came walking in\nupon her, saying hurriedly,\n\n\"Come, child, put on your tippet, pelisse, or whatever you call it, and\nrun off with me. I came to get Phebe, but aunt says she is gone, so I\nwant you. I've got Fun down in the boat, and I want you to go with us\nand see my fireworks. Got them up for you, and you mustn't miss them, or\nI shall be disappointed.\"\n\n\"But, uncle,\" began Rose, feeling as if she ought to refuse even a\nglimpse of bliss, \"perhaps--\"\n\n\"I know, my dear, I know; aunt told me; but no one needs you now so much\nas I do, and I insist on your coming,\" said Uncle Mac, who seemed in a\ngreat hurry to be off, yet was unusually kind.\n\nSo Rose went and found the little Chinaman with a funny lantern waiting\nto help her in and convulse her with laughter trying to express his\nemotions in pigeon English. The city clocks were striking nine as they\ngot out into the bay, and the island fireworks seemed to be over, for no\nrocket answered the last Roman candle that shone on the Aunt-hill.\n\n\"Ours are done, I see, but they are going up all round the city, and how\npretty they are,\" said Rose, folding her mantle about her, and surveying\nthe scene with pensive interest.\n\n\"Hope my fellows have not got into trouble up there,\" muttered Uncle\nMac, adding with a satisfied chuckle, as a spark shone out, \"No; there\nit goes! Look, Rosy, and see how you like this one; it was ordered\nespecially in honour of your coming.\"\n\nRose looked with all her eyes, and saw the spark grow into the likeness\nof a golden vase, then green leaves came out, and then a crimson flower\nglowing on the darkness with a splendid lustre.\n\n\"Is it a rose, uncle?\" she asked, clasping her hands with delight as she\nrecognised the handsome flower.\n\n\"Of course it is! Look again, and guess what those are,\" answered Uncle\nMac, chuckling and enjoying it all like a boy.\n\nA wreath of what looked at first like purple brooms appeared below the\nvase, but Rose guessed what they were meant for, and stood straight up,\nholding by his shoulder, and crying excitedly,\n\n\"Thistles, uncle, Scotch thistles! There are seven of them one for each\nboy! Oh, what a joke!\" and she laughed so that she plumped into the\nbottom of the boat and stayed there till the brilliant spectacle was\nquite gone.\n\n\"That was rather a neat thing, I flatter myself,\" said Uncle Mac, in\nhigh glee at the success of his illumination. \"Now, shall I leave you\non the Island or take you home again, my good little girl?\" he added,\nlifting her up with such a tone of approbation in his voice that Rose\nkissed him on the spot.\n\n\"Home, please uncle; and I thank you very very much for the beautiful\nfirework you got up for me. I'm so glad I saw it; and I know I shall\ndream about it,\" answered Rose steadily, though a wistful glance went\ntoward the Island, now so near that she could smell powder and see\nshadowy figures flitting about.\n\nHome they went; and Rose fell asleep saying to herself, \"It was harder\nthan I thought, but I'm glad I did it, and I truly don't want any reward\nbut Phebe's pleasure.\"\n\n\n\nChapter 11--Poor Mac\n\nRose's sacrifice was a failure in one respect, for, though the elders\nloved her the better for it, and showed that they did, the boys were not\ninspired with the sudden respect which she had hoped for. In fact, her\nfeelings were much hurt by overhearing Archie say that he couldn't see\nany sense in it; and the Prince added another blow by pronouncing her\n\"the queerest chicken ever seen.\"\n\nIt is apt to be so, and it is hard to bear; for, though we do not want\ntrumpets blown, we do like to have our little virtues appreciated, and\ncannot help feeling disappointed if they are not.\n\nA time soon came, however, when Rose, quite unconsciously, won not only\nthe respect of her cousins, but their gratitude and affection likewise.\n\nSoon after the Island episode, Mac had a sunstroke, and was very ill\nfor some time. It was so sudden that everyone was startled, and for some\ndays the boy's life was in danger. He pulled through, however; and then,\njust as the family were rejoicing, a new trouble appeared which cast a\ngloom over them all.\n\nPoor Mac's eyes gave out; and well they might, for he had abused them,\nand never being very strong, they suffered doubly now.\n\nNo one dared to tell him the dark predictions of the great oculist who\ncame to look at them, and the boy tried to be patient, thinking that a\nfew weeks of rest would repair the overwork of several years.\n\nHe was forbidden to look at a book, and as that was the one thing he\nmost delighted in, it was a terrible affliction to the Worm. Everyone\nwas very ready to read to him, and at first the lads contended for this\nhonour. But as week after week went by, and Mac was still condemned to\nidleness and a darkened room, their zeal abated, and one after the other\nfell off. It was hard for the active fellows, right in the midst of\ntheir vacation; and nobody blamed them when they contented themselves\nwith brief calls, running of errands, and warm expressions of sympathy.\n\nThe elders did their best, but Uncle Mac was a busy man, Aunt Jane's\nreading was of a funereal sort, impossible to listen to long, and the\nother aunties were all absorbed in their own cares, though they supplied\nthe boy with every delicacy they could invent.\n\nUncle Alec was a host in himself, but he could not give all his time to\nthe invalid; and if it had not been for Rose, the afflicted Worm\nwould have fared ill. Her pleasant voice suited him, her patience was\nunfailing, her time of no apparent value, and her eager good-will was\nvery comforting.\n\nThe womanly power of self-devotion was strong in the child, and she\nremained faithfully at her post when all the rest dropped away. Hour\nafter hour she sat in the dusky room, with one ray of light on her book,\nreading to the boy, who lay with shaded eyes silently enjoying the only\npleasure that lightened the weary days. Sometimes he was peevish and\nhard to please, sometimes he growled because his reader could not manage\nthe dry books he wished to hear, and sometimes he was so despondent that\nher heart ached to see him. Through all these trials Rose persevered,\nusing all her little arts to please him. When he fretted, she was\npatient; when he growled, she ploughed bravely through the hard pages\nnot dry to her in one sense, for quiet tears dropped on them now and\nthen; and when Mac fell into a despairing mood, she comforted him with\nevery hopeful word she dared to offer.\n\nHe said little, but she knew he was grateful, for she suited him better\nthan anyone else. If she was late, he was impatient; when she had to go,\nhe seemed forlorn; and when the tired head ached worst, she could always\nsoothe him to sleep, crooning the old songs her father used to love.\n\n\"I don't know what I should do without that child,\" Aunt Jane often\nsaid.\n\n\"She's worth all those racketing fellows put together,\" Mac would add,\nfumbling about to discover if the little chair was ready for her coming.\n\nThat was the sort of reward Rose liked, the thanks that cheered her;\nand whenever she grew very tired, one look at the green shade, the curly\nhead so restless on the pillow, and the poor groping hands, touched her\ntender heart and put new spirit into the weary voice.\n\nShe did not know how much she was learning, both from the books she read\nand the daily sacrifices she made. Stories and poetry were her delight,\nbut Mac did not care for them; and since his favourite Greeks and Romans\nwere forbidden, he satisfied himself with travels, biographies, and the\nhistory of great inventions or discoveries. Rose despised this taste\nat first, but soon got interested in Livingstone's adventures, Hobson's\nstirring life in India, and the brave trials and triumphs of Watt and\nArkwright, Fulton, and \"Palissy, the Potter.\" The true, strong books\nhelped the dreamy girl; her faithful service and sweet patience touched\nand won the boy; and long afterward both learned to see how useful those\nseemingly hard and weary hours had been to them.\n\nOne bright morning, as Rose sat down to begin a fat volume entitled\n\"History of the French Revolution,\" expecting to come to great grief\nover the long names, Mac, who was lumbering about the room like a blind\nbear, stopped her by asking abruptly,\n\n\"What day of the month is it?\"\n\n\"The seventh of August, I believe.\"\n\n\"More than half my vacation gone, and I've only had a week of it! I call\nthat hard,\" and he groaned dismally.\n\n\"So it is; but there is more to come, and you may be able to enjoy\nthat.\"\n\n\"May be able! I will be able! Does that old noodle think I'm going to\nstay stived up here much longer?\"\n\n\"I guess he does, unless your eyes get on faster than they have yet.\"\n\n\"Has he said anything more lately?\"\n\n\"I haven't seen him, you know. Shall I begin? this looks rather nice.\"\n\n\"Read away; it's all one to me.\" And Mac cast himself down upon the old\nlounge, where his heavy head felt easiest.\n\nRose began with great spirit, and kept on gallantly for a couple\nof chapters, getting over the unpronounceable names with unexpected\nsuccess, she thought, for her listener did not correct her once, and lay\nso still she fancied he was deeply interested. All of a sudden she was\narrested in the middle of a fine paragraph by Mac, who sat bolt upright,\nbrought both feet down with a thump, and said, in a rough, excited tone,\n\n\"Stop! I don't hear a word, and you may as well save your breath to\nanswer my question.\"\n\n\"What is it?\" asked Rose, looking uneasy, for she had something on her\nmind, and feared that he suspected what it was. His next words proved\nthat she was right.\n\n\"Now, look here, I want to know something, and you've got to tell me.\"\n\n\"Please, don't--\" began Rose, beseechingly.\n\n\"You must, or I'll pull off this shade and stare at the sun as hard as\never I can stare. Come now!\" and he half rose, as if ready to execute\nthe threat.\n\n\"I will! oh, I will tell, if I know! But don't be reckless and do\nanything so crazy as that,\" cried Rose, in great distress.\n\n\"Very well; then listen, and don't dodge, as everyone else does. Didn't\nthe doctor think my eyes worse the last time he came? Mother won't say,\nbut you shall.\"\n\n\"I believe he did,\" faltered Rose.\n\n\"I thought so! Did he say I should be able to go to school when it\nbegins?\"\n\n\"No, Mac,\" very low.\n\n\"Ah!\"\n\nThat was all, but Rose saw her cousin set his lips together and take\na long breath, as if she had hit him hard. He bore the disappointment\nbravely, however, and asked quite steadily in a minute,\n\n\"How soon does he think I can study again?\"\n\nIt was so hard to answer that! Yet Rose knew she must, for Aunt Jane had\ndeclared she could not do it, and Uncle Mac had begged her to break the\ntruth to the poor lad.\n\n\"Not for a good many months.\"\n\n\"How many?\" he asked with a pathetic sort of gruffness.\n\n\"A year, perhaps.\"\n\n\"A whole year! Why, I expected to be ready for college by that time.\"\nAnd, pushing up the shade, Mac stared at her with startled eyes, that\nsoon blinked and fell before the one ray of light.\n\n\"Plenty of time for that; you must be patient now, and get them\nthoroughly well, or they will trouble you again when it will be harder\nto spare them,\" she said, with tears in her own eyes.\n\n\"I won't do it! I will study and get through somehow. It's all humbug\nabout taking care so long. These doctors like to keep hold of a fellow\nif they can. But I won't stand it I vow I won't!\" and he banged his fist\ndown on the unoffending pillow as if he were pommelling the hard-hearted\ndoctor.\n\n\"Now, Mac, listen to me,\" Rose said very earnestly, though her voice\nshook a little and her heart ached. \"You know you have hurt your eyes\nreading by fire-light and in the dusk, and sitting up late, and now\nyou'll have to pay for it; the doctor said so. You must be careful, and\ndo as he tells you, or you will be blind.\"\n\n\"No!\"\n\n\"Yes, it is true, and he wanted us to tell you that nothing but entire\nrest would cure you. I know it's dreadfully hard, but we'll all help\nyou; I'll read all day long, and lead you, and wait upon you, and try to\nmake it easier.\"\n\nShe stopped there, for it was evident that he did not hear a sound; the\nword \"blind\" seemed to have knocked him down, for he had buried his\nface in the pillow, and lay so still that Rose was frightened. She sat\nmotionless for many minutes, longing to comfort him, but not knowing\nhow, and wishing Uncle Alec would come, for he had promised to tell Mac.\n\nPresently, a sort of choking sound came out of the pillow, and went\nstraight to her heart the most pathetic sob she ever heard, for, though\nit was the most natural means of relief, the poor fellow must not\nindulge in it because of the afflicted eyes. The \"French Revolution\"\ntumbled out of her lap, and, running to the sofa, she knelt down by\nit, saying, with the motherly sort of tenderness girls feel for any\nsorrowing creature,\n\n\"Oh, my dear, you mustn't cry! It is so bad for your poor eyes. Take\nyour head out of that hot pillow, and let me cool it. I don't wonder you\nfeel so, but please don't cry. I'll cry for you; it won't hurt me.\"\n\nAs she spoke she pulled away the cushion with gentle force, and saw the\ngreen shade all crushed and stained with the few hot tears that told how\nbitter the disappointment had been. Mac felt her sympathy, but, being\na boy, did not thank her for it; only sat up with a jerk, saying, as\nhe tried to rub away the tell-tale drops with the sleeve of his jacket,\n\"Don't bother; weak eyes always water. I'm all right.\"\n\nBut Rose cried out, and caught his arm, \"Don't touch them with that\nrough woollen stuff! Lie down and let me bathe them, there's a dear boy;\nthen there will be no harm done.\"\n\n\"They do smart confoundedly. I say, don't you tell the other fellows\nthat I made a baby of myself, will you?\" he added, yielding with a sigh\nto the orders of his nurse, who had flown for the eye-wash and linen\ncambric handkerchief.\n\n\"Of course I won't; but anyone would be upset at the idea of being well\ntroubled in this way. I'm sure you bear it splendidly, and you know it\nisn't half so bad when you get used to it. Besides, it is only for a\ntime, and you can do lots of pleasant things if you can't study. You'll\nhave to wear blue goggles, perhaps; won't that be funny?\"\n\nAnd while she was pouring out all the comfortable words she could think\nof, Rose was softly bathing the eyes and dabbing the hot forehead with\nlavender-water, as her patient lay quiet with a look on his face that\ngrieved her sadly.\n\n\"Homer was blind, and so was Milton, and they did something to be\nremembered by, in spite of it,\" he said, as if to himself, in a solemn\ntone, for even the blue goggles did not bring a smile.\n\n\"Papa had a picture of Milton and his daughters writing for him. It\nwas a very sweet picture, I thought,\" observed Rose in a serious voice,\ntrying to meet the sufferer on his own ground.\n\n\"Perhaps I could study if someone read and did the eye part. Do you\nsuppose I could, by and by?\" he asked, with a sudden ray of hope.\n\n\"I dare say, if your head is strong enough. This sunstroke, you know, is\nwhat upset you, and your brain needs rest, the doctor says.\"\n\n\"I'll have a talk with the old fellow next time he comes, and find out\njust what I may do; then I shall know where I am. What a fool I was that\nday to be stewing my brains and letting the sun glare on my book till\nthe letters danced before me! I see 'em now when I shut my eyes; black\nballs bobbing round, and stars and all sorts of queer things. Wonder if\nall blind people do?\"\n\n\"Don't think about them; I'll go on reading, shall I? We shall come\nto the exciting part soon, and then you'll forget all this,\" suggested\nRose.\n\n\"No, I never shall forget. Hang the old 'Revolution'! I don't want to\nhear another word of it. My head aches, and I'm hot. Oh, wouldn't I like\nto go for a pull in the 'Stormy Petrel!\"' and poor Mac tossed about as\nif he did not know what to do with himself.\n\n\"Let me sing, and perhaps you'll drop off; then the day will seem\nshorter,\" said Rose, taking up a fan and sitting down beside him.\n\n\"Perhaps I shall; I didn't sleep much last night, and when I did I\ndreamed like fun. See here, you tell the people that I know, and it's\nall right, and I don't want them to talk about it or howl over me.\nThat's all; now drone away, and I'll try to sleep. Wish I could for a\nyear, and wake up cured.\"\n\n\"Oh, I wish, I wish you could!\"\n\nRose said it so fervently that Mac was moved to grope for her apron and\nhold on to a corner of it, as if it was comfortable to feel her near\nhim. But all he said was,\n\n\"You are a good little soul, Rosy. Give us 'The Birks'; that is a drowsy\none that always sends me off.\"\n\nQuite contented with this small return for all her sympathy, Rose waved\nher fan and sang, in a dreamy tone, the pretty Scotch air, the burden of\nwhich is,\n\n    \"Bonny lassie, will ye gang, will ye gang\n     To the Birks of Aberfeldie?\"\n\nWhether the lassie went or not I cannot say, but the laddie was off to\nthe land of Nod, in about ten minutes, quite worn out with hearing the\nbad tidings and the effort to bear them manfully.\n\n\n\nChapter 12--\"The Other Fellows\"\n\nRose did tell \"the people\" what had passed, and no one \"howled\" over\nMac, or said a word to trouble him. He had his talk with the doctor, and\ngot very little comfort out of it, for he found that \"just what he might\ndo\" was nothing at all; though the prospect of some study by and by, if\nall went well, gave him courage to bear the woes of the present.\nHaving made up his mind to this, he behaved so well that everyone was\nastonished, never having suspected so much manliness in the quiet Worm.\n\nThe boys were much impressed, both by the greatness of the affliction\nwhich hung over him and by his way of bearing it. They were very good\nto him, but not always particularly wise in their attempts to cheer\nand amuse; and Rose often found him much downcast after a visit of\ncondolence from the Clan. She still kept her place as head-nurse and\nchief-reader, though the boys did their best in an irregular sort of\nway. They were rather taken aback sometimes at finding Rose's services\npreferred to their's, and privately confided to one another that \"Old\nMac was getting fond of being molly-coddled.\" But they could not help\nseeing how useful she was, and owning that she alone had remained\nfaithful a fact which caused some of them much secret compunction now\nand then.\n\nRose felt that she ruled in that room, if nowhere else, for Aunt Jane\nleft a great deal to her, finding that her experience with her invalid\nfather fitted her for a nurse, and in a case like this, her youth was\nan advantage rather than a drawback. Mac soon came to think that no one\ncould take care of him so well as Rose, and Rose soon grew fond of\nher patient, though at first she had considered this cousin the least\nattractive of the seven. He was not polite and sensible like Archie, nor\ngay and handsome like Prince Charlie, nor neat and obliging like Steve,\nnor amusing like the \"Brats,\" nor confiding and affectionate like\nlittle Jamie. He was rough, absent-minded, careless, and awkward, rather\npriggish, and not at all agreeable to a dainty, beauty-loving girl like\nRose.\n\nBut when his trouble came upon him, she discovered many good things in\nthis cousin of hers, and learned not only to pity but to respect and\nlove the poor Worm, who tried to be patient, brave, and cheerful, and\nfound it a harder task than anyone guessed, except the little nurse, who\nsaw him in his gloomiest moods. She soon came to think that his friends\ndid not appreciate him, and upon one occasion was moved to free her mind\nin a way that made a deep impression on the boys.\n\nVacation was almost over, and the time drawing near when Mac would be\nleft outside the happy school-world which he so much enjoyed. This made\nhim rather low in his mind, and his cousins exerted themselves to cheer\nhim up, especially one afternoon when a spasm of devotion seemed\nto seize them all. Jamie trudged down the hill with a basket of\nblackberries which he had \"picked all his ownself,\" as his scratched\nfingers and stained lips plainly testified. Will and Geordie brought\ntheir puppies to beguile the weary hours, and the three elder lads\ncalled to discuss baseball, cricket, and kindred subjects, eminently\nfitted to remind the invalid of his privations.\n\nRose had gone to drive with Uncle Alec, who declared she was getting as\npale as a potato sprout, living so much in a dark room. But her thoughts\nwere with her boy all the while, and she ran up to him the moment she\nreturned, to find things in a fine state of confusion.\n\nWith the best intentions in life, the lads had done more harm than\ngood, and the spectacle that met Nurse Rose's eye was a trying one.\nThe puppies were yelping, the small boys romping, and the big boys all\ntalking at once; the curtains were up, the room close, berries scattered\nfreely about, Mac's shade half off, his cheeks flushed, his temper\nruffled, and his voice loudest of all as he disputed hotly with Steve\nabout lending certain treasured books which he could no longer use.\n\nNow Rose considered this her special kingdom, and came down upon the\ninvaders with an energy which amazed them and quelled the riot at once.\nThey had never seen her roused before, and the effect was tremendous;\nalso comical, for she drove the whole flock of boys out of the room like\nan indignant little hen defending her brood. They all went as meekly as\nsheep; the small lads fled from the house precipitately, but the three\nelder ones only retired to the next room, and remained there hoping for\na chance to explain and apologise, and so appease the irate young lady,\nwho had suddenly turned the tables and clattered them about their ears.\n\nAs they waited, they observed her proceedings through the half-open\ndoor, and commented upon them briefly but expressively, feeling quite\nbowed down with remorse at the harm they had innocently done.\n\n\"She's put the room to rights in a jiffey. What jacks we were to let\nthose dogs in and kick up such a row,\" observed Steve, after a prolonged\npeep.\n\n\"The poor old Worm turns as if she was treading on him instead of\ncuddling him like a pussy cat. Isn't he cross, though?\" added Charlie,\nas Mac was heard growling about his \"confounded head.\"\n\n\"She will manage him; but it's mean in us to rumple him up and then\nleave her to smooth him down. I'd go and help, but I don't know how,\"\nsaid Archie, looking much depressed, for he was a conscientious fellow,\nand blamed himself for his want of thought.\n\n\"No, more do I. Odd, isn't it, what a knack women have for taking care\nof sick folks?\" and Charlie fell a-musing over this undeniable fact.\n\n\"She has been ever so good to Mac,\" began Steve, in a self-reproachful\ntone.\n\n\"Better than his own brother, hey?\" cut in Archie, finding relief for\nhis own regret in the delinquencies of another.\n\n\"Well, you needn't preach; you didn't any of you do any more, and you\nmight have, for Mac likes you better than he does me. I always fret him,\nhe says, and it isn't my fault if I am a quiddle,\" protested Steve, in\nself-defence.\n\n\"We have all been selfish and neglected him, so we won't fight about\nit, but try and do better,\" said Archie, generously taking more than\nhis share of blame, for he had been less inattentive than either of the\nothers.\n\n\"Rose has stood by him like a good one, and it's no wonder he likes to\nhave her round best. I should myself if I was down on my luck as he is,\"\nput in Charlie, feeling that he really had not done \"the little thing\"\njustice.\n\n\"I'll tell you what it is, boys we haven't been half good enough to\nRose, and we've got to make it up to her somehow,\" said Archie, who had\na very manly sense of honour about paying his debts, even to a girl.\n\n\"I'm awfully sorry I made fun of her doll when Jamie lugged it out; and\nI called her 'baby bunting' when she cried over the dead kitten. Girls\nare such geese sometimes, I can't help it,\" said Steve, confessing his\ntransgressions handsomely, and feeling quite ready to atone for them if\nhe only knew how.\n\n\"I'll go down on my knees and beg her pardon for treating her as if she\nwas a child. Don't it make her mad, though? Come to think of it, she's\nonly two years or so younger than I am. But she is so small and pretty,\nshe always seems like a dolly to me,\" and the Prince looked down from\nhis lofty height of five feet five as if Rose was indeed a pygmy beside\nhim.\n\n\"That dolly has got a real good little heart, and a bright mind of her\nown, you'd better believe. Mac says she understands some things quicker\nthan he can, and mother thinks she is an uncommonly nice girl, though\nshe don't know all creation. You needn't put on airs, Charlie, though\nyou are a tall one, for Rose likes Archie better than you; she said she\ndid because he treated her respectfully.\"\n\n\"Steve looks as fierce as a game-cock; but don't you get excited, my\nson, for it won't do a bit of good. Of course, everybody likes the Chief\nbest; they ought to, and I'll punch their heads if they don't. So calm\nyourself, Dandy, and mend your own manners before you come down on other\npeople's.\"\n\nThus the Prince with great dignity and perfect good nature, while Archie\nlooked modestly gratified with the flattering opinions of his kinsfolk,\nand Steve subsided, feeling he had done his duty as a cousin and a\nbrother. A pause ensued, during which Aunt Jane appeared in the other\nroom, accompanied by a tea-tray sumptuously spread, and prepared to feed\nher big nestling, as that was a task she allowed no one to share with\nher.\n\n\"If you have a minute to spare before you go, child, I wish you'd just\nmake Mac a fresh shade; this has got a berry stain on it, and he must\nbe tidy, for he is to go out to-morrow if it is a cloudy day,\" said Mrs.\nJane, spreading toast in a stately manner, while Mac slopped his tea\nabout without receiving a word of reproof.\n\n\"Yes, aunt,\" answered Rose, so meekly that the boys could hardly believe\nit could be the same voice which had issued the stern command, \"Out of\nthis room, every one of you!\" not very long ago.\n\nThey had not time to retire, without unseemly haste, before she walked\ninto the parlour and sat down at the work-table without a word. It was\nfunny to see the look the three tall lads cast at the little person\nsedately threading a needle with green silk. They all wanted to say\nsomething expressive of repentance, but no one knew how to begin, and it\nwas evident, from the prim expression of Rose's face, that she intended\nto stand upon her dignity till they had properly abased themselves. The\npause was becoming very awkward, when Charlie, who possessed all the\npersuasive arts of a born scapegrace, went slowly down upon his knees\nbefore her, beat his breast, and said, in a heart-broken tone,\n\n\"Please forgive me this time, and I'll never do so any more.\"\n\nIt was very hard to keep sober, but Rose managed it and answered gravely,\n\n\"It is Mac's pardon you should ask, not mine, for you haven't hurt me,\nand I shouldn't wonder if you had him a great deal, with all that light\nand racket, and talk about things that only worry him.\"\n\n\"Do you really think we've hurt him, cousin?\" asked Archie, with a\ntroubled look, while Charlie settled down in a remorseful heap among the\ntable legs.\n\n\"Yes, I do, for he has got a raging headache, and his eyes are as red as\nas this emery bag,\" answered Rose, solemnly plunging her needle into a\nfat flannel strawberry.\n\nSteve tore his hair, metaphorically speaking, for he clutched his\ncherished top-knot, and wildly dishevelled it, as if that was the\nheaviest penance he could inflict upon himself at such short notice.\nCharlie laid himself out flat, melodramatically begging someone to take\nhim away and hang him; but Archie, who felt worst of all, said nothing\nexcept to vow within himself that he would read to Mac till his own eyes\nwere as red as a dozen emery bags combined.\n\nSeeing the wholesome effects of her treatment upon these culprits, Rose\nfelt that she might relent and allow them a gleam of hope. She found\nit impossible to help trampling upon the prostrate Prince a little, in\nwords at least, for he had hurt her feelings oftener than he knew; so\nshe gave him a thimble-pie on the top of his head, and said, with an air\nof an infinitely superior being,\n\n\"Don't be silly, but get up, and I'll tell you something much better to\ndo than sprawling on the floor and getting all over lint.\"\n\nCharlie obediently sat himself upon a hassock at her feet; the other\nsinners drew near to catch the words of wisdom about to fall from her\nlips, and Rose, softened by this gratifying humility, addressed them in\nher most maternal tone.\n\n\"Now, boys, if you really want to be good to Mac, you can do it in this\nway. Don't keep talking about things he can't do, or go and tell what\nfun you have had batting your ridiculous balls about. Get some nice book\nand read quietly; cheer him up about school, and offer to help him study\nby and by; you can do that better than I, because I'm only a girl, and\ndon't learn Greek and Latin and all sorts of headachy stuff.\"\n\n\"Yes, but you can do heaps of things better than we can; you've proved\nthat,\" said Archie, with an approving look that delighted Rose, though\nshe could not resist giving Charlie one more rebuke, by saying, with a\nlittle bridling of the head, and a curl of the lip that wanted to smile\ninstead,\n\n\"I'm glad you think so, though I am a 'queer chicken.\"'\n\nThis scathing remark caused the Prince to hide his face for shame, and\nSteve to erect his head in the proud consciousness that this shot was\nnot meant for him. Archie laughed, and Rose, seeing a merry blue\neye winking at her from behind two brown hands, gave Charlie's ear a\nfriendly tweak, and extended the olive-branch of peace.\n\n\"Now we'll all be good, and plan nice things for poor Mac,\" she said,\nsmiling so graciously that the boys felt as if the sun had suddenly\nburst out from behind a heavy cloud and was shining with great\nbrilliancy.