Mary Cary: "Frequently Martha"Bosher, Kate Langley
General
Mary Cary: "Frequently Martha"
Bosher, Kate Langley
Children -- Juvenile fiction; Orphans -- Juvenile fiction
They begin early and last until after supper, and if anybody is sorry
when Sunday is over, it's never been mentioned out loud. We have prayers
and Bible-reading before breakfast every day, but on Sundays longer.
Then we go to Sunday-school, where some of the children stare at us like
we were foreign heathen who have come to get saved. Some nudge each
other and laugh. But real many are nice and sweet, and I just love that
little Minnie Dawes, who sits in front of me. She wears the prettiest
hats in Yorkburg, and I get lots of ideas from them. I trim hats in my
mind all the time Miss Sallie is talking--Miss Sallie is our teacher.
She is a good lady, Miss Sallie Ray is. Her chief occupation is
religion, and as for going to church, it's the true joy of her life.
She's in love with Mr. Benson, the Superintendent, and very regular at
all the services. So is he.
But for teaching children Miss Sallie wasn't meant. She really wasn't.
She never surely knows the lesson herself, and it was such fun asking
her all sorts of questions just to see her flounder round for answers
that I used to pretend I wanted to know a lot of things I didn't. But I
don't do that now. It was like punching a lame cat to see it hop, and I
stopped.
She don't ask me anything, either. Never has since the day Mr. Benson
came in our class and asked for a little review, and Martha Cary made
trouble, of course.
Miss Sallie was so red and excited by Mr. Benson sitting there beside
her that she didn't know what she was doing. She didn't, or she wouldn't
have asked me questions, knowing I never say the things I ought. But
after a minute she did ask me, fanning just as hard as she could. It
was in January.
"Now, Mary Cary, tell us something of the people we have been studying
about this winter," she said, "Mention something of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, and Peter and Paul. Who was Abraham?"
"Abraham was a coward," I said.
"A what?" And her voice was a little shriek. "A what?"
"A coward. He was! He passed his wife off for his sister, fearing
trouble for himself, and not thinking of consequences for her."
"That will do," she said, and she fanned harder than ever, and looked
real frightened at Mr. Benson, who was blowing his nose. "Susie Rice,
who was Jacob?"
Susie didn't know. Nobody knew, so I spoke again.
"Jacob was a rascal. He deceived his father and stole from his brother.
But he prospered and repented, and died prominent."
Mr. Benson got up and said he believed his nose was bleeding, and went
out quick, and since then Miss Sallie has never asked me a single
question. Not one.
Now I wonder what made Martha speak out like that? Abraham and Jacob
were good men who did some bad things, but generally only their goodness
is mentioned. While you're living it's apt to be the other way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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