_A BELT AND A BOX._
WHEN Rose came out of her chamber, cup in hand, next morning, the first
person she saw was Uncle Alec standing on the threshold of the room
opposite, which he appeared to be examining with care. When he heard her
step, he turned about and began to sing,--
"Where are you going, my pretty maid?"
"I'm going a-milking, sir, she said," answered Rose, waving the cup; and
then they finished the verse together in fine style.
Before either spoke, a head, in a nightcap so large and beruffled that
it looked like a cabbage, popped out of a room farther down the hall,
and an astonished voice exclaimed,--
"What in the world are you about so early?"
"Clearing our pipes for the day, ma'am. Look here, auntie, can I have
this room?" said Dr. Alec, making her a sailor's bow.
"Any room you like, except sister's."
"Thanks. And may I go rummaging round in the garrets and glory-holes to
furnish it as I like?"
"My dear boy, you may turn the house upside down if you will only stay
in it."
"That's a handsome offer, I'm sure. I'll stay, ma'am; here's my little
anchor, so you will get more than you want of me this time."
"That's impossible! Put on your jacket, Rose. Don't tire her out with
antics, Alec. Yes, sister, I'm coming!" and the cabbage vanished
suddenly.
The first milking lesson was a droll one; but after several scares and
many vain attempts, Rose at last managed to fill her cup, while Ben held
Clover's tail so that it could not flap, and Dr. Alec kept her from
turning to stare at the new milk-maid, who objected to both these
proceedings very much.
"You look chilly in spite of all this laughing. Take a smart run round
the garden and get up a glow," said the doctor, as they left the barn.
"I'm too old for running, uncle; Miss Power said it was not lady-like
for girls in their teens," answered Rose primly.
"I take the liberty of differing from Madame Prunes and Prisms, and, as
your physician, I _order_ you to run. Off with you!" said Uncle Alec,
with a look and a gesture that made Rose scurry away as fast as she
could go.
Anxious to please him, she raced round the beds till she came back to
the porch where he stood, and, dropping down upon the steps, she sat
panting, with cheeks as rosy as the rigolette on her shoulders.
"Very well done, child; I see you have not lost the use of your limbs
though you _are_ in your teens. That belt is too tight; unfasten it,
then you can take a long breath without panting so."
"It isn't tight, sir; I can breathe perfectly well," began Rose, trying
to compose herself.
Her uncle's only answer was to lift her up and unhook the new belt of
which she was so proud. The moment the clasp was open the belt flew
apart several inches, for it was impossible to restrain the involuntary
sigh of relief that flatly contradicted her words.
"Why, I didn't know it was tight! it didn't feel so a bit. Of course it
would open if I puff like this, but I never do, because I hardly ever
run," explained Rose, rather discomfited by this discovery.
"I see you don't half fill your lungs, and so you can wear this absurd
thing without feeling it. The idea of cramping a tender little waist in
a stiff band of leather and steel just when it ought to be growing,"
said Dr. Alec, surveying the belt with great disfavor as he put the
clasp forward several holes, to Rose's secret dismay, for she was proud
of her slender figure, and daily rejoiced that she wasn't as stout as
Luly Miller, a former schoolmate, who vainly tried to repress her
plumpness.
"It will fall off if it is so loose," she said anxiously, as she stood
watching him pull her precious belt about.
"Not if you keep taking long breaths to hold it on. That is what I want
you to do, and when you have filled this out we will go on enlarging it
till your waist is more like that of Hebe, goddess of health, and less
like that of a fashion-plate,--the ugliest thing imaginable."
"How it does look!" and Rose gave a glance of scorn at the loose belt
hanging round her trim little waist. "It will be lost, and then I shall
feel badly, for it cost ever so much, and is real steel and Russia
leather. Just smell how nice."
"If it is lost I'll give you a better one. A soft silken sash is much
fitter for a pretty child like you than a plated harness like this; and
I've got no end of Italian scarfs and Turkish sashes among my traps. Ah!
that makes you feel better, doesn't it?" and he pinched the cheek that
had suddenly dimpled with a smile.
"It is very silly of me, but I can't help liking to know that"--here she
stopped and blushed and held down her head, ashamed to add, "you think I
am pretty."
Dr. Alec's eyes twinkled, but he said very soberly,--
"Rose, are you vain?"
"I'm afraid I am," answered a very meek voice from behind the veil of
hair that hid the red face.
"That is a sad fault." And he sighed as if grieved at the confession.
"I know it is, and I try not to be; but people praise me, and I can't
help liking it, for I really don't think I am repulsive."
The last word and the funny tone in which it was uttered were too much
for Dr. Alec, and he laughed in spite of himself, to Rose's great
relief.
"I quite agree with you; and in order that you may be still less
repulsive, I want you to grow as fine a girl as Phebe."
"Phebe!" and Rose looked so amazed that her uncle nearly went off again.
