RUTH RUDD.
Ruth, standing by a long wooden bench, in the neat, brick-paved yard,
was engaged in watering some plants that were her especial pride.
Hearing a noise at the fence, she turned, and recognizing Flora, smiled
and asked:
"Won't you come in?"
"Thank you," replied Flora, smiling in return. "I think I will."
Jem looked on wonderingly as her sister and the visitor, whom she
considered her especial property, chatted.
She could not understand how they knew each other. At length, as they
took no notice of her, she determined to assert herself; so, going up to
Flora, she demanded:
"What do you think of _my_ yard?"
"Oh," said Flora, recollecting for what purpose they had come, "I like
it very much indeed, Jem."
"It's a pretty good yard, I think," said Jem, with much emphasis on the
pronoun. "Come and look at the flowers, and I'll tell you the names of
them." And she drew Flora nearer the bench.
"This is a gibonia," she continued, pointing with her fat finger to the
flower named.
"You mean a 'begonia,' don't you, Jem?" said Flora.
"Yes," answered Jem, without changing countenance in the least, or
seeming in any way abashed; "and this is a gerangum."
"A geranium," corrected Flora. "Yes, I see."
"And this is a chipoonia," pointing to a petunia, "and--Oh, there's
Pokey!" and breaking away in the midst of her explanations, she gave
chase to a fat little gray kitten that just then scampered across the
yard, and into the house.
"What a cute little girl Jem is," said Flora to Ruth; "is she your
sister?"
"Yes, that is, she is my half-sister; her mother was not my own mother,
you know."
"Oh, she is your step-mother," said Flora.
"She was," corrected Ruth; "but she has been dead ever since Jem was a
little baby. My own mother died when I was quite small," she added,
with an elderly air.
"Who keeps house for you?" asked Flora, in surprise.
"I do," replied Ruth. "I keep house for father, and take care of Jem.
She is all the company I have."
"What a smart girl you are. How old are you, Ruth?"
"I'm sixteen, but I feel ever so much older. You see, it is a great
responsibility to have everything at home resting upon one," and Ruth
looked very wise.
"I should think so," said Flora, thoughtfully. "I am sixteen too."
"Are you? That's nice. We ought to be good friends," returned Ruth,
smiling.
"Yes, I am sure we shall be," replied Flora, earnestly. "I like you ever
so much, Ruth. I am very lonely here. I know nobody in this place except
my home folks."
"How strange," said Ruth, in a puzzled way. "Tell me about it."
Flora was glad to tell her story.
"You poor child!" exclaimed matronly Ruth, taking her hand between both
her own, and pressing it. "How sorry I am for you."
"Are you?" said Flora, laughing nervously, for she felt more like
crying. "I was just feeling sorry for you."
"Sorry for me? Why?"
"Because you have to live here all alone, or almost alone, and have so
many responsibilities. You must get very lonely."
"Oh, but my responsibilities keep me so busy I have no time to be
lonely. Besides, I like responsibilities."
"You do? Perhaps if I had a few I wouldn't be so lonely either; but then
you see I have none."
"I think you have," returned Ruth, soberly, and added, after a moment's
thought, "I think you have a great many."
"What are they?"
"Your mother, and father, and brothers, and your home. You are
responsible for your conduct toward your parents. It is your duty to be
a good daughter. There's your home, it is your duty to make it pleasant
and comfortable. And there are your brothers----"
"Oh, do stop, Ruth!" cried Flora. "You have told me enough. You talk as
if you were thirty years old instead of sixteen. No, no! I will not
hear any more to-day about responsibilities; I have had enough for one
day," and she playfully placed her hand over Ruth's lips.
"I wasn't going to say any more about them," said Ruth. "I was only
going to ask you to come into the house, for I must begin to prepare our
supper."
"No, thank you!" replied Flora; "I must go now; but I should like to
come again soon."
"Indeed, come as often as you please; the oftener you come the better I
shall like it. Come right through the fence whenever you want to; you
will almost always find me here."
"Thank you," said Flora. She bade Ruth good-bye, and returned home the
same way she had come, entirely unconscious of the look of disapproval
with which little Jem was regarding her from the window of an upper
room, whither she had retreated with her precious Pokey.
Jem felt quite slighted. Flora and Ruth had been so much occupied with
each other as to forget entirely her important little self, and she
determined to severely punish "Sister Ruth" for her conduct. She
immediately proceeded to put her determination into execution by
stowing herself and Pokey away in the darkest corner under the bed, and
there she remained in spite of Ruth's coaxing calls.