\n\nThe storm had cleared the air, and quite a heavenly calm succeeded,\nduring which plans of a most varied and surprising sort were laid, for\neveryone burned to make noble sacrifices upon the shrine of \"poor\nMac,\" and Rose was the guiding star to whom the others looked with most\ngratifying submission. Of course, this elevated state of things could\nnot endure long, but it was very nice while it lasted, and left an\nexcellent effect upon the minds of all when the first ardour had\nsubsided.\n\n\"There, that's ready for to-morrow, and I do hope it will be cloudy,\"\nsaid Rose, as she finished off the new shade, the progress of which the\nboys had watched with interest.\n\n\"I'd bespoken an extra sunny day, but I'll tell the clerk of the weather\nto change it. He's an obliging fellow, and he'll attend to it, so make\nyourself easy,\" said Charlie, who had become quite perky again.\n\n\"It is very easy for you to joke, but how would you like to wear a\nblinder like that for weeks and weeks, sir?\" and Rose quenched his\nrising spirits by slipping the shade over his eyes, as he still sat on\nthe cushion at her feet.\n\n\"It's horrid! Take it off, take it off! I don't wonder the poor old boy\nhas the blues with a thing like that on\"; and Charlie sat looking at\nwhat seemed to him an instrument of torture, with such a sober face that\nRose took it gently away, and went in to bid Mac good-night.\n\n\"I shall go home with her, for it is getting darkish, and she is rather\ntimid,\" said Archie, forgetting that he had often laughed at this very\ntimidity.\n\n\"I think I might, for she's taking care of my brother,\" put in Steve,\nasserting his rights.\n\n\"Let's all go, that will please her\"; proposed Charlie, with a burst of\ngallantry which electrified his mates.\n\n\"We will!\" they said with one voice, and they did, to Rose's great\nsurprise and secret contentment; though Archie had all the care of\nher, for the other two were leaping fences, running races, and having\nwrestling matches all the way down.\n\nThey composed themselves on reaching the door, however; shook hands\ncordially all round, made their best bows, and retired with great\nelegance and dignity, leaving Rose to say to herself, with girlish\nsatisfaction, as she went in,\n\n\"Now, that is the way I like to be treated.\"\n\n\n\nChapter 13--Cosey Corner\n\nVacation was over, the boys went back to school, and poor Mac was left\nlamenting. He was out of the darkened room now, and promoted to blue\ngoggles, through which he took a gloomy view of life, as might have been\nexpected; for there was nothing he could do but wander about, and try to\namuse himself without using his eyes. Anyone who has ever been condemned\nto that sort of idleness knows how irksome it is, and can understand the\nstate of mind which caused Mac to say to Rose in a desperate tone one\nday,\n\n\"Look here, if you don't invent some new employment or amusement for me,\nI shall knock myself on the head as sure as you live.\"\n\nRose flew to Uncle Alec for advice, and he ordered both patient and\nnurse to the mountains for a month, with Aunt Jessie and Jamie as\nescort. Pokey and her mother joined the party, and one bright September\nmorning six very happy-looking people were aboard the express train for\nPortland two smiling mammas, laden with luncheon baskets and wraps; a\npretty young girl with a bag of books on her arm; a tall thin lad with\nhis hat over his eyes; and two small children, who sat with their short\nlegs straight out before them, and their chubby faces beaming with the\nfirst speechless delight of \"truly travelling.\"\n\nAn especially splendid sunset seemed to have been prepared to welcome\nthem when, after a long day's journey, they drove into a wide, green\ndoor-yard, where a white colt, a red cow, two cats, four kittens,\nmany hens, and a dozen people, old and young, were gaily disporting\nthemselves. Everyone nodded and smiled in the friendliest manner, and a\nlively old lady kissed the new-comers all round, as she said heartily,\n\n\"Well, now, I'm proper glad to see you! Come right in and rest, and\nwe'll have tea in less than no time, for you must be tired. Lizzie, you\nshow the folks upstairs; Kitty, you fly round and help father in with\nthe trunks; and Jenny and I will have the table all ready by the time\nyou come down. Bless the dears, they want to go see the pussies, and so\nthey shall!\"\n\nThe three pretty daughters did \"fly round,\" and everyone felt at home at\nonce, all were so hospitable and kind. Aunt Jessie had raptures over the\nhome-made carpets, quilts and quaint furniture; Rose could not keep away\nfrom the windows, for each framed a lovely picture; and the little folks\nmade friends at once with the other children, who filled their arms with\nchickens and kittens, and did the honours handsomely.\n\nThe toot of a horn called all to supper, and a goodly party, including\nsix children besides the Camp-bells, assembled in the long dining-room,\narmed with mountain appetites and the gayest spirits. It was impossible\nfor anyone to be shy or sober, for such gales of merriment arose they\nblew the starch out of the stiffest, and made the saddest jolly. Mother\nAtkinson, as all called their hostess, was the merriest there, and the\nbusiest; for she kept flying up to wait on the children, to bring out\nsome new dish, or to banish the live stock, who were of such a social\nturn that the colt came into the entry and demanded sugar; the cats sat\nabout in people's laps, winking suggestively at the food; and speckled\nhens cleared the kitchen floor of crumbs, as they joined in the chat\nwith a cheerful clucking.\n\nEverybody turned out after tea to watch the sunset till all the lovely\nred was gone, and mosquitoes wound their shrill horns to sound the\nretreat. The music of an organ surprised the new-comers, and in\nthe parlor they found Father Atkinson playing sweetly on the little\ninstrument made by himself. All the children gathered about him, and,\nled by the tuneful sisters, sang prettily till Pokey fell asleep behind\nthe door, and Jamie gaped audibly right in the middle of his favourite,\n\n    \"Coo,\" said the little doves: \"Coo,\" said she,\n    \"All in the top of the old pine-tree.\"\n\nThe older travellers, being tired, went to \"bye low\" at the same time,\nand slept like tops in home-spun sheets, on husk mattresses made by\nMother Atkinson, who seemed to have put some soothing powder among them,\nso deep and sweet was the slumber that came.\n\nNext day began the wholesome out-of-door life, which works such wonders\nwith tired minds and feeble bodies. The weather was perfect, and the\nmountain air made the children as frisky as young lambs; while the\nelders went about smiling at one another, and saying, \"Isn't it\nsplendid?\" Even Mac, the \"slow coach,\" was seen to leap over a fence\nas if he really could not help it; and when Rose ran after him with his\nbroad-brimmed hat, he made the spirited proposal to go into the woods\nand hunt for a catamount.\n\nJamie and Pokey were at once enrolled in the Cosey Corner Light Infantry\na truly superb company, composed entirely of officers, all wearing\ncocked hats, carrying flags, waving swords, or beating drums. It was a\nspectacle to stir the dullest soul when this gallant band marched out of\nthe yard in full regimentals, with Captain Dove a solemn, big-headed\nboy of eleven issuing his orders with the gravity of a general, and his\nFalstaffian regiment obeying them with more docility than skill. The\nlittle Snow children did very well, and Lieutenant Jack Dove was fine\nto see; so was Drummer Frank, the errand-boy of the house, as he\nrub-a-dub-dubbed with all his heart and drumsticks. Jamie had \"trained\"\nbefore, and was made a colonel at once; but Pokey was the best of all,\nand called forth a spontaneous burst of applause from the spectators\nas she brought up the rear, her cocked hat all over one eye, her flag\ntrailing over her shoulder, and her wooden sword straight up in the air;\nher face beaming and every curl bobbing with delight as her fat legs\ntottered in the vain attempt to keep step manfully.\n\nMac and Rose were picking blackberries in the bushes beside the road\nwhen the soldiers passed without seeing them, and they witnessed a sight\nthat was both pretty and comical. A little farther on was one of the\nfamily burial spots so common in those parts, and just this side of it\nCaptain Fred Dove ordered his company to halt, explaining his reason for\nso doing in the following words,\n\n\"That's a graveyard, and it's proper to muffle the drums and lower the\nflags as we go by, and we'd better take off our hats, too; it's more\nrespectable, I think.\"\n\n\"Isn't that cunning of the dears?\" whispered Rose, as the little troop\nmarched slowly by to the muffled roll of the drums, every flag and sword\nheld low, all the little heads uncovered, and the childish faces very\nsober as the leafy shadows flickered over them.\n\n\"Let's follow and see what they are after,\" proposed Mac, who found\nsitting on the wall and being fed with blackberries luxurious but\ntiresome.\n\nSo they followed and heard the music grow lively, saw the banners wave\nin the breeze again when the graveyard was passed, and watched the\ncompany file into the dilapidated old church that stood at the corner of\nthree woodland roads. Presently the sound of singing made the outsiders\nquicken their steps, and, stealing up, they peeped in at one of the\nbroken windows.\n\nCaptain Dove was up in the old wooden pulpit, gazing solemnly down upon\nhis company, who, having stacked their arms in the porch, now sat in the\nbare pews singing a Sunday-school hymn with great vigour and relish.\n\n\"Let us pray,\" said Captain Dove, with as much reverence as an army\nchaplain; and, folding his hands, he repeated a prayer which he thought\nall would know an excellent little prayer, but not exactly appropriate\nto the morning, for it was,\n\n    \"Now I lay me down to sleep.\"\n\nEveryone joined in saying it, and it was a pretty sight to see the\nlittle creatures bowing their curly heads and lisping out the words they\nknew so well. Tears came into Rose's eyes as she looked; Mac took his\nhat off involuntarily, and then clapped it on again as if ashamed of\nshowing any feeling.\n\n\"Now I shall preach you a short sermon, and my text is, 'Little\nchildren, love one another.' I asked mamma to give me one, and she\nthought that would be good; so you all sit still and I'll preach it. You\nmustn't whisper, Marion, but hear me. It means that we should be good to\neach other, and play fair, and not quarrel as we did this very day about\nthe wagon. Jack can't always drive, and needn't be mad because I like\nto go with Frank. Annette ought to be horse sometimes and not always\ndriver; and Willie may as well make up his mind to let Marion build her\nhouse by his, for she will do it, and he needn't fuss about it. Jamie\nseems to be a good boy, but I shall preach to him if he isn't. No,\nPokey, people don't kiss in church or put their hats on. Now you must\nall remember what I tell you, because I am the captain, and you should\nmind me.\"\n\nHere Lieutenant Jack spoke right out in meeting with the rebellious\nremark,\n\n\"Don't care if you are; you'd better mind yourself, and tell how you\ntook away my strap, and kept the biggest doughnut, and didn't draw fair\nwhen we had the truck.\"\n\n\"Yes, and you slapped Frank; I saw you!\" bawled Willie Snow, bobbing up\nin his pew.\n\n\"And you took my book away and hid it 'cause I wouldn't go and swing\nwhen you wanted me to,\" added Annette, the oldest of the Snow trio.\n\n\"I shan't build my house by Willie's if he don't want me to, so now!\"\nput in little Marion, joining the mutiny.\n\n\"I will tiss Dimmy! and I tored up my hat 'tause a pin picked me,\"\nshouted Pokey, regardless of Jamie's efforts to restrain her.\n\nCaptain Dove looked rather taken aback at this outbreak in the ranks;\nbut, being a dignified and calm personage, he quelled the rising\nrebellion with great tact and skill, by saying, briefly,\n\n\"We'll sing the last hymn; 'Sweet, sweet good-by' you all know that, so\ndo it nicely, and then we will go and have luncheon.\"\n\nPeace was instantly restored, and a burst of melody drowned the\nsuppressed giggles of Rose and Mac, who found it impossible to keep\nsober during the latter part of this somewhat remarkable service.\nFifteen minutes of repose rendered it a physical impossibility for the\ncompany to march out as quietly as they had marched in. I grieve to\nstate that the entire troop raced home as hard as they could pelt, and\nwere soon skirmishing briskly over their lunch, utterly oblivious of\nwhat Jamie (who had been much impressed by the sermon) called \"the\ncaptain's beautiful teck.\"\n\nIt was astonishing how much they all found to do at Cosey Corner;\nand Mac, instead of lying in a hammock and being read to, as he had\nexpected, was busiest of all. He was invited to survey and lay out\nSkeeterville, a town which the children were getting up in a huckleberry\npasture; and he found much amusement in planning little roads, staking\noff house-lots, attending to the water-works, and consulting with the\n\"selectmen\" about the best sites for public buildings; for Mac was a boy\nstill, in spite of his fifteen years and his love of books.\n\nThen he went fishing with a certain jovial gentleman from the West; and\nthough they seldom caught anything but colds, they had great fun and\nexercise chasing the phantom trout they were bound to have. Mac also\ndeveloped a geological mania, and went tapping about at rocks and\nstones, discoursing wisely of \"strata, periods, and fossil remains\";\nwhile Rose picked up leaves and lichens, and gave him lessons in botany\nin return for his lectures on geology.\n\nThey led a very merry life; for the Atkinson girls kept up a sort of\nperpetual picnic; and did it so capitally, that one was never tired of\nit. So their visitors throve finely, and long before the month was out\nit was evident that Dr. Alec had prescribed the right medicine for his\npatients.\n\n\n\nChapter 14--A Happy Birthday\n\nThe twelfth of October was Rose's birthday, but no one seemed to\nremember that interesting fact, and she felt delicate about mentioning\nit, so fell asleep the night before wondering if she would have any\npresents. That question was settled early the next morning, for she was\nawakened by a soft tap on her face, and opening her eyes she beheld a\nlittle black and white figure sitting on her pillow, staring at her with\na pair of round eyes very like blueberries, while one downy paw patted\nher nose to attract her notice. It was Kitty Comet, the prettiest of all\nthe pussies, and Comet evidently had a mission to perform, for a pink\nbow adorned her neck, and a bit of paper was pinned to it bearing the\nwords, \"For Miss Rose, from Frank.\"\n\nThat pleased her extremely, and that was only the beginning of the\nfun, for surprises and presents kept popping out in the most delightful\nmanner all through the day, the Atkinson girls being famous jokers and\nRose a favourite. But the best gift of all came on the way to Mount\nWindy-Top, where it was decided to picnic in honour of the great\noccasion. Three jolly loads set off soon after breakfast, for everybody\nwent, and everybody seemed bound to have an extra good time, especially\nMother Atkinson, who wore a hat as broad-brimmed as an umbrella, and\ntook the dinner-horn to keep her flock from straying away.\n\n\"I'm going to drive auntie and a lot of the babies, so you must ride the\npony. And please stay behind us a good bit when we go to the station,\nfor a parcel is coming, and you are not to see it till dinner-time. You\nwon't mind, will you?\" said Mac, in a confidential aside during the wild\nflurry of the start.\n\n\"Not a bit,\" answered Rose. \"It hurts my feelings very much to be told\nto keep out of the way at any other time, but birthdays and Christmas it\nis part of the fun to be blind and stupid, and poked into corners. I'll\nbe ready as soon as you are, Giglamps.\"\n\n\"Stop under the big maple till I call then you can't possibly see\nanything,\" added Mac, as he mounted her on the pony his father had sent\nup for his use. \"Barkis\" was so gentle and so \"willin',\" however, that\nRose was ashamed to be afraid to ride him; so she had learned, that she\nmight surprise Dr. Alec when she got home; meantime she had many a\nfine canter \"over the hills and far away\" with Mac, who preferred Mr.\nAtkinson's old Sorrel.\n\nAway they went, and, coming to the red maple, Rose obediently paused;\nbut could not help stealing a glance in the forbidden direction before\nthe call came. Yes, there was a hamper going under the seat, and then\nshe caught sight of a tall man whom Mac seemed to be hustling into\nthe carriage in a great hurry. One look was enough, and with a cry of\ndelight, Rose was off down the road as fast as Barkis could go.\n\n\"Now I'll astonish uncle,\" she thought. \"I'll dash up in grand style,\nand show him that I am not a coward, after all.\"\n\nFired by this ambition, she startled Barkis by a sharp cut, and still\nmore bewildered him by leaving him to his own guidance down the steep,\nstony road. The approach would have been a fine success if, just as Rose\nwas about to pull up and salute, two or three distracted hens had not\nscuttled across the road with a great squawking, which caused Barkis\nto shy and stop so suddenly that his careless rider landed in an\nignominious heap just under old Sorrel's astonished nose.\n\nRose was up again before Dr. Alec was out of the carryall, and threw two\ndusty arms about his neck crying with a breathless voice,\n\n\"O uncle, I'm so glad to see you! It is better than a cart-load of\ngoodies, and so dear of you to come!\"\n\n\"But aren't you hurt, child! That was a rough tumble, and I'm afraid you\nmust be damaged somewhere,\" answered the Doctor, full of fond anxiety,\nas he surveyed his girl with pride.\n\n\"My feelings are hurt, but my bones are all safe. It's too bad! I was\ngoing to do it so nicely, and those stupid hens spoilt it all,\" said\nRose, quite crestfallen, as well as much shaken.\n\n\"I couldn't believe my eyes when I asked 'Where is Rose?' and Mac\npointed to the little Amazon pelting down the hill at such a rate. You\ncouldn't have done anything that would please me more, and I'm delighted\nto see how well you ride. Now, will you mount again, or shall we turn\nMac out and take you in?\" asked Dr. Alec, as Aunt Jessie proposed a\nstart, for the others were beckoning them to follow.\n\n\"Pride goeth before a fall better not try to show off again, ma'am,\"\nsaid Mac, who would have been more than mortal if he had refrained from\nteasing when so good a chance offered.\n\n\"Pride does go before a fall, but I wonder if a sprained ankle always\ncomes after it?\" thought Rose, bravely concealing her pain, as she\nanswered, with great dignity,\n\n\"I prefer to ride. Come on, and see who will catch up first.\"\n\nShe was up and away as she spoke, doing her best to efface the memory\nof her downfall by sitting very erect, elbows down, head well up, and\ntaking the motion of the pony as Barkis cantered along as easily as a\nrocking-chair.\n\n\"You ought to see her go over a fence and race when we ride together.\nShe can scud, too, like a deer when we play 'Follow the leader,' and\nskip stones and bat balls almost as well as I can,\" said Mac, in reply\nto his uncle's praise of his pupil.\n\n\"I'm afraid you will think her a sad tomboy, Alec; but really she seems\nso well and happy, I have not the heart to check her. She has broken\nout in the most unexpected way, and frisks like a colt; for she says she\nfeels so full of spirits she must run and shout whether it is proper or\nnot,\" added Mrs. Jessie, who had been a pretty hoyden years ago herself.\n\n\"Good good! that's the best news you could tell me,\" and Dr. Alec rubbed\nhis hands heartily. \"Let the girl run and shout as much as she will it\nis a sure sign of health, and as natural to a happy child as frisking is\nto any young animal full of life. Tomboys make strong women usually, and\nI had far rather find Rose playing football with Mac than puttering over\nbead-work like that affected midget, Ariadne Blish.\"\n\n\"But she cannot go on playing football very long, and we must not forget\nthat she has a woman's work to do by and by,\" began Mrs. Jessie.\n\n\"Neither will Mac play football much longer, but he will be all the\nbetter fitted for business, because of the health it gives him. Polish\nis easily added, if the foundations are strong; but no amount of gilding\nwill be of use if your timber is not sound. I'm sure I'm right, Jessie;\nand if I can do as well by my girl during the next six months as I have\nthe last, my experiment will succeed.\"\n\n\"It certainly will; for when I contrast that bright, blooming face\nwith the pale, listless one that made my heart ache a while ago, I can\nbelieve in almost any miracle,\" said Mrs. Jessie, as Rose looked round\nto point out a lovely view, with cheeks like the ruddy apples in the\norchard near by, eyes clear as the autumn sky overhead, and vigour in\nevery line of her girlish figure.\n\nA general scramble among the rocks was followed by a regular gypsy\nlunch, which the young folks had the rapture of helping to prepare.\nMother Atkinson put on her apron, turned up her sleeves, and fell to\nwork as gaily as if in her own kitchen, boiling the kettle slung on\nthree sticks, over a fire of cones and fir boughs; while the girls\nspread the mossy table with a feast of country goodies, and the children\ntumbled about in everyone's way till the toot of the horn made them\nsettle down like a flock of hungry birds.\n\nAs soon as the merry meal and a brief interval of repose were over,\nit was unanimously voted to have some charades. A smooth, green spot\nbetween two stately pines was chosen for the stage; shawls hung up,\nproperties collected, audience and actors separated, and a word quickly\nchosen.\n\nThe first scene discovered Mac in a despondent attitude and shabby\ndress, evidently much troubled in mind. To him entered a remarkable\ncreature with a brown paper bag over its head. A little pink nose peeped\nthrough one hole in the middle, white teeth through another, and above\ntwo eyes glared fiercely. Spires of grass stuck in each side of the\nmouth seemed meant to represent whiskers; the upper corners of the bag\nwere twisted like ears, and no one could doubt for a moment that the\nblack scarf pinned on behind was a tail.\n\nThis singular animal seemed in pantomime to be comforting his master and\noffering advice, which was finally acted upon, for Mac pulled off his\nboots, helped the little beast into them, and gave him a bag; then,\nkissing his paw, with a hopeful gesture, the creature retired, purring\nso successfully that there was a general cry of \"Cat, puss, boots!\"\n\n\"Cat is the word,\" replied a voice, and the curtain fell.\n\nThe next scene was a puzzler, for in came another animal, on all-fours\nthis time, with a new sort of tail and long ears. A gray shawl concealed\nits face, but an inquisitive sunbeam betrayed the glitter as of goggles\nunder the fringe. On its back rode a small gentleman in Eastern costume,\nwho appeared to find some difficulty in keeping his seat as his steed\njogged along. Suddenly a spirit appeared, all in white, with long\nnewspaper wings upon its back and golden locks about its face.\nSingularly enough, the beast beheld this apparition and backed\ninstantly, but the rider evidently saw nothing and whipped up\nunmercifully, also unsuccessfully, for the spirit stood directly in the\npath, and the amiable beast would not budge a foot. A lively skirmish\nfollowed, which ended in the Eastern gentleman being upset into a\nsweet-fern bush, while the better bred animal abased itself before the\nshining one.\n\nThe children were all in the dark till Mother Atkinson said, in an\ninquiring tone,\n\n\"If that isn't Balaam and the ass, I'd like to know what it is. Rose\nmakes a sweet angel, doesn't she?\"\n\n\"Ass\" was evidently the word, and the angel retired, smiling with\nmundane satisfaction over the compliment that reached her ears.\n\nThe next was a pretty little scene from the immortal story of \"Babes in\nthe Wood.\" Jamie and Pokey came trotting in, hand in hand, and, having\nbeen through the parts many times before, acted with great ease and much\nfluency, audibly directing each other from time to time as they\nwent along. The berries were picked, the way lost, tears shed, baby\nconsolation administered, and then the little pair lay down among the\nbrakes and died with their eyes wide open and the toes of their four\nlittle boots turned up to the daisies in the most pathetic manner.\n\n\"Now the wobins tum. You be twite dead, Dimmy, and I'll peep in and see\n'em,\" one defunct innocent was heard to say.\n\n\"I hope they'll be quick, for I'm lying on a stone, and ants are walking\nup my leg like fury,\" murmured the other.\n\nHere the robins came flapping in with red scarves over their breasts\nand leaves in their mouths, which they carefully laid upon the babes\nwherever they would show best. A prickly blackberry leaf placed directly\nover Pokey's nose caused her to sneeze so violently that her little legs\nflew into the air; Jamie gave a startled \"Ow!\" and the pitying fowls\nfled giggling.\n\nAfter some discussion it was decided that the syllable must be \"strew or\nstrow\" and then they waited to see if it was a good guess.\n\nThis scene discovered Annette Snow in bed, evidently very ill; Miss\nJenny was her anxious mamma, and her merry conversation amused the\naudience till Mac came in as a physician, and made great fun with his\nbig watch, pompous manner, and absurd questions. He prescribed one\npellet with an unpronounceable name, and left after demanding twenty\ndollars for his brief visit.\n\nThe pellet was administered, and such awful agonies immediately set in\nthat the distracted mamma bade a sympathetic neighbour run for Mother\nKnow-all. The neighbour ran, and in came a brisk little old lady in\ncap and specs, with a bundle of herbs under her arm, which she at once\napplied in all sorts of funny ways, explaining their virtues as she\nclapped a plantain poultice here, put a pounded catnip plaster there,\nor tied a couple of mullein leaves round the sufferer's throat. Instant\nrelief ensued, the dying child sat up and demanded baked beans. The\ngrateful parent offered fifty dollars; but Mother Know-all indignantly\nrefused it and went smiling away, declaring that a neighbourly turn\nneeded no reward, and a doctor's fee was all a humbug.\n\nThe audience were in fits of laughter over this scene, for Rose imitated\nMrs. Atkinson capitally, and the herb cure was a good hit at the\nexcellent lady's belief that \"yarbs\" would save mankind if properly\napplied. No one enjoyed it more than herself, and the saucy children\nprepared for the grand finale in high feather.\n\nThis closing scene was brief but striking, for two trains of cars\nwhizzed in from opposite sides, met with a terrible collision in\nthe middle of the stage, and a general smash-up completed the word\ncatastrophe.\n\n\"Now let us act a proverb. I've got one all ready,\" said Rose, who was\ndying to distinguish herself in some way before Uncle Alec.\n\nSo everyone but Mac, the gay Westerner, and Rose, took their places on\nthe rocky seats and discussed the late beautiful and varied charade, in\nwhich Pokey frankly pronounced her own scene the \"bestest of all.\"\n\nIn five minutes the curtain was lifted; nothing appeared but a very\nlarge sheet of brown paper pinned to a tree, and on it was drawn a\nclock-face, the hands pointing to four. A small note below informed the\npublic that 4 A.M. was the time. Hardly had the audience grasped this\nimportant fact when a long waterproof serpent was seen uncoiling\nitself from behind a stump. An inch-worm, perhaps, would be a better\ndescription, for it travelled in the same humpy way as that pleasing\nreptile. Suddenly a very wide-awake and active fowl advanced, pecking,\nchirping, and scratching vigorously. A tuft of green leaves waved upon\nhis crest, a larger tuft of brakes made an umbrageous tail, and a shawl\nof many colours formed his flapping wings. A truly noble bird, whose\nlegs had the genuine strut, whose eyes shone watchfully, and whose voice\nhad a ring that evidently struck terror into the catterpillar's soul, if\nit was a catterpillar. He squirmed, he wriggled, he humped as fast as\nhe could, trying to escape; but all in vain. The tufted bird espied\nhim, gave one warbling sort of crow, pounced upon him, and flapped\ntriumphantly away.\n\n\"That early bird got such a big worm he could hardly carry him off,\"\nlaughed Aunt Jessie, as the children shouted over the joke suggested by\nMac's nickname.\n\n\"That is one of uncle's favourite proverbs, so I got it up for his\nespecial benefit,\" said Rose, coming up with the two-legged worm beside\nher.\n\n\"Very clever; what next?\" asked Dr. Alec as she sat down beside him.\n\n\"The Dove boys are going to give us an 'Incident in the Life of\nNapoleon,' as they call it; the children think it very splendid, and the\nlittle fellows do it rather nicely,\" answered Mac with condescension.\n\nA tent appeared, and pacing to and fro before it was a little sentinel,\nwho, in a brief soliloquy, informed the observers that the elements were\nin a great state of confusion, that he had marched some hundred miles\nor so that day, and that he was dying for want of sleep. Then he\npaused, leaned upon his gun, and seemed to doze; dropped slowly down,\noverpowered with slumber, and finally lay flat, with his gun beside him,\na faithless little sentinel. Enter Napoleon, cocked hat, gray coat, high\nboots, folded arms, grim mouth, and a melodramatic stride. Freddy Dove\nalways covered himself with glory in this part, and \"took the stage\"\nwith a Napoleonic attitude that brought down the house; for the\nbig-headed boy, with solemn, dark eyes and square brow, was \"the very\nmoral of that rascal, Boneyparty,\" Mother Atkinson said.\n\nSome great scheme was evidently brewing in his mighty mind a trip across\nthe Alps, a bonfire at Moscow, or a little skirmish at Waterloo perhaps,\nfor he marched in silent majesty till suddenly a gentle snore disturbed\nthe imperial reverie. He saw the sleeping soldier and glared upon him,\nsaying in an awful tone,\n\n\"Ha! asleep at his post! Death is the penalty he must die!