"Yes, Phebe; for she has what you need,--health. If you dear little
girls would only learn what real beauty is, and not pinch and starve and
bleach yourselves out so, you'd save an immense deal of time and money
and pain. A happy soul in a healthy body makes the best sort of beauty
for man or woman. Do you understand that, my dear?"
"Yes, sir," answered Rose, much taken down by this comparison with the
girl from the poor-house. It nettled her sadly, and she showed that it
did by saying quickly,--
"I suppose you would like to have me sweep and scrub, and wear an old
brown dress, and go round with my sleeves rolled up, as Phebe does?"
"I should very much, if you could work as well as she does, and show as
strong a pair of arms as she can. I haven't seen a prettier picture for
some time than she made of herself this morning, up to the elbows in
suds, singing like a blackbird while she scrubbed on the back stoop."
"Well, I do think you are the queerest man that ever lived!" was all
Rose could find to say after this display of bad taste.
"I haven't begun to show my oddities yet, so you must make up your mind
to worse shocks than this," he said, with such a whimsical look that she
was glad the sound of a bell prevented her showing more plainly what a
blow her little vanities had already received.
"You will find your box all open up in auntie's parlor, and there you
can amuse her and yourself by rummaging to your heart's content; I've
got to be cruising round all the morning getting my room to rights,"
said Dr. Alec, as they rose from breakfast.
"Can't I help you, uncle?" asked Rose, quite burning to be useful.
"No, thank you. I'm going to borrow Phebe for a while, if Aunt Plenty
can spare her."
"Anybody,--any thing, Alec. You will want me, I know, so I'll give
orders about dinner and be all ready to lend a hand;" and the old lady
bustled away full of interest and good-will.
"Uncle will find that _I_ can do some things that Phebe can't; so now!"
thought Rose, with a toss of the head as she flew to Aunt Peace and the
long-desired box.
Every little girl can easily imagine what an extra good time she had
diving into a sea of treasures and fishing up one pretty thing after
another, till the air was full of the mingled odors of musk and
sandal-wood, the room gay with bright colors, and Rose in a rapture of
delight. She began to forgive Dr. Alec for the oatmeal diet when she saw
a lovely ivory work-box; became resigned to the state of her belt when
she found a pile of rainbow-colored sashes; and when she came to some
distractingly pretty bottles of attar of rose, she felt that they almost
atoned for the great sin of thinking Phebe the finer girl of the two.
Dr. Alec meanwhile had apparently taken Aunt Plenty at her word, and
_was_ turning the house upside down. A general revolution was evidently
going on in the green-room, for the dark damask curtains were seen
bundling away in Phebe's arms; the air-tight stove retiring to the
cellar on Ben's shoulder; and the great bedstead going up garret in a
fragmentary state, escorted by three bearers. Aunt Plenty was
constantly on the trot among her store-rooms, camphor-chests, and
linen-closets, looking as if the new order of things both amazed and
amused her.
Half the peculiar performances of Dr. Alec cannot be revealed; but as
Rose glanced up from her box now and then she caught glimpses of him
striding by, bearing a bamboo chair, a pair of ancient andirons, a queer
Japanese screen, a rug or two, and finally a large bathing-pan upon his
head.
"What a curious room it will be," she said, as she sat resting and
refreshing herself with "Lumps of Delight," all the way from Cairo.
"I fancy _you_ will like it, deary," answered Aunt Peace, looking up
with a smile from some pretty trifle she was making with blue silk and
white muslin.
Rose did not see the smile, for just at that moment her uncle paused at
the door, and she sprang up to dance before him, saying, with a face
full of childish happiness,--
"Look at me! look at me! I'm so splendid I don't know myself. I haven't
put these things on right, I dare say, but I do like them _so_ much!"
"You look as gay as a parrot in your fez and cabaja, and it does my
heart good to see the little black shadow turned into a rainbow," said
Uncle Alec, surveying the bright figure before him with great
approbation.
He did not say it, but he thought she made a much prettier picture than
Phebe at the wash-tub, for she had stuck a purple fez on her blonde
head, tied several brilliant scarfs about her waist, and put on a truly
gorgeous scarlet jacket with a golden sun embroidered on the back, a
silver moon on the front, and stars of all sizes on the sleeves. A pair
of Turkish slippers adorned her feet, and necklaces of amber, coral, and
filigree hung about her neck, while one hand held a smelling-bottle, and
the other the spicy box of oriental sweetmeats.
"I feel like a girl in the 'Arabian Nights,' and expect to find a magic
carpet or a wonderful talisman somewhere. Only I don't see how I ever
_can_ thank you for all these lovely things," she said, stopping her
dance, as if suddenly oppressed with gratitude.
"I'll tell you how,--by leaving off the black clothes, that never should
have been kept so long on such a child, and wearing the gay ones I've
brought. It will do your spirits good, and cheer up this sober old
house. Won't it, auntie?"
