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DOROTHY DAINTY'S GAY TIMES
by
AMY BROOKS
Author of _Dorothy Dainty Series_, _The Randy Books_,
and _A Jolly Cat Tale_
With Illustrations by the Author
1908
[Illustration: Down the path came a lovely little girl swinging a
skipping-rope.]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. THE FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL.
II. ARABELLA AT SCHOOL
III. THE DIALOGUE
IV. AN ENTERTAINMENT
V. THE RETURN OF PATRICIA
VI. WHAT FLOSSIE DID
VII. PATRICIA'S PROMISE
VIII. THE PARTY
IX. TWO SLEIGHRIDES
X. THE PUNG RIDE
XI. AN UNEXPECTED TRIP
XII. THE NECKLACE
ILLUSTRATIONS
Down the path came a lovely little girl swinging a skipping-rope
She was reaching down as if to get something
"Put your left paw on _do_, and your right paw on _mi_; now sing"
"There! that's another fountain"
"I'll go if you'll promise to bring me back"
Nancy clasped her hands together and gasped, "Oh-o-o!"
CHAPTER I
THE FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL
The great gateway stood wide open, and through it one could see the fine
stone house with its vine-covered balconies, its rare flowers and
stately trees.
A light breeze swayed the roses, sending out their perfume in little
gusts of sweetness, while across the path the merry sunbeams flickered,
like little dancing elves.
Down the path came a lovely little girl, swinging a skipping-rope, and
dancing over and under it in perfect time with the song which she was
singing.
The sunlight touched her bright curls, making her look like a fairy, and
now she skipped backward, and forward, around the circular garden, and
back again, only pausing to rest when another little girl ran across the
lawn to meet her. She was Dorothy Dainty, the lovely little daughter
of the house, and the sprightly, dark-eyed child who now joined her was
Nancy Ferris, her dearest playmate.
"I was just wishing you'd come out, for I've something to tell you,"
Dorothy said. "You know Aunt Charlotte has all her plans ready for
opening her private school next week, and you heard her tell mamma that
the class was _very_ full."
"Oh, I know it's to be a big class," said Nancy, "for besides all the
girls that used to be in it, there's to be one new one, and one _boy_,
Katie Dean's cousin, Reginald, and,--oh, _did_ you know that Arabella is
to join the class?"
"Why, Nancy, are you _sure_?" asked Dorothy; "only yesterday we looked
over toward her house, and there seemed to be no one at home." Nancy's
eyes were merry.
"Come and look _now_!" she said, clasping Dorothy's hand, and running
with her down to the gate.
"There!" said Nancy, "see all those windows open, and somebody out there
behind the house beating a rug; you see they _are_ at home, and that's
her queer little old Aunt Matilda."
Dorothy looked at the resolute little figure, and wondered how the thin
arm could wield the rug-beater with so much energy. She remembered that
Arabella had said that her father _always_ did as Aunt Matilda directed,
and truly the small woman appeared able to marshal an army of men, if
she chose.
"Perhaps Arabella will go over to the public school," said Dorothy; "she
doesn't have to enter Aunt Charlotte's private class."
"Oh, but she _will_, I just know she will," Nancy replied, "and Aunt
Charlotte'll _have_ to let her. You know Mr. Corryville was in your
papa's class at college, and if he says he wishes Arabella to join the
class, your papa will surely say 'yes.'"
"He certainly will," said Dorothy, "but there's one thing to think of,"
she said, with a bright smile, "There are nice girls in the class, and
if Arabella is queer, we _mustn't_ mind it."
"We'll _try_ not to," Nancy said, and then, as Dorothy again swung her
rope, Nancy "ran in," and the two skipped around the house together, the
rope whipping the gravel walk in time with the dancing feet.
It was cool and shady near the wall, and they sat down upon a low seat
where the soft breeze fanned their flushed cheeks.
"I'd almost forgotten something that I meant to tell you," Dorothy said.
"You know Aunt Charlotte says that the pupils are to give a little
entertainment each month, when we are to have dialogues, songs, solo
dances, pieces to be spoken, and chorus music. Well, mamma has arranged
to have a fine little stage and curtain. You didn't know that, _did_
you?"
"Indeed I didn't," said Nancy, "and I guess the others will be
surprised. You haven't told them yet, have you?"
"I only knew it this morning myself, but I'm eager to tell them," said
Dorothy.
"Here's Mollie Merton and Flossie Barnet now," cried Nancy, and,
turning, Dorothy saw the two playmates running up the driveway.
"Mollie was over at my house," said Flossie, "and we saw you and Nancy
just as you ran around the house, and we thought we'd come over."
"We were wild to know if our private school is _truly_ to commence next
week. Mamma said it would if enough pupils were ready to join it," said
Mollie, "and we knew Katie Dean's cousin was a new one, and won't it be
funny to have one boy in the class?"
"Oh, but he is just a _little_ boy," said Nancy.
