That the priest's effort to rescue the child from the artificial life of
the stage had been in a measure successful, was confirmed by the
presence, six months later, of the little girl in the yard of the Orphan
Asylum on ----nd Street.
On an exceptionally dreary afternoon in November, had any one cared to
look over the high board fence that bounds three sides of the Asylum
yard, he might have seen an amazing sight and heard a still more amazing
chorus:
"Little Sally Waters
Sitting in the sun,
Weeping and crying for a young man;
Rise, Sally, rise, Sally,
Wipe away your tears, Sally;
Turn to the east
And turn to the west,
And turn to the one that you love best!"
Higher and higher the voices of the three hundred orphans shrilled in
unison as the owners thereof danced frantically around a small solitary
figure in the middle of the ring of girls assembled in the yard on
----nd Street. Her coarse blue denim apron was thrown over her head; her
face was bowed into her hands that rested on her knees. It was a picture
of woe.
The last few words "you love best" rose to a shriek of exhortation. In
the expectant silence that followed, "Sally" rose, pirouetted in a
fashion worthy of a ballet dancer, then, with head down, fists clenched,
arms tight at her sides, she made a sudden dash to break through the
encircling wall of girls. She succeeded in making a breach by knocking
the legs of three of the tallest out from under them; but two or more
dozen arms, octopus-like, caught and held her. For a few minutes chaos
reigned: legs, arms, hands, fingers, aprons, heads, stockings, hair,
shoes of three hundred orphans were seemingly inextricably entangled. A
bell clanged. The three hundred disentangled themselves with marvellous
rapidity and, settling aprons, smoothing hair, pulling up stockings and
down petticoats, they formed in a long double line. While waiting for
the bell to ring the second warning, they stamped their feet, blew upon
their cold fingers, and freely exercised their tongues.
"Yer dassn't try that again!" said the mate in line with the
obstreperous "Sally" who had so scorned the invitation of the hundreds
of girls to "turn to the one that she loved best".
"I dass ter!" was the defiant reply accompanied by the protrusion of a
long thin tongue.
"Yer dassn't either!"
"I dass t'either!"
"Git out!" The first speaker nudged the other's ribs with her sharp
elbow.
"Slap yer face for two cents!" shrieked the insulted "Sally", the Little
Patti of the Vaudeville, and proceeded to carry out her threat.
Whereupon Freckles, as she was known in the Asylum, set up a howl that
was heard all along the line and turned upon her antagonist tooth and
nail. At that moment the bell clanged a second time. A hush fell upon
the multitude, broken only by a suppressed shriek that came from the
vicinity of Freckles. A snicker ran down the line. The penalty for
breaking silence after the second bell was "no supper", and not one of
the three hundred cared to incur that--least of all Flibbertigibbet, the
"Sally" of the game, who had forfeited her dinner, because she had been
caught squabbling at morning prayers, and was now carrying about with
her an empty stomach that was at bottom of her ugly mood.
"One, two--one, two." The monitor counted; the girls fell into step, all
but Flibbertigibbet--the Asylum nickname for the "Little Patti"--who
contrived to keep out just enough to tread solidly with hobnailed shoe
on the toes of the long-suffering Freckles. It was unbearable,
especially the last time when a heel was set squarely upon Freckles'
latest bunion.
"Ou, ou--oh, au--wau!" Freckles moaned, limping.
"Number 207 report for disorder," said the monitor.
Flibbertigibbet giggled. Number 207 stepped out of the line and burst
into uncontrollable sobbing; for she was hungry, oh, so hungry! And the
matron had chalked on the blackboard "hot corn-cakes and molasses for
Friday". It was the one great treat of the week. The girl behind
Flibbertigibbet hissed in her ear:
"Yer jest pizen mean; dirt ain't in it."
A back kick worthy of a pack mule took effect upon the whisperer's shin.
Flibbertigibbet moved on unmolested, underwent inspection at the
entrance, and passed with the rest into the long basement room which was
used for meals.
Freckles stood sniffing disconsolately by the door as the girls filed
in. She was meditating revenge, and advanced a foot in hope that,
unseen, she might trip her tormentor as she passed her. What, then, was
her amazement to see Flibbertigibbet shuffle along deliberately a little
sideways in order to strike the extended foot! This man[oe]uvre she
accomplished successfully and fell, not forward, but sideways out of
line and upon Freckles. Freckles pushed her off with a vengeance, but
not before she heard a gleeful whisper in her ear:
"Dry up--watch out--I'll save yer some!"
That was all; but to Freckles it was a revelation. The children filed
between the long rows of wooden benches, that served for seats, and the
tables. They remained standing until the sister in charge gave the
signal to be seated. When the three hundred sat down as one, with a thud
of something more than fifteen tons' weight, there broke loose a Babel
of tongues--English as it is spoken in the mouths of children of many
nationalities.