"Caw," she said; "that is my name; same as a crow says 'Caw--Caw--Caw!'
You needn't be surprised, I couldn't help it being my father's name.
But it's short, and if you should forget it, you have only to go out
and stand beneath a rookery, and you'll remember it in a minute. That
is, unless you are deaf."
Then I told Harriet Caw my name, Joseph Yarrow, which she thought
funny. And she gave me bread to cut while she stood by me and buttered
it--doing everything so quickly, and talking all the time, that indeed
it was very nice. And I wished Elsie had been there to laugh at
Harriet's jokes, which seemed very funny to me then. But, oh, how
stupid and feeble they seemed when I came to tell them to Elsie after!
And Elsie wasn't a bit amused, as I had hoped. Girls hardly ever seem
to get on with other girls as a fellow thinks they will. It is
different with men. Now I got on first-class with Mr. Ablethorpe, even
when I thought--but it's no matter about that now.
Well, it was a tea! The table was loaded from one end to the other.
There were soda scones, light and hove up so as to make your teeth
water. There were farrels of oat-cake, crisp and curly, with just the
proper amount of browning on the side where the red ashes of the fire
had toasted it. Four or five kinds of jams there were, all better one
than the other. Old Caleb came in and ate quickly, sermonizing Mr.
Ablethorpe all the time, and as long as he was there we were all as
quiet as mice. But I am sure everyone was glad when he rose, tumbled
things about on the window seat in search of his blue bonnet (which
only he of all the countryside still wore), and finally went out to the
hill. Before going he warned us to behave and to remember that, _such
as he was_, we had one who deemed himself a minister among us.
But as soon as we were alone, up jumped Harriet Caw, and catching me
round the waist, she cried, "Dance, Joseph--dance, Joe! He's gone.
Never mind Granny Susan. She does not count!"
That was actually the way she spoke of her grandmother--or
step-grandmother, rather. And, indeed, that good lady only laughed,
and, shaking her head at the minister, repeated, what I afterwards
found to be her favourite maxim--that "young folk would be young folk."
The philosophy of which was that they would get over it all too soon.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account