"And he must begin to go to school this year, and he says he likes girls
ever so much better than boys, so he asked if he might go to our
school," Dorothy said.
"He _always_ says he likes girls best," said Flossie; "isn't he a queer
little fellow?" "I don't know," Mollie said, so drolly that they all
laughed.
"And there is a new pupil, who has just come here to live, and she is
_very_ nice, Jeanette Earl says," and as she spoke Dorothy looked up at
her friends, a soft pleading in her blue eyes.
She intended to give a kindly welcome to the new pupil, and she hoped
that the others would be friendly.
"How does Jeanette know?" asked Mollie, bluntly.
"Oh, Jeanette ought to know," said Nancy, "for the new little girl is
her cousin, I mean her _third_ cousin."
"Well, Nina is Jeanette's sister," said Mollie, "so what does _she_
say?"
"She didn't say anything," said Nancy, "she just _looked_."
"Arabella Corryville is to be in our class," said Flossie, "and when I
told Uncle Harry he laughed, and asked me if her Aunt Matilda was coming
to school with her."
Of course they laughed, and it was Mollie who first spoke.
"Your Uncle Harry is always joking," she said, "and sometimes I can't
tell whether he is in earnest, or only saying things just for fun."
"Well, I guess you'll laugh when I tell you what he said next! He said
that although he had graduated from college, and now was in business, he
would urge Aunt Charlotte to let him attend a _few_ sessions of our
school, if Arabella's Aunt Matilda was to be there. He said it would be
a great pleasure which he really could not miss." How they laughed at
the idea of Flossie's handsome young uncle in the little private school,
while Arabella's prim little aunt was also a pupil.
"I asked him what he meant," said Flossie, who looked completely
puzzled, "and he said that sometimes a man's wits needed sharpening, and
that Aunt Matilda would be a regular file. Papa laughed, but mamma said:
'Harry, Harry, you really mustn't,' and he ran up to the music-room
whistling 'O dear, what can the matter be?' I can't help laughing even
when I don't understand his teasing jokes, he says things in such a
funny way, while his eyes just dance."
"He looked very handsome the day he wore his uniform, with the gold lace
on it," said Dorothy; "don't you remember, Flossie? Your aunt was on
the piazza, and she stooped and pinned a rose in his buttonhole. Do you
think he knew how fine he looked, when he sprang into the saddle, and
rode away?"
"I don't know," Flossie said, her blue eyes very thoughtful, "he never
seems to think about it, and one thing I don't at all understand, he's
big, and brave, and manly, yet he plays with me so gently, and he's as
full of fun as a boy."
"That's why we all like him," said Nancy, "and he never acts as if we
were just little girls, and so not worth noticing."
"Do you remember the day that the tramp came into our kitchen, and
frightened the cook? Uncle Harry was just strolling along the driveway.
He walked into the kitchen, took the dirty tramp by the collar and
marched him right out to the street," and Flossie's cheeks glowed with
pride for her dear Uncle Harry.
"Yes, and a moment after, he saw little Reginald fall off his bicycle,
and you ought to have seen how tenderly he picked him up, and brushed
off the dust, and he was quite as gentle as mamma would have been."
"Oh, he's just fine," said Mollie, "and I _do_ wish he would visit our
school on a day when Arabella's aunt would be there! I love to see him
when he looks at her. Someway he seems so very respectful, and yet his
eyes laugh."
"Well, it's just a few days now before school begins, and what fun we'll
have," said Flossie, "and perhaps Arabella will invite her aunt to one
of our entertainments; if she does, I'm just sure Uncle Harry would go."
"Oh, come here this minute, every one of you," called a cheery voice,
and Nina Earl stepped through an opening in the hedge.
"Why, how surprised you look! I've been over to the stone cottage to
call for you, Nancy, and Aunt Charlotte said that you were with Dorothy,
so I ran across the lawn. I could hear you all talking, and I was wild
to tell you something."
"Oh, tell it, tell it, Nina!" cried Mollie.
Nina looked back through the opening in the hedge.
"She's just saying 'good-morning' to Aunt Charlotte," she said, "and let
me tell you something; she's been all over the stone cottage, looking
into this thing and peeping into that, till I'd think Aunt Charlotte
would be wild. It's Arabella's aunt, and she says she came to learn if
the house was a healthy one to be in, and to see if the plumbing was
all right."
Dorothy's sweet eyes suddenly flashed.
"Doesn't she think my papa would keep Aunt Charlotte's house as
comfortable as ours?" she said.
"Oh, 'tisn't that!" laughed Nina, "she said she felt obliged to find out
if the cottage was a healthy place for a private school to be in, before
she could say that Arabella might belong to the class! Did you ever hear
anything like that?"
"Well, what makes her let Arabella come to our school?" queried blunt
little Mollie; "she could go to the public school. I guess we wouldn't
mind."
