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NAUGHTY MISS BUNNY.
[Illustration: THE BUTLER SURPRISES BUNNY.]
NAUGHTY MISS BUNNY
A STORY
FOR LITTLE CHILDREN.
BY
CLARA MULHOLLAND
Author of "The Little Bog-trotters," &c.
[Illustration: Logo]
LONDON
BLACKIE & SON, LIMITED, 50 OLD BAILEY, E.C.
GLASGOW AND DUBLIN
CONTENTS.
Chap. Page
I. ONLY FOR FUN, 9
II. PLEASANT NEWS FOR BUNNY, 27
III. BUNNY GETS UP EARLY, 37
IV. BUNNY GETS A FRIGHT, 49
V. THE LITTLE INDIAN, 59
VI. BUNNY FORGETS AGAIN, 69
VII. IN MISS KERR'S ROOM, 83
VIII. BUNNY TRIES TO SHOW OFF, 99
IX. MISS KERR PROMISES A PRIZE, 125
X. ON OLIVER'S MOUNT, 138
XI. WAS IT CRUEL? 152
XII. THE FIREWORKS, 167
XIII. QUIET TIMES, 179
XIV. BUNNY'S IMPROVEMENT. HOME AGAIN, 185
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
THE BUTLER SURPRISES BUNNY, _Frontispiece_ 19
BUNNY WELCOMES HER FATHER, 50
FRANCIS SAVES BUNNY, 115
[Illustration: Chapter decoration.]
NAUGHTY MISS BUNNY.
CHAPTER I.
ONLY FOR FUN.
"How nice!" cried Bunny. "Mama has sent for Miss Kerr, so I can do
exactly as I like for a little while. I am very glad papa brought us
up here, for it is so pretty and so cool, and these gardens are so
lovely;" and she gazed about her at the garden and the lawn and then
at the distant sea that lay just beyond them, sparkling and dancing
in the sunshine. "If I had no governess," continued the little girl,
"and no lessons, and no nasty nurse to say, 'Sit still, Miss Bunny,'
and 'Don't make dirty your frock, Miss Bunny,' I think I should be
jolly--yes, that's papa's word, jolly. But, oh dear, big people are
so happy, for they can do what they like, but _chindrel_ must do
everything they are told." And quite forgetting her pretty white
frock and dainty sash, and the many orders she had received not on
any account to soil them, she lay back comfortably upon the grass.
Bunny, whose real name was Ethel Dashwood, was six years old, and
was one of the spoilt "_chindrel_," as she called children. If she
had had brothers and sisters, very likely Bunny would have been kept
in better order, but as she was quite alone no one could bear to
correct her, and so she became very hard to manage indeed. Her papa
indulged her, and thought she could do nothing wrong, whilst her
mama was so delicate that she was very seldom able to look after her
little girl, and left her to the care of a kind-hearted, but foolish
old nurse, who allowed her to have her own way in everything and
never for an instant thought of finding fault with her.
This was all very well so long as Bunny was no more than a baby, but
when she came to be six years old Mr. Dashwood suddenly found that
her little girl was much too naughty, so she resolved to make a
change in the nursery, that would, she hoped, have a good effect in
every way. First of all old nurse was sent away, and a trim French
maid, with a quick sharp manner, was engaged to take her place.
Bunny was sorry to part with nurse, who had always been kind to her,
but Sophie was so amusing, spoke such funny English, and sang such
merry songs that the little girl soon ceased to fret, and became
quite pleased with her new maid.
The change of nurses Bunny bore in a quiet way that surprised
everyone in the house; but when her mother told her that she had
arranged with a young lady to come and live with them and be her
governess, the little girl burst into a passion, and stamping her
foot declared she would have no one to teach her, that she would say
no lessons, and that her mama was very unkind to think of such a
thing.
Mrs. Dashwood was greatly shocked, and unable to understand such
naughtiness, rang the bell and ordered Sophie to take the child
away, and Bunny was carried off weeping bitterly. But this fit of
anger only made her mama more anxious to have some one to look after
her daughter, and in a few days the governess arrived, and Bunny was
set down to learn to read and write.