\"\n\nPicking up the musket, he is about to execute summary justice, as\nemperors are in the habit of doing, when something in the face of the\nweary sentinel appears to touch him. And well it might, for a most\nengaging little warrior was Jack as he lay with his shako half off, his\nchildish face trying to keep sober, and a great black moustache over his\nrosy mouth. It would have softened the heart of any Napoleon, and the\nLittle Corporal proved himself a man by relenting, and saying, with a\nlofty gesture of forgiveness,\n\n\"Brave fellow, he is worn out; I will let him sleep, and mount guard in\nhis place.\"\n\nThen, shouldering the gun, this noble being strode to and fro with a\ndignity which thrilled the younger spectators. The sentinel awakes,\nsees what has happened, and gives himself up for lost. But the Emperor\nrestores his weapon, and, with that smile which won all hearts, says,\npointing to a high rock whereon a crow happens to be sitting, \"Be brave,\nbe vigilant, and remember that from yonder Pyramid generations are\nbeholding you,\" and with these memorable words he vanishes, leaving the\ngrateful soldier bolt upright, with his hand at his temple and deathless\ndevotion stamped upon his youthful countenance.\n\nThe applause which followed this superb piece had hardly subsided,\nwhen a sudden splash and a shrill cry caused a general rush toward the\nwaterfall that went gambolling down the rocks, singing sweetly as it\nran. Pokey had tried to gambol also, and had tumbled into a shallow\npool, whither Jamie had gallantly followed, in a vain attempt to fish\nher out, and both were paddling about half frightened, half pleased with\nthe unexpected bath.\n\nThis mishap made it necessary to get the dripping infants home as soon\nas possible; so the wagons were loaded up, and away they went, as merry\nas if the mountain air had really been \"Oxygenated Sweets not Bitters,\"\nas Dr. Alec suggested when Mac said he felt as jolly as if he had been\ndrinking champagne instead of the current wine that came with a great\nfrosted cake wreathed with sugar roses in Aunt Plenty's hamper of\ngoodies.\n\nRose took part in all the fun, and never betrayed by look or word the\ntwinges of pain she suffered in her ankle. She excused herself from the\ngames in the evening, however, and sat talking to Uncle Alec in a lively\nway, that both amazed and delighted him; for she confided to him that\nshe played horse with the children, drilled with the light infantry,\nclimbed trees, and did other dreadful things that would have caused the\naunts to cry aloud if they knew of them.\n\n\"I don't care a pin what they say if you don't mind, uncle,\" she\nanswered, when he pictured the dismay of the good ladies.\n\n\"Ah, it's all very well to defy them, but you are getting so rampant,\nI'm afraid you will defy me next, and then where are we?\"\n\n\"No, I won't! I shouldn't dare; because you are my guardian, and can put\nme in a strait-jacket if you like;\" and Rose laughed in his face, even\nwhile she nestled closer with a confiding gesture pleasant to see.\n\n\"Upon my word, Rosy, I begin to feel like the man who bought an\nelephant, and then didn't know what to do with him. I thought I had got\na pet and plaything for years to come; but here you are growing up like\na bean-stalk, and I shall find I've got a strong-minded little woman on\nmy hands before I can turn round. There's predicament for a man and an\nuncle!\"\n\nDr. Alec's comic distress was mercifully relieved for the time being\nby a dance of goblins on the lawn, where the children, with pumpkin\nlanterns on their heads, frisked about like will-o'-the-wisps, as a\nparting surprise.\n\nWhen Rose went to bed, she found that Uncle Alec had not forgotten her;\nfor on the table stood a delicate little easel, holding two miniatures\nset in velvet. She knew them both, and stood looking at them till her\neyes brimmed over with tears that were both sweet and sad; for they were\nthe faces of her father and mother, beautifully copied from portraits\nfast fading away.\n\nPresently, she knelt down, and, putting her arms round the little\nshrine, kissed one after the other, saying with an earnest voice, \"I'll\ntruly try to make them glad to see me by and by.\"\n\nAnd that was Rose's little prayer on the night of her fourteenth\nbirthday.\n\nTwo days later the Campbells went home, a larger party than when they\ncame; for Dr. Alec was escort and Kitty Comet was borne in state in a\nbasket, with a bottle of milk, some tiny sandwiches, and a doll's dish\nto drink out of, as well as a bit of carpet to lie on in her palace car,\nout of which she kept popping her head in the most fascinating manner.\n\nThere was a great kissing and cuddling, waving of handkerchiefs, and\nlast good-byes, as they went; and when they had started, Mother Atkinson\ncame running after them, to tuck in some little pies, hot from the oven,\n\"for the dears, who might get tired of bread and butter during that long\nday's travel.\"\n\nAnother start, and another halt; for the Snow children came shrieking\nup to demand the three kittens that Pokey was cooly carrying off in\na travelling bag. The unhappy kits were rescued, half smothered, and\nrestored to their lawful owners, amid dire lamentation from the little\nkidnapper, who declared that she only \"tooked um 'cause they'd want to\ngo wid their sister Tomit.\"\n\nStart number three and stoppage number three, as Frank hailed them\nwith the luncheon basket, which had been forgotten, after everyone had\nprotested that it was safely in.\n\nAll went well after that, and the long journey was pleasantly beguiled\nby Pokey and Pussy, who played together so prettily that they were\nconsidered public benefactors.\n\n\"Rose doesn't want to go home, for she knows the aunts won't let her\nrampage as she did up at Cosey Corner,\" said Mac, as they approached the\nold house.\n\n\"I can't rampage if I want to for a time, at least; and I'll tell you\nwhy. I sprained my ankle when I tumbled off of Barkis, and it gets worse\nand worse; though I've done all I know to cure it and hide it, so it\nshouldn't trouble anyone,\" whispered Rose, knitting her brows with pain,\nas she prepared to descend, wishing her uncle would take her instead of\nher bundles.\n\nHow he did it, she never knew; but Mac had her up the steps and on the\nparlour sofa before she could put her foot to the ground.\n\n\"There you are right side up with care; and mind, now, if your ankle\nbothers you, and you are laid up with it, I am to be your footman. It's\nonly fair, you know; for I don't forget how good you have been to me.\"\nAnd Mac went to call Phebe, so full of gratitude and good-will that his\nvery goggles shone.\n\n\n\nChapter 15--Ear-Rings\n\nRose's sprain proved to be a serious one, owing to neglect, and Dr. Alec\nordered her to lie on the sofa for a fortnight at least; whereat she\ngroaned dismally, but dared not openly complain, lest the boys turn\nupon her with some of the wise little sermons on patience which she had\ndelivered for their benefit.\n\nIt was Mac's turn now, and honourably did he repay his debt; for, as\nschool was still forbidden, he had plenty of leisure, and devoted most\nof it to Rose. He took many steps for her, and even allowed her to teach\nhim to knit, after assuring himself that many a brave Scotchman knew how\nto \"click the pricks.\" She was obliged to take a solemn vow of secrecy,\nhowever, before he would consent; for, though he did not mind being\ncalled \"Giglamps,\" \"Granny\" was more than his boyish soul could bear,\nand at the approach of any of the Clan his knitting vanished as if by\nmagic, which frequent \"chucking\" out of sight did not improve the stripe\nhe was doing for Rose's new afghan.\n\nShe was busy with this pretty work one bright October afternoon, all\nnicely established on her sofa in the upper hall, while Jamie and Pokey\n(lent for her amusement) were keeping house in a corner, with Comet and\nRose's old doll for their \"childerns.\"\n\nPresently, Phebe appeared with a card. Rose read it, made a grimace,\nthen laughed and said,\n\n\"I'll see Miss Blish,\" and immediately put on her company face, pulled\nout her locket, and settled her curls.\n\n\"You dear thing, how do you do? I've been trying to call every day since\nyou got back, but I have so many engagements, I really couldn't manage\nit till to-day. So glad you are alone, for mamma said I could sit\nawhile, and I brought my lace-work to show you, for it's perfectly\nlovely.\" cried Miss Blish, greeting Rose with a kiss, which was not very\nwarmly returned, though Rose politely thanked her for coming, and bid\nPhebe roll up the easy chair.\n\n\"How nice to have a maid!\" said Ariadne, as she settled herself with\nmuch commotion. \"Still, dear, you must be very lonely, and feel the need\nof a bosom friend.\"\n\n\"I have my cousins,\" began Rose, with dignity, for her visitor's\npatronising manner ruffled her temper.\n\n\"Gracious, child! you don't make friends of those great boys, do you?\nMamma says she really doesn't think it's proper for you to be with them\nso much.\"\n\n\"They are like brothers, and my aunts do think it's proper,\" replied\nRose, rather sharply, for it struck her that this was none of Miss\nBlish's business.\n\n\"I was merely going to say I should be glad to have you for my bosom\nfriend, for Hatty Mason and I have had an awful quarrel, and don't\nspeak. She is too mean to live, so I gave her up. Just think, she never\npaid back one of the caramels I've given her, and never invited me to\nher party. I could have forgiven the caramels, but to be left out in\nthat rude way was more than I could bear, and I told her never to look\nat me again as long as she lived.\"\n\n\"You are very kind, but I don't think I want a bosom friend, thank you,\"\nsaid Rose, as Ariadne stopped to bridle and shake her flaxen head over\nthe delinquent Hatty Mason.\n\nNow, in her heart Miss Blish thought Rose \"a stuck-up puss,\" but\nthe other girls wanted to know her and couldn't, the old house was a\ncharming place to visit, the lads were considered fine fellows, and\nthe Campbells \"are one of our first families,\" mamma said. So Ariadne\nconcealed her vexation at Rose's coolness, and changed the subject as\nfast as possible.\n\n\"Studying French, I see; who is your teacher?\" she asked, flitting over\nthe leaves of \"Paul and Virginia,\" that lay on the table.\n\n\"I don't study it, for I read French as well as English, and uncle and\nI often speak it for hours. He talks like a native, and says I have a\nremarkably good accent.\"\n\nRose really could not help this small display of superiority, for French\nwas one of her strong points, and she was vain of it, though she usually\nmanaged to hide this weakness. She felt that Ariadne would be the better\nfor a little crushing, and could not resist the temptation to patronise\nin her turn.\n\n\"Oh, indeed!\" said Miss Blish, rather blankly, for French was not her\nstrong point by any means.\n\n\"I am to go abroad with uncle in a year or two, and he knows how\nimportant it is to understand the languages. Half the girls who leave\nschool can't speak decent French, and when they go abroad they are\nso mortified. I shall be very glad to help you, if you like, for, of\ncourse, you have no one to talk with at home.\"\n\nNow Ariadne, though she looked like a wax doll, had feelings within her\ninstead of sawdust, and these feelings were hurt by Rose's lofty tone.\nShe thought her more \"stuck up\" than ever, but did not know how to bring\nher down, yet longed to do it, for she felt as if she had received a\nbox on the ear, and involuntarily put her hand up to it. The touch of an\near-ring consoled her, and suggested a way of returning tit for tat in a\ntelling manner.\n\n\"Thank you, dear; I don't need any help, for our teacher is from Paris,\nand of course he speaks better French than your uncle.\" Then she added,\nwith a gesture of her head that set the little bells on her ears to\ntingling: \"How do you like my new ear-rings? Papa gave them to me last\nweek, and everyone says they are lovely.\"\n\nRose came down from her high horse with a rapidity that was comical,\nfor Ariadne had the upper hand now. Rose adored pretty things, longed\nto wear them, and the desire of her girlish soul was to have her ears\nbored, only Dr. Alec thought it foolish, so she never had done it. She\nwould gladly have given all the French she could jabber for a pair of\ngolden bells with pearl-tipped tongues, like those Ariadne wore; and,\nclasping her hands, she answered, in a tone that went to the hearer's\nheart,\n\n\"They are too sweet for anything! If uncle would only let me wear some,\nI should be perfectly happy.\"\n\n\"I wouldn't mind what he says. Papa laughed at me at first, but he likes\nthem now, and says I shall have diamond solitaires when I am eighteen,\"\nsaid Ariadne, quite satisfied with her shot.\n\n\"I've got a pair now that were mamma's, and a beautiful little pair of\npearl and turquoise ones, that I am dying to wear,\" sighed Rose.\n\n\"Then do it. I'll pierce your ears, and you must wear a bit of silk in\nthem till they are well; your curls will hide them nicely; then, some\nday, slip in your smallest ear-rings, and see if your uncle don't like\nthem.\"\n\n\"I asked him if it wouldn't do my eyes good once when they were red, and\nhe only laughed. People do cure weak eyes that way, don't they?\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed, and yours are sort of red. Let me see. Yes, I really think\nyou ought to do it before they get worse,\" said Ariadne, peering into\nthe large clear eye offered for inspection.\n\n\"Does it hurt much?\" asked Rose, wavering.\n\n\"Oh dear, no; just a prick and a pull, and it's all over. I've done\nlots of ears, and know just how. Come, push up your hair and get a big\nneedle.\"\n\n\"I don't quite like to do it without asking uncle's leave,\" faltered\nRose, when all was ready for the operation.\n\n\"Did he ever forbid it?\" demanded Ariadne, hovering over her prey like a\nvampire.\n\n\"No, never!\"\n\n\"Then do it, unless you are afraid,\" cried Miss Blish, bent on\naccomplishing the deed.\n\nThat last word settled the matter, and, closing her eyes, Rose said\n\"Punch!\" in the tone of one giving the fatal order \"Fire!\"\n\nAriadne punched, and the victim bore it in heroic silence, though she\nturned pale and her eyes were full of tears of anguish.\n\n\"There! Now pull the bits of silk often, and cold-cream your ears every\nnight, and you'll soon be ready for the rings,\" said Ariadne, well\npleased with her job, for the girl who spoke French with \"a fine accent\"\nlay flat upon the sofa, looking as exhausted as if she had had both ears\ncut off.\n\n\"It does hurt dreadfully, and I know uncle won't like it,\" sighed Rose,\nas remorse began to gnaw. \"Promise not to tell, or I shall be teased\nto death,\" she added, anxiously, entirely forgetting the two little\npitchers gifted with eyes as well as ears, who had been watching the\nwhole performance from afar.\n\n\"Never. Mercy me, what's that?\" and Ariadne started as a sudden sound of\nsteps and voices came up from below.\n\n\"It's the boys! Hide the needle. Do my ears show? Don't breathe a word!\"\nwhispered Rose, scrambling about to conceal all traces of their iniquity\nfrom the sharp eyes of the Clan.\n\nUp they came, all in good order, laden with the proceeds of a nutting\nexpedition, for they always reported to Rose and paid tribute to their\nqueen in the handsomest manner.\n\n\"How many, and how big! We'll have a grand roasting frolic after tea,\nwon't we?\" said Rose, plunging both hands into a bag of glossy brown\nnuts, while the Clan \"stood at ease\" and nodded to Ariadne.\n\n\"That lot was picked especially for you, Rosy. I got every one myself,\nand they are extra whackers,\" said Mac, presenting a bushel or so.\n\n\"You should have seen Giglamps when he was after them. He pitched out\nof the tree, and would have broken his blessed old neck if Arch had\nnot caught him,\" observed Steve, as he lounged gracefully in the window\nseat.\n\n\"You needn't talk, Dandy, when you didn't know a chestnut from a beech,\nand kept on thrashing till I told you of it,\" retorted Mac, festooning\nhimself over the back of the sofa, being a privileged boy.\n\n\"I don't make mistakes when I thrash you, old Worm, so you'd better mind\nwhat you are about,\" answered Steve, without a ray of proper respect for\nhis elder brother.\n\n\"It is getting dark, and I must go, or mamma will be alarmed,\" said\nAriadne, rising in sudden haste, though she hoped to be asked to remain\nto the nut-party.\n\nNo one invited her; and all the while she was putting on her things and\nchatting to Rose the boys were telegraphing to one another the sad fact\nthat someone ought to escort the young lady home. Not a boy felt heroic\nenough to cast himself into the breach, however; even polite Archie\nshirked the duty, saying to Charlie, as they quietly slipped into an\nadjoining room,\n\n\"I'm not going to do all the gallivanting. Let Steve take that chit home\nand show his manners.\"\n\n\"I'll be hanged if I do!\" answered Prince, who disliked Miss Blish\nbecause she tried to be coquettish with him.\n\n\"Then I will,\" and, to the dismay of both recreant lads, Dr. Alec walked\nout of the room to offer his services to the \"chit.\"\n\nHe was too late, however, for Mac, obeying a look from Rose, had already\nmade a victim of himself, and trudged meekly away, wishing the gentle\nAriadne at the bottom of the Red Sea.\n\n\"Then I will take this lady down to tea, as the other one has found a\ngentleman to go home with her. I see the lamps are lighted below, and I\nsmell a smell which tells me that auntie has something extra nice for us\nto-night.\"\n\nAs he spoke, Dr. Alec was preparing to carry Rose downstairs as usual;\nbut Archie and Prince rushed forward, begging with penitent eagerness\nfor the honour of carrying her in an arm-chair. Rose consented, fearing\nthat her uncle's keen eye would discover the fatal bits of silk; so the\nboys crossed hands, and, taking a good grip of each curly pate, she was\nborne down in state, while the others followed by way of the banisters.\n\nTea was ordered earlier than usual, so that Jamie and his dolly could\nhave a taste, at least, of the holiday fun, for they were to stay till\nseven, and be allowed twelve roasted chestnuts apiece, which they were\nunder bonds not to eat till next day.\n\nTea was despatched rapidly, therefore, and the party gathered round the\nwide hearth in the dining-room, where the nuts were soon dancing gaily\non hot shovels or bouncing out among the company, thereby causing\ndelightful panics among the little ones.\n\n\"Come, Rosy, tell us a story while we work, for you can't help much,\nand must amuse us as your share,\" proposed Mac, who sat in the shade\npricking nuts, and who knew by experience what a capital little\nScheherazade his cousin was.\n\n\"Yes, we poor monkeys can't burn our paws for nothing, so tell away,\nPussy,\" added Charlie, as he threw several hot nuts into her lap and\nshook his fingers afterwards.\n\n\"Well, I happen to have a little story with a moral to it in my mind,\nand I will tell it, though it is intended for younger children than\nyou,\" answered Rose, who was rather fond of telling instructive tales.\n\n\"Fire away,\" said Geordie, and she obeyed, little thinking what a\ndisastrous story it would prove to herself.\n\n\"Well, once upon a time, a little girl went to see a young lady who was\nvery fond of her. Now, the young lady happened to be lame, and had\nto have her foot bandaged up every day; so she kept a basketful of\nbandages, all nicely rolled and ready. The little girl liked to play\nwith this basket, and one day, when she thought no one saw her, she took\none of the rolls without asking leave, and put it in her pocket.\"\n\nHere Pokey, who had been peering lovingly down at the five warm nuts\nthat lay at the bottom of her tiny pocket, suddenly looked up and said,\n\"Oh!\" in a startled tone, as if the moral tale had become intensely\ninteresting all at once.\n\nRose heard and saw the innocent betrayal of the small sinner, and went\non in a most impressive manner, while the boys nudged one another and\nwinked as they caught the joke.\n\n\"But an eye did see this naughty little girl, and whose eye do you think\nit was?\"\n\n\"Eye of Dod,\" murmured conscience-stricken Pokey, spreading two chubby\nlittle hands before the round face, which they were not half big enough\nto hide.\n\nRose was rather taken aback by this reply, but, feeling that she was\nproducing a good effect, she added seriously,\n\n\"Yes, God saw her, and so did the young lady, but she did not say\nanything; she waited to see what the little girl would do about it. She\nhad been very happy before she took the bandage, but when it was in her\npocket she seemed troubled, and pretty soon stopped playing, and sat\ndown in a corner looking very sober. She thought a few minutes, and then\nwent and put back the roll very softly, and her face cleared up, and\nshe was a happy child again. The young lady was glad to see that, and\nwondered what made the little girl put it back.\"\n\n\"Tonscience p'icked her,\" murmured a contrite voice from behind the\nsmall hands pressed tightly over Pokey's red face.\n\n\"And why did she take it, do you suppose?\" asked Rose, in a\nschool-marmish tone, feeling that all the listeners were interested in\nher tale and its unexpected application.\n\n\"It was so nice and wound, and she wanted it deffly,\" answered the\nlittle voice.\n\n\"Well, I'm glad she had such a good conscience. The moral is that people\nwho steal don't enjoy what they take, and are not happy till they put\nit back. What makes that little girl hide her face?\" asked Rose, as she\nconcluded.\n\n\"Me's so 'shamed of Pokey,\" sobbed the small culprit, quite overcome by\nremorse and confusion at this awful disclosure.\n\n\"Come, Rose, it's too bad to tell her little tricks before everyone,\nand preach at her in that way; you wouldn't like it yourself,\" began Dr.\nAlec, taking the weeper on his knee and administering consolation in the\nshape of kisses and nuts.\n\nBefore Rose could express her regret, Jamie, who had been reddening\nand ruffling like a little turkey-cock for several minutes, burst out\nindignantly, bent on avenging the wound given to his beloved dolly.\n\n\"I know something bad that you did, and I'm going to tell right out. You\nthought we didn't see you, but we did, and you said uncle wouldn't like\nit, and the boys would tease, and you made Ariadne promise not to tell,\nand she punched holes in your ears to put ear-rings in. So now! and\nthat's much badder than to take an old piece of rag; and I hate you for\nmaking my Pokey cry.\"\n\nJamie's somewhat incoherent explosion produced such an effect that\nPokey's small sin was instantly forgotten, and Rose felt that her hour\nhad come.\n\n\"What! what! what!\" cried the boys in a chorus, dropping their shovels\nand knives to gather round Rose, for a guilty clutching at her ears\nbetrayed her, and with a feeble cry of \"Ariadne made me!\" she hid her\nhead among the pillows like an absurd little ostrich.\n\n\"Now she'll go prancing round with bird cages and baskets and carts and\npigs, for all I know, in her ears, as the other girls do, and won't she\nlook like a goose?\" asked one tormentor, tweaking a curl that strayed\nout from the cushions.\n\n\"I didn't think she'd be so silly,\" said Mac, in a tone of\ndisappointment that told Rose she had sunk in the esteem of her wise\ncousin.\n\n\"That Blish girl is a nuisance, and ought not to be allowed to come here\nwith her nonsensical notions,\" said the Prince, feeling a strong desire\nto shake that young person as an angry dog might shake a mischievous\nkitten.\n\n\"How do you like it, uncle?\" asked Archie, who, being the head of a\nfamily himself, believed in preserving discipline at all costs.\n\n\"I am very much surprised; but I see she is a girl, after all, and must\nhave her vanities like all the rest of them,\" answered Dr. Alec, with\na sigh, as if he had expected to find Rose a sort of angel, above all\nearthly temptations.\n\n\"What shall you do about it, sir?\" inquired Geordie, wondering what\npunishment would be inflicted on a feminine culprit.\n\n\"As she is fond of ornaments, perhaps we had better give her a nose-ring\nalso. I have one somewhere that a Fiji belle once wore; I'll look it\nup,\" and, leaving Pokey to Jamie's care, Dr. Alec rose as if to carry\nout his suggestion in earnest.\n\n\"Good! good! We'll do it right away! Here's a gimlet, so you hold\nher, boys, while I get her dear little nose all ready,\" cried Charlie,\nwhisking away the pillow as the other boys danced about the sofa in true\nFiji style.\n\nIt was a dreadful moment, for Rose could not run away she could only\ngrasp her precious nose with one hand and extend the other, crying\ndistractedly,\n\n\"O uncle, save me, save me!\"\n\nOf course he saved her; and when she was securely barricaded by his\nstrong arm, she confessed her folly in such humiliation of spirit, that\nthe lads, after a good laugh at her, decided to forgive her and lay all\nthe blame on the tempter, Ariadne. Even Dr. Alec relented so far as to\npropose two gold rings for the ears instead of one copper one for the\nnose; a proceeding which proved that if Rose had all the weakness of\nher sex for jewellery, he had all the inconsistency of his in giving a\npretty penitent exactly what she wanted, spite of his better judgment.\n\n\n\nChapter 16--Bread and Button-Holes\n\n\"What in the world is my girl thinking about all alone here, with such\na solemn face?\" asked Dr. Alec, coming into the study, one November\nday, to find Rose sitting there with folded hands and a very thoughtful\naspect.\n\n\"Uncle, I want to have some serious conversation with you, if you have\ntime,\" she said, coming out of a brown study, as if she had not heard\nhis question.\n\n\"I'm entirely at your service, and most happy to listen,\" he answered,\nin his politest manner, for when Rose put on her womanly little airs he\nalways treated her with a playful sort of respect that pleased her very\nmuch.\n\nNow, as he sat down beside her, she said, very soberly,\n\n\"I've been trying to decide what trade I would learn, and I want you to\nadvise me.\"\n\n\"Trade, my dear?\" and Dr. Alec looked so astonished that she hastened to\nexplain.\n\n\"I forgot that you didn't hear the talk about it up at Cosey Corner. You\nsee we used to sit under the pines and sew, and talk a great deal all\nthe ladies, I mean and I liked it very much. Mother Atkinson thought\nthat everyone should have a trade, or something to make a living out of,\nfor rich people may grow poor, you know, and poor people have to work.\nHer girls were very clever, and could do ever so many things, and Aunt\nJessie thought the old lady was right; so when I saw how happy and\nindependent those young ladies were, I wanted to have a trade, and then\nit wouldn't matter about money, though I like to have it well enough.\"\n\nDr. Alec listened to this explanation with a curious mixture of\nsurprise, pleasure, and amusement in his face, and looked at his little\nniece as if she had suddenly changed into a young woman. She had grown a\ngood deal in the last six months, and an amount of thinking had gone on\nin that young head which would have astonished him greatly could he have\nknown it all, for Rose was one of the children who observe and meditate\nmuch, and now and then nonplus their friends by a wise or curious\nremark.\n\n\"I quite agree with the ladies, and shall be glad to help you decide on\nsomething if I can,\" said the Doctor seriously. \"What do you incline to?\nA natural taste or talent is a great help in choosing, you know.\"\n\n\"I haven't any talent, or any especial taste that I can see, and that is\nwhy I can't decide, uncle. So, I think it would be a good plan to pick\nout some very useful business and learn it, because I don't do it for\npleasure, you see, but as a part of my education, and to be ready in\ncase I'm ever poor,\" answered Rose, looking as if she rather longed for\na little poverty so that her useful gift might be exercised.\n\n\"Well, now, there is one very excellent, necessary, and womanly\naccomplishment that no girl should be without, for it is a help to rich\nand poor, and the comfort of families depends upon it. This fine talent\nis neglected nowadays, and considered old-fashioned, which is a sad\nmistake, and one that I don't mean to make in bringing up my girl.\nIt should be a part of every girl's education, and I know of a most\naccomplished lady who will teach you in the best and pleasantest\nmanner.\"\n\n\"Oh, what is it?\" cried Rose eagerly, charmed to be met in this helpful\nand cordial way.\n\n\"Housekeeping!\" answered Dr. Alec.\n\n\"Is that an accomplishment?\" asked Rose, while her face fell, for she\nhad indulged in all sorts of vague, delightful dreams.\n\n\"Yes; it is one of the most beautiful as well as useful of all the\narts a woman can learn. Not so romantic, perhaps, as singing,\npainting, writing, or teaching, even; but one that makes many happy and\ncomfortable, and home the sweetest place in the world. Yes, you may\nopen your big eyes; but it is a fact that I had rather see you a good\nhousekeeper than the greatest belle in the city. It need not interfere\nwith any talent you may possess, but it is a necessary part of your\ntraining, and I hope that you will set about it at once, now that you\nare well and strong.\"\n\n\"Who is the lady?\" asked Rose, rather impressed by her uncle's earnest\nspeech.\n\n\"Aunt Plenty.\"\n\n\"Is she accomplished?\" began Rose in a wondering tone, for this\ngreat-aunt of hers had seemed the least cultivated of them all.\n\n\"In the good old-fashioned way she is very accomplished, and has made\nthis house a happy home to us all, ever since we can remember. She is\nnot elegant, but genuinely good, and so beloved and respected that there\nwill be universal mourning for her when her place is empty. No one can\nfill it, for the solid, homely virtues of the dear soul have gone out of\nfashion, as I say, and nothing new can be half so satisfactory, to me at\nleast.\"\n\n\"I should like to have people feel so about me. Can she teach me to do\nwhat she does, and to grow as good?\" asked Rose, with a little prick of\nremorse for even thinking that Aunt Plenty was a commonplace old lady.