"Once upon a time, there lived a little girl, named Edith. She was a
dear good little puss, and that was the reason everybody loved her.
Don't you think it was a very good reason?"
"Yes, papa," said Bella; and she squeezed her soft cheek lovingly
against him, and he gave her a little hug; and then they went on again
quite comfortable with the story.
"Well, one day her papa said to her mamma, 'My dear, I shall not be home
to-day to dinner; but what shall I order for yours?'
"'Well, dear,' she answered, 'I think one beef-steak, and some green
peas, and potatoes, will do for Edith and me; and the cook shall make a
poor man's pudding, with raisins in it; that will be a very nice little
dinner.'
"'If I see any thing very nice, I will send that too.'
"'Very well.' Then Edith's papa kissed all the family. It did not take
him very long, for he had only Edith and her mamma for a family at that
time; and then he went away.
"Pretty soon after, Edith said: 'Mamma, will you please to let me go
next door, and play with Annie, and Mary?'
"'Yes, dear,' answered her mother; 'but do not forget to come home at
five o'clock to dinner.'
"Edith promised to come, and then skipped joyfully off--with her best
doll, Miss Polly Dolly Adeline, and two big apples to play 'party' with,
and in a few minutes her mother thought there must be at least twenty
children next door, instead of three; for they were having such a good
time that they made noise enough to frighten the crows into fits, if any
crows happened that way.
[Illustration: WHO SHOULD COME IN BUT THE FAT COOK, WITH A GREAT GOOSE.]
"As her mother was sitting at her sewing, some one knocked at the
door, and who should come in, but the fat cook, with a great goose,
fatter than she was; who cried out: 'Only see what a big goost, mum; and
only you and Miss Edith to eat it; besides a beef-steak to brile, and
peas and potatoes.'
"'Dear me,' said her mistress, 'we could not eat a quarter of that
goose. Save it for to-morrow, Mrs. Jellybag. Only cook the beef-steak
and vegetables; and make a poor man's pudding, with raisins, for
dessert; that will do nicely.' So the fat cook put the fat goose
carefully away in the refrigerator; then she shelled enough peas for a
small dish, and peeled about a dozen potatoes, and prepared the raisins
for the pudding, and had them all nicely done in time.
"When five o'clock came, the bell rang for dinner, and Edith's mother
went down, and took her seat at the table.
"Just then she heard a whole chorus of merry little voices, and to her
great surprise, in marched Edith, and seven little girls after her! They
were all nearly of the same size, with their hair braided in two tails
apiece, as fine as you please.
"'Why, Edith!!' exclaimed her mother.
"'Yes, mamma,' said Edith, 'I told them to come in and get some dinner,
and some nice poor man's pudding, with raisins in it; they are Annie's
and Mary's cousins. They are real nice, and we are having such fun!'
"You see Edith had no idea that her mother would not like her bringing
the little girls in to dine with her; she did not _mean_ to do wrong;
and her eyes glittered so brightly with pleasure at having so many
friends, that her mamma burst out laughing; and then Edith and all the
children giggled in such a funny way, that I do believe if the Mayor of
New York could have seen their happy faces, he would have given his best
wig, to have such pleasant people at _his_ dinner parties.
"And now the children began to stare at the beef-steak with hungry eyes;
and Edith's mother thought it grew smaller and smaller, and was afraid
if she gave each one a piece, they would swallow the whole of it at once
like a pill. Dear me! how she did wish the goose had been cooked; but
there was no help for it now: so seven extra plates were set, like
buttons round the table, and seven extra knives and forks were laid
across like button holes, and seven extra _goblins_ (as little Edith
called the 'goblets') stared down at the plates, and seven extra chairs
were rattled up and scratched up to the table, by the children
themselves, because the waiting-maid was almost crazy with so much
company; and down they sat in a prodigious hurry, and the dinner began.
"Such a famous dinner as it was! Perfectly delicious. If there had only
been a little more of it. But never mind, the knives and forks rattled
merrily, and the children laughed, and the two long braids of hair on
each head flew right and left so fast, that the flies couldn't get near
the table to taste of a thing, and were almost distracted when they saw
every single crumb eaten up, and the plates nearly scraped into holes.
"Here is the portrait of the cook as she looked when the waiter brought
the beef-steak dish.
[Illustration]
"But when the poor man's pudding came in, smoking like a Turk, and
speckled in every direction with great black raisins, oh! then was the
time for bright looks! and when one little girl clapped her hands, and
exclaimed, 'My! that looks good!' all the rest laughed, and whisked
their heads round so, that it was quite fortunate their braids were fast
at one end, or they would have been shaken off up the chimney, and out
of the door, and nobody knows where else.
"The best thing was, that there was plenty of pudding, and the children
thought it was the very nicest they had ever eaten, particularly as the
maid brought to each one the bowl of powdered sugar--so that they might
_help themselves_ to as much as they liked--_that_ made a great
difference, I can tell you! and they showered down the sugar in grand
style--they put it on good and thick, just as much sugar as pudding, and
that was what made it so very nice; besides, Edith had whispered to her
mamma to give the company '_all the raisinest parts!!_ because that was
the way to be polite to company,' and so her mother did--and they had a
grand time picking out the raisins to eat by themselves--and the little
spoons went so fast, chopping at the pudding, and clicking on the
plates, that Edith's mother said it sounded like little stone-cutters at
work--at which they grew perfectly red in their faces laughing at
themselves.
"Didn't they have a fine time? I think so--and I laughed very
much--oh!--I mean, Edith's papa laughed, when he came home and heard
about the grand dinner-party, all out of one small beef-steak, and a
poor man's pudding. There! how do you like that story?"
"Oh, papa! _I_ know," exclaimed Bella, laughing, and patting his cheek.
"I found you out! it was sister Edith! wasn't it? Dear me! what a funny
girl! Did you ever!"
"Yes, it was her, and she was a funny girl--and you are a little
darling--and now, kiss papa, and run off to bed."