Girls -- Fiction; Harpeth Valley (Tenn.) -- Fiction
This is Saturday night, or Sunday morning, I am not sure which, as I
have let my clock and watch both run down, for I have not had time to
wind them; but however late it is, I am going to write about all this
remarkableness, to you, leather Louise, so I will never forget how it
all really happened. And writing it may make me believe it is true,
though now it all _will_ seem a dream.
I got up early on account of the quadratics and had a contest, that
lasted until ten o'clock, between them and a very overburdened mind. I
conquered, but at what cost!
But still, from the fight, one of the gratifications of my life came
to me in the shape of the chance to help Belle. Mamie Sue has given up
the study of algebra forever, and is going to take botany instead, but
Belle is still having dreadful struggles. Mamie Sue told me about
Belle having a wet towel around her head all night and other really
tragic things that made me lose all my hurt at her and filled me with
extreme sympathy. I was over at Roxanne's on my way to read diphtheria
to Lovelace Peyton, and just as Mamie Sue was describing how the poor
girl had to put her feet in hot water to take the chill off of them,
down the street came Belle looking all that Mamie Sue had said of her.
My heart was so wrung that I spoke before I had time to let her manner
daunt me.
"Oh, Belle," I said, with hasty enthusiasm, "I worked a lot this
morning and I can solve them all now in the easiest way. Let me show
you."
"I--I wish you would, Phyllis, and thank you," she answered in a meek
voice that was not hers at all. It had a nice, mournful, friendly tone
to it that I wish it could keep even when the cause for sorrow is
removed, which I succeeded in doing in about another hour of hard
manual labor, if you call pounding manual labor. It is!
Roxanne sat down beside us, and we sent Mamie Sue in to keep Lovelace
Peyton quiet with her company; only to use the fudge from her pocket
in case she couldn't succeed. We found them both later with chocolate
smeared on their faces; but Lovelace Peyton likes Mamie Sue, for her
easy nature is most lovable.
"Thank you, Phyllis," said Belle, when we had figured the last formula
as simply as I had found out how to do it. "I have always thought that
you are as smart as anybody in the class, and I now think--"
I wish Belle had had time to finish that sentence, for I don't believe
she will be in such a nice temper for a long time; but we were
interrupted by Tony and the Colonel and Miss Priscilla coming past my
house and into the cottage front gate. The Colonel was dressed up in
his white vest and Sunday hat, and Miss Priscilla was flying more
ribbons and ruffles than usual, while I never saw Tony's grin quite so
broad and his freckles shone out more than ever, as they always do
when he is excited.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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