\n\n\"Yes, if you don't despise such simple lessons as she can give. I know\nit would fill her dear old heart with pride and pleasure to feel that\nanyone cared to learn of her, for she fancies her day gone by. Let\nher teach you how to be what she has been a skilful, frugal, cheerful\nhousewife; the maker and the keeper of a happy home, and by and by you\nwill see what a valuable lesson it is.\"\n\n\"I will, uncle. But how shall I begin?\"\n\n\"I'll speak to her about it, and she will make it all right with Dolly,\nfor cooking is one of the main things, you know.\"\n\n\"So it is! I don't mind that a bit, for I like to mess, and used to try\nat home; but I had no one to tell me, so I never did much but spoil my\naprons. Pies are great fun, only Dolly is so cross, I don't believe she\nwill ever let me do a thing in the kitchen.\"\n\n\"Then we'll cook in the parlour. I fancy Aunt Plenty will manage her,\nso don't be troubled. Only mind this, I'd rather you learned how to make\ngood bread than the best pies ever baked. When you bring me a handsome,\nwholesome loaf, entirely made by yourself, I shall be more pleased than\nif you offered me a pair of slippers embroidered in the very latest\nstyle. I don't wish to bribe you, but I'll give you my heartiest kiss,\nand promise to eat every crumb of the loaf myself.\"\n\n\"It's a bargain! it's a bargain! Come and tell aunty all about it, for\nI'm in a hurry to begin,\" cried Rose, dancing before him toward the\nparlor, where Miss Plenty sat alone knitting contentedly, yet ready to\nrun at the first call for help of any sort, from any quarter.\n\nNo need to tell how surprised and gratified she was at the invitation\nshe received to teach the child the domestic arts which were her only\naccomplishments, nor to relate how energetically she set about her\npleasant task. Dolly dared not grumble, for Miss Plenty was the one\nperson whom she obeyed, and Phebe openly rejoiced, for these new lessons\nbrought Rose nearer to her, and glorified the kitchen in the good girl's\neyes.\n\nTo tell the truth, the elder aunts had sometimes felt that they did not\nhave quite their share of the little niece who had won their hearts long\nago, and was the sunshine of the house. They talked it over together\nsometimes, but always ended by saying that as Alec had all the\nresponsibility, he should have the larger share of the dear girl's love\nand time, and they would be contented with such crumbs of comfort as\nthey could get.\n\nDr. Alec had found out this little secret, and, after reproaching\nhimself for being blind and selfish, was trying to devise some way of\nmending matters without troubling anyone, when Rose's new whim suggested\nan excellent method of weaning her a little from himself. He did not\nknow how fond he was of her till he gave her up to the new teacher, and\noften could not resist peeping in at the door to see how she got on,\nor stealing sly looks through the slide when she was deep in dough, or\nlistening intently to some impressive lecture from Aunt Plenty. They\ncaught him at it now and then, and ordered him off the premises at the\npoint of the rolling-pin; or, if unusually successful, and, therefore,\nin a milder mood, they lured him away with bribes of ginger-bread, a\nstray pickle, or a tart that was not quite symmetrical enough to suit\ntheir critical eyes.\n\nOf course he made a point of partaking copiously of all the delectable\nmesses that now appeared at table, for both the cooks were on their\nmettle, and he fared sumptuously every day. But an especial relish\nwas given to any dish when, in reply to his honest praise of it, Rose\ncoloured up with innocent pride, and said modestly,\n\n\"I made that, uncle, and I'm glad you like it.\"\n\nIt was some time before the perfect loaf appeared, for bread-making\nis an art not easily learned, and Aunt Plenty was very thorough in her\nteaching; so Rose studied yeast first, and through various stages of\ncake and biscuit came at last to the crowning glory of the \"handsome,\nwholesome loaf.\" It appeared at tea-time, on a silver salver, proudly\nborne in by Phebe, who could not refrain from whispering, with a beaming\nface, as she set it down before Dr. Alec,\n\n\"Ain't it just lovely, sir?\"\n\n\"It is a regularly splendid loaf! Did my girl make it all herself?\" he\nasked, surveying the shapely, sweet-smelling object with real interest\nand pleasure.\n\n\"Every particle herself, and never asked a bit of help or advice\nfrom anyone,\" answered Aunt Plenty, folding her hands with an air of\nunmitigated satisfaction, for her pupil certainly did her great credit.\n\n\"I've had so many failures and troubles that I really thought I never\nshould be able to do it alone. Dolly let one splendid batch burn up\nbecause I forgot it. She was there and smelt it, but never did a thing,\nfor she said, when I undertook to bake bread I must give my whole mind\nto it. Wasn't it hard? She might have called me at least,\" said Rose,\nrecollecting, with a sigh, the anguish of that moment.\n\n\"She meant you should learn by experience, as Rosamond did in that\nlittle affair of the purple jar, you remember.\"\n\n\"I always thought it very unfair in her mother not to warn the poor\nthing a little bit; and she was regularly mean when Rosamond asked for a\nbowl to put the purple stuff in, and she said, in such a provoking way,\n'I did not agree to lend you a bowl, but I will, my dear.' Ugh! I always\nwant to shake that hateful woman, though she was a moral mamma.\"\n\n\"Never mind her now, but tell me all about my loaf,\" said Dr. Alec, much\namused at Rose's burst of indignation.\n\n\"There's nothing to tell, uncle, except that I did my best, gave my mind\nto it, and sat watching over it all the while it was in the oven till I\nwas quite baked myself. Everything went right this time, and it came out\na nice, round, crusty loaf, as you see. Now taste it, and tell me if it\nis good as well as handsome.\"\n\n\"Must I cut it? Can't I put it under a glass cover and keep it in the\nparlor as they do wax flowers and fine works of that sort?\"\n\n\"What an idea, uncle! It would mould and be spoilt. Besides, people\nwould laugh at us, and make fun of my old-fashioned accomplishment. You\npromised to eat it, and you must; not all at once, but as soon as you\ncan, so I can make you some more.\"\n\nDr. Alec solemnly cut off his favourite crusty slice, and solemnly ate\nit; then wiped his lips, and brushing back Rose's hair, solemnly kissed\nher on the forehead, saying, heartily,\n\n\"My dear, it is perfect bread, and you are an honour to your teacher.\nWhen we have our model school I shall offer a prize for the best bread,\nand you will get it.\"\n\n\"I've got it already, and I'm quite satisfied,\" said Rose, slipping into\nher seat, and trying to hide her right hand which had a burn on it.\n\nBut Dr. Alec saw it, guessed how it came there, and after tea insisted\non easing the pain which she would hardly confess.\n\n\"Aunt Clara says I am spoiling my hands, but I don't care, for I've had\nsuch good times with Aunt Plenty, and I think she has enjoyed it as\nmuch as I have. Only one thing troubles me, uncle, and I want to ask\nyou about it,\" said Rose, as they paced up and down the hall in the\ntwilight, the bandaged hand very carefully laid on Dr. Alec's arm.\n\n\"More little confidences? I like them immensely, so tell away, my dear.\"\n\n\"Well, you see I feel as if Aunt Peace would like to do something for\nme, and I've found out what it can be. You know she can't go about like\nAunty Plen, and we are so busy nowadays that she is rather lonely,\nI'm afraid. So I want to take lessons in sewing of her. She works so\nbeautifully, and it is a useful thing, you know, and I ought to be a\ngood needlewoman as well as housekeeper, oughtn't I?\"\n\n\"Bless your kind little heart, that is what I was thinking of the other\nday when Aunt Peace said she saw you very seldom now, you were so busy I\nwanted to speak of it, but fancied you had as much on your hands as\nyou could manage. It would delight the dear woman to teach you all her\ndelicate handicraft, especially button-holes, for I believe that is\nwhere young ladies fail; at least, I've heard them say so. So, do you\ndevote your mind to button-holes; make 'em all over my clothes if you\nwant something to practice on. I'll wear any quantity.\"\n\nRose laughed at this reckless offer, but promised to attend to that\nimportant branch, though she confessed that darning was her weak point.\nWhereupon Uncle Alec engaged to supply her with socks in all stages of\ndilapidation, and to have a new set at once, so that she could run the\nheels for him as a pleasant beginning.\n\nThen they went up to make their request in due form, to the great\ndelight of gentle Aunt Peace, who got quite excited with the fun that\nwent on while they would yarn, looked up darning needles, and fitted out\na nice little mending basket for her pupil.\n\nVery busy and very happy were Rose's days now, for in the morning she\nwent about the house with Aunt Plenty attending to linen-closets and\nstore-rooms, pickling and preserving, exploring garret and cellar to see\nthat all was right, and learning, in the good old-fashioned manner, to\nlook well after the ways of the household.\n\nIn the afternoon, after her walk or drive, she sat with Aunt Peace\nplying her needle, while Aunt Plenty, whose eyes were failing, knitted\nand chatted briskly, telling many a pleasant story of old times, till\nthe three were moved to laugh and cry together, for the busy needles\nwere embroidering all sorts of bright patterns on the lives of the\nworkers, though they seemed to be only stitching cotton and darning\nhose.\n\nIt was a pretty sight to see the rosy-faced little maid sitting between\nthe two old ladies, listening dutifully to their instructions, and\ncheering the lessons with her lively chatter and blithe laugh. If the\nkitchen had proved attractive to Dr. Alec when Rose was there at work,\nthe sewing-room was quite irresistible, and he made himself so agreeable\nthat no one had the heart to drive him away, especially when he read\naloud or spun yarns.\n\n\"There! I've made you a new set of warm night-gowns with four\nbutton-holes in each. See if they are not neatly done,\" said Rose, one\nday, some weeks after the new lessons began.\n\n\"Even to a thread, and nice little bars across the end so I can't tear\nthem when I twitch the buttons out. Most superior work, ma'am, and I'm\ndeeply grateful; so much so, that I'll sew on these buttons myself, and\nsave those tired fingers from another prick.\"\n\n\"You sew them on?\" cried Rose, with her eyes wide open in amazement.\n\n\"Wait a bit till I get my sewing tackle, and then you shall see what I\ncan do.\"\n\n\"Can he, really?\" asked Rose of Aunt Peace, as Uncle Alec marched off\nwith a comical air of importance.\n\n\"Oh, yes, I taught him years ago, before he went to sea; and I suppose\nhe has had to do things for himself, more or less, ever since; so he has\nkept his hand in.\"\n\nHe evidently had, for he was soon back with a funny little work-bag, out\nof which he produced a thimble without a top; and, having threaded his\nneedle, he proceeded to sew on the buttons so handily that Rose was much\nimpressed and amused.\n\n\"I wonder if there is anything in the world that you cannot do,\" she\nsaid, in a tone of respectful admiration.\n\n\"There are one or two things that I am not up to yet,\" he answered,\nwith a laugh in the corner of his eye, as he waxed his thread with a\nflourish.\n\n\"I should like to know what?\"\n\n\"Bread and button-holes, ma'am.\"\n\n\n\nChapter 17--Good Bargains\n\nIt was a rainy Sunday afternoon, and four boys were trying to spend it\nquietly in the \"liberry,\" as Jamie called the room devoted to books and\nboys, at Aunt Jessie's. Will and Geordie were sprawling on the sofa,\ndeep in the adventures of the scapegraces and ragamuffins whose\nhistories are now the fashion. Archie lounged in the easy chair,\nsurrounded by newspapers; Charlie stood upon the rug, in an Englishman's\nfavourite attitude, and, I regret to say, both were smoking cigars.\n\n\"It is my opinion that this day will never come to an end,\" said Prince,\nwith a yawn that nearly rent him asunder.\n\n\"Read and improve your mind, my son,\" answered Archie, peering solemnly\nover the paper behind which he had been dozing.\n\n\"Don't you preach, parson, but put on your boots and come out for a\ntramp, instead of mulling over the fire like a granny.\"\n\n\"No, thank you, tramps in an easterly storm don't strike me as amusing.\"\nThere Archie stopped and held up his hand, for a pleasant voice was\nheard saying outside,\n\n\"Are the boys in the library, auntie?\"\n\n\"Yes, dear, and longing for sunshine; so run in and make it for them,\"\nanswered Mrs. Jessie.\n\n\"It's Rose,\" and Archie threw his cigar into the fire.\n\n\"What's that for?\" asked Charlie.\n\n\"Gentlemen don't smoke before ladies.\"\n\n\"True; but I'm not going to waste my weed,\" and Prince poked his into\nthe empty inkstand that served them for an ash tray.\n\nA gentle tap at the door was answered by a chorus of \"Come in,\" and Rose\nappeared, looking blooming and breezy with the chilly air.\n\n\"If I disturb you, say so, and I'll go away,\" she began, pausing on the\nthreshold with modest hesitation, for something in the elder boys' faces\nexcited her curiosity.\n\n\"You never disturb us, cousin,\" said the smokers, while the readers tore\nthemselves from the heroes of the bar-room and gutter long enough to nod\naffably to their guest.\n\nAs Rose bent to warm her hands, one end of Archie's cigar stuck out of\nthe ashes, smoking furiously and smelling strongly.\n\n\"Oh, you bad boys, how could you do it, to-day of all days?\" she said\nreproachfully.\n\n\"Where's the harm?\" asked Archie.\n\n\"You know as well as I do; your mother doesn't like it, and it's a bad\nhabit, for it wastes money and does you no good.\"\n\n\"Fiddlesticks! every man smokes, even Uncle Alec, whom you think so\nperfect,\" began Charlie, in his teasing way.\n\n\"No, he doesn't! He has given it up, and I know why,\" cried Rose\neagerly.\n\n\"Now I think of it, I haven't seen the old meerschaum since he came\nhome. Did he stop it on our account?\" asked Archie.\n\n\"Yes,\" and Rose told the little scene on the seashore in the camping-out\ntime.\n\nArchie seemed much impressed, and said manfully, \"He won't have done\nthat in vain so far as I'm concerned. I don't care a pin about smoking,\nso can give it up as easy as not, and I promise you I will. I only do it\nnow and then for fun.\"\n\n\"You too?\" and Rose looked up at the bonny Prince, who never looked less\nbonny than at that moment, for he had resumed his cigar just to torment\nher.\n\nNow Charlie cared as little as Archie about smoking, but it would not\ndo to yield too soon: so he shook his head, gave a great puff, and said\nloftily,\n\n\"You women are always asking us to give up harmless little things just\nbecause you don't approve of them. How would you like it if we did the\nsame by you, miss?\"\n\n\"If I did harmful or silly things, I'd thank you for telling me of them,\nand I'd try to mend my ways,\" answered Rose heartily.\n\n\"Well, now, we'll see if you mean what you say. I'll give up smoking to\nplease you, if you will give up something to please me,\" said Prince,\nseeing a good chance to lord it over the weaker vessel at small cost to\nhimself.\n\n\"I'll agree if it is as foolish as cigars.\"\n\n\"Oh, it's ever so much sillier.\"\n\n\"Then I promise; what is it?\" and Rose quite trembled with anxiety to\nknow which of her pet habits or possessions she must lose.\n\n\"Give up your ear-rings,\" and Charlie laughed wickedly, sure that she\nwould never hold to that bargain.\n\nRose uttered a cry and clapped both hands to her ears where the gold\nrings hung.\n\n\"Oh, Charlie, wouldn't anything else do as well? I've been through so\nmuch teasing and trouble, I do want to enjoy my pretty ear-rings, for I\ncan wear them now.\"\n\n\"Wear as many as you like, and I'll smoke in peace,\" returned this bad\nboy.\n\n\"Will nothing else satisfy you?\" imploringly.\n\n\"Nothing,\" sternly.\n\nRose stood silent for a minute, thinking of something Aunt Jessie once\nsaid \"You have more influence over the boys than you know; use it for\ntheir good, and I shall thank you all my life.\" Here was a chance to\ndo some good by sacrificing a little vanity of her own. She felt it was\nright to do it, yet found it very hard, and asked wistfully,\n\n\"Do you mean never wear them, Charlie?\"\n\n\"Never, unless you want me to smoke.\"\n\n\"I never do.\"\n\n\"Then clinch the bargain.\"\n\nHe had no idea she would do it, and was much surprised when she took\nthe dear rings from her ears, with a quick gesture, and held them out to\nhim, saying, in a tone that made the colour come up to his brown cheek,\nit was so full of sweet good will,\n\n\"I care more for my cousins than for my ear-rings, so I promise, and\nI'll keep my word.\"\n\n\"For shame, Prince! let her wear her little danglers if she likes, and\ndon't bargain about doing what you know is right,\" cried Archie, coming\nout of his grove of newspapers with an indignant bounce.\n\nBut Rose was bent on showing her aunt that she could use her influence\nfor the boys' good, and said steadily,\n\n\"It is fair, and I want it to be so, then you will believe I'm in\nearnest. Here, each of you wear one of these on your watch-guard\nto remind you. I shall not forget, because very soon I cannot wear\near-rings if I want to.\"\n\nAs she spoke, Rose offered a little ring to each cousin, and the boys,\nseeing how sincere she was, obeyed her. When the pledges were safe, Rose\nstretched a hand to each, and the lads gave hers a hearty grip, half\npleased and half ashamed of their part in the compact.\n\nJust at that moment Dr. Alec and Mrs. Jessie came in.\n\n\"What's this? Dancing Ladies' Triumph on Sunday?\" exclaimed Uncle Alec,\nsurveying the trio with surprise.\n\n\"No, sir, it is the Anti-Tobacco League. Will you join?\" said Charlie,\nwhile Rose slipped away to her aunt, and Archie buried both cigars\nbehind the back log.\n\nWhen the mystery was explained, the elders were well pleased, and Rose\nreceived a vote of thanks, which made her feel as if she had done a\nservice to her country, as she had, for every boy who grows up free from\nbad habits bids fair to make a good citizen.\n\n\"I wish Rose would drive a bargain with Will and Geordie also, for I\nthink these books are as bad for the small boys as cigars for the large\nones,\" said Mrs. Jessie, sitting down on the sofa between the readers,\nwho politely curled up their legs to make room for her.\n\n\"I thought they were all the fashion,\" answered Dr. Alec, settling in\nthe big chair with Rose.\n\n\"So is smoking, but it is harmful. The writers of these popular stories\nintend to do good, I have no doubt, but it seems to me they fail because\ntheir motto is, 'Be smart, and you will be rich,' instead of 'Be honest,\nand you will be happy.' I do not judge hastily, Alec, for I have read a\ndozen, at least, of these stories, and, with much that is attractive to\nboys, I find a great deal to condemn in them, and other parents say the\nsame when I ask them.\"\n\n\"Now, Mum, that's too bad! I like 'em tip-top. This one is a regular\nscreamer,\" cried Will.\n\n\"They're bully books, and I'd like to know where's the harm,\" added\nGeordie.\n\n\"You have just shown us one of the chief evils, and that is slang,\"\nanswered their mother quickly.\n\n\"Must have it, ma'am. If these chaps talked all right, there'd be no fun\nin 'em,\" protested Will.\n\n\"A boot-black mustn't use good grammar, and a newsboy must swear a\nlittle, or he wouldn't be natural,\" explained Geordie, both boys ready\nto fight gallantly for their favourites.\n\n\"But my sons are neither boot-blacks nor newsboys, and I object to\nhearing them use such words as 'screamer,' 'bully,' and 'buster.' In\nfact, I fail to see the advantage of writing books about such people\nunless it is done in a very different way. I cannot think they will help\nto refine the ragamuffins if they read them, and I'm sure they can do no\ngood to the better class of boys, who through these books are introduced\nto police courts, counterfeiters' dens, gambling houses, drinking\nsaloons, and all sorts of low life.\"\n\n\"Some of them are about first-rate boys, mother; and they go to sea and\nstudy, and sail round the world, having great larks all the way.\"\n\n\"I have read about them, Geordie, and though they are better than the\nothers, I am not satisfied with these optical delusions, as I call\nthem. Now, I put it to you, boys, is it natural for lads from fifteen\nto eighteen to command ships, defeat pirates, outwit smugglers, and\nso cover themselves with glory, that Admiral Farragut invites them to\ndinner, saying, 'Noble boy, you are an honour to your country!' Or,\nif the hero is in the army, he has hair-breadth escapes and adventures\nenough in one small volume to turn his hair white, and in the end\nhe goes to Washington at the express desire of the President or\nCommander-in-chief to be promoted to no end of stars and bars. Even if\nthe hero is merely an honest boy trying to get his living, he is not\npermitted to do so in a natural way, by hard work and years of patient\neffort, but is suddenly adopted by a millionaire whose pocket-book he\nhas returned; or a rich uncle appears from sea just in the nick of time;\nor the remarkable boy earns a few dollars, speculates in pea-nuts or\nneckties, and grows rich so rapidly that Sinbad in the diamond valley is\na pauper compared to him. Isn't it so, boys?\"\n\n\"Well, the fellows in these books are mighty lucky, and very smart, I\nmust say,\" answered Will, surveying an illustration on the open page\nbefore him, where a small but virtuous youth is upsetting a tipsy giant\nin a bar-room, and under it the elegant inscription, \"Dick Dauntless\npunches the head of Sam Soaker.\"\n\n\"It gives boys such wrong ideas of life and business; shows them so\nmuch evil and vulgarity that they need not know about, and makes the\none success worth having a fortune, a lord's daughter, or some worldly\nhonour, often not worth the time it takes to win. It does seem to me\nthat some one might write stories that should be lively, natural and\nhelpful tales in which the English should be good, the morals pure, and\nthe characters such as we can love in spite of the faults that all may\nhave. I can't bear to see such crowds of eager little fellows at the\nlibraries reading such trash; weak, when it is not wicked, and totally\nunfit to feed the hungry minds that feast on it for want of something\nbetter. There! my lecture is done; now I should like to hear what you\ngentlemen have to say,\" and Aunt Jessie subsided with a pretty flush on\nthe face that was full of motherly anxiety for her boys.\n\n\"Tom Brown just suits mother, and me too, so I wish Mr. Hughes would\nwrite another story as good,\" said Archie.\n\n\"You don't find things of this sort in Tom Brown; yet these books are\nall in the Sunday-school libraries\" and Mrs. Jessie read the following\nparagraph from the book she had taken from Will's hand,\n\n\"'In this place we saw a tooth of John the Baptist. Ben said he could\nsee locust and wild honey sticking to it. I couldn't. Perhaps John used\na piece of the true cross for a tooth-pick.'\"\n\n\"A larky sort of a boy says that, Mum, and we skip the parts where they\ndescribe what they saw in the different countries,\" cried Will.\n\n\"And those descriptions, taken mostly from guidebooks, I fancy, are the\nonly parts of any real worth. The scrapes of the bad boys make up the\nrest of the story, and it is for those you read these books, I think,\"\nanswered his mother, stroking back the hair off the honest little face\nthat looked rather abashed at this true statement of the case.\n\n\"Anyway, mother, the ship part is useful, for we learn how to sail\nher, and by and by that will all come handy when we go to sea,\" put in\nGeordie.\n\n\"Indeed, then you can explain this manoeuvre to me, of course,\" and Mrs.\nJessie read from another page the following nautical paragraph,\n\n\"The wind is south-south-west, and we can have her up four points closer\nto the wind, and still be six points off the wind. As she luffs up we\nshall man the fore and main sheets, slack on the weather, and haul on\nthe lee braces.\"\n\n\"I guess I could, if I wasn't afraid of uncle. He knows so much\nmore than I do, he'd laugh,\" began Geordie, evidently puzzled by the\nquestion.\n\n\"Ho, you know you can't, so why make believe? We don't understand half\nof the sea lingo, Mum, and I dare say it's all wrong,\" cried Will,\nsuddenly going over to the enemy, to Geordie's great disgust.\n\n\"I do wish the boys wouldn't talk to me as if I was a ship,\" said Rose,\nbringing forward a private grievance. \"Coming home from church this\nmorning, the wind blew me about, and Will called out, right in the\nstreet, 'Brail up the foresail, and take in the flying-jib, that will\nease her.'\"\n\nThe boys shouted at the plaintive tone in which Rose repeated the words\nthat offended her, and Will vainly endeavoured to explain that he only\nmeant to tell her to wrap her cloak closer, and tie a veil over the\ntempest-tossed feathers in her hat.\n\n\"To tell the truth, if the boys must have slang, I can bear the 'sea\nlingo,' as Will calls it, better than the other. It afflicts me less to\nhear my sons talk about 'brailing up the foresail' than doing as they\n'darn please,' and 'cut your cable' is decidedly preferable to 'let her\nrip.' I once made a rule that I would have no slang in the house. I give\nit up now, for I cannot keep it; but I will not have rubbishy books; so,\nArchie, please send these two after your cigars.\"\n\nMrs. Jessie held both the small boys fast with an arm round each neck,\nand when she took this base advantage of them they could only\nsquirm with dismay. \"Yes, right behind the back log,\" she continued,\nenergetically. \"There, my hearties (you like sea slang, so I'll give\nyou a bit) now, I want you to promise not to read any more stuff for a\nmonth, and I'll agree to supply you with wholesome fare.\"\n\n\"Oh, mother, not a single one?\" cried Will.\n\n\"Couldn't we just finish those?\" pleaded Geordie.\n\n\"The boys threw away half-smoked cigars; and your books must go after\nthem. Surely you would not be outdone by the 'old fellows,' as you call\nthem, or be less obedient to little Mum than they were to Rose.\"\n\n\"Course not! Come on, Geordie,\" and Will took the vow like a hero. His\nbrother sighed and obeyed, but privately resolved to finish his story\nthe minute the month was over.\n\n\"You have laid out a hard task for yourself, Jessie, in trying to\nprovide good reading for boys who have been living on sensation stories.\nIt will be like going from raspberry tarts to plain bread and butter;\nbut you will probably save them from a bilious fever,\" said Dr. Alec,\nmuch amused at the proceedings.\n\n\"I remember hearing grandpa say that a love for good books was one\nof the best safeguards a man could have,\" began Archie, staring\nthoughtfully at the fine library before him.\n\n\"Yes, but there's no time to read nowadays; a fellow has to keep\nscratching round to make money or he's nobody,\" cut in Charlie, trying\nto look worldly-wise.\n\n\"This love of money is the curse of America, and for the sake of it men\nwill sell honour and honesty, till we don't know whom to trust, and it\nis only a genius like Agassiz who dares to say, 'I cannot waste my time\nin getting rich,'\" said Mrs. Jessie sadly.\n\n\"Do you want us to be poor, mother?\" asked Archie, wondering.\n\n\"No, dear, and you never need be, while you can use your hands; but I am\nafraid of this thirst for wealth, and the temptations it brings. O, my\nboys! I tremble for the time when I must let you go, because I think it\nwould break my heart to have you fail as so many fail. It would be far\neasier to see you dead if it could be said of you as of Sumner 'No man\ndared offer him a bribe.'\"\n\nMrs. Jessie was so earnest in her motherly anxiety that her voice\nfaltered over the last words, and she hugged the yellow heads closer in\nher arms, as if she feared to let them leave that safe harbour for the\ngreat sea where so many little boats go down. The younger lads nestled\ncloser to her, and Archie said, in his quiet, resolute way,\n\n\"I cannot promise to be an Agassiz or a Sumner, mother; but I do promise\nto be an honest man, please God.\"\n\n\"Then I'm satisfied!\" and holding fast the hand he gave her, she sealed\nhis promise with a kiss that had all a mother's hope and faith in it.\n\n\"I don't see how they ever can be bad, she is so fond and proud of\nthem,\" whispered Rose, quite touched by the little scene.\n\n\"You must help her make them what they should be. You have begun\nalready, and when I see those rings where they are, my girl is prettier\nin my sight than if the biggest diamonds that ever twinkled shone in her\nears,\" answered Dr. Alec, looking at her with approving eyes.\n\n\"I'm so glad you think I can do anything, for I perfectly ache to be\nuseful; everyone is so good to me, especially Aunt Jessie.\"\n\n\"I think you are in a fair way to pay your debts, Rosy, for when girls\ngive up their little vanities, and boys their small vices, and try to\nstrengthen each other in well-doing, matters are going as they ought.\nWork away, my dear, and help their mother keep these sons fit friends\nfor an innocent creature like yourself; they will be the manlier men for\nit, I can assure you.\"\n\n\n\nChapter 18--Fashion and Physiology\n\n\"Please, sir, I guess you'd better step up right away, or it will be too\nlate, for I heard Miss Rose say she knew you wouldn't like it, and she'd\nnever dare to let you see her.\"\n\nPhebe said this as she popped her head into the study, where Dr. Alec\nsat reading a new book.\n\n\"They are at it, are they?\" he said, looking up quickly, and giving\nhimself a shake, as if ready for a battle of some sort.\n\n\"Yes, sir, as hard as they can talk, and Miss Rose don't seem to know\nwhat to do, for the things are ever so stylish, and she looks elegant in\n'em; though I like her best in the old ones,\" answered Phebe.\n\n\"You are a girl of sense. I'll settle matters for Rosy, and you'll lend\na hand. Is everything ready in her room, and are you sure you understand\nhow they go?