"I think you are right, Alec, and it is fortunate that we have not begun
on her spring clothes yet, for Myra thought she ought not to wear any
thing brighter than violet, and she is too pale for that."
"You just let me direct Miss Hemming how to make some of these things.
You will be surprised to see how much I know about piping hems and
gathering arm-holes and shirring biases," began Dr. Alec, patting a pile
of muslin, cloth, and silk with a knowing air.
Aunt Peace and Rose laughed so that he could not display his knowledge
any farther till they stopped, when he said good-naturedly,--
"That will go a great way toward filling out the belt, so laugh away,
Morgiana, and I'll go back to my work, or I never shall be done."
"I couldn't help it, 'shirred biases' were so very funny!" Rose said, as
she turned to her box after the splendid laugh. "But really, auntie,"
she added soberly, "I feel as if I ought not to have so many nice
things. I suppose it wouldn't do to give Phebe some of them? Uncle might
not like it."
"He would not mind; but they are not suitable for Phebe. Some of the
dresses you are done with would be more useful, if they can be made over
to fit her," answered Aunt Peace in the prudent, moderate tone which is
so trying to our feelings when we indulge in little fits of charitable
enthusiasm.
"I'd rather give her new ones, for I think she is a little bit proud and
might not like old things. If she was my sister it would do, because
sisters don't mind, but she isn't, and that makes it bad, you see. I
know how I can manage beautifully; I'll adopt her!" and Rose looked
quite radiant with this new idea.
"I'm afraid you could not do it legally till you are older, but you
might see if she likes the plan, and at any rate you can be very kind to
her, for in one sense we are all sisters, and should help one another."
The sweet old face looked at her so kindly that Rose was fired with a
desire to settle the matter at once, and rushed away to the kitchen just
as she was. Phebe was there, polishing up the antique andirons so busily
that she started when a voice cried out: "Smell that, taste this, and
look at me!"
Phebe sniffed attar of rose, crunched the "Lump of Delight" tucked into
her mouth, and stared with all her eyes at little Morgiana prancing
about the room like a brilliant paroquet.
"My stars, ain't you splendid!" was all she could say, holding up two
dusty hands.
[Illustration: ROSE AND PHEBE.]
"I've got heaps of lovely things upstairs, and I'll show them all to
you, and I'd go halves, only auntie thinks they wouldn't be useful, so I
shall give you something else; and you won't mind, will you, because I
want to adopt you as Arabella was in the story. Won't that be nice?"
"Why, Miss Rose, have you lost your wits?"
No wonder Phebe asked, for Rose talked very fast, and looked so odd in
her new costume, and was so eager she could not stop to explain. Seeing
Phebe's bewilderment, she quieted down and said, with a pretty air of
earnestness,--
"It isn't fair that I should have so much and you so little, and I want
to be as good to you as if you were my sister, for Aunt Peace says we
are all sisters really. I thought if I adopted you as much as I can now,
it would be nicer. Will you let me, please?"
To Rose's great surprise, Phebe sat down on the floor and hid her face
in her apron for a minute without answering a word.
"Oh dear, now she's offended, and I don't know what to do," thought
Rose, much discouraged by this reception of her offer.
"Please, forgive me; I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, and hope you
won't think--" she faltered presently, feeling that she must undo the
mischief if possible.
But Phebe gave her another surprise, by dropping the apron and showing a
face all smiles, in spite of tears in the eyes, as she put both arms
round Rose and said, with a laugh and sob,--
"I think you are the dearest girl in the world, and I'll let you do any
thing you like with me."
"Then you do like the plan? You didn't cry because I seemed to be kind
of patronizing? I truly didn't mean to be," cried Rose, delighted.
"I guess I do like it! and cried because no one was ever so good to me
before, and I couldn't help it. As for patronizing, you may walk on me
if you want to, and I won't mind," said Phebe, in a burst of gratitude,
for the words, "we are all sisters," went straight to her lonely heart
and nestled there.
"Well, now, we can play I'm a good sprite out of the box, or, what is
better, a fairy godmother come down the chimney, and you are Cinderella,
and must say what you want," said Rose, trying to put the question
delicately.
Phebe understood that, for she had a good deal of natural refinement,
though she did come from the poor-house.
"I don't feel as if I wanted any thing now, Miss Rose, but to find some
way of thanking you for all you've done," she said, rubbing off a tear
that went rolling down the bridge of her nose in the most unromantic
way.
"Why, I haven't done any thing but given you a bit of candy! Here, have
some more, and eat 'em while you work, and think what I _can_ do. I must
go and clear up, so good-by, and don't forget I've adopted you."
"You've given me sweeter things than candy, and I'm not likely to forget
it." And carefully wiping off the brick-dust, Phebe pressed the little
hand Rose offered warmly in both her hard ones, while the black eyes
followed the departing visitor with a grateful look that made them very
soft and bright.