GRANDMOTHER LEE.
Mrs. Lee, the grandmother of the Preston children, remained with the
family for several weeks, after Thanksgiving. Her visit was, on the
whole, a pleasant one, though there were some shadows thoughtlessly
cast over it by the children. Age had somewhat impaired her sense of
hearing, but yet she always wanted to understand everything that was
said in her presence. Often, when the children were talking to each
other in a low tone, she would ask them what they were saying. Ella
did not like these interruptions, and was the first to complain of them.
"O dear," said she, one day, "I do wonder what makes grandmother so
inquisitive. I really believe she thinks we are talking about her all
the time. I can't open my mouth, but she wants to know what I said.
Don't you think she is getting childish, Alice?"
"Why, Ella!" exclaimed Alice, in astonishment, "I should think you
would be ashamed to speak so of your poor old grandmother. What do you
think mother would say if she knew what you said!"
"I can't help it," replied Ella; "I don't see why grandmother need be
so curious about every little thing that's said. I mean to ask her
some time when I have a good chance."
"I should think you had better, Miss Impudence," said Alice; "perhaps
she would like to have you give her some lessons in good behavior."
Alice did not for a moment suppose that her sister meant to speak to
their grandmother upon this subject. But she had miscalculated the
pertness of Ella. A day or two after this, as several of the children
were talking among themselves, the attention of the old lady was
arrested. She could not hear distinctly what they said, but Oscar took
a prominent part in the conversation; and a moment after, on his
leaving the room, she asked Ella what he wanted.
"O, it was n't anything that you care about, grandma'am," replied Ella.
"Is that the way your mother teaches you to answer questions, Ella?"
inquired Mrs. Lee, in a mild, reproachful tone.
"No, no, grandmother," replied Alice, with considerable earnestness; "I
shall tell mother how impudently she spoke to you. A boy has given a
little dog to Oscar, and that was what he was telling us about, just
before he went out."
"Why, grandmother," added Ella, "I did n't mean to be impudent; but I
've noticed that you always want to hear what everybody says, even when
they are not talking to you, and mother says that is n't polite."
"I am much obliged to you, my dear," replied her grandmother, very
meekly; "after I have taken a few more lessons from you, perhaps I
shall know how to behave."
The feelings of the old lady were more hurt by the rudeness of Ella,
than her mild rebukes indicated. Alice felt bound to inform her mother
of what had taken place; and Mrs. Preston was greatly mortified, on
learning that her little daughter had spoken so impudently to her aged
mother. She apologized for Ella, as well as she could, by saying that
she was naturally forward and impulsive. At noon, when the children
returned from school, she called Ella into a room by herself, and
talked with her about her conduct. At first, Ella tried to justify
herself; but after awhile her better nature triumphed, and she felt
heartily ashamed of her treatment of her grandmother. To think that
she, a girl eleven years old, should have attempted to teach her aged
grandmother politeness, and in such an uncivil way, too! No wonder she
hung her head in shame.
To be candid, perhaps Ella's grandmother was a little too inquisitive
to know what was going on around her. But this was one of the
infirmities of old age which were slowly stealing upon her, and which
the young should regard with pity and forbearance, but never with a
censorious spirit.
Ella was really a good-hearted girl, when her generous feelings were
aroused. From that day, she treated her grandmother with marked
kindness and respect; and her unfortunate attempt to rebuke the
venerable woman was never alluded to again.
Among the articles which Mrs. Lee brought from the country, for the
children, was a small bag of corn for popping. One evening, George
happened to think of this corn, which none of them had yet tried; and
partly filling one of his pockets from the bag, he slipped quietly into
the kitchen, and commenced popping it by Bridget's fire. There was no
person in the kitchen but himself, and putting a handfull of corn in
the wire popper, it soon began to snap and jump about, the hard, yellow
kernels bursting forth into light and beautiful milk-white balls. But
by-and-bye the savory odor of the corn found its way up stairs, and
Ella and Ralph ran down to get their share of the treat. George had
put the corn upon the table to cool, as fast as it was popped; but when
he heard footsteps approaching, he scrambled it into his pocket as
quick as possible.
"Halloo, popped corn! Give me some, Georgie, won't you?" said Ralph.
"And me, too," added Ella.
"No I shan't, either," said George; "I popped it for myself."
"You're real stingy," replied Ella; "but no matter, Ralph and I will
pop some for ourselves. Where is the bag?"
"You must find it for yourselves--I had to," was George's selfish
reply, as he gathered the last of his popped corn into his pocket,
badly burning his fingers, in his anxiety lest his brother or sister
should get hold of a kernel or two.
Ella and Ralph commenced searching for the bag of corn, but they could
not find it. They looked in every place where they supposed it might
be, but in vain. Their mother had gone to bed with a sick headache, or
they would have ascertained where it was from her. At length they gave
up the search, and returned to the sitting-room, in no very pleasant
frame of mind.
"I do declare, George," said Ella, "you are the meanest boy I ever
heard of."
"Why, what is the matter with George?" inquired his grandmother.