\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, sir; but they are so funny! I know Miss Rose will think it's a\njoke,\" and Phebe laughed as if something tickled her immensely.\n\n\"Never mind what she thinks so long as she obeys. Tell her to do it for\nmy sake, and she will find it the best joke she ever saw. I expect to\nhave a tough time of it, but we'll win yet,\" said the Doctor, as he\nmarched upstairs with the book in his hand, and an odd smile on his\nface.\n\nThere was such a clatter of tongues in the sewing-room that no one heard\nhis tap at the door, so he pushed it open and took an observation. Aunt\nPlenty, Aunt Clara, and Aunt Jessie were all absorbed in gazing at Rose,\nwho slowly revolved between them and the great mirror, in a full winter\ncostume of the latest fashion.\n\n\"Bless my heart! worse even than I expected,\" thought the Doctor, with\nan inward groan, for, to his benighted eyes, the girl looked like a\ntrussed fowl, and the fine new dress had neither grace, beauty, nor\nfitness to recommend it.\n\nThe suit was of two peculiar shades of blue, so arranged that patches of\nlight and dark distracted the eye. The upper skirt was tied so lightly\nback that it was impossible to take a long step, and the under one\nwas so loaded with plaited frills that it \"wobbled\" no other word\nwill express it ungracefully, both fore and aft. A bunch of folds was\ngathered up just below the waist behind, and a great bow rode a-top. A\nsmall jacket of the same material was adorned with a high ruff at the\nback, and laid well open over the breast, to display some lace and a\nlocket. Heavy fringes, bows, puffs, ruffles, and revers finished off the\ndress, making one's head ache to think of the amount of work wasted,\nfor not a single graceful line struck the eye, and the beauty of the\nmaterial was quite lost in the profusion of ornament.\n\nA high velvet hat, audaciously turned up in front, with a bunch of pink\nroses and a sweeping plume, was cocked over one ear, and, with her curls\nbraided into a club at the back of her neck, Rose's head looked more\nlike that of a dashing young cavalier than a modest little girl's.\nHigh-heeled boots tilted her well forward, a tiny muff pinioned her\narms, and a spotted veil, tied so closely over her face that her\neyelashes were rumpled by it, gave the last touch of absurdity to her\nappearance.\n\n\"Now she looks like other girls, and as I like to see her,\" Mrs. Clara\nwas saying, with an air of great satisfaction.\n\n\"She does look like a fashionable young lady, but somehow I miss my\nlittle Rose, for children dressed like children in my day,\" answered\nAunt Plenty, peering through her glasses with a troubled look, for\nshe could not imagine the creature before her ever sitting in her lap,\nrunning to wait upon her, or making the house gay with a child's blithe\npresence.\n\n\"Things have changed since your day, Aunt, and it takes time to get used\nto new ways. But you, Jessie, surely like this costume better than the\ndowdy things Rose has been wearing all summer. Now, be honest, and own\nyou do,\" said Mrs. Clara, bent on being praised for her work.\n\n\"Well, dear to be quite honest, then, I think it is frightful,\" answered\nMrs. Jessie, with a candour that caused revolving Rose to stop in\ndismay.\n\n\"Hear, hear,\" cried a deep voice, and with a general start the ladies\nbecame aware that the enemy was among them.\n\nRose blushed up to her hat brim, and stood, looking, as she felt, like a\nfool, while Mrs. Clara hastened to explain.\n\n\"Of course, I don't expect you to like it, Alec, but I don't consider\nyou a judge of what is proper and becoming for a young lady. Therefore,\nI have taken the liberty of providing a pretty street suit for Rose.\nShe need not wear it if you object, for I know we promised to let you do\nwhat you liked with the poor dear for a year.\"\n\n\"It is a street costume, is it?\" asked the Doctor, mildly. \"Do you know,\nI never should have guessed that it was meant for winter weather and\nbrisk locomotion. Take a turn, Rosy, and let me see all its beauties and\nadvantages.\"\n\nRose tried to walk off with her usual free tread, but the under-skirt\ngot in her way, the over-skirt was so tight she could not take a long\nstep, and her boots made it impossible to carry herself perfectly erect.\n\n\"I haven't got used to it yet,\" she said, petulantly, kicking at her\ntrain, as she turned to toddle back again.\n\n\"Suppose a mad dog or a runaway horse was after you, could you get out\nof the way without upsetting, Colonel,\" asked the Doctor, with a twinkle\nin the eyes that were fixed on the rakish hat.\n\n\"Don't think I could, but I'll try,\" and Rose made a rush across the\nroom. Her boot-heels caught on a rug, several strings broke, her hat\ntipped over her eyes, and she plunged promiscuously into a chair, where\nshe sat laughing so infectiously that all but Mrs. Clara joined in her\nmirth.\n\n\"I should say that a walking suit in which one could not walk, and a\nwinter suit which exposes the throat, head, and feet to cold and damp,\nwas rather a failure, Clara, especially as it has no beauty to reconcile\none to its utter unfitness,\" said Dr. Alec, as he helped Rose undo her\nveil, adding, in a low tone, \"Nice thing for the eyes; you'll soon see\nspots when it's off as well as when it's on, and, by and by, be a case\nfor an oculist.\"\n\n\"No beauty!\" cried Mrs. Clara, warmly, \"Now, that is just a man's\nblindness. This is the best of silk and camel's hair, real ostrich\nfeathers, and an expensive ermine muff. What could be in better taste,\nor more proper for a young girl?\"\n\n\"I'll shew you, if Rose will go to her room and oblige me by putting on\nwhat she finds there,\" answered the Doctor, with unexpected readiness.\n\n\"Alec, if it is a Bloomer, I shall protest. I've been expecting it, but\nI know I cannot bear to see that pretty child sacrificed to your wild\nideas of health. Tell me it isn't a Bloomer!\" and Mrs. Clara clasped her\nhands imploringly.\n\n\"It is not.\"\n\n\"Thank Heaven!\" and she resigned herself with a sigh of relief, adding\nplaintively, \"I did hope you'd accept my suit, for poor Rose has been\nafflicted with frightful clothes long enough to spoil the taste of any\ngirl.\"\n\n\"You talk of my afflicting the child, and then make a helpless guy like\nthat of her!\" answered the Doctor, pointing to the little fashion plate\nthat was scuttling out of sight as fast as it could go.\n\nHe closed the door with a shrug, but before anyone could speak, his\nquick eye fell upon an object which caused him to frown, and demand in\nan indignant tone,\n\n\"After all I have said, were you really going to tempt my girl with\nthose abominable things?\"\n\n\"I thought we put them away when she wouldn't wear them,\" murmured Mrs.\nClara, whisking a little pair of corsets out of sight with guilty haste.\n\"I only brought them to try, for Rose is growing stout, and will have\nno figure if it is not attended to soon,\" she added, with an air of calm\nconviction that roused the Doctor still more, for this was one of his\nespecial abominations.\n\n\"Growing stout! Yes, thank Heaven, she is, and shall continue to do it,\nfor Nature knows how to mould a woman better than any corset-maker,\nand I won't have her interfered with. My dear Clara, have you lost your\nsenses that you can for a moment dream of putting a growing girl into an\ninstrument of torture like this?\" and with a sudden gesture he plucked\nforth the offending corsets from under the sofa cushion, and held them\nout with the expression one would wear on beholding the thumbscrews or\nthe rack of ancient times.\n\n\"Don't be absurd, Alec. There is no torture about it, for tight lacing\nis out of fashion, and we have nice, sensible things nowadays. Everyone\nwears them; even babies have stiffened waists to support their weak\nlittle backs,\" began Mrs. Clara, rushing to the defence of the pet\ndelusion of most women.\n\n\"I know it, and so the poor little souls have weak backs all their days,\nas their mothers had before them. It is vain to argue the matter, and I\nwon't try, but I wish to state, once for all, that if I ever see a pair\nof corsets near Rose, I'll put them in the fire, and you may send the\nbill to me.\"\n\nAs he spoke the corsets were on their way to destruction, but Mrs.\nJessie caught his arm, exclaiming merrily, \"Don't burn them, for mercy\nsake, Alec; they are full of whalebones, and will make a dreadful odour.\nGive them to me. I'll see that they do no harm.\"\n\n\"Whalebones, indeed! A regular fence of them, and metal gate-posts in\nfront. As if our own bones were not enough, if we'd give them a\nchance to do their duty,\" growled the Doctor, yielding up the bone\nof contention with a last shake of contempt. Then his face cleared\nsuddenly, and he held up his finger, saying, with a smile, \"Hear those\ngirls laugh; cramped lungs could not make hearty music like that.\"\n\nPeals of laughter issued from Rose's room, and smiles involuntarily\ntouched the lips of those who listened to the happy sound.\n\n\"Some new prank of yours, Alec?\" asked Aunt Plenty, indulgently, for she\nhad come to believe in most of her nephew's odd notions, because they\nseemed to work so well.\n\n\"Yes, ma'am, my last, and I hope you will like it. I discovered what\nClara was at, and got my rival suit ready for to-day. I'm not going to\n'afflict' Rose, but let her choose, and if I'm not entirely mistaken,\nshe will like my rig best. While we wait I'll explain, and then you will\nappreciate the general effect better. I got hold of this little book,\nand was struck with its good sense and good taste, for it suggests a\nway to clothe women both healthfully and handsomely, and that is a great\npoint. It begins at the foundations, as you will see if you will look\nat these pictures, and I should think women would rejoice at this\nlightening of their burdens.\"\n\nAs he spoke, the Doctor laid the book before Aunt Plenty, who obediently\nbrought her spectacles to bear upon the illustrations, and after a long\nlook exclaimed, with a scandalised face,\n\n\"Mercy on us, these things are like the night-drawers Jamie wears! You\ndon't mean to say you want Rose to come out in this costume? It's not\nproper, and I won't consent to it!\"\n\n\"I do mean it, and I'm sure my sensible aunt will consent when she\nunderstands that these well I'll call them by an Indian name, and say\npajamas are for underwear, and Rose can have as pretty frocks as she\nlikes outside. These two suits of flannel, each in one piece from head\nto foot, with a skirt or so hung on this easily-fitting waist, will\nkeep the child warm without burdening her with belts, and gathers, and\nbuckles, and bunches round the waist, and leave free the muscles that\nneed plenty of room to work in. She shall never have the back-ache if I\ncan help it, nor the long list of ills you dear women think you cannot\nescape.\"\n\n\"I don't consider it modest, and I'm sure Rose will be shocked at it,\"\nbegan Mrs. Clara, but stopped suddenly, as Rose appeared in the doorway,\nnot looking shocked a bit.\n\n\"Come on, my hygienic model, and let us see you,\" said her uncle, with\nan approving glance, as she walked in, looking so mischievously merry,\nthat it was evident she enjoyed the joke.\n\n\"Well, I don't see anything remarkable. That is a neat, plain suit; the\nmaterials are good, and it's not unbecoming, if you want her to look\nlike a little school-girl; but it has not a particle of style, and no\none would ever give it a second glance,\" said Mrs. Clara, feeling that\nher last remark condemned the whole thing.\n\n\"Exactly what I want,\" answered the provoking Doctor, rubbing his hands\nwith a satisfied air. \"Rosy looks now like what she is, a modest little\ngirl, who does not want to be stared at. I think she would get a glance\nof approval, though, from people who like sense and simplicity rather\nthan fuss and feathers. Revolve, my Hebe, and let me refresh my eyes by\nthe sight of you.\"\n\nThere was very little to see, however, only a pretty Gabrielle dress, of\na soft warm shade of brown, coming to the tops of a trim pair of boots\nwith low heels. A seal-skin sack, cap, and mittens, with a glimpse of\nscarlet at the throat, and the pretty curls tied up with a bright velvet\nof the same colour, completed the external adornment, making her look\nlike a robin redbreast wintry, yet warm.\n\n\"How do you like it, Rosy?\" asked the Doctor, feeling that her opinion\nwas more important to the success of his new idea than that of all the\naunts on the hill.\n\n\"I feel very odd and light, but I'm warm as a toast, and nothing seems\nto be in my way,\" answered Rose, with a skip which displayed shapely\ngaiters on legs that now might be as free and active as a boy's under\nthe modest skirts of the girl.\n\n\"You can run away from the mad dogs, and walk off at a smart pace\nwithout tumbling on your nose, now, I fancy?\"\n\n\"Yes, uncle! suppose the dog coming, I just hop over a wall so and when\nI walk of a cold day, I go like this.\"\n\nEntering fully into the spirit of the thing, Rose swung herself over\nthe high back of the sofa as easily as one of her cousins, and then\nwent down the long hall as if her stout boots were related to the famous\nseven-leaguers.\n\n\"There! you see how it will be; dress her in that boyish way and she\nwill act like a boy. I do hate all these inventions of strong-minded\nwomen!\" exclaimed Mrs. Clara, as Rose came back at a run.\n\n\"Ah, but you see some of these sensible inventions come from the brain\nof a fashionable modiste, who will make you more lovely, or what you\nvalue more 'stylish' outside and comfortable within. Mrs. Van Tassel\nhas been to Madame Stone, and is wearing a full suit of this sort. Van\nhimself told me, when I asked how she was, that she had given up lying\non the sofa, and was going about in a most astonishing way, considering\nher feeble health.\"\n\n\"You don't say so! Let me see that book a moment,\" and Aunt Clara\nexamined the new patterns with a more respectful air, for if the elegant\nMrs. Van Tassel wore these \"dreadful things\" it would never do to be\nleft behind, in spite of her prejudices.\n\nDr. Alec looked at Mrs. Jessie, and both smiled, for \"little Mum\" had\nbeen in the secret, and enjoyed it mightily.\n\n\"I thought that would settle it,\" he said with a nod.\n\n\"I didn't wait for Mrs. Van to lead the way, and for once in my life I\nhave adopted a new fashion before Clara. My freedom suit is ordered, and\nyou may see me playing tag with Rose and the boys before long,\" answered\nMrs. Jessie, nodding back at him.\n\nMeantime Aunt Plenty was examining Rose's costume, for the hat and sack\nwere off, and the girl was eagerly explaining the new under-garments.\n\n\"See, auntie, all nice scarlet flannel, and a gay little petticoat, and\nlong stockings, oh, so warm! Phebe and I nearly died laughing when I put\nthis rig on, but I like it ever so much. The dress is so comfortable,\nand doesn't need any belt or sash, and I can sit without rumpling any\ntrimming, that's such a comfort! I like to be tidy, and so, when I wear\nfussed-up things, I'm thinking of my clothes all the time, and that's\ntiresome. Do say you like it. I resolved I would, just to please uncle,\nfor he does know more about health than anyone else, I'm sure, and I'd\nwear a bag if he asked me to do it.\"\n\n\"I don't ask that, Rose, but I wish you'd weigh and compare the\ntwo suits, and then choose which seems best. I leave it to your own\ncommonsense,\" answered Dr. Alec, feeling pretty sure he had won.\n\n\"Why, I take this one, of course, uncle. The other is fashionable, and\nyes I must say I think it's pretty but it's very heavy, and I should\nhave to go round like a walking doll if I wore it. I'm much obliged to\nauntie, but I'll keep this, please.\"\n\nRose spoke gently but decidedly, though there was a look of regret when\nher eye fell on the other suit which Phebe had brought in; and it was\nvery natural to like to look as other girls did. Aunt Clara sighed;\nUncle Alec smiled, and said heartily,\n\n\"Thank you, dear; now read this book and you will understand why I ask\nit of you. Then, if you like, I'll give you a new lesson; you asked for\none yesterday, and this is more necessary than French or housekeeping.\"\n\n\"Oh, what?\" and Rose caught up the book which Mrs. Clara had thrown down\nwith a disgusted look.\n\nThough Dr. Alec was forty, the boyish love of teasing was not yet dead\nin him, and, being much elated at his victory, he could not resist the\ntemptation of shocking Mrs. Clara by suggesting dreadful possibilities,\nso he answered, half in earnest, half in jest, \"Physiology, Rose.\nWouldn't you like to be a little medical student, with Uncle Doctor for\nteacher, and be ready to take up his practice when he has to stop? If\nyou agree, I'll hunt up my old skeleton to-morrow.\"\n\nThat was too much for Aunt Clara, and she hastily departed, with her\nmind in a sad state of perturbation about Mrs. Van Tassel's new costume\nand Rose's new study.\n\n\n\nChapter 19--Brother Bones\n\nRose accepted her uncle's offer, as Aunt Myra discovered two or three\ndays later. Coming in for an early call, and hearing voices in the\nstudy, she opened the door, gave a cry and shut it quickly, looking a\ngood deal startled. The Doctor appeared in a moment, and begged to know\nwhat the matter was.\n\n\"How can you ask when that long box looks so like a coffin I thought it\nwas one, and that dreadful thing stared me in the face as I opened the\ndoor,\" answered Mrs. Myra, pointing to the skeleton that hung from the\nchandelier cheerfully grinning at all beholders.\n\n\"This is a medical college where women are freely admitted, so walk in,\nmadam, and join the class if you'll do me the honour,\" said the Doctor,\nwaving her forward with his politest bow.\n\n\"Do, auntie, it's perfectly splendid,\" cried Rose's voice, and Rose's\nblooming face was seen behind the ribs of the skeleton, smiling and\nnodding in the gayest possible manner.\n\n\"What are you doing, child?\" demanded Aunt Myra, dropping into a chair\nand staring about her.\n\n\"Oh, I'm learning bones to-day, and I like it so much. There are twelve\nribs, you know, and the two lower ones are called floating ribs, because\nthey are not fastened to the breastbone. That's why they go in so easily\nif you lace tight and squeeze the lungs and heart in the let me see,\nwhat was that big word oh, I know thoracic cavity,\" and Rose beamed with\npride as she aired her little bit of knowledge.\n\n\"Do you think that is a good sort of thing for her to be poking over?\nShe is a nervous child, and I'm afraid it will be bad for her,\" said\nAunt Myra, watching Rose as she counted vertebrae, and waggled a\nhip-joint in its socket with an inquiring expression.\n\n\"An excellent study, for she enjoys it, and I mean to teach her how\nto manage her nerves so that they won't be a curse to her, as many a\nwoman's become through ignorance or want of thought. To make a mystery\nor terror of these things is a mistake, and I mean Rose shall understand\nand respect her body so well that she won't dare to trifle with it as\nmost women do.\"\n\n\"And she really likes it?\"\n\n\"Very much, auntie! It's all so wonderful, and so nicely planned, you\ncan hardly believe what you see. Just think, there are 600,000,000 air\ncells in one pair of lungs, and 2,000 pores to a square inch of surface;\nso you see what quantities of air we must have, and what care we should\ntake of our skin so all the little doors will open and shut right. And\nbrains, auntie, you've no idea how curious they are; I haven't got to\nthem yet, but I long to, and uncle is going to show me a manikin that\nyou can take to pieces. Just think how nice it will be to see all the\norgans in their places; I only wish they could be made to work as ours\ndo.\"\n\nIt was funny to see Aunt Myra's face as Rose stood before her talking\nrapidly with one hand laid in the friendliest manner on the skeleton's\nshoulder. Every word both the Doctor and Rose uttered hit the good lady\nin her weakest spot, and as she looked and listened a long array of\nbottles and pill-boxes rose up before her, reproaching her with the\n\"ignorance and want of thought\" that made her what she was, a nervous,\ndyspeptic, unhappy old woman.\n\n\"Well, I don't know but you may be right, Alec, only I wouldn't carry\nit too far. Women don't need much of this sort of knowledge, and are not\nfit for it. I couldn't bear to touch that ugly thing, and it gives me\nthe creeps to hear about 'organs,'\" said Aunt Myra, with a sigh and her\nhand on her side.\n\n\"Wouldn't it be a comfort to know that your liver was on the right side,\nauntie, and not on the left!\" asked Rose with a naughty laugh in her\neyes, for she had lately learnt that Aunt Myra's liver complaint was not\nin the proper place.\n\n\"It's a dying world, child, and it don't much matter where the pain\nis, for sooner or later we all drop off and are seen no more,\" was Aunt\nMyra's cheerful reply.\n\n\"Well, I intend to know what kills me if I can, and meantime, I'm going\nto enjoy myself in spite of a dying world. I wish you'd do so too, and\ncome and study with uncle, it would do you good, I'm sure,\" and Rose\nwent back to counting vertebrae with such a happy face, that Aunt Myra\nhad not the heart to say a word to dampen her ardour.\n\n\"Perhaps it's as well to let her do what she likes the little while\nshe is with us. But pray be careful of her, Alec, and not allow her to\noverwork,\" she whispered as she went out.\n\n\"That's exactly what I'm trying to do, ma'am, and rather a hard job\nI find it,\" he added, as he shut the door, for the dear aunts were\ndreadfully in his way sometimes.\n\nHalf an hour later came another interruption in the shape of Mac, who\nannounced his arrival by the brief but elegant remark,\n\n\"Hullo! what new game is this?\"\n\nRose explained, Mac gave a long whistle of surprise, and then took a\npromenade round the skeleton, observing gravely,\n\n\"Brother Bones looks very jolly, but I can't say much for his beauty.\"\n\n\"You mustn't make fun of him, for he's a good old fellow, and you'd be\njust as ugly if your flesh was off,\" said Rose, defending her new friend\nwith warmth.\n\n\"I dare say, so I'll keep my flesh on, thank you. You are so busy you\ncan't read to a fellow, I suppose?\" asked Mac, whose eyes were better,\nbut still too weak for books.\n\n\"Don't you want to come and join my class? Uncle explains it all to us,\nand you can take a look at the plates as they come along. We'll give\nup bones today and have eyes instead; that will be more interesting to\nyou,\" added Rose, seeing no ardent thirst for physiological information\nin his face.\n\n\"Rose, we must not fly about from one thing to another in this way,\"\nbegan Dr. Alec, but she whispered quickly, with a nod towards Mac, whose\ngoggles were turned wistfully in the direction of the forbidden books,\n\n\"He's blue to-day, and we must amuse him; give a little lecture on eyes,\nand it will do him good. No matter about me, uncle.\"\n\n\"Very well; the class will please be seated,\" and the Doctor gave a\nsounding rap on the table.\n\n\"Come, sit by me, dear, then we can both see the pictures; and if your\nhead gets tired you can lie down,\" said Rose, generously opening her\nlittle college to a brother, and kindly providing for the weaknesses\nthat all humanity is subject to.\n\nSide by side they sat and listened to a very simple explanation of the\nmechanism of the eye, finding it as wonderful as a fairy tale, for fine\nplates illustrated it, and a very willing teacher did his best to make\nthe lesson pleasant.\n\n\"Jove! if I'd known what mischief I was doing to that mighty delicate\nmachine of mine, you wouldn't have caught me reading by firelight,\nor studying with a glare of sunshine on my book,\" said Mac, peering\nsolemnly at a magnified eye-ball; then, pushing it away, he added\nindignantly, \"Why isn't a fellow taught all about his works, and how\nto manage 'em, and not left to go blundering into all sorts of worries?\nTelling him after he's down isn't much use, for then he's found it out\nhimself and won't thank you.\"\n\n\"Ah, Mac, that's just what I keep lecturing about, and people won't\nlisten. You lads need that sort of knowledge so much, and fathers and\nmothers ought to be able to give it to you. Few of them are able, and\nso we all go blundering, as you say. Less Greek and Latin and more\nknowledge of the laws of health for my boys, if I had them. Mathematics\nare all very well, but morals are better, and I wish, how I wish that I\ncould help teachers and parents to feel it as they ought.\"\n\n\"Some do; Aunt Jessie and her boys have capital talks, and I wish we\ncould; but mother's so busy with her housekeeping, and father with his\nbusiness, there never seems to be any time for that sort of thing; even\nif there was, it don't seem as if it would be easy to talk to them,\nbecause we've never got into the way of it, you know.\"\n\nPoor Mac was right there, and expressed a want that many a boy and girl\nfeels. Fathers and mothers are too absorbed in business and housekeeping\nto study their children, and cherish that sweet and natural confidence\nwhich is a child's surest safeguard, and a parent's subtlest power. So\nthe young hearts hide trouble or temptation till the harm is done, and\nmutual regret comes too late. Happy the boys and girls who tell all\nthings freely to father or mother, sure of pity, help, and pardon; and\nthrice happy the parents who, out of their own experience, and by\ntheir own virtues, can teach and uplift the souls for which they are\nresponsible.\n\nThis longing stirred in the hearts of Rose and Mac, and by a natural\nimpulse both turned to Dr. Alec, for in this queer world of ours,\nfatherly and motherly hearts often beat warm and wise in the breasts\nof bachelor uncles and maiden aunts; and it is my private opinion that\nthese worthy creatures are a beautiful provision of nature for the\ncherishing of other people's children. They certainly get great comfort\nout of it, and receive much innocent affection that otherwise would be\nlost.\n\nDr. Alec was one of these, and his big heart had room for every one of\nthe eight cousins, especially orphaned Rose and afflicted Mac; so, when\nthe boy uttered that unconscious reproach to his parents, and Rose added\nwith a sigh, \"It must be beautiful to have a mother!\" the good Doctor\nyearned over them, and, shutting his book with a decided slam, said in\nthat cordial voice of his,\n\n\"Now, look here, children, you just come and tell me all your worries,\nand with God's help, I'll settle them for you. That is what I'm here\nfor, I believe, and it will be a great happiness to me if you can trust\nme.\"\n\n\"We can, uncle, and we will!\" both answered, with a heartiness that\ngratified him much.\n\n\"Good! now school is dismissed, and I advise you to go and refresh your\n600,000,000 air cells by a brisk run in the garden. Come again whenever\nyou like, Mac, and we'll teach you all we can about your 'works,' as you\ncall them, so you can keep them running smoothly.\"\n\n\"We'll come, sir, much obliged,\" and the class in physiology went out to\nwalk.\n\nMac did come again, glad to find something he could study in spite of\nhis weak eyes, and learned much that was of more value than anything his\nschool had ever taught him.\n\nOf course, the other lads made great fun of the whole thing, and\nplagued Dr. Alec's students half out of their lives. But they kept\non persistently, and one day something happened which made the other\nfellows behave themselves for ever after.\n\nIt was a holiday, and Rose up in her room thought she heard the voices\nof her cousins, so she ran down to welcome them, but found no one there.\n\n\"Never mind, they will be here soon, and then we'll have a frolic,\" she\nsaid to herself, and thinking she had been mistaken she went into the\nstudy to wait. She was lounging over the table looking at a map when an\nodd noise caught her ear. A gentle tapping somewhere, and following the\nsound it seemed to come from the inside of the long case in which the\nskeleton lived when not professionally engaged. This case stood upright\nin a niche between two book-cases at the back of the room, a darkish\ncorner, where Brother Bones, as the boys would call him, was out of the\nway.\n\nAs Rose stood looking in that direction, and wondering if a rat had got\nshut in, the door of the case swung slowly open, and with a great start\nshe saw a bony arm lifted, and a bony finger beckon to her. For a minute\nshe was frightened, and ran to the study door with a fluttering heart,\nbut just as she touched the handle a queer, stifled sort of giggle made\nher stop short and turn red with anger. She paused an instant to collect\nherself, and then went softly toward the bony beckoner. A nearer look\nrevealed black threads tied to the arm and fingers, the ends of threads\ndisappearing through holes bored in the back of the case. Peeping into\nthe dark recess, she also caught sight of the tip of an elbow covered\nwith a rough gray cloth which she knew very well.\n\nQuick as a flash she understood the joke, her fear vanished, and with\na wicked smile, she whipped out her scissors, cut the threads, and\nthe bony arm dropped with a rattle. Before she could say, \"Come out,\nCharlie, and let my skeleton alone,\" a sudden irruption of boys, all in\na high state of tickle, proclaimed to the hidden rogue that his joke was\na failure.\n\n\"I told him not to do it, because it might give you a start,\" explained\nArchie, emerging from the closet.\n\n\"I had a smelling bottle all ready if she fainted away,\" added Steve,\npopping up from behind the great chair.\n\n\"It's too bad of you not to squawk and run; we depended on it, it's such\nfun to howl after you,\" said Will and Geordie, rolling out from under\nthe sofa in a promiscuous heap.\n\n\"You are getting altogether too strong-minded, Rose; most girls would\nhave been in a jolly twitter to see this old fellow waggling his finger\nat them,\" complained Charlie, squeezing out from his tight quarters,\ndusty and disgusted.\n\n\"I'm used to your pranks now, so I'm always on the watch and prepared.\nBut I won't have Brother Bones made fun of. I know uncle wouldn't like\nit, so please don't,\" began Rose just as Dr. Alec came in, and, seeing\nthe state of the case at a glance, he said quietly,\n\n\"Hear how I got that skeleton, and then I'm sure you will treat it with\nrespect.