“Don't turn into an angel and fly away just yet, but come home, or
granny will never lend you to us any more.”
With that, Billy jumped her down, and away they ran, to ride gayly back
through the twilight, singing like a flock of nightingales.
As she went to bed that night, Marjorie looked at the red bank, the
pretty picture, and the daisy crown, saying to herself,--
“It has been a VERY nice birthday, and I am something like the girl in
the story, after all, for the old man gave me a good-luck penny, the
kind lady told me how to keep happy, and Billy came for me like the
prince. The girl didn't go back to the poor house again, but I'm glad
_I_ did, for MY granny isn't a cross one, and my little home is the
dearest in the world.”
Then she tied her night-cap, said her prayers, and fell asleep; but the
moon, looking in to kiss the blooming face upon the pillow, knew that
three good spirits had come to help little Marjorie from that day forth,
and their names were Industry, Cheerfulness, and Love.
ROSES AND FORGET-ME-NOTS
I. ROSES
It was a cold November storm, and everything looked forlorn. Even the
pert sparrows were draggle-tailed and too much out of spirits to fight
for crumbs with the fat pigeons who tripped through the mud with their
little red boots as if in haste to get back to their cosy home in the
dove-cot.
But the most forlorn creature out that day was a small errand girl, with
a bonnet-box on each arm, and both hands struggling to hold a big broken
umbrella. A pair of worn-out boots let in the wet upon her tired feet; a
thin cotton dress and an old shawl poorly protected her from the storm;
and a faded hood covered her head.
The face that looked out from this hood was too pale and anxious for one
so young; and when a sudden gust turned the old umbrella inside out with
a crash, despair fell upon poor Lizzie, and she was so miserable she
could have sat down in the rain and cried.
But there was no time for tears; so, dragging the dilapidated umbrella
along, she spread her shawl over the bonnet-boxes and hurried down the
broad street, eager to hide her misfortunes from a pretty young girl who
stood at a window laughing at her.
She could not find the number of the house where one of the fine hats
was to be left; and after hunting all down one side of the street, she
crossed over, and came at last to the very house where the pretty girl
lived. She was no longer to be seen; and, with a sigh of relief, Lizzie
rang the bell, and was told to wait in the hall while Miss Belle tried
the hat on.
Glad to rest, she warmed her feet, righted her umbrella, and then sat
looking about her with eyes quick to see the beauty and the comfort that
made the place so homelike and delightful. A small waiting-room opened
from the hall, and in it stood many blooming plants, whose fragrance
attracted Lizzie as irresistibly as if she had been a butterfly or bee.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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