Jerome, A Poor Man: A NovelFreeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins
General
Jerome, A Poor Man: A Novel
Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins
New England -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
As for Lucina, she had set up her doll primly in a corner of the
arbor, and was knitting her stent. It might have seemed difficult to
understand what the child found to enjoy in this quiet entertainment,
but in childhood all situations which appeal to the imagination give
enjoyment, and most situations which break the routine of daily life
do so appeal. Then, too, Camilla's quiet persistence in her own
employment gave a delightful sense of equality and dignity to the
child. She would not have liked it half as well had her aunt stooped
to entertain her and brought out toys and games for her amusement.
However, there was entertainment to come, to which she looked forward
with gratification, as that placed her firmly on the footing of an
honored guest. The minister's daughter or the doctor's wife could not
be treated better or with more courtesy.
Aunt Camilla wrote with pensive pauses of reflection, and Lucina
knitted until her stent was finished. Then she folded up the garter
neatly, quilted in the needles as she had been taught, and placed it
in her little bag. Then she took up her doll protectingly and
soothingly, and held her in her lap, with the great china head
against her small bosom. Lucina's doll was very large, and finely
attired in stiff book-muslin and pink ribbons. She wore also pink
morocco shoes on her feet, which stood out strangely at sharp right
angles. Lucina sometimes eyed her doll-baby's feet uncomfortably. "I
guess she will outgrow it," she told herself, with innocent maternal
hypocrisy early developed.
When Lucina laid aside her work and began nursing her doll her aunt
looked up from her writing. "Are you enjoying yourself, dear?" she
inquired.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Would you like to run about the garden?"
"No, thank you, ma'am; I will sit here and hold my doll. It is time
for her nap. I will hold her till she goes to sleep."
"Then you can run about a little," suggested Miss Camilla, gravely,
without a smile. She respected Lucina's doll, as she might have her
baby, and the child's heart leaped up with gratitude. An older soul
which needs not to make believe to re-enter childhood is a true
comrade for a child.
"Yes, ma'am," replied Lucina. "I will lay her down on the bench here
when she falls asleep."
"You can cover her up with my shawl," said Miss Camilla, gravely
still, and naturally. Indeed, to her a child with a doll was as much
a part and parcel of the natural order of things as a mother with an
infant. Outside all of it herself, she comprehended and admitted it
with the impartiality of an observer. "Then you can run in the
garden," she added, "and pick a bouquet if you wish. There is not
much in bloom now but the heart's-ease and the flowering almond and
the daffodils, but you can make a bouquet of them to take home to
your mother."
"Thank you, ma'am," said Lucina.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account