she found it snowing very fast. The cold was intense. The ground had
been for several days already covered with a deep snow which had frozen
very hard. There was a piercing north-east wind; and, altogether, it was
the most inclement morning of the whole winter. Isabella hoped that
Diana would not come for the clothes that day, as the weather would be a
sufficient excuse; though the poor woman had never before been otherwise
than punctual. But in a short time, she saw Diana coming round the
corner, walking very fast, her arms wrapped in her shawl, and holding
down her head to avoid, as much as possible, the snow that was driving
in her face. "Ah!" thought Isabella, "she hopes to get the cloak this
dreadful morning, and to wear it home. How sadly she will be
disappointed! But I cannot see or speak to her." She then tied up her
clothes-bag, and desired the chambermaid to take it down and give it to
Diana, and tell her that she could not see her that morning.
Isabella could not forbear going again to the window; and she saw Diana
come up the area steps into the street, carrying the clothes-bag, and
looking disappointed. Isabella, with a heavy heart, watched her till she
turned the corner, shrinking from the storm, and shivering along in her
old thin shawl. "Oh!" thought Isabella, "how very badly the
confectionary will taste to me this evening, when I think that my
contribution towards it, has obliged me to break my promise to this poor
woman; and that it will cause her, for at least another week, to endure
all the sufferings of exposure to cold without sufficient covering."
* * * * *
Henrietta Harwood, as leader of the conspiracy, was extremely busy every
moment that she could snatch from the presence of Mrs. Middleton and the
teachers, in making arrangements for the feast of the evening. There was
a great deal of whispering and consulting, between her and the elder
girls, as to what they should have; and a great deal of talking on the
stairs to Mary the chambermaid; who, for the bribe of a quarter of a
dollar, had consented to procure for them whatever they wished, without
the knowledge of Mrs. Middleton. It was unanimously agreed that none of
the _little_ girls were to be let into the secret, as their discretion
was not to be depended on; and there was much lamentation that the
bed-hour for the children was so late as eight o'clock. The little girls
all slept in one large room, and as soon as they had gone to be prepared
for bed, under the superintendence of Mary, Henrietta proposed that
herself and six other young ladies should volunteer to assist in
undressing them. "You know," said she, "there are eight of the children,
and if we each take a child and leave one to Mary, they can be got to
bed in an eighth part of the time that it will require for Mary to
attend to all of them herself. Just, you know, as they have quilting
frolics and husking frolics in the country, when a whole week's work is
accomplished in a few hours, by assembling a great many persons to join
in it."
This proposal was immediately assented to; and a committee of half a
dozen young ladies, with Henrietta at their head, adjourned to the
children's apartment. "Come, little chits," said Henrietta, "as it is a
cold night, we are going to have an undressing frolic, and to help Mary
to put you all to bed: for the sooner you are tucked up in your nests
the better it will be for you,--and for us too," she added in a low
voice aside to Miss Thomson. "Here, Rosalie Sunbridge," she continued,
"come to me, I will do the honours for _you_, as you are a sort of pet
of mine."
The elder girls then began undressing the little ones with such violence
that strings snapped, buttons were jerked off, and stockings torn in the
process. The children wondered why the young ladies were seized with
such a sudden and unusual fit of kindness, and why they went so
energetically to work in getting them undressed and put to bed.
An altercation, however, ensued between Henrietta Harwood and Rosalie
Sunbridge, who declared that it was her mother's particular desire that
her hair behind should be curled in papers every night; a ceremony that
Henrietta proposed omitting, telling her that there was already
sufficient curl remaining in her hair to last all the next day, and
reminding her that there was no such trouble with the hair of the other
little girls. "That is because they have no hair to curl," replied
Rosalie; "you know that they are all closely cropped. But if you will
not roll up mine in papers, Miss Harwood, I would rather have Mary to
put me to bed, though you _do_ call me your pet." "Well, well, hush, and
I _will_ do it," said Henrietta; "but it shall be done in a new way
which saves a great deal of trouble, and makes very handsome curls when
the hair is opened out next morning." So saying, she snatched up a great
piece of coarse brown paper, and seizing the little girl's hind hair in
her hand, she rolled it all up in one large curl; Rosalie crying out at
the violence with which she pulled, and the other children laughing,
when it was done, at the huge knob, and telling Rosalie she had a
knocker at her back.
