'Lisbeth did not talk any more about London for a great while after
that. She may have thought about it, but she did not do any more. She
talked about other things. And she grew tall much faster, I have no
doubt, than she would have done in London. The country air was good, and
made her grow fast. You will see in the picture that she looks taller
than she did when she stood thinking by the mile-stone. As she stood
there, that day, she was listening to Philip McGreagor, a little boy who
lived down the road, and Dickon was listening too.
Dickon and 'Lisbeth were dressed in their very best clothes. 'Lisbeth's
dress was quite new. A very pretty blue with dark speckles. Dickon was
sorry they had on their best clothes after listening to Philip. Philip
was going to be rich. He had found a pearl in a mussel in a brook; why
should he not find a million?
Why could not 'Lisbeth find a million?
'Lisbeth thought she could find a million; she thought she might be
as rich as Philip; then she could go to London.
[Illustration]
'Lisbeth and Dickon had been told not to go beyond the roller which laid
on the pathway at a little distance from the house. Mother was home. It
was a holiday. She wanted her children under her eyes. Besides, she had
dressed them in their very best clothes. She bought those clothes; she
had made them; she was a little bit proud of them.
'Lisbeth forgot the roller; forgot the mother home from the mill; forgot
the very best clothes; forgot everything but the mussels and the brook,
and Dickon forgot them too. There must be mussels in the brook, and
pearls in the mussels. They would wade for them; they could see them at
the bottom of the stream. They ran along the road to the woods; along
the wood's path to the brook. Dickon took off his shoes. 'Lisbeth forgot
to take off her shoes. They waded along in the water.
'Lisbeth at first held the blue dress out of the water; then she forgot
to hold it out of the water; then she slipped on a stone, and fell in,
and Dickon slipped, and splashed in the water in trying to keep her up;
and the water, which had been clear as crystal, threw up its mud in
indignation. They climbed out of the mud upon the grass, and looked at
each other.
'Lisbeth had lost her shoes. Dickon looked at his own. They were all he
had of his very best rig. How could they ever get home? Dickon tried to
wipe the mud off, to wring it out, but 'Lisbeth would not be wrung out;
she said she did not mind. But she did mind, because she would not walk
or sit down, or do anything for a few minutes but stand and look. Then
she told Dickon to come with her. He came, and they went down to
Dillon's cottage.
"Please, Mr. Dillon, put me in the wheelbarrow," said 'Lisbeth. But
Dillon only stopped smoking his pipe to laugh.
"Please, Mr. Dillon, very fast put me in a wheelbarrow," said 'Lisbeth,
growing excited, "and roll me home." And Mr. Dillon did.
'Lisbeth's mother looked from the door. She saw the wheelbarrow; she saw
Dillon's coat over something in the wheelbarrow. And other people
looked from their doors and saw them too. 'Lisbeth's mother was not
pleased when she saw what was in the wheelbarrow, and 'Lisbeth was no
nearer getting to London than she had been before, because they were
poorer instead of richer. 'Lisbeth's mother cried over the spoiled
clothes. 'Lisbeth felt very badly about them, so did Dickon, but feeling
badly did not bring them back. They were nothing, from that time, but
stained, and washed, and faded clothes instead of brand new ones.
'Lisbeth thought about the clothes so much that she concluded she should
try to do something to buy more. She began to think she was getting big
enough. She contrived a great many ways, but she could not seem to
decide upon anything.
There was an old hogshead under the walnut tree, very high and old. When
she had anything very important to think about she liked to climb up and
sit on the top of the hogshead. She never allowed anybody to sit there
with her. She climbed up on the hogshead and sat very still, thinking
how to manage about the new clothes.
Suddenly she had a pleasant thought; she believed she had a thought
that would answer. She jumped up and down so suddenly and so hard that
the hogshead tried to move its head out of the way. It was scarcely
polite for 'Lisbeth to jump so hard on its head. It did move its
head--or a part of it--and 'Lisbeth sat inside the hogshead instead of
outside of it.
The mother found her there when she came home. Had 'Lisbeth picked the
beans, as mother had told her to do, instead of trying to think about
doing something else, she would not have been obliged to sit in the
hogshead's mouth, nor to have eaten her porridge without beans.