\"\n\nThe boys settled down at once on any article of furniture that was\nnearest and listened dutifully.\n\n\"Years ago, when I was in the hospital, a poor fellow was brought there\nwith a rare and very painful disease. There was no hope for him, but we\ndid our best, and he was so grateful that when he died he left us his\nbody that we might discover the mysteries of his complaint, and so be\nable to help others afflicted in the same way. It did do good, and his\nbrave patience made us remember him long after he was gone. He thought\nI had been kind to him, and said to a fellow-student of mine, 'Tell the\nDoctor I lave him me bones, for I've nothing else in the wide world, and\nI'll nos be wanting 'em at all, at all, when the great pain hat kilt me\nentirely.' So that is how they came to be mine, and why I've kept them\ncarefully, for, though only a poor, ignorant fellow, Mike Nolan did what\nhe could to help others, and prove his gratitude to those who tried to\nhelp him.\"\n\nAs Dr. Alec paused, Archie closed the door of the case as respectfully\nas if the mummy of an Egyptian king was inside; Will and Geordie looked\nsolemnly at one another, evidently much impressed, and Charlie pensively\nremarked from the coal-hod where he sat,\n\n\"I've often heard of a skeleton in the house, but I think few people\nhave one as useful and as interesting as ours.\"\n\n\n\nChapter 20--Under The Mistletoe\n\nRose made Phebe promise that she would bring her stocking into the\n\"Bower,\" as she called her pretty room, on Christmas morning, because\nthat first delicious rummage loses half its charm if two little\nnight-caps at least do not meet over the treasures, and two happy voices\nOh and Ah together.\n\nSo when Rose opened her eyes that day they fell upon faithful Phebe,\nrolled up in a shawl, sitting on the rug before a blazing fire, with her\nuntouched stocking laid beside her.\n\n\"Merry Christmas!\" cried the little mistress smiling gaily.\n\n\"Merry Christmas!\" answered the little maid, so heartily that it did one\ngood to hear her.\n\n\"Bring the stockings right away, Phebe, and let's see what we've got,\"\nsaid Rose, sitting up among the pillows, and looking as eager as a\nchild.\n\nA pair of long knobby hose were laid out upon the coverlet, and their\ncontents examined with delight, though each knew every blessed thing\nthat had been put into the other's stocking.\n\nNever mind what they were; it is evident that they were quite\nsatisfactory, for as Rose leaned back, she said, with a luxurious sigh\nof satisfaction, \"Now, I believe I've got everything in the world that I\nwant,\" and Phebe answered, smiling over a lapful of treasures, \"This is\nthe most splendid Christmas I ever had since I was born.\" Then she added\nwith an important air,\n\n\"Do wish for something else, because I happen to know of two more\npresents outside the door this minute.\"\n\n\"Oh, me, what richness!\" cried Rose, much excited. \"I used to wish for\na pair of glass slippers like Cinderella's, but as I can't have them, I\nreally don't know what to ask for.\"\n\nPhebe clapped her hands as she skipped off the bed and ran to the door,\nsaying merrily, \"One of them is for your feet, anyway. I don't know what\nyou'll say to the other, but I think it's elegant.\"\n\nSo did Rose, when a shining pair of skates and a fine sled appeared.\n\n\"Uncle sent those; I know he did; and, now I see them, I remember that\nI did want to skate and coast. Isn't it a beauty? See! they fit nicely,\"\nand, sitting on the new sled, Rose tried a skate on her little bare\nfoot, while Phebe stood by admiring the pretty tableau.\n\n\"Now we must hurry and get dressed, for there is a deal to do to-day,\nand I want to get through in time to try my sled before dinner.\"\n\n\"Gracious me, and I ought to be dusting my parlors this blessed minute!\"\nand mistress and maid separated with such happy faces that anyone would\nhave known what day it was without being told.\n\n\"Birnam Wood has come to Dunsinane, Rosy,\" said Dr. Alec, as he left the\nbreakfast table to open the door for a procession of holly, hemlock, and\ncedar boughs that came marching up the steps.\n\nSnowballs and \"Merry Christmases!\" flew about pretty briskly for several\nminutes; then all fell to work trimming the old house, for the family\nalways dined together there on that day.\n\n\"I rode miles and mileses, as Ben says, to get this fine bit, and I'm\ngoing to hang it there as the last touch to the rig-a-madooning,\" said\nCharlie, as he fastened a dull green branch to the chandelier in the\nfront parlor.\n\n\"It isn't very pretty,\" said Rose, who was trimming the chimney-piece\nwith glossy holly sprays.\n\n\"Never mind that, it's mistletoe, and anyone who stands under it will\nget kissed whether they like it or not. Now's your time, ladies,\"\nanswered the saucy Prince, keeping his place and looking sentimentally\nat the girls, who retired precipitately from the dangerous spot.\n\n\"You won't catch me,\" said Rose, with great dignity.\n\n\"See if I don't!\"\n\n\"I've got my eye on Phebe,\" observed Will, in a patronising tone that\nmade them all laugh.\n\n\"Bless the dear; I shan't mind it a bit,\" answered Phebe, with such a\nmaternal air that Will's budding gallantry was chilled to death.\n\n\"Oh, the mistletoe bough,\" sang Rose.\n\n\"Oh, the mistletoe bough!\" echoed all the boys, and the teasing ended in\nthe plaintive ballad they all liked so well.\n\nThere was plenty of time to try the new skates before dinner, and then\nRose took her first lesson on the little bay, which seemed to have\nfrozen over for that express purpose. She found tumbling down and\ngetting up again warm work for a time, but with six boys to teach her,\nshe managed at last to stand alone; and, satisfied with that success,\nshe refreshed herself with a dozen grand coasts on the Amazon, as her\nsled was called.\n\n\"Ah, that fatal colour! it breaks my heart to see it,\" croaked Aunt\nMyra, as Rose came down a little late, with cheeks almost as ruddy\nas the holly berries on the wall, and every curl as smooth as Phebe's\ncareful hands could make it.\n\n\"I'm glad to see that Alec allows the poor child to make herself pretty\nin spite of his absurd notions,\" added Aunt Clara, taking infinite\nsatisfaction in the fact that Rose's blue silk dress had three frills on\nit.\n\n\"She's a very intelligent child, and has a nice little manner of her\nown,\" observed Aunt Jane, with unusual affability; for Rose had just\nhanded Mac a screen to guard his eyes from the brilliant fire.\n\n\"If I had a daughter like that to show my Jem when he gets home, I\nshould be a very proud and happy woman,\" thought Aunt Jessie, and then\nreproached herself for not being perfectly satisfied with her four brave\nlads.\n\nAunt Plenty was too absorbed in the dinner to have an eye for anything\nelse; if she had not been, she would have seen what an effect her new\ncap produced upon the boys. The good lady owned that she did \"love a\ndressy cap,\" and on this occasion her head gear was magnificent; for\nthe towering structure of lace was adorned with buff ribbons to such an\nextent that it looked as if a flock of yellow butterflies had settled on\nher dear old head. When she trotted about the rooms the ruches quivered,\nthe little bows all stood erect, and the streamers waved in the breeze\nso comically that it was absolutely necessary for Archie to smother the\nBrats in the curtains till they had had their first laugh out.\n\nUncle Mac had brought Fun See to dinner, and it was a mercy he did,\nfor the elder lads found a vent for their merriment in joking the young\nChinaman on his improved appearance. He was in American costume now,\nwith a cropped head, and spoke remarkably good English after six months\nat school; but, for all that, his yellow face and beady eyes made a\ncurious contrast to the blonde Campbells all about him. Will called him\nthe \"Typhoon,\" meaning Tycoon, and the name stuck to him to his great\ndisgust.\n\nAunt Peace was brought down and set in the chair of state at table, for\nshe never failed to join the family on this day, and sat smiling at them\nall, \"like an embodiment of Peace on earth,\" Uncle Alec said, as he took\nhis place beside her, while Uncle Mac supported Aunt Plenty at the other\nend.\n\n\"I ate hardly any breakfast, and I've done everything I know to make\nmyself extra hungry, but I really don't think I can eat straight\nthrough, unless I burst my buttons off,\" whispered Geordie to Will, as\nhe surveyed the bounteous stores before him with a hopeless sigh.\n\n\"A fellow never knows what he can do till he tries,\" answered Will,\nattacking his heaped-up plate with an evident intention of doing his\nduty like a man.\n\nEverybody knows what a Christmas dinner is, so we need waste no words in\ndescribing this one, but hasten at once to tell what happened at the\nend of it. The end, by the way, was so long in coming that the gas was\nlighted before dessert was over, for a snow flurry had come on and the\nwintry daylight faded fast. But that only made it all the jollier in the\nwarm, bright rooms, full of happy souls. Everyone was very merry, but\nArchie seemed particularly uplifted so much so, that Charlie confided to\nRose that he was afraid the Chief had been at the decanters.\n\nRose indignantly denied the insinuation, for when healths were drunk\nin the good old-fashioned way to suit the elders, she had observed that\nAunt Jessie's boys filled their glasses with water, and had done the\nsame herself in spite of the Prince's jokes about \"the rosy.\"\n\nBut Archie certainly was unusually excited, and when someone remembered\nthat it was the anniversary of Uncle Jem's wedding, and wished he was\nthere to make a speech, his son electrified the family by trying to do\nit for him. It was rather incoherent and flowery, as maiden speeches are\napt to be, but the end was considered superb; for, turning to his mother\nwith a queer little choke in his voice, he said that she \"deserved to be\nblessed with peace and plenty, to be crowned with roses and lads'-love,\nand to receive the cargo of happiness sailing home to her in spite of\nwind or tide to add another Jem to the family jewels.\"\n\nThat allusion to the Captain, now on his return trip, made Mrs. Jessie\nsob in her napkin, and set the boys cheering. Then, as if that was not\nsensation enough, Archie suddenly dashed out of the room, as if he had\nlost his wits.\n\n\"Too bashful to stay and be praised,\" began Charlie, excusing the\npeculiarities of his chief as in duty bound.\n\n\"Phebe beckoned to him; I saw her,\" cried Rose, staring hard at the\ndoor.\n\n\"Is it more presents coming?\" asked Jamie, just as his brother\nre-appeared, looking more excited than ever.\n\n\"Yes; a present for mother, and here it is!\" roared Archie, flinging\nwide the door to let in a tall man, who cried out,\n\n\"Where's my little woman? The first kiss for her, then the rest may come\non as fast as they like.\"\n\nBefore the words were out of his mouth, Mrs. Jessie was half-hidden\nunder his rough great-coat, and four boys were prancing about him\nclamouring for their turn.\n\nOf course, there was a joyful tumult for a time, during which Rose\nslipped into the window recess and watched what went on, as if it were\na chapter in a Christmas story. It was good to see bluff Uncle Jem look\nproudly at his tall son, and fondly hug the little ones. It was better\nstill to see him shake his brothers' hands as if he would never leave\noff, and kiss all the sisters in a way that made even solemn Aunt Myra\nbrighten up for a minute. But it was best of all to see him finally\nestablished in grandfather's chair, with his \"little woman\" beside him,\nhis three youngest boys in his lap, and Archie hovering over him like a\nlarge-sized cherub. That really was, as Charlie said, \"A landscape to do\none's heart good.\"\n\n\"All hearty and all here, thank God!\" said Captain Jem in the first\npause that came, as he looked about him with a grateful face.\n\n\"All but Rose,\" answered loyal little Jamie, remembering the absent.\n\n\"Faith, I forgot the child! Where is George's little girl?\" asked the\nCaptain, who had not seen her since she was a baby.\n\n\"You'd better say Alec's great girl,\" said Uncle Mac, who professed to\nbe madly jealous of his brother.\n\n\"Here I am, sir,\" and Rose appeared from behind the curtains, looking as\nif she had rather have stayed there.\n\n\"Saint George Germain, how the mite has grown!\" cried Captain Jem, as he\ntumbled the boys out of his lap, and rose to greet the tall girl, like\na gentleman as he was. But, somehow, when he shook her hand it looked so\nsmall in his big one, and her face reminded him so strongly of his dead\nbrother, that he was not satisfied with so cold a welcome, and with\na sudden softening of the keen eyes he took her up in his arms,\nwhispering, with a rough cheek against her smooth one,\n\n\"God bless you, child! forgive me if I forgot you for a minute, and be\nsure that not one of your kinsfolk is happier to see you here than Uncle\nJem.\"\n\nThat made it all right; and when he set her down, Rose's face was\nso bright it was evident that some spell had been used to banish the\nfeeling of neglect that had kept her moping behind the curtain so long.\n\nThat everyone sat round and heard all about the voyage home how the\nCaptain had set his heart on getting there in time to keep Christmas;\nhow everything had conspired to thwart his plan; and how, at the very\nlast minute, he had managed to do it, and had sent a telegram to Archie,\nbidding him keep the secret, and be ready for his father at any moment,\nfor the ship got into another port, and he might be late.\n\nThen Archie told how that telegram had burnt in his pocket all\ndinner-time; how he had to take Phebe into his confidence, and how\nclever she was to keep the Captain back till the speech was over and he\ncould come in with effect.\n\nThe elders would have sat and talked all the evening, but the young\nfolks were bent on having their usual Christmas frolic; so, after an\nhour of pleasant chat, they began to get restless, and having consulted\ntogether in dumb show, they devised a way to very effectually break up\nthe family council.\n\nSteve vanished, and, sooner than the boys imagined Dandy could get\nhimself up, the skirl of the bag-pipe was heard in the hall, and the\nbonny piper came to lead Clan Campbell to the revel.\n\n\"Draw it mild, Stevie, my man; ye play unco weel, but ye mak a most\ninfernal din,\" cried Uncle Jem, with his hands over his ears, for this\naccomplishment was new to him, and \"took him all aback,\" as he expressed\nit.\n\nSo Steve droned out a Highland reel as softly as he could, and the boys\ndanced it to a circle of admiring relations. Captain Jem was a true\nsailor, however, and could not stand idle while anything lively was\ngoing on; so, when the piper's breath gave out, he cut a splendid\npigeon-wing into the middle of the hall, saying, \"Who can dance a Fore\nand After?\" and, waiting for no reply, began to whistle the air so\ninvitingly that Mrs Jessie \"set\" to him laughing like a girl; Rose and\nCharlie took their places behind, and away went the four with a spirit\nand skill that inspired all the rest to \"cut in\" as fast as they could.\n\nThat was a grand beginning, and they had many another dance before\nanyone would own they were tired. Even Fun See distinguished himself\nwith Aunt Plenty, whom he greatly admired as the stoutest lady in the\ncompany; plumpness being considered a beauty in his country. The merry\nold soul professed herself immensely flattered by his admiration, and\nthe boys declared she \"set her cap at him,\" else he would never have\ndared to catch her under the mistletoe, and, rising on the tips of his\nown toes, gallantly salute her fat cheek.\n\nHow they all laughed at her astonishment, and how Fun's little black\neyes twinkled over this exploit! Charlie put him up to it, and Charlie\nwas so bent on catching Rose, that he laid all sorts of pitfalls for\nher, and bribed the other lads to help him. But Rose was wide-awake,\nand escaped all his snares, professing great contempt for such foolish\ncustoms. Poor Phebe did not fare so well, and Archie was the only one\nwho took a base advantage of her as she stood innocently offering tea to\nAunt Myra, whom she happened to meet just under the fatal bough. If\nhis father's arrival had not rather upset him, I doubt if the dignified\nChief would have done it, for he apologized at once in the handsomest\nmanner, and caught the tray that nearly dropped from Phebe's hands.\n\nJamie boldly invited all the ladies to come and salute him; and as for\nUncle Jem, he behaved as if the entire room was a grove of mistletoe.\nUncle Alec slyly laid a bit of it on Aunt Peace's cap, and then softly\nkissed her; which little joke seemed to please her very much, for she\nliked to have part in all the home pastimes, and Alec was her favourite\nnephew.\n\nCharlie alone failed to catch his shy bird, and the oftener she escaped\nthe more determined he was to ensnare her. When every other wile had\nbeen tried in vain, he got Archie to propose a game with forfeits.\n\n\"I understand that dodge,\" thought Rose, and was on her guard so\ncarefully that not one among the pile soon collected belonged to her.\n\n\"Now let us redeem them and play something else,\" said Will, quite\nunconscious of the deeply-laid plots all about him.\n\n\"One more round and then we will,\" answered the Prince, who had now\nbaited his trap anew.\n\nJust as the question came to Rose, Jamie's voice was heard in the hall,\ncrying distressfully, \"Oh, come quick, quick!\" Rose started up, missed\nthe question, and was greeted with a general cry of \"Forfeit! forfeit!\"\nin which the little traitor came to join.\n\n\"Now I've got her,\" thought the young rascal, exulting in his fun-loving\nsoul.\n\n\"Now I'm lost,\" thought Rose, as she gave up her pin-cushion with a\nsternly defiant look that would have daunted anyone but the reckless\nPrince. In fact, it made even him think twice, and resolve to \"let Rose\noff easy,'' she had been so clever.\n\n\"Here's a very pretty pawn, and what shall be done to redeem it?\" asked\nSteve, holding the pin-cushion over Charlie's head, for he had insisted\non being judge, and kept that for the last.\n\n\"Fine or superfine?\"\n\n\"Super.\"\n\n\"Hum, well, she shall take old Mac under the mistletoe, and kiss him\nprettily. Won't he be mad, though?\" and this bad boy chuckled over the\ndiscomfort he had caused two harmless beings.\n\nThere was an impressive pause among the young folks in their corner, for\nthey all knew that Mac would \"be mad,\" since he hated nonsense of this\nsort, and had gone to talk with the elders when the game began. At\nthis moment he was standing before the fire, listening to a discussion\nbetween his uncles and his father, looking as wise as a young owl, and\nblissfully unconscious of the plots against him.\n\nCharlie expected that Rose would say, \"I won't!\" therefore he was rather\nastonished, not to say gratified, when, after a look at the victim,\nshe laughed suddenly, and, going up to the group of gentlemen, drew her\nuncle Mac under the mistletoe and surprised him with a hearty kiss.\n\n\"Thank you, my dear,\" said the innocent gentleman, looking much pleased\nat the unexpected honour.\n\n\"Oh, come; that's not fair,\" began Charlie. But Rose cut him short by\nsaying, as she made him a fine courtesy,\n\n\"You said 'Old Mac,' and though it was very disrespectful, I did it.\nThat was your last chance, sir, and you've lost it.\"\n\nHe certainly had, for, as he spoke, Rose pulled down the mistletoe and\nthrew it into the fire, while the boys jeered at the crestfallen Prince,\nand exalted quick-witted Rose to the skies.\n\n\"What's the joke?\" asked young Mac, waked out of a brown study by the\nlaughter, in which the elders joined.\n\nBut there was a regular shout when, the matter having been explained to\nhim, Mac took a meditative stare at Rose through his goggles, and said\nin a philosophical tone, \"Well, I don't think I should have minded much\nif she had done it.\"\n\nThat tickled the lads immensely, and nothing but the appearance of a\nslight refection would have induced them to stop chaffing the poor Worm,\nwho could not see anything funny in the beautiful resignation he had\nshown on this trying occasion.\n\nSoon after this, the discovery of Jamie curled up in the sofa corner, as\nsound asleep as a dormouse, suggested the propriety of going home, and a\ngeneral move was made.\n\nThey were all standing about the hall lingering over the good-nights,\nwhen the sound of a voice softly singing \"Sweet Home,\" made them pause\nand listen. It was Phebe, poor little Phebe, who never had a home, never\nknew the love of father or mother, brother or sister; who stood all\nalone in the wide world, yet was not sad nor afraid, but took her bits\nof happiness gratefully, and sung over her work without a thought of\ndiscontent.\n\nI fancy the happy family standing there together remembered this and\nfelt the beauty of it, for when the solitary voice came to the burden of\nits song, other voices took it up and finished it so sweetly, that the\nold house seemed to echo the word \"Home\" in the ears of both the orphan\ngirls, who had just spent their first Christmas under its hospitable\nroof.\n\n\n\nChapter 21--A Scare\n\n\"Brother Alec, you surely don't mean to allow that child to go out such\na bitter cold day as this,\" said Mrs. Myra, looking into the study,\nwhere the Doctor sat reading his paper, one February morning.\n\n\"Why not? If a delicate invalid like yourself can bear it, surely\nmy hearty girl can, especially as she is dressed for cold weather,\"\nanswered Dr. Alec with provoking confidence.\n\n\"But you have no idea how sharp the wind is. I am chilled to the very\nmarrow of my bones,\" answered Aunt Myra, chafing the end of her purple\nnose with her sombre glove.\n\n\"I don't doubt it, ma'am, if you will wear crape and silk instead of fur\nand flannel. Rosy goes out in all weathers, and will be none the worse\nfor an hour's brisk skating.\"\n\n\"Well, I warn you that you are trifling with the child's health, and\ndepending too much on the seeming improvement she has made this year.\nShe is a delicate creature for all that, and will drop away suddenly at\nthe first serious attack, as her poor mother did,\" croaked Aunt Myra,\nwith a despondent wag of the big bonnet.\n\n\"I'll risk it,\" answered Dr. Alec, knitting his brows, as he always did\nwhen any allusion was made to that other Rose.\n\n\"Mark my words, you will repent it,\" and with that awful prophecy, Aunt\nMyra departed like a black shadow.\n\nNow it must be confessed that among the Doctor's failings and he had his\nshare was a very masculine dislike of advice which was thrust upon him\nunasked. He always listened with respect to the great-aunts, and often\nconsulted Mrs. Jessie; but the other three ladies tried his patience\nsorely, by constant warnings, complaints and counsels. Aunt Myra was an\nespecial trial, and he always turned contrary the moment she began\nto talk. He could not help it, and often laughed about it with comic\nfrankness. Here now was a sample of it, for he had just been thinking\nthat Rose had better defer her run till the wind went down and the sun\nwas warmer. But Aunt Myra spoke, and he could not resist the temptation\nto make light of her advice, and let Rose brave the cold. He had no\nfear of its harming her, for she went out every day, and it was a great\nsatisfaction to him to see her run down the avenue a minute afterward,\nwith her skates on her arm, looking like a rosy-faced Esquimaux in her\nseal-skin suit, as she smiled at Aunt Myra stalking along as solemnly as\na crow.\n\n\"I hope the child won't stay out long, for this wind is enough to chill\nthe marrow in younger bones than Myra's,\" thought Dr. Alec, half an\nhour later, as he drove toward the city to see the few patients he had\nconsented to take for old acquaintance' sake.\n\nThe thought returned several times that morning, for it was truly a\nbitter day, and, in spite of his bear-skin coat, the Doctor shivered.\nBut he had great faith in Rose's good sense, and it never occurred\nto him that she was making a little Casabianca of herself, with the\ndifference of freezing instead of burning at her post.\n\nYou see, Mac had made an appointment to meet her at a certain spot, and\nhave a grand skating bout as soon as the few lessons he was allowed were\nover. She had promised to wait for him, and did so with a faithfulness\nthat cost her dear, because Mac forgot his appointment when the lessons\nwere done, and became absorbed in a chemical experiment, till a general\ncombustion of gases drove him out of his laboratory. Then he suddenly\nremembered Rose, and would gladly have hurried away to her, but his\nmother forbade his going out, for the sharp wind would hurt his eyes.\n\n\"She will wait and wait, mother, for she always keeps her word, and\nI told her to hold on till I came,\" explained Mac, with visions of a\nshivering little figure watching on the windy hill-top.\n\n\"Of course, your uncle won't let her go out such a day as this. If he\ndoes, she will have the sense to come here for you, or to go home again\nwhen you don't appear,\" said Aunt Jane, returning to her \"Watts on the\nMind.\"\n\n\"I wish Steve would just cut up and see if she's there, since I can't\ngo,\" began Mac, anxiously.\n\n\"Steve won't stir a peg, thank you. He's got his own toes to thaw\nout, and wants his dinner,\" answered Dandy, just in from school, and\nwrestling impatiently with his boots.\n\nSo Mac resigned himself, and Rose waited dutifully till dinner-time\nassured her that her waiting was in vain. She had done her best to keep\nwarm, had skated till she was tired and hot, then stood watching others\ntill she was chilled; tried to get up a glow again by trotting up and\ndown the road, but failed to do so, and finally cuddled disconsolately\nunder a pine-tree to wait and watch. When she at length started for\nhome, she was benumbed with cold, and could hardly make her way against\nthe wind that buffeted the frost-bitten rose most unmercifully.\n\nDr. Alec was basking in the warmth of the study fire, after his drive,\nwhen the sound of a stifled sob made him hurry to the door and look\nanxiously into the hall. Rose lay in a shivering bunch near the\nregister, with her things half off, wringing her hands, and trying\nnot to cry with the pain returning warmth brought to her half-frozen\nfingers.\n\n\"My darling, what is it?\" and Uncle Alec had her in his arms in a\nminute.\n\n\"Mac didn't come I can't get warm the fire makes me ache!\" and with a\nlong shiver Rose burst out crying, while her teeth chattered, and her\npoor little nose was so blue, it made one's heart ache to see it.\n\nIn less time than it takes to tell it, Dr. Alec had her on the sofa\nrolled up in the bear-skin coat, with Phebe rubbing her cold feet while\nhe rubbed the aching hands, and Aunt Plenty made a comfortable hot\ndrink, and Aunt Peace sent down her own foot-warmer and embroidered\nblanket \"for the dear.\"\n\nFull of remorseful tenderness, Uncle Alec worked over his new patient\ntill she declared she was all right again. He would not let her get up\nto dinner, but fed her himself, and then forgot his own while he sat\nwatching her fall into a drowse, for Aunt Plenty's cordial made her\nsleepy.\n\nShe lay so several hours for the drowse deepened into a heavy sleep, and\nUncle Alec, still at his post, saw with growing anxiety that a feverish\ncolour began to burn in her cheeks, that her breathing was quick and\nuneven, and now and then she gave a little moan, as if in pain. Suddenly\nshe woke up with a start, and seeing Aunt Plenty bending over her, put\nout her arms like a sick child, saying wearily,\n\n\"Please, could I go to bed?\"\n\n\"The best place for you, deary. Take her right up, Alec; I've got the\nhot water ready, and after a nice bath, she shall have a cup of my sage\ntea, and be rolled up in blankets to sleep off her cold,\" answered the\nold lady, cheerily, as she bustled away to give orders.\n\n\"Are you in pain, darling?\" asked Uncle Alec, as he carried her up.\n\n\"My side aches when I breathe, and I feel stiff and queer; but it isn't\nbad, so don't be troubled, uncle,\" whispered Rose, with a little hot\nhand against his cheek.\n\nBut the poor doctor did look troubled, and had cause to do so, for\njust then Rose tried to laugh at Dolly charging into the room with a\nwarming-pan, but could not, for the sharp pain took her breath away and\nmade her cry out.\n\n\"Pleurisy,\" sighed Aunt Plenty, from the depths of the bath-tub.\n\n\"Pewmonia!\" groaned Dolly, burrowing among the bedclothes with the\nlong-handled pan, as if bent on fishing up that treacherous disease.\n\n\"Oh, is it bad?\" asked Phebe, nearly dropping a pail of hot water in her\ndismay, for she knew nothing of sickness, and Dolly's suggestion had a\npeculiarly dreadful sound to her.\n\n\"Hush!\" ordered the Doctor, in a tone that silenced all further\npredictions, and made everyone work with a will.\n\n\"Make her as comfortable as you can, and when she is in her little bed\nI'll come and say good-night,\" he added, when the bath was ready and the\nblankets browning nicely before the fire.\n\nThen he went away to talk quite cheerfully to Aunt Peace about its being\n\"only a chill\"; after which he tramped up and down the hall, pulling his\nbeard and knitting his brows, sure signs of great inward perturbation.\n\n\"I thought it would be too good luck to get through the year without a\ndownfall. Confound my perversity! Why couldn't I take Myra's advice and\nkeep Rose at home. It's not fair that the poor child should suffer\nfor my sinful over-confidence. She shall not suffer for it! Pneumonia,\nindeed! I defy it,\" and he shook his fist in the ugly face of an Indian\nidol that happened to be before him, as if that particularly hideous god\nhad some spite against his own little goddess.\n\nIn spite of his defiance his heart sunk when he saw Rose again, for\nthe pain was worse, and the bath and blankets, the warming-pan and\npiping-hot sage tea, were all in vain. For several hours there was no\nrest for the poor child, and all manner of gloomy forebodings haunted\nthe minds of those who hovered about her with faces full of the\ntenderest anxiety.