In a short time the night-gowns and night-caps were scrambled on, and
the children all deposited in their respective beds, and all hastily
kissed by their undressers; who hurried out of the room, anxious to
enter upon their anticipated delights.
"Now, good Mary, dear Mary," said Henrietta, "do tell me if you have
got every thing?" "Every thing, miss," replied Mary, "except the
calves-foot jelly; and the money fell short of that. But I have got
the iced pound-cake, and the mince pies, and the oyster patties, and
the little cocoa-nut puddings, and the bottle of lemon-syrup, and all
the other things. They are snug and safe in the market-basket in the
back-kitchen-closet; and nobody can never guess nothing about it."
Just at this moment the man-servant came to tell the young ladies that
Mrs. Middleton wished them all to go down into the front parlour to look
at some prints. These prints were the coloured engravings of Wall's
beautiful views on the Hudson, and which had just been purchased by Mrs.
Middleton's brother-in-law, who was going to leave the city the
following morning. At any other time the young ladies (at least those
who had a taste for drawing) would have been grateful for Mrs.
Middleton's kindness in allowing them an opportunity of looking at these
fine landscapes; but _now_ every moment that detained them from the
feast, seemed like an hour. Henrietta murmured almost aloud; and they
all went down with reluctance, except Isabella Caldwell, who had made up
her mind not to partake of the banquet.
In the mean time, little Rosalie Sunbridge, who was a very cunning
child, and had a great deal of curiosity, suspected that something more
than usual was going on, from the alertness of the young ladies in
hurrying the children to bed. _Her_ bed being nearest to the door, she
had overheard the elder girls in earnest consultation with the
chambermaid in the passage, and although she could not distinguish
exactly what was said, she understood that something very delightful was
to go on that evening in the front school-room. Having a great desire to
know precisely what was in agitation, she waited a short time till all
her companions were asleep; and then getting up softly, she opened one
of the shutters to let in a little light, as the storm had subsided and
there was a faint moon. She then got her merino coat, and put it on over
her night-gown, and covering her feet with her carpet moccasins that she
might make no noise in walking, she stole softly into the front
school-room, determined to watch all that went on.
Two lamps were burning on the table; but no person was in the room; the
young ladies having all gone down into the parlour to look at the
prints. Rosalie, by climbing on a chair, managed, with much difficulty,
to get on the upper shelf of a large closet; having hastily cleared a
space for herself to lie down in, among the books and rolls of maps.
Then pushing away the chair, she drew the closet-door nearly close;
leaving only a small crack, through which she could observe all that was
done.
Presently, she saw Mary come cautiously into the room with a basket, and
taking out of it the materials for the feast, the girl arranged them all
to great advantage on the table. When this was accomplished, she went
down stairs; and immediately after, the young ladies, having looked
hastily at the prints, all came up, and expressed much satisfaction at
the inviting appearance of the banquet. Isabella lighted a small lamp,
and said she was going to bed.
"Why, Caldwell," exclaimed Henrietta, "are you absolutely in earnest?
What, after contributing to the expense of the feast, will you really
leave us before it begins, and go dismally to bed? See how nice every
thing looks."
"Every thing, indeed, looks nice," replied Isabella, "but still I have
no desire to partake of them. I am out of spirits, and I have other
reasons for not wishing to join your party." "Just take something before
you go," said Henrietta. "No," answered Isabella, "I feel as if I could
not taste a single article on the table."
She then withdrew to her room, and her companions took their seats and
began to regale themselves; Henrietta presiding at the head of the
table. They would have enjoyed their feast very much, only that,
notwithstanding their expected security, they were in continual dread of
being discovered. They started, and listened at every little noise;
fearing that Miss Loxley might possibly have returned, or that Mrs.
Middleton might possibly be coming up stairs.
"Really," said Henrietta, "it is a great pity that poor Isabella
Caldwell, after she gave her dollar with so much reluctance, should
refuse to take any share of our feast. Perhaps to-morrow she will think
better of it. Suppose we save something for her. I dare say she will
have no objection to eat some of these good things in the morning."