"He 's been popping some of the corn you gave us," replied Ella; "and
he won't give us a kernel of it, nor tell us where the bag is, so that
we can pop some for ourselves."
"Why, George," said Mrs. Lee, "that is too bad; I would tell them where
the corn is, for I intended it as much for them as for you."
"I don't care," said George; "they've called me mean and stingy, and
now they may find it for themselves."
"We did n't call you mean and stingy till you refused to tell us where
it was," added Ella.
"If I could find it, I guess you would n't get another kernel of it,"
said Ralph, addressing George; "I'd burn it all up first."
"No, no, Ralph, that is wrong," replied his grandmother. "The corn is
n't worth quarrelling about. If George wants to be selfish, and keep
it all to himself, I 'll send down some more for the rest of you, when
I go home. But I guess Georgie does n't mean to be selfish," she
added, coaxingly; "he only wants to plague you a little, that's all.
He 'll tell you where he found the corn, pretty soon."
George, who was growing uneasy under this combined attack, now
retreated to bed, leaving his grandmother more astonished than ever at
his obstinacy.
"There," said Alice, "it's of no use to try to drive or coax him out of
his selfishness. Mother says he 'll outgrow it by-and-bye, but I don't
see as there is any prospect of it. You know what made him so selfish,
don't you, grandmother?"
"I am afraid he has been humored too much," replied Mrs. Lee.
"Well, he has been," added Alice; "but you know when he was little, he
was very sick for a whole year, and the doctor said he must n't be
crossed any more than we could help, for crying and fretting were very
bad for him. So he had his own way in everything, and if we children
had anything he wanted, we had to give it to him, and let him break it
to pieces, for he would scream as loud as he could, if we refused him.
This was the way he got to be so selfish; and now he thinks we must
humor him just as we did when he was sick."
"There is some little excuse for him, if he fell into the habit when he
was very young and sick," observed Mrs. Lee; "but he is old enough and
well enough now to know better, and ought to be broken of the fault."
"Father and mother have tried to break him of it," replied Alice, "but
they have not succeeded very well yet. They have talked to him a good
deal about it, but it does no good."
The next day, the children found the bag of corn, and their mother told
George she should punish him for his selfishness by not letting him
have any more of it. The corn was accordingly divided among the other
children, and thus George, in trying to get more than his share,
actually got less than the others did.
It was about this time that Oscar came into possession of the pup which
Alfred Walton had promised him two or three weeks before. He at first
had some difficulty in obtaining the consent of his mother to bring it
home. She thought it would be troublesome, and tried to dissuade him
from taking it; but Oscar's heart was so strongly set upon the dog,
that she at length reluctantly assented to its being admitted as an
inmate of the family.
Fastening a string to the neck of the dog, Oscar led him to his new
home, where he received every attention from the younger members of the
family. Quite a grave discussion at once ensued, as to what the name
of the new-comer should be. Each of the children had a favorite name
to propose, but Oscar rejected them all, and said the dog should be
called "Tiger;" and so that became his name, but it was usually
abbreviated to "Tige."
[Illustration: Tiger's Countenance.]
Tiger had grown very rapidly, and was now about twice as large as he
was when Alfred promised Oscar one of his litter of pups. He was a
handsome fellow, especially about the head, as you may see by his
portrait. At times, he looked as old and grave as his mother; but for
all that, he was a great rogue, and there was very little dignity or
soberness about him. He was brim-full of fun, and would play with
anybody or anything that would allow him to take that liberty. He
would amuse himself for hours with an old shoe or rag that he had found
in the street, and it seemed as if he never would get tired of shaking,
and tearing, and biting it. This disposition sometimes led him into
mischief, in the house; but he was always so happy, so good-natured and
so affectionate, that it was difficult to blame him very hard for his
misconduct. If Oscar's grandmother happened to drop her ball of yarn,
when Tige was about, he would seize it in an instant, and she would
have to work hard to get it away from him. She kept her work in a bag,
which she usually hung upon the back of a chair; but one day, the
little rogue pulled the bag down upon the floor, and had its various
contents scattered all about the room, before the old lady noticed what
he was doing.
These mischievous pranks were very amusing to Oscar, and he set all the
more by Tiger, on account of this trait in his character. The other
members of the family, too, seemed to enjoy the sport he made; and it
was easy to see that even old Mrs. Lee, though she pretended to be
angry with the dog for his mischievousness, was in reality pleased with
the attentions he bestowed upon her and her knitting-work.
Oscar's grandmother usually retired to her chamber, soon after dinner,
to take a short nap. One noon, after she had been scolding, with
assumed gravity, about the dog's mischievousness, Oscar thought he
would play a joke upon the old lady; so, on rising from the
dinner-table, he carried Tiger up to her bed-room, and shut him in. He
wanted to conceal himself somewhere, and witness the surprise of his
grandmother, when she should open the door, and the dog should spring
upon her; but it was time to go to school, and he could not wait.