This was a great change for the neglected child, and had her teacher
been a sensible person Bunny would doubtless have become a good
little girl in time. But unfortunately the governess was very
foolish, and thought it much easier to allow her pupil to have her
own way than to take the trouble to make her do what was right, and
so instead of doing the child good she did her harm, and Bunny
became more and more naughty every day.
This was in June, and as London grew very hot and dusty, Mrs.
Dashwood declared they must all go away to the country, and her
husband, who wished them to have a nice holiday, went off at once
and took a beautiful house at Scarborough.
Bunny was enchanted, and made up her mind to have great fun at the
seaside, and as the very day before they left town, her governess
was obliged to leave in a great hurry on account of a death in her
family, the little girl made up her mind that she was going to have
perfect freedom to do exactly what she liked and to play every day
upon the sea-beach. Sophie did not trouble her much except when she
was cross, and so Bunny set off to Scarborough in very high spirits.
The house her papa had taken for them was a pretty rambling old
place, standing on a height just above the sea, and surrounded by
spreading trees and large gardens full of sweet-scented flowers. A
most charming spot indeed, and to the little girl from hot dusty
London it seemed a perfect paradise.
The first days in the country passed away very happily, and Bunny
was not as wild as might have been expected by those who knew her,
when one day, as she ran through the hall, she stopped in
astonishment before a large trunk, and cried out to the butler, who
was standing near, "Who does that belong to, Ashton? Has a visitor
come to stay with us?"
"A visitor, miss? No, a new governess, miss--she's just gone in to
speak to your mama;" and he hurried away to his pantry.
"Nasty thing!" cried Bunny, stamping her foot and growing very red
and angry. Just when I thought I was going to be happy all by
myself! But I'll be so naughty, and so troublesome, that she'll soon
go away. I'll be ten times as hard to manage as I was before. She'll
not get hold of me to-night any way, and scampering off into the
garden she hid herself among the trees.
But the new governess, Miss Kerr, was a very different person from
the last, and resolved to do her best to make her little pupil a
good well-behaved child. She was a kind, warm-hearted girl, who had
a great many small brothers and sisters of her own, and she never
doubted that in a short time Bunny would become as good and obedient
as they were. She soon found, however, that the task was not as easy
as she had fancied, and when she had been a few days at Holly Lodge
she began to fear that it would be a very long time before her
lectures and advice would have the smallest effect upon the wayward
little child.
She had now been a whole week in charge of the girl, and she feared
that Bunny would never learn to love her.
About half an hour before our story begins, Bunny and her governess
had been seated on the lawn together. Mrs. Dashwood sent to ask Miss
Kerr to go to her for a few moments, and that young lady had
hastened into the house, leaving her little charge upon the grass
with her book.
"Do not stir from here till I return, Bunny," she said; "you can go
over that little lesson again, and I shall not be long."
But as time went on and she did not return the child grew restless,
and feeling very tired of sitting still, began to look about to see
what there was for her to do.
"Governesses are great bothers," she grumbled to herself as she
rolled about on the grass. "And now as Miss Kerr does not seem to be
coming back, I think I will have a climb up that tree--it looks so
easy I'm sure I could go up ever so high. There's nobody looking, so
I'll just see if I can go right away up--as high as that little bird
up there."
Bunny was very quick in her movements, and a minute later her white
frock and blue sash were fluttering about among the leaves and
branches of a fine old tree that grew in the middle of the lawn.
"Oh, dear! How lovely it would be to be a bird--cheep, cheep! If I
only had wings I should just feel like one this minute, perched up
so high," she said with a merry laugh, as she jumped and wriggled
about on the branch.
But she quite forgot that the nursery window overlooked the lawn,
and that Sophie was sure to be sitting there at her work. In a
moment, however, this fact was recalled to her mind by the sound of
a wild shriek from the terrified maid.
"Mademoiselle! Miss Bunny, you want to kill yourself, or tear your
sweet frock. Ah! naughty child, get down this instants, or I will
tell monsieur your papa."