"Put by one of the little cocoa-nut puddings for her," said Miss Scott.
"And one of the mince pies," said another young lady. "And a large slice
of pound-cake," said a third. "And a bunch of white grapes," said a
fourth.
Henrietta then selected some of the nicest articles of their banquet, to
offer to Isabella in the morning; and after some consultation, it was
concluded to deposit them, for the present, in the farthest corner of
the upper shelf of the closet; which upper shelf was only used as a
repository for old maps and old copy books, and waste paper, and with
these the things could be very conveniently covered. "Do not take a
light to the closet," said Miss Marley, "you may set something on fire.
If you stand on tiptoe and raise your arm as high as you can, you may
easily reach the upper shelf."
Henrietta accordingly walked to the closet; and was in the act of
shoving a mince-pie into a dark corner of the upper shelf, when suddenly
she gave a start and a shriek, and let fall the cocoa-nut pudding which
she held in her hand. "What is the matter?" exclaimed all the girls at
once. "Oh!" cried Henrietta, "when I reached up the mince-pie to the top
shelf, it was taken from me by a cold hand that met mine--I felt the
fingers." "Impossible," said some of the girls. "What could it actually
be?" cried others. Just then, Rosalie made a rustling among the loose
papers on the top shelf. "There it is again," screamed Henrietta. "Oh!"
cried Miss Watkins, "we have done very wrong to plot this feast in
secret, and something dreadful is going to happen to us as a
punishment."
Another rustling set all the young ladies to screaming; and, with one
accord, they rushed towards the door, with such force as to overset the
table and all its contents. The lamps were broken and extinguished in
the fall; several of the girls were thrown down by the others; and the
shrieks were so violent that Mrs. Middleton heard them into the parlour,
where, her friends having left her, she was sitting with Miss Loxley,
who had just come in; and taking a light with them, the two ladies ran
up to the front school-room.
The scene which then presented itself transfixed them with astonishment.
The floor was strewed with the remains of the feast. The oil from the
shattered lamps was running among the cakes and pies, which were also
drenched with water from a broken pitcher; near which the bottle of
lemon-syrup was lying in fragments. The table was thrown down on its
side. Some of the young ladies were still prostrate on the floor, and
all were screaming. Rosalie (frightened at the uproar she had caused)
was on her hands and knees, looking out from the upper shelf of the
closet, and crying "O, take me down, take me down! somebody bring a
chair and take me down."
Isabella Caldwell, hearing the noise, had thrown on her flannel gown,
and ran also to see what was the matter. As soon as the surprise of Mrs.
Middleton would allow her to speak, she inquired the cause of all this
disturbance; but she could get no other answer than that there was some
horrible thing in the closet. "There is indeed something in the closet,"
said Mrs. Middleton, perceiving Rosalie. "Miss Sunbridge, how came you
up there, and in that dress? and what is the meaning of all this?"
The young ladies, having recovered from their terror when they found it
to be groundless, and Miss Loxley having taken down Rosalie, Henrietta
made a candid confession of the whole business. Acknowledging herself to
be the proposer and leader of the plot, she expressed her readiness to
submit to any punishment Mrs. Middleton might think proper to inflict on
her, but hoped that her governess would have the goodness to pardon all
the other young ladies; none of whom would have thought of a secret
feast, if she had not suggested it to them. "Above all," continued
Henrietta, "I must exculpate Isabella Caldwell, who declined going to
table with us or partaking of any thing, but retired to her bed; as may
be known by her being now in her night-clothes."
Mrs. Middleton was touched with the generosity of Henrietta Harwood, in
taking all the blame on herself to exonerate her companions; and as her
kind heart would not allow her to send any of her pupils to bed in the
anticipation of being punished the next day, she said, "Miss Harwood, I
will for this time permit your misdemeanour to go unpunished, but I
require a promise from you that it shall never be repeated. Make that
promise sincerely, and I feel assured that you will keep it."
"O, yes, indeed, dear madam!" sobbed Henrietta, "you are too kind; and I
cannot forgive myself for having persuaded my companions to join in a
plot which I knew you would disapprove."
