PLANS.
"Suppose we ask the boys to help us," said Bess, threading her needle,
and carefully making a nice little knot.
"Oh, no!" objected Elsie, "let's do it all by ourselves."
"If the boys can help us to do something better than we can do without
them, I think we ought to have them," said Dora wisely.
"It will be more fun too," said Louise, whose motto was "The more, the
merrier."
"We haven't much time either," Bess continued; "but Aunt Zelie will
help us, and you too, won't you, Miss Brown?"
"I'll be glad to do anything I can," replied that lady, looking up
from the feather-stitching she was showing Constance.
Christmas was coming. The fact could no longer be overlooked, and as
usual everybody was feeling surprised at its nearness.
It was not a bit too near, the children thought, though even they had
a great deal to do, and found the days all too short.
Miss Brown was full of suggestions for Christmas gifts, and most
patient with awkward fingers, and the M.Ks. were very happy over the
things she was helping them to make. Now, on top of all this they had
found something else to talk about and work for.
One day when Bess and Louise were in the corner confectionery, the
wife of the proprietor, as she handed them their package, held out a
small bundle of edging, asking them to take it home and show it to
their aunt. It was made, she said, by a young Italian girl who, though
a cripple, was trying to support herself and some younger brothers and
sisters.
As the trimming was pretty and strong, Mrs. Howard bought some for the
children's aprons, and finding the girl worthy, gave her other work,
which was carried back and forth by a little sister.
Louise saw this child waiting in the hall one Saturday morning, and
went down to talk to her. Tina was pretty, with great black eyes and
short dark curls, but Louise found her rather silent, for she was in
fact rather awed by her surroundings. The wide hall with its polished
floor and soft rugs seemed very grand to her unaccustomed eyes.
"I wish I could sew and embroider like your sister, then I could make
some money," said Louise.
Tina wondered why she wanted money, but only answered, "So do I."
"Bess and I have never enough money for Christmas. Is that what you
want it for?"
"No; I would give it to my father."
"Why, he wouldn't want it, would he? Hasn't he any money?"
Tina shook her head, and after some questioning she explained that her
father was a member of a small string band. He played the harp, she
said, and sometimes earned a good deal, but he had been sick, so he
lent his harp to a man who promised to keep his place for him and pay
him something besides. "But he was a bad man!" she exclaimed
vehemently, "for he broke the harp, and then ran away and would not
pay to have it mended; and now my father does not want to get well, he
is sick with sorrow."
"But can't he get it mended himself, or find the bad man and make him
pay for it?"
"It would cost a great deal of money,--fifteen dollars the music man
told my sister,--and the man who broke it has gone away to the South."
"I am so sorry," was all Louise could say, for their talk was
interrupted; but she ran upstairs immediately to tell Bess.
"Don't you wish we could have it mended for him?" she asked.
"Yes, indeed, but we haven't any money to spare from our Christmas
things, and if we used it every bit it would not be enough."
"We might get somebody to help us; still that wouldn't be as nice as
doing it ourselves."
"Perhaps we could have a fair, like the one Aunt Zelie had when she
was a little girl. Let's ask her," proposed Bess, jumping up.
But their aunt thought it too great an undertaking. "I was several
years older than you are," she said, "and we worked for six months to
get ready. However," she added, seeing the disappointed faces, "you
might do something else, tableaux or charades."
This idea pleased them, and they decided to talk it over at the club
that afternoon.
There was no difficulty in interesting the M.Ks. They were all
enthusiasm.
"We may not make enough," said Louise, "but that ought not to keep us
from trying to help."
"If we could only give them the money for a Christmas gift," said
Dora.
"I don't see how you could manage that, but a New Year's gift would be
almost as good, would it not?" asked Miss Brown.
"There is Ikey now! I'll call to him to find the other boys and bring
them over." Dora rapped on the window-pane with her knitting needle as
she spoke.
Ikey, who had just vaulted over a hitching-post on his way down the
street, came to a sudden halt.
"Find Carl and Aleck, and bring them here, that's a good boy; we want
to consult you about something," she called.
He obeyed with soldierly promptness and was across the street in a
second. A few minutes later Louise announced, "Here they come, and
Aunt Zelie with them."
"I am one of the boys now, you know," said Mrs. Howard as she entered.
"How cosey you look! I believe I should like to join your club too."
"Oh, do! Please do, Mrs. Howard!" came in a chorus from the M.Ks. as
she sat down in the midst of them.
"We'll talk about that another time; at present we have something else
to discuss. Sit down, boys, and listen while the girls tell you what
they want. I already know about it."