This was the one threat that had any power to move Miss Bunny, so
down she scrambled and ran away as fast as she could over the grass.
There was still no sign of Miss Kerr, so the child wandered about,
wondering what was keeping her governess, and wishing she had
something to do, when all at once her eyes fell on a beautiful
rose-tree, almost weighed down with the quantity of its flowers, and
she flew at it in delight and began to pull off the lovely blossoms
and pin one of them into the front of her frock. But like most
foolish children she broke them off so short that there was no stalk
left with which to fasten them, and so the poor rose fell upon the
ground, and the little girl impatiently snatched at another and
dragged it ruthlessly from the branch. This went on for some time,
and would probably have gone on until not a flower remained upon the
bush, had not Sophie again made herself heard from the nursery
window.
"Miss Bunny, how can you derange the beautiful roses?" she cried
indignantly. "There will be not one left to give to your papa when
he comes home, and you know he loves those sweet flowers so much."
"Oh, I am so sorry," cried Bunny. "But there are some dear little
buds, and I will just leave them for papa. Who knows perhaps they
may be roses by to-morrow evening!" and away she flitted like a
white-winged butterfly in search of some other sweet flowers that
she might make her own, without fear of further interruption from
sharp-tongued Sophie.
At last, when she had such a large bouquet that her little hands
could scarcely hold it, she wearied of her occupation, and stepping
softly to the drawing-room window, she peeped in just to see what
Miss Kerr and her mama could be doing that kept them shut up there
for so long together.
"I'll take mama these flowers," she said to herself, "and I am sure
they will make her headache better. I'll just tap gently at the
window and Miss Kerr will let me in, and I'll be so good and quiet
that mama will not mind me being with her while she talks."
Bunny waited for some minutes, hoping to be admitted to the room,
but no notice was taken of her knocking--for the ladies were too
much absorbed in their own affairs to trouble themselves about her.
Mrs. Dashwood lay on the sofa, and her face had a flushed anxious
expression, as she listened to Miss Kerr, who was seated on a stool
by her side, and seemed to be talking very earnestly, but her voice
was low, and as the window was shut Bunny could not hear a word she
said.
"Oh dear, what a lot Miss Kerr has got to say!" cried the little
girl impatiently. "She seems as if she had forgotten all about me. I
am tired of being out here all alone, so I'll just run in and play
with my dollies."
Now the nearest way into the house was up a flight of steps and in
by the dining-room window, which was like a large glass door, and
always lay open in the most tempting manner possible.
So up these steps went Miss Bunny, her hands full of flowers and her
mind bent on mischief, if she could only meet with anything to do
that would amuse her and give her some fun.
[Illustration: THE BUTLER SURPRISES BUNNY.]
The room into which she stepped was a very pretty one. It was very
nearly round, with many high windows looking out upon the pleasant
grounds and blue sparkling sea. Upon the walls were pictures of fine
thoroughbred horses, some of them with their little foals beside
them, others with a surly-looking old dog or a tiny kitten, their
favourite stable companion and friend. Bunny loved these pictures
and had given the horses pet names of her own, by which she insisted
on calling them, although their own well-known names were printed
under them, for they were all horses that had won a great number of
races during their lives, and so had become celebrated.
The round table in the middle of the room was laid ready for dinner,
and looked very inviting with its prettily arranged flowers,
handsome silver, and shining glass.
"Dear me, how nice it all looks!" said Bunny, as she marched round
the table on tip-toe. "One, two, three, four places. Why, it must be
for company. Well, I hope there will be somebody nice to talk to me.
I must get Sophie to put on my pretty new frock. But oh, dear, what
fun it would be just to put a tiny, little drop of water into every
glass! Wouldn't old Ashton wonder--just when he thinks everything is
nice for dinner? I will! I'll do it! It will be such fun! Oh, I'd
like to see his face; won't he be horribly angry?"
Throwing her flowers on the floor, Bunny sprang to the side-board,
and seizing a water-jug she climbed up on each chair in turn and
poured a few drops of water into every glass all round the
dinner-table.
Just as she came to the last wine-glass and held the jug ready to
let the water fall into it, the door opened suddenly and the
solemn-looking old butler entered the room.