\n\nIn the midst of the worst paroxysm Charlie came to leave a message from\nhis mother, and was met by Phebe coming despondently downstairs with a\nmustard plaster that had brought no relief.\n\n\"What the dickens is the matter? You look as dismal as a tombstone,\" he\nsaid, as she held up her hand to stop his lively whistling.\n\n\"Miss Rose is dreadful sick.\"\n\n\"The deuce she is!\"\n\n\"Don't swear, Mr. Charlie; she really is, and it's Mr. Mac's fault,\" and\nPhebe told the sad tale in a few sharp words, for she felt at war with\nthe entire race of boys at that moment.\n\n\"I'll give it to him, make your mind easy about that,\" said Charlie,\nwith an ominous doubling up of his fist. \"But Rose isn't dangerously\nill, is she?\" he added anxiously, as Aunt Plenty was seen to trot across\nthe upper hall, shaking a bottle violently as she went.\n\n\"Oh, but she is though. The Doctor don't say much, but he don't call it\na 'chill' any more. It's 'pleurisy' now, and I'm so afraid it will be\npewmonia to-morrow,\" answered Phebe, with a despairing glance at the\nplaster.\n\nCharlie exploded into a stifled laugh at the new pronunciation of\npneumonia, to Phebe's great indignation.\n\n\"How can you have the heart to do it, and she in such horrid pain? Hark\nto that, and then laugh if you darst,\" she said with a tragic gesture,\nand her black eyes full of fire.\n\nCharlie listened and heard little moans that went to his heart and made\nhis face as sober as Phebe's. \"O uncle, please stop the pain, and let me\nrest a minute! Don't tell the boys I wasn't brave. I try to bear it, but\nit's so sharp I can't help crying.\"\n\nNeither could Charlie, when he heard the broken voice say that; but,\nboy-like, he wouldn't own it, and said pettishly, as he rubbed his\nsleeve across his eyes,\n\n\"Don't hold that confounded thing right under my nose; the mustard makes\nmy eyes smart.\"\n\n\"Don't see how it can, when it hasn't any more strength in it than meal.\nThe Doctor said so, and I'm going to get some better,\" began Phebe,\nnot a bit ashamed of the great tears that were bedewing the condemned\nplaster.\n\n\"I'll go!\" and Charlie was off like a shot, glad of an excuse to get out\nof sight for a few minutes.\n\nWhen he came back all inconvenient emotion had been disposed of, and,\nhaving delivered a box of the hottest mustard procurable for money, he\ndeparted to \"blow up\" Mac, that being his next duty in his opinion. He\ndid it so energetically and thoroughly that the poor Worm was cast into\nthe depths of remorseful despair, and went to bed that evening feeling\nthat he was an outcast from among men, and bore the mark of Cain upon\nhis brow.\n\nThanks to the skill of the Doctor, and the devotion of his helpers, Rose\ngrew easier about midnight, and all hoped that the worst was over. Phebe\nwas making tea by the study fire, for the Doctor had forgotten to eat\nand drink since Rose was ill, and Aunt Plenty insisted on his having\na \"good cordial dish of tea\" after his exertions. A tap on the window\nstartled Phebe, and, looking up, she saw a face peering in. She was\nnot afraid, for a second look showed her that it was neither ghost nor\nburglar, but Mac, looking pale and wild in the wintry moonlight.\n\n\"Come and let a fellow in,\" he said in a low tone, and when he stood in\nthe hall he clutched Phebe's arm, whispering gruffly, \"How is Rose?\"\n\n\"Thanks be to goodness, she's better,\" answered Phebe, with a smile that\nwas like broad sunshine to the poor lad's anxious heart.\n\n\"And she will be all right again to-morrow?\"\n\n\"Oh, dear no! Dolly says she's sure to have rheumatic fever, if she\ndon't have noo-monia!\" answered Phebe, careful to pronounce the word\nrightly this time.\n\nDown went Mac's face, and remorse began to gnaw at him again as he gave\na great sigh and said doubtfully,\n\n\"I suppose I couldn't see her?\"\n\n\"Of course not at this time of night, when we want her to go to sleep!\"\n\nMac opened his mouth to say something more, when a sneeze came upon him\nunawares, and a loud \"Ah rash hoo!\" awoke the echoes of the quiet house.\n\n\"Why didn't you stop it?\" said Phebe reproachfully. \"I dare say you've\nwaked her up.\"\n\n\"Didn't know it was coming. Just my luck!\" groaned Mac, turning to go\nbefore his unfortunate presence did more harm.\n\nBut a voice from the stair-head called softly, \"Mac, come up; Rose wants\nto see you.\"\n\nUp he went, and found his uncle waiting for him.\n\n\"What brings you here at this hour, my boy?\" asked the Doctor in a\nwhisper.\n\n\"Charlie said it was all my fault, and if she died I'd killed her. I\ncouldn't sleep, so I came to see how she was, and no one knows it but\nSteve,\" he said with such a troubled face and voice that the Doctor had\nnot the heart to blame him.\n\nBefore he could say anything more a feeble voice called \"Mac!\" and with\na hasty \"Stay a minute just to please her, and then slip away, for I\nwant her to sleep,\" the Doctor led him into the room.\n\nThe face on the pillow looked very pale and childish, and the smile that\nwelcomed Mac was very faint, for Rose was spent with pain, yet could not\nrest till she had said a word of comfort to her cousin.\n\n\"I knew your funny sneeze, and I guessed that you came to see how I did,\nthough it is very late. Don't be worried, I'm better now, and it is my\nfault I was ill, not yours; for I needn't have been so silly as to wait\nin the cold just because I said I would.\"\n\nMac hastened to explain, to load himself with reproaches, and to beg\nher not to die on any account, for Charlie's lecture had made a deep\nimpression on the poor boy's mind.\n\n\"I didn't know there was any danger of my dying,\" and Rose looked up at\nhim with a solemn expression in her great eyes.\n\n\"Oh, I hope not; but people do sometimes go suddenly, you know, and I\ncouldn't rest till I'd asked you to forgive me,\" faltered Mac, thinking\nthat Rose looked very like an angel already, with the golden hair loose\non the pillow, and the meekness of suffering on her little white face.\n\n\"I don't think I shall die; uncle won't let me; but if I do, remember I\nforgave you.\"\n\nShe looked at him with a tender light in her eyes, and, seeing how\npathetic his dumb grief was, she added softly, drawing his head down, \"I\nwouldn't kiss you under the mistletoe, but I will now, for I want you to\nbe sure I do forgive and love you just the same.\"\n\nThat quite upset poor Mac; he could only murmur his thanks and get out\nof the room as fast as possible, to grope his way to the couch at the\nfar end of the hall, and lie there till he fell asleep, worn out with\ntrying not to \"make a baby\" of himself.\n\n\n\nChapter 22--Something to do\n\nWhatever danger there might have been from the effects of that sudden\nchill, it was soon over, though, of course, Aunt Myra refused to\nbelieve it, and Dr. Alec cherished his girl with redoubled vigilance and\ntenderness for months afterward. Rose quite enjoyed being sick, because\nas soon as the pain ended the fun began, and for a week or two she led\nthe life of a little princess secluded in the Bower, while every one\nserved, amused, and watched over her in the most delightful manner. But\nthe doctor was called away to see an old friend, who was dangerously\nill, and then Rose felt like a young bird deprived of its mother's\nsheltering wing; especially on one afternoon when the aunts were taking\ntheir naps, and the house was very still within while snow fell softly\nwithout.\n\n\"I'll go and hunt up Phebe, she is always nice and busy, and likes to\nhave me help her. If Dolly is out of the way we can make caramels and\nsurprise the boys when they come,\" Rose said to herself, as she threw\ndown her book and felt ready for society of some sort.\n\nShe took the precaution to peep through the slide before she entered the\nkitchen, for Dolly allowed no messing when she was round. But the coast\nwas clear, and no one but Phebe appeared, sitting at the table with her\nhead on her arms apparently asleep. Rose was just about to wake her\nwith a \"Boo!\" when she lifted her head, dried her wet eyes with her\nblue apron, and fell to work with a resolute face on something she was\nevidently much interested in. Rose could not make out what it was,\nand her curiosity was greatly excited, for Phebe was writing with a\nsputtering pen on some bits of brown paper, apparently copying something\nfrom a little book.\n\n\"I must know what the dear thing is about, and why she cried, and then\nset her lips tight and went to work with all her might,\" thought Rose,\nforgetting all about the caramels, and, going round to the door, she\nentered the kitchen, saying pleasantly,\n\n\"Phebe, I want something to do. Can't you let me help you about\nanything, or shall I be in the way?\"\n\n\"Oh, dear no, miss; I always love to have you round when things are\ntidy. What would you like to do?\" answered Phebe, opening a drawer as\nif about to sweep her own affairs out of sight; but Rose stopped her,\nexclaiming, like a curious child,\n\n\"Let me see! What is it? I won't tell if you'd rather not have Dolly\nknow.\"\n\n\"I'm only trying to study a bit; but I'm so stupid I don't get on much,\"\nanswered the girl reluctantly, permitting her little mistress to examine\nthe poor contrivances she was trying to work with.\n\nA broken slate that had blown off the roof, an inch or two of pencil, an\nold almanac for a reader, several bits of brown or yellow paper ironed\nsmoothly and sewn together for a copy-book, and the copies sundry\nreceipts written in Aunt Plenty's neat hand. These, with a small bottle\nof ink and a rusty pen, made up Phebe's outfit, and it was little wonder\nthat she did not \"get on\" in spite of the patient persistence that dried\nthe desponding tears and drove along the sputtering pen with a will.\n\n\"You may laugh if you want to, Miss Rose, I know my things are queer,\nand that's why I hide 'em; but I don't mind since you've found me out,\nand I ain't a bit ashamed except of being so backward at my age,\" said\nPhebe humbly, though her cheeks grew redder as she washed out some\ncrooked capitals with a tear or two not yet dried upon the slate.\n\n\"Laugh at you! I feel more like crying to think what a selfish girl I\nam, to have loads of books and things and never remember to give you\nsome. Why didn't you come and ask me, and not go struggling along alone\nin this way? It was very wrong of you, Phebe, and I'll never forgive you\nif you do so again,\" answered Rose, with one hand on Phebe's shoulder,\nwhile the other gently turned the leaves of the poor little copy-book.\n\n\"I didn't like to ask for anything more when you are so good to me all\nthe time, miss, dear,\" began Phebe, looking up with grateful eyes.\n\n\"O you proud thing! just as if it wasn't fun to give away, and I had the\nbest of it. Now, see here, I've got a plan and you mustn't say no, or\nI shall scold. I want something to do, and I'm going to teach you all\nI know; it won't take long,\" and Rose laughed as she put her arm around\nPhebe's neck, and patted the smooth dark head with the kind little hand\nthat so loved to give.\n\n\"It would be just heavenly!\" and Phebe's face shone at the mere idea;\nbut fell again as she added wistfully, \"Only I'm afraid I ought not\nto let you do it, Miss Rose. It will take time, and maybe the Doctor\nwouldn't like it.\"\n\n\"He didn't want me to study much, but he never said a word about\nteaching, and I don't believe he will mind a bit. Anyway, we can try it\ntill he comes, so pack up your things and go right to my room and we'll\nbegin this very day; I'd truly like to do it, and we'll have nice times,\nsee if we don't!\" cried Rose eagerly.\n\nIt was a pretty sight to see Phebe bundle her humble outfit into her\napron, and spring up as if the desire of her heart had suddenly been\nmade a happy fact to her; it was a still prettier sight to see Rose run\ngaily on before, smiling like a good fairy as she beckoned to the other,\nsinging as she went,\n\n    \"The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,\n     And many are the curious things I'll show you when you're there.\n     Will you, will you walk in, Phebe dear?\"\n\n\"Oh, won't I!\" answered Phebe fervently, adding, as they entered the\nBower, \"You are the dearest spider that ever was, and I'm the happiest\nfly.\"\n\n\"I'm going to be very strict, so sit down in that chair and don't say\na word till school is ready to open,\" ordered Rose, delighted with the\nprospect of such a useful and pleasant \"something to do.\"\n\nSo Phebe sat demurely in her place while her new teacher laid forth\nbooks and slates, a pretty inkstand and a little globe; hastily tore a\nbit off her big sponge, sharpened pencils with more energy than skill,\nand when all was ready gave a prance of satisfaction that set the pupil\nlaughing.\n\n\"Now the school is open, and I shall hear you read, so that I may know\nin which class to put you, Miss Moore,\" began Rose with great dignity,\nas she laid a book before her scholar, and sat down in the easy chair\nwith a long rule in her hand.\n\nPhebe did pretty well, only tripping now and then over a hard word, and\npronouncing identical \"identickle,\" in a sober way that tickled Rose,\nthough never a smile betrayed her. The spelling lesson which followed\nwas rather discouraging; Phebe's ideas of geography were very vague, and\ngrammar was nowhere, though the pupil protested that she tried so hard\nto \"talk nice like educated folks\" that Dolly called her \"a stuck-up\npiece who didn't know her place.\"\n\n\"Dolly's an old goose, so don't you mind her, for she will say 'nater,'\n'vittles,' and 'doos' as long as she lives, and insist that they are\nright. You do talk very nicely, Phebe, I've observed it, and grammar\nwill help you, and show you some things are right and others ain't are\nnot, I mean,\" added Rose, correcting herself, and feeling that she\nmust mind her own parts of speech if she was to serve as an example for\nPhebe.\n\nWhen the arithmetic came, the little teacher was surprised to find her\nscholar quicker in some things than herself, for Phebe had worked away\nat the columns in the butcher's and baker's books till she could add so\nquickly and correctly that Rose was amazed, and felt that in this branch\nthe pupil would soon excel the teacher if she kept on at the same pace.\nHer praise cheered Phebe immensely, and they went bravely on, both\ngetting so interested that time flew unheeded till Aunt Plenty appeared,\nexclaiming, as she stared at the two heads bent over one slate,\n\n\"Bless my heart, what is going on now?\"\n\n\"School, aunty. I'm teaching Phebe, and it's great fun!\" cried Rose,\nlooking up with a bright face.\n\nBut Phebe's was brighter, though she added with a wistful look,\n\n\"Maybe I ought to have asked leave first; only when Miss Rose proposed\nthis, I was so happy I forgot to. Shall I stop, ma'am?\"\n\n\"Of course not, child; I'm glad to see you fond of your book, and to\nfind Rose helping you along. My blessed mother used to sit at work with\nher maids about her, teaching them many a useful thing in the good old\nfashion that's gone by now. Only don't neglect your work, dear, or let\nthe books interfere with the duties.\"\n\nAs Aunt Plenty spoke, with her kind old face beaming approvingly upon\nthe girls, Phebe glanced at the clock, saw that it pointed to five, knew\nthat Dolly would soon be down, expecting to find preparations for supper\nunder way, and, hastily dropping her pencil, she jumped up, saying,\n\n\"Please, can I go? I'll clear up after I've done my chores.\"\n\n\"School is dismissed,\" answered Rose, and with a grateful \"Thank you,\nheaps and heaps!\" Phebe ran away singing the multiplication table as she\nset the tea ditto.\n\nThat was the way it began, and for a week the class of one went on\nwith great pleasure and profit to all concerned; for the pupil proved\na bright one, and came to her lessons as to a feast, while the young\nteacher did her best to be worthy the high opinion held of her, for\nPhebe firmly believed that Miss Rose knew everything in the way of\nlearning.\n\nOf course the lads found out what was going on, and chaffed the girls\nabout the \"Seminary,\" as they called the new enterprise; but they\nthought it a good thing on the whole, kindly offered to give lessons in\nGreek and Latin gratis, and decided among themselves that \"Rose was a\nlittle trump to give the Phebe-bird such a capital boost.\"\n\nRose herself had some doubts as to how it would strike her uncle, and\nconcocted a wheedlesome speech which should at once convince him that\nit was the most useful, wholesome, and delightful plan ever devised. But\nshe got no chance to deliver her address, for Dr. Alec came upon her so\nunexpectedly that it went out of her head entirely. She was sitting on\nthe floor in the library, poring over a big book laid open in her lap,\nand knew nothing of the long-desired arrival till two large, warm hands\nmet under her chin and gently turned her head back, so that someone\ncould kiss her heartily on either cheek, while a fatherly voice said,\nhalf reproachfully, \"Why is my girl brooding over a dusty Encyclopedia\nwhen she ought to be running to meet the old gentleman who couldn't get\non another minute without her?\"\n\n\"O uncle! I'm so glad! and so sorry! Why didn't you let us know what\ntime you'd be here, or call out the minute you came? Haven't I been\nhome-sick for you? and now I'm so happy to have you back I could hug\nyour dear old curly head off,\" cried Rose, as the Encyclopedia went down\nwith a bang, and she up with a spring that carried her into Dr. Alec's\narms, to be kept there in the sort of embrace a man gives to the dearest\ncreature the world holds for him.\n\nPresently he was in his easy chair with Rose upon his knee smiling up\nin his face and talking as fast as her tongue could go, while he watched\nher with an expression of supreme content, as he stroked the smooth\nround cheek, or held the little hand in his, rejoicing to see how rosy\nwas the one, how plump and strong the other.\n\n\"Have you had a good time? Did you save the poor lady? Aren't you glad\nto be home again with your girl to torment you?\"\n\n\"Yes, to all those questions. Now tell me what you've been at, little\nsinner? Aunty Plen says you want to consult me about some new and\nremarkable project which you have dared to start in my absence.\"\n\n\"She didn't tell you, I hope?\"\n\n\"Not a word more expect that you were rather doubtful how I'd take it,\nand so wanted to 'fess' yourself and get round me as you always try\nto do, though you don't often succeed. Now, then, own up and take the\nconsequences.\"\n\nSo Rose told about her school in her pretty, earnest way, dwelling\non Phebe's hunger for knowledge, and the delight it was to help her,\nadding, with a wise nod,\n\n\"And it helps me too, uncle, for she is so quick and eager I have to do\nmy best or she will get ahead of me in some things. To-day, now, she had\nthe word 'cotton' in a lesson and asked all about it, and I was ashamed\nto find I really knew so little that I could only say that it was a\nplant that grew down South in a kind of a pod, and was made into cloth.\nThat's what I was reading up when you came, and to-morrow I shall tell\nher all about it, and indigo too. So you see it teaches me also, and is\nas good as a general review of what I've learned, in a pleasanter way\nthan going over it alone.\"\n\n\"You artful little baggage! that's the way you expect to get round me,\nis it? That's not studying, I suppose?\"\n\n\"No, sir, it's teaching; and please, I like it much better than having a\ngood time by myself. Besides, you know, I adopted Phebe and promised to\nbe a sister to her, so I am bound to keep my word, am I not?\" answered\nRose, looking both anxious and resolute as she waited for her sentence.\n\nDr. Alec was evidently already won, for Rose had described the old slate\nand brown paper copy-book with pathetic effect, and the excellent man\nhad not only decided to send Phebe to school long before the story was\ndone, but reproached himself for forgetting his duty to one little girl\nin his love for another. So when Rose tried to look meek and failed\nutterly, he laughed and pinched her cheek, and answered in that genial\nway which adds such warmth and grace to any favour,\n\n\"I haven't the slightest objection in the world. In fact, I was\nbeginning to think I might let you go at your books again, moderately,\nsince you are so well; and this is an excellent way to try your powers.\nPhebe is a brave, bright lass, and shall have a fair chance in the\nworld, if we can give it to her, so that if she ever finds her friends\nthey need not be ashamed of her.\"\n\n\"I think she has found some already,\" began Rose eagerly.\n\n\"Hey? what? has anyone turned up since I've been gone?\" asked Dr. Alec\nquickly, for it was a firm belief in the family that Phebe would prove\nto be \"somebody\" sooner or later.\n\n\"No, her best friend turned up when you came home, uncle,\" answered Rose\nwith an approving pat, adding gratefully, \"I can't half thank you for\nbeing so good to my girl, but she will, because I know she is going to\nmake a woman to be proud of, she's so strong and true, and loving.\"\n\n\"Bless your dear heart, I haven't begun to do anything yet, more shame\nto me! But I'm going at it now, and as soon as she gets on a bit,\nshe shall go to school as long as she likes. How will that do for a\nbeginning?\"\n\n\"It will be 'just heavenly,' as Phebe says, for it is the wish of her\nlife to 'get lots of schooling,' and she will be too happy when I tell\nher. May I, please? it will be so lovely to see the dear thing open her\nbig eyes and clap her hands at the splendid news.\"\n\n\"No one shall have a finger in this nice little pie; you shall do it all\nyourself, only don't go too fast, or make too many castles in the air,\nmy dear; for time and patience must go into this pie of ours if it is to\nturn out well.\"\n\n\"Yes, uncle, only when it is opened won't 'the birds begin to sing?\"'\nlaughed Rose, taking a turn about the room as a vent for the joyful\nemotions that made her eyes shine. All of a sudden she stopped and asked\nsoberly,\n\n\"If Phebe goes to school who will do her work? I'm willing, if I can.\"\n\n\"Come here and I'll tell you a secret. Dolly's 'bones' are getting so\ntroublesome, and her dear old temper so bad, that the aunts have decided\nto pension her off and let her go and live with her daughter, who has\nmarried very well. I saw her this week, and she'd like to have her\nmother come, so in the spring we shall have a grand change, and get\na new cook and chamber-girl if any can be found to suit our honoured\nrelatives.\"\n\n\"Oh, me! how can I ever get on without Phebe? Couldn't she stay, just so\nI could see her? I'd pay her board rather than have her go, I'm so fond\nof her.\"\n\nHow Dr. Alec laughed at that proposal, and how satisfied Rose was when\nhe explained that Phebe was still to be her maid, with no duties except\nsuch as she could easily perform between school-hours.\n\n\"She is a proud creature, for all her humble ways, and even from us\nwould not take a favour if she did not earn it somewhere. So this\narrangement makes it all square and comfortable, you see, and she will\npay for the schooling by curling these goldilocks a dozen times a day if\nyou let her.\"\n\n\"Your plans are always so wise and kind! That's why they work so well,\nI suppose, and why people let you do what you like with them. I really\ndon't see how other girls get along without an Uncle Alec!\" answered\nRose, with a sigh of pity for those who had missed so great a blessing.\n\nWhen Phebe was told the splendid news, she did not \"stand on her head\nwith rapture,\" as Charlie prophesied she would, but took it quietly,\nbecause it was such a happy thing she had no words \"big and beautiful\nenough to thank them in,\" she said; but every hour of her day was\nbrightened by this granted wish, and dedicated to the service of those\nwho gave it.\n\nHer heart was so full of content that if overflowed in music, and the\nsweet voice singing all about the house gave thanks so blithely that\nno other words were needed. Her willing feet were never tired of taking\nsteps for those who had smoothed her way; her skilful hands were always\nbusy in some labour of love for them, and on the face fast growing in\ncomeliness there was an almost womanly expression of devotion, which\nproved how well Phebe had already learned one of life's great lessons\ngratitude.\n\n\n\nChapter 23--Peace-Making\n\n\"Steve, I want you to tell me something,\" said Rose to Dandy, who was\nmaking faces at himself in the glass, while he waited for an answer to\nthe note he brought from his mother to Aunt Plenty.\n\n\"P'raps I will, and p'raps I won't. What is it?\"\n\n\"Haven't Arch and Charlie quarrelled?\"\n\n\"Dare say; we fellows are always having little rows, you know. I do\nbelieve a sty is coming on my star-board eye,\" and Steve affected to be\nabsorbed in a survey of his yellow lashes.\n\n\"No, that won't do; I want to know all about it; for I'm sure something\nmore serious than a 'little row' is the matter. Come, please tell me,\nStenie, there's a dear.\"\n\n\"Botheration! you don't want me to turn telltale, do you?\" growled\nSteve, pulling his top-knot, as he always did when perplexed.\n\n\"Yes, I do,\" was Rose's decided answer for she saw from his manner that\nshe was right, and determined to have the secret out of him if coaxing\nwould do it. \"I don't wish you to tell things to everyone, of course,\nbut to me you may, and you must, because I have a right to know. You\nboys need somebody to look after you, and I'm going to do it, for girls\nare nice peacemakers, and know how to manage people. Uncle said so, and\nhe is never wrong.\"\n\nSteve was about to indulge in a derisive hoot at the idea of her looking\nafter them, but a sudden thought restrained him, and suggested a way in\nwhich he could satisfy Rose, and better himself at the same time.\n\n\"What will you give me if I'll tell you every bit about it?\" he asked,\nwith a sudden red in his cheeks and an uneasy look in his eyes, for he\nwas half ashamed of the proposition.\n\n\"What do you want?\" and Rose looked up rather surprised at his question.\n\n\"I'd like to borrow some money. I shouldn't think of asking you, only\nMac never has a cent. since he's set up his old chemical shop, where\nhe'll blow himself to bits some day, and you and uncle will have the fun\nof putting him together again,\" and Steve tried to look as if the idea\namused him.\n\n\"I'll lend it to you with pleasure, so tell away,\" said Rose, bound to\nget at the secret.\n\nEvidently much relieved by the promise, Steve set his top-knot\ncheerfully erect again, and briefly stated the case.\n\n\"As you say, it's all right to tell you, but don't let the boys know\nI blabbed, or Prince will take my head off. You see, Archie don't like\nsome of the fellows Charlie goes with, and cuts 'em. That makes Prince\nmad, and he holds on just to plague Arch, so they don't speak to one\nanother, if they can help it, and that's the row.\"\n\n\"Are those boys bad?\" asked Rose, anxiously.\n\n\"Guess not, only rather wild. They are older than our fellows, but\nthey like Prince, he's such a jolly boy; sings so well, dances jigs and\nbreakdowns, you know, and plays any game that's going. He beat Morse at\nbilliards, and that's something to brag of, for Morse thinks he knows\neverything. I saw the match, and it was great fun!\"\n\nSteve got quite excited over the prowess of Charlie, whom he admired\nimmensely, and tried to imitate. Rose did not know half the danger\nof such gifts and tastes as Charlie's, but felt instinctively that\nsomething must be wrong if Archie disapproved.\n\n\"If Prince likes any billiard-playing boy better than Archie, I don't\nthink much of his sense,\" she said severely.\n\n\"Of course he doesn't; but, you see, Charlie and Arch are both as proud\nas they can be, and won't give in. I suppose Arch is right, but I don't\nblame Charlie a bit for liking to be with the others sometimes, they are\nsuch a jolly set,\" and Steve shook his head morally, even while his eye\ntwinkled over the memory of some of the exploits of the \"jolly set.\"\n\n\"Oh, dear me!\" sighed Rose, \"I don't see what I can do about it, but\nI wish the boys would make up, for Prince can't come to any harm with\nArchie, he's so good and sensible.\"\n\n\"That's the trouble; Arch preaches, and Prince won't stand it. He\ntold Arch he was a prig and a parson, and Arch told him he wasn't a\ngentleman. My boots! weren't they both mad, though! I thought for a\nminute they'd pitch into one another and have it out. Wish they had, and\nnot gone stalking round stiff and glum ever since. Mac and I settle our\nrows with a bat or so over the head, and then we are all right.\"\n\nRose couldn't help laughing as Steve sparred away at a fat sofa-pillow,\nto illustrate his meaning; and, having given it several scientific\nwhacks, he pulled down his cuffs and smiled upon her with benign pity\nfor her feminine ignorance of this summary way of settling a quarrel.\n\n\"What droll things boys are!\" she said, with a mixture of admiration and\nperplexity in her face, which Steve accepted as a compliment to his sex.\n\n\"We're a pretty clever invention, miss, and you can't get on without\nus,\" he answered, with his nose in the air. Then, taking a sudden plunge\ninto business, he added, \"How about that bit of money you were going to\nlend me? I've told, now you pay up.\"\n\n\"Of course I will! How much do you want?\" and Rose pulled out her purse.\n\n\"Could you spare five dollars? I want to pay a little debt of honour\nthat is rather pressing,\" and Steve put on a mannish air that was\ncomical to see.\n\n\"Aren't all debts honourable?\" asked innocent Rose.\n\n\"Yes, of course; but this is a bet I made, and it ought to be settled up\nat once,\" began Steve, finding it awkward to explain.\n\n\"Oh, don't bet, it's not right, and I know your father wouldn't like it.\nPromise you won't do so again; please promise!\" and Rose held fast the\nhand into which she had just put the money.\n\n\"Well, I won't. It's worried me a good deal, but I was joked into it.\nMuch obliged, cousin, I'm all right now,\" and Steve departed hastily.\n\nHaving decided to be a peace-maker, Rose waited for an opportunity, and\nvery soon it came.