It so happened that Mrs. Lee did not take her nap so early as usual
that day. When she did go to her chamber, Tiger, impatient of his long
confinement, sprang out so quickly, that she did not observe him. But
such a scene as met her gaze on entering the chamber! The first thing
that caught her eye, was her best black bonnet lying upon the floor,
all crumpled up and torn into shreds, looking as though it had been
used for a football by a parcel of boys. She entered the room, and
found a dress upon the floor, with numerous marks of rough handling
upon it; while towels and other articles were scattered about in
confusion. The cloth upon the dressing-table had been pulled off, and
the articles that were kept upon it were lying upon the floor,
including a handsome vase, which, in the fall, had been shattered to
pieces. There was in the chamber a stuffed easy-chair, the covering of
which was of worsted-work, wrought by Mrs. Preston when she was a young
girl. This chair, which was highly valued as a relic of the past, was
also badly injured. A part of the needle-work, which had cost so many
hours of patient toil, was torn in every direction, and some of the
hair, with which the cushion was stuffed, was pulled out, and scattered
about the floor.
As soon as Mrs. Lee had fully comprehended the extent of the mischief,
she went to the stair-way, and called her daughter. A glance satisfied
Mrs. Preston that Tiger must have been there; and she was confirmed in
this belief by Bridget, who remembered that the dog came down into the
kitchen, just after Mrs. Lee went up. But they could not tell how the
little rogue got shut into the room. They concluded, however, that
some of the children did it by accident, or that the dog slipped in
unperceived when Mrs. Lee came out from the chamber before dinner.
Oscar did not go directly home from school, but as soon as he entered
the house, he learned what Tiger had done, from the other children. He
felt sorry that what he intended as a harmless joke, should end in so
serious a matter; but he determined that no one should know he had a
hand in it, if he could prevent it. He regretted the destruction of
property, but this feeling did not cause him so much uneasiness as his
fear of losing his dog in consequence of this bad afternoon's work.
His mother, as soon as she saw him, inquired if he had been to his
grandmother's chamber that noon. He replied that he had not. She
inquired if he let Tiger into it, and he answered in the negative. His
mother questioned him still further, but he denied all knowledge of the
matter.
It was not very hard work for Oscar to tell a lie, now, for practice
makes easy. He could do it, too, in such a plausible and seemingly
innocent way, that it was difficult to believe he was deceiving you.
His falsehoods, in this instance, were readily believed; and as all the
other children denied having any knowledge of the affair, it was the
general conclusion that Tiger must have obtained admittance to the
chamber accidentally and unperceived.
When Mr. Preston came home to tea, and saw what the dog had done, he
was very angry with poor Tiger, and told Oscar he must sell him or give
him away, for he would not have such a mischievous animal about the
house another day. A day or two after, Mrs. Preston replaced the
articles belonging to her mother that had been injured, and the
excitement about the dog soon died away. Oscar did not try to get rid
of his pet; but he was careful not to let him stay in the house much of
the time especially when his father was at home.
"Oscar," said his grandmother a day or two after as he came into the
kitchen with Tiger, "I thought your father told you he would n't have
that dog around here any more."
"O, he did n't mean so," replied Oscar; "he was mad when he said that,
but he 's got over it now. Besides, I don't let Tige stay in the house
much."
"A good dale ye cares for what yer father says," remarked Bridget, who
was never backward about putting in a word, when Oscar's delinquencies
were the subject of conversation.
"You shut up, Bridget,--nobody spoke to you," replied Oscar.
"Shet up, did ye say? Faith, if ye don't git shet up yerself where ye
won't git out in a hurry, afore ye 're many years older, it 'll be
because ye don't git yer desarts. Ye 're a bad b'y, that ye are, an'--"
"There, there, Biddy," interrupted Mrs. Lee, "I would n't say anything
more--it only aggravates him, and does no good. But, Oscar," she
added, "I 'm sorry you don't pay more attention to what your father
says. It's a bad habit to get into. I knew a disobedient boy, once,
who came to the gallows; and I 've known several others who made very
bad men."
"But you don't call me disobedient, do you, grandma'am?" inquired Oscar.
"I don't know what else to call it," she replied, "if your father tells
you to do a thing, and you take no notice of it."
"But father does n't want me to give Tige away--I don't believe he 's
thought of it again since that night."
"Then, if I were you," replied his grandmother, "I would ask his
consent to keep the dog. If he did n't mean what he said, that night,
you will be safe enough in asking him."
But this was a kind of reasoning that Oscar could not appreciate. If
he could carry his point just as well without his father's formal
consent, he thought it was useless to ask any such favor. As long as
he could keep his dog, it was all the same to him whether his father
withdrew his command, or silently acquiesced in his disobedience of it.
But grandmother Lee's visit was drawing to a close, and early one
bright, cool morning, in the latter part of December, the coach called,
to take her to the railroad depôt; and after a few kisses, and words of
affectionate advice, and lingering good-byes, she departed on her
homeward journey. Of those she left behind, next to her own daughter,
the saddest of the group was little Ella, who, for many days, missed
the pleasant face of her good old grandmother.