HOP-CLOVER’S HOME.
THEY had just eaten dinner, and John had not gone out as yet to harness
the horse.
“Lucinda,” said Mrs. Littlefield as they all went into the parlor,
“hast thou had a good visit here? Come and put thy arms round my neck,
and tell me.”
“Oh, I’ve had a _beautiful_ time!” said little Hop-clover with a sigh
of joy; and then she sighed again, to think she was going away to her
miserable home, and never, never, should be so happy again.
Mrs. Littlefield looked at her husband; and he came across the room,
smiling, and put his arms around her and Hop-clover as they stood
together.
“My wife and I haven’t any little girl,” said he. “How would thee like
to come and live with us, Lucinda?”
Now think of that! Hop-clover could not speak for surprise and joy.
Besides, she couldn’t believe they meant what they said: it was too
good to be true.
“If thee would really like it, Lucinda, thee don’t know how glad we
should be.”
“Oh, I’d rather live here than go to heaven!” cried little Hop-clover
as soon as she could get her breath.
It pleased the dear old people very much to see her so glad; and they
both kissed her at the same moment, while Pollio and Posy looked on in
surprise.
“But, Liddy,” said Mr. Littlefield to his wife, “we can’t think of
taking her unless her father is willing. I will go to see him when I
get to Rosewood.”
“Oh! he isn’t my truly father: _he_ don’t care where I go,” said
Hop-clover eagerly.
Mr. Littlefield thought, as she did, that he wasn’t likely to care. If
he had not thought so, he would not have spoken to Hop-clover about
this until after he had seen him.
“Well, if he says we can have thee, then thee can pack thy clothes, and
come back with me to-morrow.”
It was droll to talk about packing Hop-clover’s “clothes.” Those she
wore just now were very good, but all the others were fit for nothing
but the rag-bag.
“Well, then, I sha’n’t need my chicken; and you may have it,” said
she to Pollio, feeling like a crown-princess giving away a casket of
jewels. I suppose you have no idea how very, very rich Hop-clover
thought herself all in a minute.
“Well, Napoleon, thee can keep the chicken as a memento of this visit;
and, next time thee comes, thee shall have something better,” said Mrs.
Littlefield, smiling, as Pollio danced about with the box.
The ride home was as pleasant as a fairy-story; only Pollio couldn’t
help looking at the thill that had been mended, and thinking,—
“Mr. Littlefield was a jolly good man to forgive me. Catch me meddling
with any of _his_ things again!”
Hop-clover and little Posy chatted together in a low voice on the
back-seat.
“God did take care of you, didn’t he?” said Posy.
“Oh! I always knew He would,” replied Hop-clover with a joyous smile;
“but I didn’t s’pect he’d do any thing so nice as _this_, you know!”
There wasn’t the least trouble about her father’s giving her up. He
said “Yes,” without taking his pipe out of his mouth; and then Mr.
Littlefield left Hop-clover at the little brown house to “pack up her
things,” while he drove to Judge Pitcher’s with the twins.
“O mamma! she’s going to live with ’em,—live with ’em always!” cried
Posy, as they rushed into the house.
And before Mrs. Pitcher could ask who “she” was, and where she was
going to live, Pollio was swinging the peeping chicken before her eyes,
with a shout,—
“See what I’ve got for a _tormento_, mamma!”
“I’m afraid Eliza will think it’s a _tormento_ if you keep it under the
kitchen-stove,” laughed aunt Ann.
It was not the fault of the twins if the family did not hear what
had happened to Hop-clover. Posy ran to tell Jane, Jane told Eliza,
and Eliza told Ike. Then Nunky came home from sketching in the glen;
and Pollio met him with the glad news before he had turned the
street-corner.
There was a great time of rejoicing. Mrs. Pitcher set out the best
china for supper, and everybody drank Friend Littlefield’s health in a
cup of broma. After that, all the windows were lighted in both parlors,
and the judge wheeled up the best chair for the Quaker, while Nunky
played “The Shepherd’s Pipe upon the Mountain.”
A gay fire burned in the grate, for the evening was chill: the pictures
on the walls seemed to smile, and so did the flowers in the vases, and
the flowers in the carpet. Posy thought the room smiled all over, as
she sat on her papa’s knee, and listened to the music, and thought of
Hop-clover.
“I think it’s nice for little girls to live in a home,” said she to
herself, pressing her cheek against her papa’s whiskers.
I could begin to-morrow morning, and tell you ever so much more about
her and Pollio,—how new things happened to them day after day, and year
after year: but the printer thinks my book is long enough already; so I
must stop this very evening, before the fire burns low in the grate. If
you really care to hear more about Pollio and Posy, perhaps, by and by,
I will write another book; but now we will drop a courtsey, make a bow,
and say,—
“Good-night, little Pitchers.”
SOPHIE MAY’S “LITTLE-FOLKS” BOOKS.
[Illustration: “By and by the colts came to the kitchen window, which
was open, and put in their noses to ask for something to eat. Flaxie
gave them pieces of bread.”]
SPECIMEN OF CUT TO “FLAXIE FRIZZLE SERIES.”
SOPHIE MAY’S “LITTLE-FOLKS” BOOKS.
FLAXIE’S TWIN COUSINS.
“Another of those sweet, natural child-stories in which the heroine
does and says just such things as actual, live, flesh children do, is
the one before us. And what is still better, each incident points a
moral. The illustrations are a great addition to the delight of the
youthful reader. It is just such beautiful books as this which bring
to our minds, in severe contrast, the youth’s literature of our early
days—the good little boy who died young and the bad little boy who went
fishing on Sunday and died in prison, etc., etc., to the end of the
threadbare, improbable chapter.”—_Rural New Yorker._
FLAXIE’S KITTYLEEN.
“KITTYLEEN—one of the Flaxie Frizzle series—is a genuinely helpful
as well as delightfully entertaining story. The nine-year-old Flaxie
is worried, beloved, and disciplined by a bewitching three-year-old
tormenter, whose accomplished mother allows her to prey upon the
neighbors. ‘Everybody felt the care of Mrs. Garland’s children. There
were six of them, and their mother was always painting china. She
did it beautifully, with graceful vines trailing over it, and golden
butterflies ready to alight on sprays of lovely flowers. Sometimes the
neighbors thought it would be a fine thing if she would keep her little
ones at home rather more; but, if she had done that, she could not have
painted china.’”—_Chicago Tribune._
FLAXIE GROWING UP.
“No more charming stories for the little ones were ever written than
those comprised in the three series which have for several years past
been from time to time added to juvenile literature by SOPHIE MAY. They
have received the unqualified praise of many of the most practical
scholars of New England for their charming simplicity and purity of
sentiment. The delightful story shows the gradual improvement of dear
little Flaxie’s character under the various disciplines of child-life
and the sweet influence of a good and happy home. The illustrations are
charming pictures.”—_Home Journal._
* * * * *
Transcriber’s Note: Obvious punctuation errors repaired.