"Mamma says we must be kind to Arabella," said Dorothy, "so I think we
mustn't speak like that." "I'll be kind to her when she comes," said
Mollie, "because your mamma wishes it, but _now_, before school begins,
I'm going to say that I just _wish_ Arabella was going to the other
school."
The others felt, as Mollie did, that the class would be quite as
pleasant if Arabella attended the public school, but they did not like
to say so.
* * * * *
The few days of waiting were past, and now the first day of school had
come. The door of the pretty stone cottage stood wide open, as if
assuring a welcome to the little pupils who would soon arrive, while the
sunlight streamed in across the hall, giving a cheery greeting.
On the rug sat Pompey, the cat, his fine coat sleek and glossy, and his
white bosom as pure as much washing could make it. His paws were snugly
tucked in, and he purred softly to himself as if he knew that it was
nearly time for the pupils to arrive, and remembered that the little
girls had been very fond of him.
In the cheery sitting-room, which was used as a schoolroom, sat Aunt
Charlotte Grayson, looking over some books which lay upon the table.
Her soft gray gown and broad lace collar were most becoming, and she
looked every inch the gentlewoman that she really was. She had once been
Mrs. Dainty's governess, and now, as mistress of a thriving private
school, she was independent and happy. The class was not a large one,
but the little pupils belonged to families who were well able to pay
generously for fine instruction, and her home at the stone cottage was a
loving gift from Mr. and Mrs. Dainty. Mrs. Grayson had permitted
Dorothy and Nancy to call her "Aunt Charlotte," and now it had become
the loving title by which all her pupils addressed her.
She was eager to have her little class assemble, and, wondering if they
were late, she looked at her watch.
"Quarter of nine," she said, and as if he understood what she had said,
Pompey blinked up at the tall clock, yawned, and looked at the door.
The sound of merry voices made him prick up his ears. A moment more, and
Dorothy and Nancy, Mollie and Flossie, Nina and Jeanette Earl ran up the
steps and in at the open door. Pompey received his usual number of
love-pats, and then the girls, having hung their hats and coats in the
hall, walked quietly in to greet Aunt Charlotte. It was a fixed rule
at the private school that there should never be any haste in reaching
places in the schoolroom.
"It matters not that you are little girls, or that you are at school,"
Mrs. Grayson would say; "let me always have the pleasure of seeing you
enter the class-room in as gentle a manner as you would enter a
drawing-room," and her pupils took pleasure in doing as she wished.
The broad window-seats were banked with flowering plants, and as the
children took their places they thought it the brightest, cheeriest
schoolroom in the world.
As if to show that he also had a place in Aunt Charlotte's class, Pompey
ran across the floor and sprang up into a space on one window-seat
between two large flowerpots, where he could enjoy a sun-bath.
Katie Dean, with her little Cousin Reginald, now entered, just in time
to avoid being late.
"I thought you said your cousin was coming," whispered Mollie, but Aunt
Charlotte had opened her Testament, and was commencing to read, so Nina
only shook her head, and Mollie saw that she must wait until recess to
know what Nina would say.
"'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of
God,'" read Aunt Charlotte, and every girl looked towards Flossie
Barnet, who was always trying to say a pleasant word of an absent
friend, or to coax two playmates, who had become estranged, to be fast
friends again. Often they had heard her Uncle Harry say: "Flossie,
you're a peacemaker." Her hands were clasped, and her blue eyes were
full of interest in the verse which Aunt Charlotte was reading. Her red
lips moved.
"'They shall be called the children of God,'" she whispered, and in her
gentle little heart she determined to be, if possible, more kind and
loving than ever before, toward her playmates.
Little Reginald had failed to understand the verse, and sat staring at
Aunt Charlotte with round eyes. He was a handsome little fellow, with
soft flaxen curls, and a smart, sturdy figure, and as he looked up into
Aunt Charlotte's face, he seemed like a pudgy cupid whom some one had
dressed in a sailor suit.
Singing followed the reading, and all through the two merry songs which
they sang, Reginald watched Aunt Charlotte, and wondered over the verse
which she had read. When the arithmetic lesson was over, Aunt Charlotte
asked if any one had a question to ask.
Katie Dean wished to hear an example explained, and when it had been
made clear to her, Reginald held up his hand.
"What is your question?"
"What's 'peacemakers'?" he asked.
Aunt Charlotte explained the verse, and Reginald listened, but it was
easy to see that he was disappointed.
"Do you understand now what the peacemakers are?" Aunt Charlotte asked.
"Yes'm," said Reginald, "but I wish I didn't."
"And why?" questioned Aunt Charlotte.
"'Cause I thought grandma was a peacemaker," Reginald said, "for she's
_piecin'_ a silk patchwork quilt, an' papa said she'd be _blessed_ glad
when it's done."
Aunt Charlotte was the only one who did not laugh, but the small boy was
not at all vexed.
"_You_ needn't laugh," he said to Katie, "for you've seen her makin'
pieces out of silk, an' what's the difference between _makin' pieces_
an' _peacemakin'_?"