THE LITTLE INDIAN.
Mrs Dashwood lay on the sofa in the drawing-room, and Miss Kerr sat
beside her reading aloud.
The two children, Bunny and Mervyn, were seated side by side upon a
large white woolly rug in the bow-window, and they whispered
together in very low tones lest they should disturb the ladies by
their noise.
Bunny was nursing a pretty black kitten, with a red ribbon round its
neck, whilst Mervyn sat with his little hands clasped over his
knees, looking out at the blue sparkling sea, with a well-pleased
expression on his thin pale face.
"What a lovely cool place England is!" he whispered; "it feels so
comfortable and nice here, and that sea is so beautiful to look
at."
"Yes, to look at," answered Bunny, nodding her head; "but, oh!
Mervyn, wouldn't you feel afraid to go into it, and have your face
stuck right under the water, and held there till you had no breath,
and--"
"Oh, that would be horrible!" cried Mervyn with a frightened look;
"my papa would be angry if I were put into the sea in that way. Oh!
I will write and tell him if--"
"Well, I know he wrote to say that bathing would be very good for
you," said Bunny, "and mama told Miss Kerr this very morning she was
sure it would be. But I tell you, Mervyn, it's only Sophie that is
so rough and nasty. One day I went to bathe with Miss Kerr, and it
was lovely! She told me when she was going to dip me, and she let me
play at the edge, and I took dolly in and I dipped her, and it was
such fun."
"Well, then, I will ask Miss Kerr always to bathe me," replied
Mervyn; "I should die, I am sure, if I were pushed under the water
and could not get my breath."
"Oh! I was often and often pushed down that way by Sophie, and I
didn't die at all; but I kicked and screamed most dreadfully," cried
Bunny; "but then, mama says I am very strong, and Sophie said last
night that you were a misserble creature, so thin and white."
"Sophie is very rude!" exclaimed Mervyn with a slight flush; "I am
not a miserable creature; I can't help being white; everyone is in
India, because it's so hot."
"That is funny!" cried the little girl, "for Sophie said all Indians
were black, and I thought you would have a little black face like
Pussy here, only Miss Kerr told me you would be as white as me; but
you're whiter, much whiter," and she laid her small plump pink hand
on Mervyn's thin white one.
"I don't like your Sophie," cried Mervyn impatiently; "she talks in
such a queer way, and she's not half so nice as my dear old Indian
nurse. I do wish she had been able to stay in England with me."
"Oh, I think she was a horrid fright!" cried Bunny, "with her nasty
black face and her dreadful flappy wild dress, and I'm sure nobody
could understand a word she said."
"I could," said Mervyn with a sigh, "and I liked talking Hindustanee
much better than English."
"But it sounds so silly!" cried Bunny; "I think it's a great pity
people shouldn't always speak English everywhere, for that would be
so plain and easy."
"Well, I would much rather everyone would speak Hindustanee, for
that would be much nicer."
"Oh, dear! I don't think so," said Bunny; "and I think you speak
English very well."
"Do you?" said Mervyn, smiling; "papa did not; and do you know, I
can't always think of the right words for things."
"Oh! just ask me and I will tell you," replied Bunny jauntily, "for
I never have to think for my words at all."
"Bunny, dear," said Mrs. Dashwood from her sofa, "I think you have
nursed that kitten quite long enough; the poor little thing looks
very tired. Put it into its basket like a good child."
"Very well, mama," answered Bunny, and, jumping up, she ran over to
a corner of the room where stood a pretty round basket, which was
always used as a snug bed for Miss Puss.
Bunny dropped her pet gently in upon the soft cushion, and after
much stroking and tucking up, she stole away on tip-toe to her
mother's side.
But Pussy was in a playful mood, and as soon as the little girl's
back was turned she sprang lightly out of her bed and went
scampering gaily round the room.
"Naughty, naughty puss!" cried Bunny laughing, and off she went in
pursuit of the runaway.