"Go now to your beds," said Mrs. Middleton, "and I will send a servant
to clear away the disorder of this room. Rosalie, I see, has already
slipped off to hers."
Next morning, before school commenced, Mrs. Middleton addressed the
young ladies mildly but impressively, on the proceedings of the day
before. She dwelt on the general impropriety of all secret contrivances;
on the injury done to the integrity of the ignorant servant-girl, by
bribing her to deceive her employer; on the danger of making themselves
sick by eating such a variety of sweet things; and on the folly of
expending in those dainties, money which might be much better employed.
"That," said Henrietta, "was one of Isabella Caldwell's objections to
joining our feasting party. I am now convinced that she had in view some
more sensible manner of disposing of her money. I regret that she was
prevailed on to contribute her dollar, as she must have had an excellent
reason for her unwillingness; and she seemed really unhappy, and went to
bed without touching any of our good things."
"I can guess how it was," said Miss Loxley. "One very cold morning last
week, I met Diana, Miss Caldwell's washerwoman, going up stairs with the
clean clothes, and having nothing on her shoulders but an old cotton
shawl. I asked her if she had no cloak, and she replied that she had
not; but added, that Miss Isabella had been so kind as to promise her
one, which was to be ready for her when she came again. I suspect that
Miss Caldwell has been saving her money for the laudable purpose of
furnishing this poor woman with a cloak."
"Oh! no doubt she has," exclaimed Henrietta. "Why, dear Isabella, did
you not say so? and bad as I am, I would not have persisted in
persuading you out of your dollar."
"The woman, however, did not get her cloak," resumed Miss Loxley, "for I
again saw her without one, yesterday, though the weather had increased
in severity."
"It is true," said Isabella. "The cloak was to have cost four dollars,
and after subscribing one dollar to the feast, I could not buy it; as I
had not then sufficient money."
_Mrs. Middleton._ Miss Harwood, had you often these feasts at Madame
Disette's.
_Henrietta._ Oh! very often, and as the teacher, Miss Benson, was always
one of the party, we managed so well, that Madame Disette never
discovered us. Or if she had any suspicion, she said nothing about it;
for after all, she cared very little what we did out of school-hours
provided that our proceedings _cost her nothing_.
_Mrs. Middleton._ You must not speak so disrespectfully of your former
governess. But I will explain to you that _I_ care very much what you
do, even in your hours of recreation. It is when the business of the
school is over, and they are no longer in the presence of their
instructors, that girls are in the greatest danger of forming bad
habits, and imitating bad examples. All deceit, all tricks, are highly
unjustifiable. A little feast may seem in itself of small moment; but if
you persist in plotting little feasts, you will eventually be led on to
plot things of more importance, and which may lead to the worst
consequences. Then, as I always allow you as large a portion of sweet
things as comports with your health, it is the more reprehensible in you
to seek to procure them for yourselves, without my knowledge. Tell me
now, do any of you feel the better for last night's frolic?
_Miss Thomson._ O, no, no! Miss Watkins and Miss Roberts were sick all
night; and, indeed, none of us feel very well this morning.
_Mrs. Middleton._ I observed that you all had very little appetite for
your breakfast.
_Miss Brownlow._ And then _I_ had my new frock spoiled when I fell down
in the lamp-oil.
_Miss Wilcox._ And I got some lamp-oil into my mouth. I tasted it all
night. Even my nose was rubbed in it, as I lay struggling on the floor.
_Miss Snodgrass._ And _I_ fell with my knees on half a dozen pieces of
orange, and stained my black silk frock, so that it is no longer fit to
wear.
_Miss Marley._ And _I_ was thrown down with the back of my head on a
bunch of grapes, mashing them to a jelly.
_Miss Scott._ But _my_ hair was so very sticky, with falling into the
lemon syrup, that I was obliged, this morning, to wash it all over with
warm soap-suds.
_Miss Roberts._ And _I_ put my foot into the bottom of the broken
pitcher, and cut my heel so that it bled through the stocking.
_Miss Watkins._ Still, nothing of this would have happened if Rosalie
Sunbridge had stayed in her bed. It was her hiding in the closet and
frightening us, that caused all the mischief.
