What happened then? Why in a moment she ran up to me, climbed upon a
chair close by,--threw her arms around my neck, and gave me such a
precious little smothering hug, and so many sweet kisses, with her soft
face pressed with all her might upon my cheek, that I almost lost my
breath, and was perfectly astonished, as well as delighted.
Then the little girl said: "Oh thank you, dear Aunt Fanny, _twenty-ten_
times, for my Baby Nightcaps! I love them! I love you! I love you
_dreadfully_!" Oh! how glad I was to hear that! I was glad
"_twenty-ten_" times. It was sweeter to me, than a whole basket full of
sugar candies would be to you--and I kissed her on both her round
dimpled cheeks, and sat down, and took her on my lap, and hugged her to
my heart, and said--"what a darling! what a dear little thing!"
Then I looked at the lady. She was laughing and blushing, and I was
laughing and blushing, and the little girl was laughing and blushing.
Don't you think we three were having a very funny kind of time? _I_
did.
At last the lady said: "I hope you will excuse me for bringing Kitty to
see you; but she begged so hard for 'just one little look at Aunt
Fanny,' I could not bear to refuse her. I am afraid she has taken a
great deal more than 'one little look.' I hope she has not kissed a
piece out of your cheek?"
At this, Kitty looked up in great alarm at my cheek--but seeing that it
was not bleeding, and had no hole in it, she patted it softly with her
little tender dimpled hand, and said: "+Aunt Fanny, Aunt Fanny,+" in a
little speck of a whisper to herself a great many times.
Then I said: "I am _so_ glad to know that you were pleased with Baby
Nightcaps. Would you like me to ask poor lame Charley's mother for
more?"
With a joyful little scream, she hugged me again, and kissed my
cheek--_very softly_ this time, for fear of hurting me, and said: "Oh!
Aunt Fanny! if you only will, I will give you a whole paper full of
_perl_asses candy, and one of my new _handkerchickers_; and when you are
old and blind, I will take you in my arms, and carry you up stairs, and
put you in my lap _and teach you your letters_, and ask mamma to read
the Bible to you--all about Joseph, you know, and his wicked _bredders_;
it will make you _ki_."
Wasn't she a cunning little thing? I could not help laughing, to think
of such a little mite of a child, talking of taking me in her arms; and
then I could not help the tears coming, at her offer to have her own
mamma read the Bible to me--was it not sweet? _You_ would have done so
too, wouldn't you? You see, it must have been Kitty's greatest pleasure,
to have God's Holy Bible read to her; so she promised me, what she
thought was the very best thing in the whole world. And so it is.
You may be sure, that I told her, I would try to get the stories very
soon.
Pretty soon Kitty and her mamma went away; but not before we had given
each other one more real good kiss, and I had prayed in my heart that
God would bless the precious little child, and guide me with my new
book, so that it would help Kitty and you to be good, obedient children,
His precious little lambs here upon earth, and His bright, beautiful
angels in Heaven.
In the evening I put on my bonnet and shawl, and went to see lame
Charley's mother. As I rang the bell, I heard such a quantity of
laughing voices, and so many little feet pattering, I was almost
certain, that at least twenty cousins must have come to town to help
them have a good time: but when the door was opened, I saw they were all
Nightcap Children, rushing down stairs together. They had gone up to
wash their faces and hands and brush their hair, and were coming down
all laughing and talking at once, so you may be sure it made a great
noise.
Bless their little chattering tongues, and pattering feet! You can't
expect children to be as grave and solemn as judges--of course not. I,
for one, would not give a pin for a child that did not make a
noise--that is--a pleasant noise.
So they were jumping and tumbling down, when I entered, and in a moment
they were all about me crying. "How-de-do, Aunt Fanny? Come in, come in,
mamma is in the parlor, and Charley is sitting in her lap--and the
TREMENDOUS DOG is asleep on the rug--and we are not to have a Nightcap
story to-night--but something grand! splendid!"
[Illustration: THE TREMENDOUS DOG!]
"Somesing 'tonishing," chimed in little Minnie--"_tome!_ _kick!_"--by
which she meant me to "come quick"--and not to tell me to kick
anybody--oh dear, no!
So we all hurried along--and how I got into the room, without stepping
upon some of their dear little toes, I am sure I don't know, but nobody
seemed to be hurt--and heads and toes came in all safe--and Charley
lifted up his sweet pale face for a kiss, and his mother shook hands
with me, and then we all sat down, and the boys said "hush," and the
girls said "hush," till it sounded so much like a room brimful of cats
sneezing, that I laughed; and that made the children laugh, and then of
course they had to jump up and down in their seats, and the girls had to
twirl round and make cheeses, and this made the TREMENDOUS DOG laugh,
which he did by wagging his tail, like a flag in a high wind, and giving
two or three short barks, and it was just as good as going to Barnum's
Museum, to see such a "happy family." If you had asked _Barnum_ about
it, he would have said it was ever so much better.
At last I said: "Dear little Charley, I have put the stories told to
you, and Minnie, and the rest, into three Nightcap books. They have
pleased the children very much. I know this, because I have received a
great many letters; such nice letters! telling me how the children
laughed and cried, and not one single word in any of them to say that
anybody put his mouth out of joint, yawning over the stories. Instead of
that, they all want more; and this very day a sweet little girl came to
see me to ask for more. She was not like poor Oliver Twist, asking for
food for her body. Oh no! she was a plump, merry, rosy-cheeked darling,
just like Minnie, and eat just as much good bread and milk as she
wanted, and molasses candy, too--for she promised to give me ever so
much, if I would only give her another Nightcap book--and what is more
and better, she has promised to read the Bible to me, when I am old and
blind."