Ruth found her there fast asleep, when she went to look for her at
teatime. Ruth was well acquainted with Jem's various modes of punishing
her, and she readily guessed the cause of her little sister's present
displeasure; and likewise knowing her well, she decided to let her alone
until she was ready to come down. At last Jem came down while Ruth was
washing the dishes. She was in perfectly good spirits, for she felt
satisfied that her sister had been sufficiently punished in having been
deprived of her company for so long a time. She sat down quietly and ate
her supper, which had been set aside for her. She did not say anything
about the events of the afternoon and neither did Ruth, who was busy
thinking about Flora. Strangely enough, influenced by some unseen power,
Flora was at the same moment thinking of Ruth. When our young friend
entered her home, she found her father had returned in her absence. Her
mother was hurrying about in an aimless, impatient way, trying to get
supper and at the same time set the table. These two occupations were
not progressing very rapidly in her nervous hands.
Harry and Alec were both in the dining room; the former sitting by the
window reading, and the latter whittling a bit of wood with his
pocket-knife, and letting the chips fly and settle where they would. It
was not a very inviting picture, but with Ruth's gentle face before her,
and her words "It is your duty to be a good daughter" in her mind, Flora
stoutly determined she would begin immediately and undertake her
responsibilities in the very best way she could. With these thoughts she
quietly said to her mother she would finish setting the table. It was
not much to do, but she felt a great deal better in making this first
effort to be of use in her home.
"What have I been thinking about not to have been doing this before? It
is an actual treat to be busy," she continued to herself, as she placed
the plates, cups, and saucers on the table. She did not know it, but
both Harry and Alec were watching her whenever they were sure she was
not looking.
The boys had not paid any attention to their sister since her return
home; in fact, they both thought it a bother to have a girl about the
place. Moreover, Flora had made no effort to prove herself a very
valuable addition to the little family. But this evening, as she moved
back and forth, the neat and tasteful way in which she arranged the
table, was so different from the usual careless manner, that both boys
were favorably impressed. Mrs. Hazeley too, when she hurried in with the
supper, gave a sigh of relief, as she noted that everything was ready.
And the father, although preoccupied with his own thoughts, glanced
about with a pleased look in his eyes.
Although Flora was not aware of all this, she did not fail to notice
there was a difference from the ordinary meal. The boys refrained from
their usual snappish behavior, the mother was less peevish, and her
father's face wore a look of quiet approval. On the whole, there was
change enough to cause Flora to determine she would follow out the
suggestion of her friend Ruth, and endeavor to make her home what she
desired it to be.
When supper was over, Harry and Alec took their hats and went out, no
one asking where they were going, or when they would return.
"How queer," thought Flora, who had volunteered to clear the table and
wash the dishes, "how queer, that neither mother nor father seems to
care where the boys go, or what they do." And realizing the
indifference of her parents, Flora began to feel an interest in the
pursuits of her brothers.
When Flora retired to rest that night, she felt quite pleased with her
experience of the afternoon and evening, and she intended that this
should be the beginning of a new departure in her life; and she felt
glad that she had found such a friend as Ruth. She arose early the next
morning, and was downstairs before her mother was stirring. It was
Sunday, and the entire family were in the habit of rising later than
usual on that day.
"What a dingy old place this is, to be sure," said Flora. "I'll make the
fire and straighten things up a little."
When she had finished she looked about, and shook her head.
"It doesn't look a bit comfortable, or homelike. No wonder the boys go
out every evening. I do wish I knew where to begin to improve things,
but I don't, and I have no one to ask about it, except Ruth; yes, I will
talk to her about things. Perhaps she can help me."
When Mrs. Hazeley came downstairs, to her surprise and unbounded delight
she found the fire burning, the kettle boiling, and the table daintily
laid, ready for breakfast.
"Why, Flora! I did not know you were up," she said, looking around,
well-pleased with the generally improved condition of the room.
"I do believe your aunt has made quite a housekeeper of you," she
continued, a moment later, as she inwardly congratulated herself upon
the circumstance which had sent her daughter home.
Flora flushed at this unexpected, and for her mother, somewhat unusual
word of commendation, but made no reply, for the simple reason that she
did not know what to say. In spite of this feeling of pleasure that her
effort was appreciated, she could not help wishing herself back in her
aunt's home,--not as it now stood, with Aunt Sarah at its head, but as
it had been under Aunt Bertha's gentle control. The more she thought of
it, the more intense became the longing to be there in the old, happy,
care-free life at Brinton. But there was nothing to be gained by
wishing: Aunt Bertha was dead; Aunt Sarah was there, and there to stay;
and she was at home, and here to stay; so there was nothing to do but to
make the best of things, and get as much comfort out of life as she
could. Then she thought of Ruth's life, and her brave effort to make a
home for her father and Jem, and inwardly Flora determined to emulate
her example. How well she succeeded the future will show.