Bess then told the story of the broken harp, and explained how anxious
they were to earn money enough to have it mended.
"We intend to give an entertainment, and we want you to help," said
Dora.
"What are you going to have?" Carl asked cautiously.
"We want you to help us to decide."
"We can help in one way, can't we?" Ikey exclaimed ecstatically,
whereupon the other boys looked daggers at him, for the basket-making
was kept a profound secret.
"I didn't tell anything, did I?" he inquired in an aggrieved tone.
"What does he mean, Aunt Zelie?" asked Louise.
"It is something we are not ready to tell just yet, but I have a plan
to propose. I shall need all of you to help carry it out, and if you
are willing to do a little work I am sure we can have a charming
entertainment."
Profound interest reigned in Miss Brown's sitting-room for the next
half hour, as Aunt Zelie unfolded her plan and explained what she
wanted of each one. "And in the meantime you must not breathe a word
about what we are to have, but excite every body's curiosity as much
as possible," she said in conclusion.
"Won't it be lovely!" cried Elsie, clapping her hands.
"A great deal better than a fair, and more fun," said Louise.
In the pretty room which belonged to Bess and Louise sat a busy group
one afternoon. Its owners were occupied with a tall scrap basket that
was intended for Uncle William and Aunt Marcia. Aunt Zelie had donated
the ribbons to trim it, and they were anxious to have it as handsome
as possible. Helen and Carl were there too, the one making a bonnet
for her doll, the other pasting in his scrap-book, sitting on the
floor with a newspaper spread out before him. Dora had received a warm
welcome when she came in with her work, as she often did. They all
agreed in thinking that she could not come too often, and to Dora life
in that house was a sort of enchantment. It seemed brighter, roomier,
pleasanter there than anywhere else.
Her young friends did not dream of the cares already resting on her
shoulders: the effort to cheer her mother, who was fast becoming an
invalid, the life in the large boarding-house that neither of them
liked.
"Do you think it will be pretty?" Bess asked, holding her basket at
arm's length to see the effect of the golden-brown ribbon she was
weaving in and out through the straw.
"It is a beauty," answered Dora admiringly.
"Yes, it _is_ pretty, really," said Louise, whose fingers were trying
to fashion what she called a stylish bow.
"Girls are funny, always sticking bows on things," observed Carl.
"If it is funny to like to make things look pretty, I am glad I am
funny," said Dora severely.
"Dear me! Of course, I was not objecting in the least," replied the
young gentleman, who rather enjoyed being taken to task by Dora.
"I am sorry to break up this pleasant party, but I am afraid I must,"
Aunt Zelie said, coming in.
"Why, Auntie?" asked Louise, looking up with three little wrinkles
between her eyes, for the stylish bow would not be quite as she wanted
it.
"Because I am in danger of losing my roses," answered her aunt,
pinching Bess's cheek. "Yesterday they had no fresh air worth
mentioning."
"Oh, please don't make us go!" cried Bess in a tone that was almost a
wail. "We have so much to do!"
"I must finish my bow," Louise said positively.
"I shall not _make_ you, but Joanna is going to Aunt Marcia's with a
note, and I want you to go too because you need the air. I am sure
Dora will take the walk with you, and on the way back suppose you stop
and ask Mrs. Warner to let her stay to dinner. So fly now and get
ready." She spoke so energetically that Dora began at once to roll up
her work, and Bess dropped her scissors with a sigh of relief, but
Louise held on to her bow desperately.
"I _will_ finish it," she said to herself.
"Louise," her aunt said gently, "the reason you cannot make the bow to
please you is because you are tired. Now, which will you do, put it
away till to-morrow--when I am sure you will not have any trouble with
it--and go to walk with the others, or stay here and grow more and
more tired and cross, till you are not fit to come to dinner with the
rest of us?"
She had a struggle with herself before she answered in a choked voice,
"I guess I'll go, but I did want to finish it."
"Of course, but you will be glad by and by that you chose to do what
was right, instead of what you wanted to do," and Aunt Zelie sent her
off with a kiss.
The walk to Aunt Marcia's was not such a hardship after all, and when
they reached home there was at least an hour for studying lessons
before dinner, and that was followed by a grand frolic with Carie,
lasting till it was time for Dora to go.
"I am sorry I was cross this afternoon," Louise said when she came for
her good-night kiss.
"It was because you were tired, dear, I know. You and Bess must take
care not to be too much occupied with Christmas. It will not do to
neglect every-day duties even for that," replied her aunt.