"Did you ever!" shouted the children; "Aunt Fanny, old and blind! We'll
read to you, too, the whole Bible, and all the books in the bookcase
beside! When are you going to be? Will you walk with a long black cane
like old Granny Van Winkle? Do begin pretty soon, because we want to be
kind to you, and read to you, too!"
"Ah--no!" said the sweet voice of lame Charley. "Dear Aunt Fanny, we
_don't_ want you to be old and blind; you shall have all mamma's pretty
stories without it. I am glad the children like them. _I_ think them
lovely; my back does not hurt me near so much while she is telling them,
and when I die, which I think will be very soon now, I hope the children
will think of me sometimes, and love my darling mamma, who has given
them and me so many pleasant hours. This is my birthday, Aunt Fanny. I
am ten years old to-day. Perhaps it is my last birthday. See what my
brothers and sisters have given to me."
In the midst of a sad silence, (for the children were now quite still,
and were looking at Charley, with their eyes full of love and tears,) I
went up to a table, at which he had pointed, and saw what looked like a
large tin box. It proved to be a splendid magic lantern! The children
had saved all their money for many months to be able to buy it, and the
little mother told me, that when they came in a body that morning and
gave it to Charley, with their dear love and many kisses, their faces
glowing with pleasure, it was the sweetest sight in the world to see,
and Charley thought he could never thank or love them enough, and that
very morning he made this little prayer, and added it to his others:
"Oh God, I am a poor little suffering child. Very often, I cannot help
crying with pain. But many children suffer as much as I do, and have not
one of my blessings; and Jesus, my Saviour, suffered far more. He was
innocent and good, while we, for whom He suffered, are sometimes very
naughty. Please, God, to forgive me for being naughty, and bless and
love my dear brothers and sisters who are so kind to me, and please
bless my darling mother, and if I die before another year, may we all
meet again in heaven, I pray, for Jesus' sake. Amen."
The tears came into my eyes as I listened to this little prayer--and I
bent my face down and kissed Charley's white forehead to hide them--and
whispered to him that I would tell it to the children outside in the
world, and perhaps this little prayer might be learned by some other
sick child--and it would comfort them, and I would also give them the
new stories--at which he smiled and said: "Oh, yes, do!" and all the
rest said: "Do, Aunt Fanny; and stay to-night--and see the magic
lantern--then you can tell them about that, too, you know; they'll be so
glad, they won't know what to do."
So I staid; and pretty soon there was a great scampering, and bustling,
and climbing up on chairs, to fasten a large sheet over the opening of
one of the doors, and then the grandest of the company--which consisted
of Charley, the TREMENDOUS DOG, and myself--were put, with a great many
polite speeches, into the best places in front; and the rest shook, and
jumped, and tumbled themselves into seats behind us--and all the lights
were put out, and everybody was in a perfect state of delightful
expectation, as they shouted: "Here we are, mamma, with all our eyes
staring at the sheet ready for the show."
Then the little mother went into the next room with the magic lantern,
and lighted a lamp inside, and placed it close to the sheet. In a
moment, a large, bright circle of light appeared on the sheet--and in a
moment more, we saw a splendid picture of Daniel in the Lions' Den; the
lions with their fierce-looking mouths wide open, and their sharp claws
spread out as if they would snap up Daniel the very next instant--upon
which the children raised such a shout that I thought my head was coming
off--and it was quite fortunate that the picture was changed to one of
Moses in the Bulrushes, which delighted the children beyond every thing;
but when there came a picture of little Samuel praying--a low murmur
of--"Oh! how lovely! what a good little Samuel! how I love him!"
sounded softly through the room.
There was one picture of a cross old school ma'am, with a great hook
nose, and a long whip, looking so savage at three poor little children
that did not seem to know their lessons--that Minnie cried out:
[Illustration: THE PICTURE IN THE MAGIC LANTERN.]
"Oh! see the poor chillens! they don't know their A, B, C. Ah! I so
sorry for them!" and then all the children said: "Poor things! why
don't they run away--I would! Because she looks so cross! let's scratch
a smile on her face with a pin, and _make_ her look pleasant."
But the best picture of all was Noah's Ark. First the ark came on
alone--then a plank seemed to be put down--then came the great
elephants, lions, tigers, and bears, marching up the plank two and two
into the ark--and after them all the rest of the animals in the world,
getting smaller and smaller, until little wee monkeys, and kittens, and
mice, and robins, and grasshoppers, and blind beetles, and big spiders,
and tumble-bugs, ran and hopped, and skipped, and crawled up the plank
in such quantities, that it was quite a wonder they were not all
suffocated in such a crowd. But didn't the children clap their hands
and cry: "Look! look!" when Noah and his wife, and his three sons,
Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and their families, marched gravely past, looking
straight before them, and went into the ark, and the ark sailed slowly
off! It was perfect! they wished they could have gone into the ark, too,
to put apples into the elephant's trunk, and play with the monkeys, and
count all the animals--George guessed there must have been at least a
thousand--while Annie thought a million went in. How many do you think,
you dear little darling?
The magic lantern was a great success, and Minnie said: "the magic
_nightcat_ was the bestest of all."
After the show was over, I kissed everybody, and went home quite happy
in the promise of my new stories--and you may be sure, you dear little
poppet, that Kitty, and you, and all the darling children shall have
them as fast as the printer can print them. If you like them, just go to
Mr. Appleton's, and coax him to tell you where I live; and then run up
to my house on your dear little feet, and give one real good kiss to
your loving Aunt Fanny.