\n\nShe was spending the day with Aunt Clara, who had been entertaining some\nyoung guests, and invited Rose to meet them, for she thought it high\ntime her niece conquered her bashfulness and saw a little of society.\nDinner was over, and everyone had gone. Aunt Clara was resting before\ngoing out to an evening party, and Rose was waiting for Charlie to come\nand take her home.\n\nShe sat alone in the elegant drawing-room, feeling particularly nice and\npretty, for she had her best frock on, a pair of gold bands her aunt had\njust given her, and a tea-rose bud in her sash, like the beautiful Miss\nVan Tassel, whom everyone admired. She had spread out her little skirts\nto the best advantage, and, leaning back in a luxurious chair, sat\nadmiring her own feet in new slippers with rosettes almost as big as\ndahlias. Presently Charlie came lounging in, looking rather sleepy and\nqueer, Rose thought. On seeing her, however, he roused up and said with\na smile that ended in a gape,\n\n\"I thought you were with mother, so I took forty winks after I got those\ngirls off. Now, I'm at your service, Rosamunda, whenever you like.\"\n\n\"You look as if your head ached. If it does, don't mind me. I'm not\nafraid to run home alone, it's so early,\" answered Rose, observing the\nflushed cheeks and heavy eyes of her cousin.\n\n\"I think I see myself letting you do it. Champagne always makes my\nheadache, but the air will set me up.\"\n\n\"Why do you drink it, then?\" asked Rose, anxiously.\n\n\"Can't help it, when I'm host. Now, don't you begin to lecture; I've had\nenough of Archie's old-fashioned notions, and I don't want any more.\"\n\nCharlie's tone was decidedly cross, and his whole manner so unlike his\nusual merry good-nature, that Rose felt crushed, and answered meekly,\n\n\"I wasn't going to lecture, only when people like other people, they\ncan't bear to see them suffer pain.\"\n\nThat brought Charlie round at once, for Rose's lips trembled a little,\nthough she tried to hide it by smelling the flower she pulled from her\nsash.\n\n\"I'm a regular bear, and I beg your pardon for being so cross, Rosy,\" he\nsaid in the old frank way that was so winning.\n\n\"I wish you'd beg Archie's too, and be good friends again. You never\nwere cross when he was your chum,\" Rose said, looking up at him as he\nbent toward her from the low chimney-piece, where he had been leaning\nhis elbows.\n\nIn an instant he stood as stiff and straight as a ramrod, and the heavy\neyes kindled with an angry spark as he said, in his high and mighty\nmanner,\n\n\"You'd better not meddle with what you don't understand, cousin.\"\n\n\"But I do understand, and it troubles me very much to see you so cold\nand stiff to one another. You always used to be together, and now you\nhardly speak. You are so ready to beg my pardon I don't see why you\ncan't beg Archie's, if you are in the wrong.\"\n\n\"I'm not!\" this was so short and sharp that Rose started, and Charlie\nadded in a calmer but still very haughty tone: \"A gentleman always begs\npardon when he has been rude to a lady, but one man doesn't apologize to\nanother man who has insulted him.\"\n\n\"Oh, my heart, what a pepperpot!\" thought Rose, and, hoping to make him\nlaugh, she added slyly: \"I was not talking about men, but boys, and one\nof them a Prince, who ought to set a good example to his subjects.\"\n\nBut Charlie would not relent, and tried to turn the subject by saying\ngravely, as he unfastened the little gold ring from his watch-guard,\n\n\"I've broken my word, so I want to give this back and free you from the\nbargain. I'm sorry, but I think it a foolish promise, and don't intend\nto keep it. Choose a pair of ear-rings to suit yourself, as my forfeit.\nYou have a right to wear them now.\"\n\n\"No, I can only wear one, and that is no use, for Archie will keep his\nword I'm sure!\" Rose was so mortified and grieved at this downfall\nof her hopes that she spoke sharply, and would not take the ring the\ndeserter offered her.\n\nHe shrugged his shoulders, and threw it into her lap, trying to look\ncool and careless, but failing entirely, for he was ashamed of himself,\nand out of sorts generally. Rose wanted to cry, but pride would not\nlet her, and, being very angry, she relieved herself by talk instead of\ntears. Looking pale and excited, she rose out of her chair, cast away\nthe ring, and said in a voice that she vainly tried to keep steady,\n\n\"You are not at all the boy I thought you were, and I don't respect you\none bit. I've tried to help you be good, but you won't let me, and I\nshall not try any more. You talk a great deal about being a gentleman,\nbut you are not, for you've broken your word, and I can never trust\nyou again. I don't wish you to go home with me. I'd rather have Mary.\nGood-night.\"\n\nAnd with that last dreadful blow, Rose walked out of the room, leaving\nCharlie as much astonished as if one of his pet pigeons had flown in his\nface and pecked at him. She was so seldom angry, that when her temper\ndid get the better of her it made a deep impression on the lads, for\nit was generally a righteous sort of indignation at some injustice or\nwrong-doing, not childish passion.\n\nHer little thunderstorm cleared off in a sob or two as she put on her\nthings in the entry-closet, and when she emerged she looked the brighter\nfor the shower. A hasty good-night to Aunt Clara now under the hands of\nthe hairdresser and then she crept down to find Mary the maid. But\nMary was out, so was the man, and Rose slipped away by the back-door,\nflattering herself that she had escaped the awkwardness of having\nCharlie for escort.\n\nThere she was mistaken, however, for the gate had hardly closed behind\nher when a well-known tramp was heard, and the Prince was beside her,\nsaying in a tone of penitent politeness that banished Rose's wrath like\nmagic,\n\n\"You needn't speak to me if you don't choose, but I must see you safely\nhome, cousin.\"\n\nShe turned at once, put out her hand, and answered heartily,\n\n\"I was the cross one. Please forgive me, and let's be friends again.\"\n\nNow that was better than a dozen sermons on the beauty of forgiveness,\nand did Charlie more good, for it showed him how sweet humility was, and\nproved that Rose practised as she preached.\n\nHe shook the hand warmly, then drew it through his arm and said, as if\nanxious to recover the good opinion with the loss of which he had been\nthreatened,\n\n\"Look here, Rosy, I've put the ring back, and I'm going to try again.\nBut you don't know how hard it is to stand being laughed at.\"\n\n\"Yes, I do! Ariadne plagues me every time I see her, because I don't\nwear ear-rings after all the trouble I had getting ready for them.\"\n\n\"Ah, but her twaddle isn't half as bad as the chaffing I get. It takes\na deal of pluck to hold out when you are told you are tied to an apron\nstring, and all that sort of thing,\" sighed Charlie.\n\n\"I thought you had a 'deal of pluck,' as you call it. The boys all say\nyou are the bravest of the seven,\" said Rose.\n\n\"So I am about some things, but I cannot bear to be laughed at.\"\n\n\"It is hard, but if one is right won't that make it easier?\"\n\n\"Not to me; it might to a pious parson like Arch.\"\n\n\"Please don't call him names! I guess he has what is called moral\ncourage, and you physical courage. Uncle explained the difference to\nme, and moral is the best, though often it doesn't look so,\" said Rose\nthoughtfully.\n\nCharlie didn't like that, and answered quickly, \"I don't believe he'd\nstand it any better than I do, if he had those fellows at him.\"\n\n\"Perhaps that's why he keeps out of their way, and wants you to.\"\n\nRose had him there, and Charlie felt it, but would not give in just\nyet, though he was going fast, for somehow, in the dark he seemed to\nsee things clearer than in the light, and found it very easy to be\nconfidential when it was \"only Rose.\"\n\n\"If he was my brother, now, he'd have some right to interfere,\" began\nCharlie, in an injured tone.\n\n\"I wish he was!\" cried Rose.\n\n\"So do I,\" answered Charlie, and then they both laughed at his\ninconsistency.\n\nThe laugh did them good, and when Prince spoke again, it was in a\ndifferent tone pensive, not proud nor perverse.\n\n\"You see, it's hard upon me that I have no brothers and sisters. The\nothers are better off and needn't go abroad for chums if they don't\nlike. I am all alone, and I'd be thankful even for a little sister.\"\n\nRose thought that very pathetic, and, overlooking the uncomplimentary\nword \"even\" in that last sentence, she said, with a timid sort of\nearnestness that conquered her cousin at once,\n\n\"Play I was a little sister. I know I'm silly, but perhaps I'm better\nthan nothing, and I'd dearly love to do it.\"\n\n\"So should I! and we will, for you are not silly, my dear, but a very\nsensible girl, we all think, and I'm proud to have you for a sister.\nThere, now!\" and Charlie looked down at the curly head bobbing along\nbeside him with real affection in his face.\n\nRose gave a skip of pleasure, and laid one seal-skin mitten over the\nother on his arm, as she said happily,\n\n\"That's so nice of you! Now, you needn't be lonely any more, and I'll\ntry to fill Archie's place till he comes back, for I know he will, as\nsoon as you let him.\"\n\n\"Well, I don't mind telling you that while he was my mate I never missed\nbrothers and sisters, or wanted anyone else; but since he cast me off,\nI'll be hanged if I don't feel as forlorn as old Crusoe before Friday\nturned up.\"\n\nThis burst of confidence confirmed Rose in her purpose of winning\nCharlie's Mentor back to him, but she said no more, contented to have\ndone so well. They parted excellent friends, and Prince went home,\nwondering why \"a fellow didn't mind saying things to a girl or woman\nwhich they would die before they'd own to another fellow.\"\n\nRose also had some sage reflections upon the subject, and fell asleep\nthinking that there were a great many curious things in this world, and\nfeeling that she was beginning to find out some of them.\n\nNext day she trudged up the hill to see Archie, and having told him\nas much as she thought best about her talk with Charlie, begged him to\nforget and forgive.\n\n\"I've been thinking that perhaps I ought to, though I am in the right.\nI'm no end fond of Charlie, and he's the best-hearted lad alive; but he\ncan't say No, and that will play the mischief with him, if he does not\ntake care,\" said Archie in his grave, kind way.\n\n\"While father was home, I was very busy with him, so Prince got into a\nset I don't like. They try to be fast, and think it's manly, and they\nflatter him, and lead him on to do all sorts of things play for money,\nand bet, and loaf about. I hate to have him do so, and tried to stop it,\nbut went to work the wrong way, so we got into a mess.\"\n\n\"He is all ready to make up if you don't say much, for he owned to me\nhe was wrong; but I don't think he will own it to you, in words,\" began\nRose.\n\n\"I don't care for that; if he'll just drop those row-dies and come back,\nI'll hold my tongue and not preach. I wonder if he owes those fellows\nmoney, and so doesn't like to break off till he can pay it. I hope not,\nbut don't dare to ask; though, perhaps, Steve knows, he's always after\nPrince, more's the pity,\" and Archie looked anxious.\n\n\"I think Steve does know, for he talked about debts of honour the day I\ngave him--\" There Rose stopped short and turned scarlet.\n\nBut Archie ordered her to \"fess,\" and had the whole story in five\nminutes, for none dared disobey the Chief. He completed her affliction\nby putting a five-dollar bill into her pocket by main force, looking\nboth indignant and resolute as he said,\n\n\"Never do so again; but send Steve to me, if he is afraid to go to his\nfather. Charlie had nothing to do with that; he wouldn't borrow a penny\nof a girl, don't think it. But that's the harm he does Steve, who adores\nhim, and tries to be like him in all things. Don't say a word; I'll make\nit all right, and no one shall blame you.\"\n\n\"Oh me! I always make trouble by trying to help, and then letting out\nthe wrong thing,\" sighed Rose, much depressed by her slip of the tongue.\n\nArchie comforted her with the novel remark that it was always best to\ntell the truth, and made her quite cheerful by promising to heal the\nbreach with Charlie as soon as possible.\n\nHe kept his word so well that the very next afternoon, as Rose looked\nout of the window, she beheld the joyful spectacle of Archie and Prince\ncoming up the avenue, arm-in-arm, as of old, talking away as if to make\nup for the unhappy silence of the past weeks.\n\nRose dropped her work, hurried to the door, and, opening it wide, stood\nthere smiling down upon them so happily, that the faces of the lads\nbrightened as they ran up the steps eager to show that all was well with\nthem.\n\n\"Here's our little peace-maker!\" said Archie, shaking hands with vigour.\n\nBut Charlie added, with a look that made Rose very proud and happy, \"And\nmy little sister.\"\n\n\n\nChapter 24--Which?\n\n\"Uncle, I have discovered what girls are made for,\" said Rose, the day\nafter the reconciliation of Archie and the Prince.\n\n\"Well, my dear, what is it?\" asked Dr. Alec, who was \"planking the\ndeck,\" as he called his daily promenade up and down the hall.\n\n\"To take care of boys,\" answered Rose, quite beaming with satisfaction\nas she spoke. \"Phebe laughed when I told her, and said she thought girls\nhad better learn to take care of themselves first. But that's because\nshe hasn't got seven boy-cousins as I have.\"\n\n\"She is right, nevertheless, Rosy, and so are you, for the two things go\ntogether, and in helping seven lads you are unconsciously doing much\nto improve one lass,\" said Dr. Alec, stopping to nod and smile at the\nbright-faced figure resting on the old bamboo chair, after a lively\ngame of battledore and shuttlecock, in place of a run which a storm\nprevented.\n\n\"Am I? I'm glad of that; but really, uncle, I do feel as if I must take\ncare of the boys, for they come to me in all sorts of troubles, and ask\nadvice, and I like it so much. Only I don't always know what to do,\nand I'm going to consult you privately and then surprise them with my\nwisdom.\"\n\n\"All right, my dear; what's the first worry? I see you have something on\nyour little mind, so come and tell uncle.\"\n\nRose put her arm in his, and, pacing to and fro, told him all about\nCharlie, asking what she could do to keep him straight, and be a real\nsister to him.\n\n\"Could you make up your mind to go and stay with Aunt Clara a month?\"\nasked the Doctor, when she ended.\n\n\"Yes, sir; but I shouldn't like it. Do you really want me to go?\"\n\n\"The best cure for Charlie is a daily dose of Rose water, or Rose and\nwater, or Rose and water; will you go and see that he takes it?\" laughed\nDr. Alec.\n\n\"You mean that if I'm there and try to make it pleasant, he will stay at\nhome and keep out of mischief?\"\n\n\"Exactly.\"\n\n\"But could I make it pleasant? He would want the boys.\"\n\n\"No danger but he'd have the boys, for they swarm after you like bees\nafter their queen. Haven't you found that out?\"\n\n\"Aunt Plen often says they never used to be here half so much before I\ncame, but I never thought I made the difference, it seemed so natural to\nhave them round.\"\n\n\"Little modesty doesn't know what a magnet she is; but she will find it\nout some day,\" and the Doctor softly stroked the cheek that had grown\nrosy with pleasure at the thought of being so much loved. \"Now, you see,\nif I move the magnet to Aunt Clara's, the lads will go there as sure as\niron to steel, and Charlie will be so happy at home he won't care for\nthese mischievous mates of his I hope,\" added the Doctor, well knowing\nhow hard it was to wean a seventeen-year-old boy from his first taste of\nwhat is called \"seeing life,\" which, alas! often ends in seeing death.\n\n\"I'll go, uncle, right away! Aunt Clara is always asking me, and will\nbe glad to get me. I shall have to dress and dine late, and see lots of\ncompany, and be very fashionable, but I'll try not to let it hurt me;\nand if I get in a puzzle or worried about anything I can run to you,\"\nanswered Rose, good-will conquering timidity.\n\nSo it was decided, and without saying much about the real reason for\nthis visit, Rose was transplanted to Aunt Clara's, feeling that she had\na work to do, and very eager to do it well.\n\nDr. Alec was right about the bees, for the boys did follow their queen,\nand astonished Mrs. Clara by their sudden assiduity in making calls,\ndropping in to dinner, and getting up evening frolics. Charlie was a\ndevoted host, and tried to show his gratitude by being very kind to his\n\"little sister,\" for he guessed why she came, and his heart was touched\nby her artless endeavours to \"help him be good.\"\n\nRose often longed to be back in the old house with the simpler pleasures\nand more useful duties of the life there; but, having made up her mind,\nin spite of Phebe, that \"girls were made to take care of boys,\" here\nmotherly little soul found much to enjoy in the new task she had\nundertaken.\n\nIt was a pretty sight to see the one earnest, sweet-faced girl among the\nflock of tall lads, trying to understand, to help and please them with\na patient affection that worked many a small miracle unperceived. Slang,\nrough manners, and careless habits were banished or bettered by the\npresence of a little gentlewoman; and all the manly virtues cropping up\nwere encouraged by the hearty admiration bestowed upon them by one whose\ngood opinion all valued more than they confessed; while Rose tried to\nimitate the good qualities she praised in them, to put away her girlish\nvanities and fears, to be strong and just, and frank and brave, as well\nas modest, kind, and beautiful.\n\nThis trial worked so well that when the month was over, Mac and Steve\ndemanded a visit in their turn, and Rose went, feeling that she would\nlike to hear grim Aunt Jane say, as Aunt Clara did at parting, \"I wish I\ncould keep you all my life, dear.\"\n\nAfter Mac and Steve had had their turn, Archie and Company bore her away\nfor some weeks; and with them she was so happy, she felt as if she would\nlike to stay for ever, if she could have Uncle Alec also.\n\nOf course, Aunt Myra could not be neglected, and, with secret despair,\nRose went to the \"Mausoleum,\" as the boys called her gloomy abode.\nFortunately, she was very near home, and Dr. Alec dropped in so often\nthat her visit was far less dismal than she expected. Between them, they\nactually made Aunt Myra laugh heartily more than once; and Rose did her\nso much good by letting in the sunshine, singing about the silent house,\ncooking wholesome messes, and amusing the old lady with funny little\nlectures on physiology, that she forgot to take her pills and gave up\n\"Mum's Elixir,\" because she slept so well, after the long walks and\ndrives she was beguiled into taking, that she needed no narcotic.\n\nSo the winter flew rapidly away, and it was May before Rose was fairly\nsettled again at home. They called her the \"Monthly Rose,\" because\nshe had spent a month with each of the aunts, and left such pleasant\nmemories of bloom and fragrance behind her, that all wanted the family\nflower back again.\n\nDr. Alec rejoiced greatly over his recovered treasure; but as the time\ndrew near when his year of experiment ended, he had many a secret fear\nthat Rose might like to make her home for the next twelve month with\nAunt Jessie, or even Aunt Clara, for Charlie's sake. He said nothing,\nbut waited with much anxiety for the day when the matter should be\ndecided; and while he waited he did his best to finish as far as\npossible the task he had begun so well.\n\nRose was very happy now, being out nearly all day enjoying the beautiful\nawakening of the world, for spring came bright and early, as if anxious\nto do its part. The old horse-chestnuts budded round her windows, green\nthings sprung up like magic in the garden under her hands, hardy flowers\nbloomed as fast as they could, the birds sang blithely overhead, and\nevery day a chorus of pleasant voices cried, \"Good morning, cousin,\nisn't it jolly weather?\"\n\nNo one remembered the date of the eventful conversation which resulted\nin the Doctor's experiment (no one but himself at least); so when the\naunts were invited to tea one Saturday they came quite unsuspiciously,\nand were all sitting together having a social chat, when Brother Alec\nentered with two photographs in his hand.\n\n\"Do you remember that?\" he said, showing one to Aunt Clara, who happened\nto be nearest.\n\n\"Yes, indeed; it is very like her when she came. Quite her sad,\nunchildlike expression, and thin little face, with the big dark eyes.\"\n\nThe picture was passed round, and all agreed that \"it was very like\nRose a year ago.\" This point being settled, the Doctor showed the second\npicture, which was received with great approbation, and pronounced a\n\"charming likeness.\"\n\nIt certainly was, and a striking contrast to the first one, for it was a\nblooming, smiling face, full of girlish spirit and health, with no sign\nof melancholy, though the soft eyes were thoughtful, and the lines about\nthe lips betrayed a sensitive nature.\n\nDr. Alec set both photographs on the chimneypiece, and, falling back\na step or two, surveyed them with infinite satisfaction for several\nminutes, then wheeled round, saying briefly, as he pointed to the two\nfaces,\n\n\"Time is up; how do you think my experiment has succeeded, ladies?\"\n\n\"Bless me, so it is!\" cried Aunt Plenty, dropping a stitch in her\nsurprise.\n\n\"Beautifully, dear,\" answered Aunt Peace, smiling entire approval.\n\n\"She certainly has improved, but appearances are deceitful, and she had\nno constitution to build upon,\" croaked Aunt Myra.\n\n\"I am willing to allow that, as far as mere health goes, the experiment\nis a success,\" graciously observed Aunt Jane, unable to forget Rose's\nkindness to her Mac.\n\n\"So am I; and I'll go farther, for I really do believe Alec has done\nwonders for the child; she will be a beauty in two or three years,\"\nadded Aunt Clara, feeling that she could say nothing better than that.\n\n\"I always knew he would succeed, and I'm so glad you all allow it, for\nhe deserves more credit than you know, and more praise than he will\never get,\" cried Aunt Jessie, clapping her hands with an enthusiasm that\ncaused Jamie's little red stocking to wave like a triumphal banner in\nthe air.\n\nDr. Alec made them a splendid bow, looking much gratified, and then said\nsoberly,\n\n\"Thank you; now the question is, shall I go on? for this is only the\nbeginning. None of you know the hindrances I've had, the mistakes I've\nmade, the study I've given the case, and the anxiety I've often felt.\nSister Myra is right is one thing Rose is a delicate creature, quick to\nflourish in the sunshine, and as quick to droop without it. She has no\nspecial weakness, but inherits her mother's sensitive nature, and needs\nthe wisest, tenderest care, to keep a very ardent little soul from\nwearing out a finely organised little body. I think I have found the\nright treatment, and; with you to help me, I believe we may build up a\nlovely and a noble woman, who will be a pride and comfort to us all.\"\n\nThere Dr. Alec stopped to get his breath, for he had spoken very\nearnestly, and his voice got a little husky over the last words. A\ngentle murmur from the aunts seemed to encourage him, and he went on\nwith an engaging smile, for the good man was slyly trying to win all the\nladies to vote for him when the time came.\n\n\"Now, I don't wish to be selfish or arbitrary, because I am her\nguardian, and I shall leave Rose free to choose for herself. We all want\nher, and if she likes to make her home with any of you rather than with\nme, she shall do so. In fact, I encouraged her visits last winter, that\nshe might see what we can all offer her, and judge where she will be\nhappiest. Is not that the fairest way? Will you agree to abide by her\nchoice, as I do?\"\n\n\"Yes, we will,\" said all the aunts, in quite a flutter of excitement at\nthe prospect of having Rose for a whole year.\n\n\"Good! she will be here directly, and then we will settle the question\nfor another year. A most important year, mind you, for she has got a\ngood start, and will blossom rapidly now if all goes well with her. So\nI beg of you don't undo my work, but deal very wisely and gently with\nmy little girl, for if any harm come to her, I think it would break my\nheart.\"\n\nAs he spoke, Dr. Alec turned his back abruptly and affected to be\nexamining the pictures again; but the aunts understood how dear the\nchild was to the solitary man who had loved her mother years ago, and\nwho now found his happiness in cherishing the little Rose who was so\nlike her. The good ladies nodded and sighed, and telegraphed to one\nanother that none of them would complain if not chosen, or ever try to\nrob Brother Alec of his \"Heart's Delight,\" as the boys called Rose.\n\nJust then a pleasant sound of happy voices came up from the garden, and\nsmiles broke out on all serious faces. Dr. Alec turned at once, saying,\nas he threw back his head, \"There she is; now for it!\"\n\nThe cousins had been a-Maying, and soon came flocking in laden with the\nspoils.\n\n\"Here is our bonny Scotch rose with all her thorns about her,\" said Dr.\nAlec, surveying her with unusual pride and tenderness, as she went to\nshow Aunt Peace her basket full of early flowers, fresh leaves, and\ncurious lichens.\n\n\"Leave your clutter in the hall, boys, and sit quietly down if you\nchoose to stop here, for we are busy,\" said Aunt Plenty, shaking her\nfinger at the turbulent Clan, who were bubbling over with the jollity\nborn of spring sunshine and healthy exercise.\n\n\"Of course, we choose to stay! Wouldn't miss our Saturday high tea for\nanything,\" said the Chief, as he restored order among his men with a\nnod, a word, and an occasional shake.\n\n\"What is up? a court-martial?\" asked Charlie, looking at the assembled\nladies with affected awe and real curiosity, for these faces betrayed\nthat some interesting business was afloat.\n\nDr. Alec explained in a few words, which he made as brief and calm as he\ncould; but the effect was exciting, nevertheless, for each of the lads\nbegan at once to bribe, entice, and wheedle \"our cousin\" to choose his\nhome.\n\n\"You really ought to come to us for mother's sake, as a relish, you\nknow, for she must be perfectly satiated with boys,\" began Archie, using\nthe strongest argument he could think of at the moment.\n\n\"Oh, do! we'll never slam, or bounce at you or call you 'fraid cat,' if you\nonly will,\" besought Geordie and Will, distorting their countenances in the\nattempt to smile with overpowering sweetness.\n\n\"And I'll always wash my hands 'fore I touch you, and you shall be my dolly,\n'cause Pokey's gone away, and I'll love you _hard_,\" cried Jamie, clinging\nto her with his chubby face full of affection.\n\n\"Brothers and sister ought to live together; especially when the brother\nneeds some one to make home pleasant for him,\" added Charlie, with the\nwheedlesome tone and look that Rose always found so difficult to resist.\n\n\"You had her longest, and it's our turn now; Mac needs her more than you do,\nPrince, for she's 'the light of his eyes,' he says. Come, Rose, choose us,\nand I'll never use the musky pomade you hate again as long as I live,\" said\nSteve, with his most killing air, as he offered this noble sacrifice.\n\nMac peered wistfully over his goggles, saying in an unusually wide-awake and\nearnest way, --\n\n\"Do, cousin, then we can study chemistry together. My experiments don't blow\nup very often now, and the gases aren't at all bad when you get used to\nthem.\"\n\nRose meantime had stood quite still, with the flowers dropping from her\nhands as her eyes went from one eager face to another, while smiles rippled\nover her own at the various enticements offered her. During the laugh that\nfollowed Mac's handsome proposition, she looked at her uncle, whose eyes\nwere fixed on her with an expression of love and longing that went to her\nheart.\n\n\"Ah! yes,\" she thought, \"he wants me most! I've often longed to give him\nsomething that he wished for very much, and now I can.\"\n\nSo, when, at a sudden gesture from Aunt Peace, silence fell, Rose said\nslowly, with a pretty colour in her cheeks, and a beseeching look about\nthe room, as if asking pardon of the boys,\n\n\"It's very hard to choose when everybody is so fond of me; therefore I\nthink I'd better go to the one who seems to need me most.\"\n\n\"No, dear, the one you love the best and will be happiest with,\" said\nDr. Alec quickly, as a doleful sniff from Aunt Myra, and a murmur of \"My\nsainted Caroline,\" made Rose pause and look that way.\n\n\"Take time, cousin; don't be in a hurry to make up your mind, and\nremember, 'Codlin's your friend,'\" added Charlie, hopeful still.\n\n\"I don't want any time! I know who I love best, who I'm happiest\nwith, and I choose uncle. Will he have me?\" cried Rose, in a tone that\nproduced a sympathetic thrill among the hearers, it was so full of\ntender confidence and love.\n\nIf she really had any doubt, the look in Dr. Alec's face banished it\nwithout a word, as he opened wide his arms, and she ran into them,\nfeeling that home was there.\n\nNo one spoke for a minute, but there were signs of emotion among the\naunts, which warned the boys to bestir themselves before the water-works\nbegan to play. So they took hands and began to prance about uncle and\nniece, singing, with sudden inspiration, the nursery rhyme,\n\n    \"Ring around a Rosy!\"\n\nOf course that put an end to all sentiment, and Rose emerged laughing\nfrom Dr. Alec's bosom, with the mark of a waistcoat button nicely\nimprinted on her left cheek. He saw it, and said with a merry kiss that\nhalf effaced it, \"This is my ewe lamb, and I have set my mark on her, so\nno one can steal her away.\"\n\nThat tickled the boys, and they set up a shout of,\n\n    \"Uncle had a little lamb!\"\n\nBut Rose hushed the noise by slipping into the circle, and making them\ndance prettily like lads and lasses round a May-pole; while Phebe,\ncoming in with fresh water for the flowers, began to twitter, chirp, and\ncoo, as if all the birds of the air had come to join in the spring revel\nof the eight cousins."