_Rosalie._ I am sure I was punished enough for my curiosity; for when I
got on the closet-shelf I was obliged to lie so cramped that I was
almost stiff; and I was half dead with cold, notwithstanding I had put
on my merino coat. And then I was longing all the time for some of the
good things I saw you eating; so that when Miss Harwood came to hide the
mince-pie, I could not forbear taking it out of her hand. When I found
that you were all so terrified, I thought I would make a noise among the
loose papers to frighten you still more, supposing that you would all
quit the room; and that then I could come down from the shelf, and
regale myself awhile, before I stole back to-bed. I did not foresee that
you would overset the table in your flight, and make such a violent
noise. But I will never again attempt to pry into other people's
secrets.
_Mrs Middleton._ I hope you never will. This feast, you see, has caused
nothing but discomfort, which is the case with all things that are in
themselves improper. Yet I think the greatest sufferer is Isabella
Caldwell's washerwoman, who has, in consequence, been disappointed of
her cloak.
_Isabella._ Next week, madam, when I receive my allowance, I hope to be
able to buy it for her.
_Mrs. Middleton._ You need not wait till next week. The poor woman shall
suffer no longer for a cloak. Here is a dollar in advance; and after
school, you can go out and purchase it, so that it may be ready for her
to-morrow when she brings home your clothes.
_Isabella._ Dear Mrs. Middleton, how much I thank you.
* * * * *
The young ladies having promised that they would attempt no more private
feasts, Mrs. Middleton kissed, and forgave them. After school, Isabella,
accompanied by Miss Loxley, went out and bought the plaid cloak, which
was sent home directly. Next day, she longed for Diana to arrive with
the clothes, that she might enjoy her pleasure on receiving so useful a
gift, but, to her great disappointment they were brought home by another
mulatto woman, who informed Isabella that she was Diana's next door
neighbour, and that poor Diana having taken a violent cold from being
out in the snow-storm, was now confined to her bed with the rheumatism.
"Ah!" thought Isabella, "perhaps if she had had this good warm cloak to
go home in, the day before yesterday, she might have escaped the
rheumatism. I see now that whenever we allow ourselves to be persuaded
to do a thing which we know to be wrong, evil is sure to come from it."
She desired the woman to wait a few minutes; and hastening to Mrs.
Middleton, begged that she would allow her to go and see poor Diana,
who, she feared was in great distress. Mrs. Middleton readily consented,
and had a basket filled with various things, which she gave to the woman
to carry with the plaid cloak to Diana. She sent by Isabella a bottle of
camphor, and some cotton wadding, for Diana's rheumatism, and a medicine
for her to take internally. Miss Loxley accompanied Isabella; and they
found Diana in bed and very ill, and every thing about her evincing
extreme poverty. Isabella engaged the woman to stay with Diana till she
got well, and to take care of her and her children, promising to pay her
for her trouble. When they returned and made their report to Mrs.
Middleton, she wrote a note to her physician, requesting him to visit
Diana and attend her as long as was necessary.
Next week, Henrietta Harwood, and the other young ladies, subscribed all
their allowance of pocket-money for the relief of Diana; who very soon
was well enough to resume her work. It is unnecessary to add that their
contribution to the support of the poor woman and her family, gave them
far more pleasure than they had derived from the unfortunate feast. They
never, of course, attempted another. And Henrietta Harwood, at Mrs.
Middleton's school, lost all the faults she had acquired at Madame
Disette's.
THE WEEK OF IDLENESS.
"Their only labour was to kill the time,
And labour dire it was, and weary wo."
_Thomson._
Adelaide and Rosalind, the daughters of Mr. Edington, looked forward
with much pleasure to the arrival of their cousin, Josephine
Sherborough, from Maryland. She was to spend the summer with them, at
their father's country residence on the beautiful bay of New York, a few
miles below the city; and, though they had never seen her, they were
disposed to regard Josephine as a very agreeable addition to their
family society. Having had the misfortune to lose their mother, Adelaide
and Rosalind had been for several years under the entire care of their
governess, Mrs. Mortlake; a highly accomplished and most amiable woman,
whom they loved and respected as if she had been their parent, and by
whose instructions they had greatly profited.