"Bunny, dear Bunny, I can't bear that noise," cried Mrs. Dashwood,
as her little daughter tumbled over a footstool and knocked down a
chair. "I can't bear it indeed, dear child, so I think you had
better go out. Sophie will take you for a walk, as I want Miss Kerr
to read to me."
"Oh, mama! I like Miss Kerr much better than Sophie," cried Bunny,
"and so does Mervyn. Do let Miss Kerr come."
"But, Bunny, dear," said Miss Kerr, "you would not like poor mama
to have no one to read to her, would you? It is so dull for her all
day on the sofa by herself. You would not ask me to leave her, would
you?"
"Oh! no, no, dear, darling mama, I will not ask Miss Kerr to come,
not for a minute!" cried Bunny as, kneeling beside the sofa, she
threw her arms round her mother's neck and kissed her vehemently. "I
could not bear to think of you being lonely, mamey dear. But do let
us stay here now, and go out in the afternoon with Miss Kerr. Mervyn
can't bear Sophie."
"I am sorry for that, my little man," said Mrs. Dashwood, drawing
the boy towards her; "Sophie is sharp and quick, but she is very
good-natured, I think, so I hope you will try and like her."
"Oh! yes, aunt," answered Mervyn, flushing, "I only meant that I
would rather have my own dear nurse, and that I was very sorry she
had been sent away to India again."
"She was not sent away, dear," answered Mrs. Dashwood; "she went by
her own wish. She was fond of you, Mervyn, but she did not like to
live in England, so she hurried back to India as soon as she could.
It will be better for you to learn English well, and try to pick up
a little French from Sophie, than to be always talking with an
Indian, my child. But the first thing you have to do, Mervyn, is to
get fat and rosy like Bunny here. And you must grow tall, dear boy,
for you are very, very small for your age; you must grow as fast as
you can or this little girl will soon be the tallest," and Mrs.
Dashwood pinched her daughter's plump cheek.
"Oh! but mama, dear, he can't make himself grow," remarked Bunny, as
she stood up to measure herself with her cousin. "He has not got a
key to wind up the works of himself, so he must just wait small till
he begins to grow big."
"You are sharp enough, Miss Pert," said her mother, laughing. "I
wish you would learn to be more steady and to remember what is said
to you."
"Oh! I can remember," cried Bunny gaily; "I've got a splendid
memory, haven't I, Miss Kerr?"
"Yes, I think you have, dear," said Miss Kerr gravely; "but I am
afraid you do not always remember at the right time. Eh! Bunny?"
"No, I don't," said the little girl, hanging her head; "I quite
forgot when I got up and went to feed Frisk. But I don't think God
minded that much; it was not much harm."
"God is always displeased at disobedience, Bunny," said Mrs.
Dashwood very seriously. "The first thing God expects of a little
child is that she should be obedient, and so my Bunny must try and
remember things that she is not allowed to do, and then be very
careful not to do them."
"Yes, mama, I will try," said Bunny in a subdued voice.
"That is right, dear, and I hope little Mervyn will do the same."
"Yes, aunt, I will indeed; papa told me to be very good until he
came home, and I mean to be," he said, drawing himself up in a
determined manner.
"Well, then, I am sure you will do Bunny good and help her to
remember. But now run away like good children and tell Sophie to
take you out for a walk. It is a lovely morning, and a run on the
sands will give you an appetite for your dinner."
"Very well, mama," cried Bunny gaily, and away she darted out of the
room singing and shouting at the top of her voice.
"Good morning, aunt," said Mervyn gently, and he followed his little
cousin in a slow dignified manner, turning quietly to shut the
drawing-room door behind him.
"What a harum-scarum that Bunny is!" said Mrs. Dashwood with a sigh.
"It is very hard to make an impression on her."
"Yes, it is certainly, at least for more than a few minutes at a
time," answered Miss Kerr; "she is always so ready to be good, no
matter what she has done, that it is not easy to scold her much. But
she is a good-hearted child, and I am sure in a short time you will
see a great change in her."
"I hope so, indeed," said Mrs. Dashwood, "for she is a constant
worry at present and extremely hard to manage."
[Illustration: Chapter decoration.]