"Miss Bunny!" he exclaimed, and he looked so stern and angry that
the little girl felt frightened, and dropping the jug, scrambled off
the chair, seized her flowers, and ran out of his sight as fast as
she could.
"I only did it for fun, Ashton," she called back from the door. "It
is clean water, so it won't do any harm."
"Harm, indeed!" grumbled Ashton; "just as I thought I had everything
done until dinner time. Now I must begin and rub up all this glass
again;" and he began at once to remove the glasses from the table.
"Little himp that she is, that Miss Bunny! A perfect himp, and if I
had the governessing of her for sometime I'd--I'd--bah! there's that
bell again! Some folks is in a mighty hurry," and full of anger and
indignation against the little girl whom he could not punish for her
naughty trick, Ashton hurried to the hall door, longing for
something upon which he could vent his wrath.
Bunny was skipping merrily in the hall, and the pretty roses that
she had gathered with so much pleasure lay scattered on the ground.
This sight did not tend to put the butler in a better temper, but he
made no remark, and passing by the little girl without a word he
opened the hall door with a jerk. A poor boy with a thin pinched
face stood upon the step.
"If you please, sir, will you give me a bit of bread, for I am very
hungry?" he said in an imploring voice, as he gazed up into the
butler's face.
"There's nothing for you. How dare you come here with your wretched
lies?" cried Ashton fiercely, and he shut the door with a bang.
"That's not true, Ashton," cried Bunny darting forward and opening
the door again. "Wait, little boy, and I will get you something!"
and before the astonished butler knew where he was, she had rushed
into the dining-room, and came back carrying a large loaf and a pat
of butter that she had found upon the side-board.
"You must not give that away, Miss Bunny," cried the man; "that is
in my charge, and I cannot allow you to give it to a beggar;" and he
tried to drag the bread from her hands.
"You nasty man! I will give it to him if I like," she screamed. "My
papa always lets me do what I like, and you are only a servant--and
I will give it;" and she struggled to get away from him. "I only put
the water in your glasses for fun--but I'm very glad I did it--and I
wish I had put dirty water in--and I wish--let me go--I'll tell
papa, and he'll be very angry and--"
"Bunny," said a soft reproachful voice, "my dear child, what is the
matter?" and Miss Kerr laid her hand gently upon the little girl's
shoulder.
"That nasty Ashton won't let me give this loaf to a poor boy who is
there begging," cried Bunny; "he's very hungry and I want--"
"Ashton is quite right, Bunny," said Miss Kerr gently; "give him
back the loaf, dear. It is not yours, so you have no right to give
it away. Have you no money of your own to give the boy?"
"No, I have not," cried Bunny bursting into tears, "and I am sure
papa would not mind my giving the loaf away--he never does. Ashton's
a nasty, cross old thing;" and she flung the loaf on the floor.
"Ashton is only doing his duty, Bunny, and you must not speak in
that way."
"Well, I wish he wouldn't do his duty then," sobbed the little girl;
"it's a great shame of him to do his duty, when I tell him not."
"Come, now, dear, dry your eyes and give this to the poor boy," said
Miss Kerr kindly; "see, I will lend you threepence to give to him,
and when your papa gives you some pocket-money you can repay me. The
boy will like the money better than the bread, I daresay, and you
will feel that you are giving something that is really your own."
"Oh, thank you, thank you!" cried Bunny with delight, her tears
drying up in an instant. "You are good! You are kind!" and throwing
her arms round Miss Kerr's neck she kissed her over and over again;
then seizing the pennies she flew to the door, and handing them to
the boy said in a subdued voice: "Here, boy, a good lady gave me
these pennies for you. I am a greedy little girl and spend all my
own money on sweets, but I'll save up and pay Miss Kerr back very
soon."
"That is enough, Bunny," said the governess, taking the child by the
hand. "I have something to tell you, dear, so come with me now."
"Very well, I will come," answered Bunny quite meekly, and shutting
the door, she followed Miss Kerr down the hall.
[Illustration: Chapter decoration.]