Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction
The bonnet also was a trial, for when the lace was on, it was discovered
that the ribbons didn’t match the dress. Here was a catastrophe! Kitty
frantically rummaged the house, the shops, the stores of her friends,
and rummaged in vain. There was no time to send to the city, and despair
was about to fall on Kitty, when Pris rescued her by quietly making one
of the small sacrifices which were easy to her because her life was
spent for others. Some one suggested a strip of blue illusion,—and that
could be got; but, alas! Kitty had no money, for the gloves were already
bought. Pris heard the lamentations, and giving up fresh ribbons for
herself, pulled her sister out of a slough of despond with two yards of
“heavenly tulle.”
“Now the daisies; and oh, dear me, not one can I find in this
poverty-stricken town,” sighed Kitty, prinking at the glass, and
fervently hoping that nothing would happen to her complexion over night.
“I see plenty just like those on your dress,” answered Pris, nodding
toward the meadow full of young white-weed.
“Pris, you’re a treasure! I’ll wear real ones; they keep well, I know,
and are so common I can refresh my bonnet anywhere. It’s a splendid
idea.”
Away rushed Kitty to return with an apron full of American daisies. A
pretty cluster was soon fastened just over the left-hand frizzle of
bright hair, and the little bonnet was complete.
“Now, Pris, tell me how I look,” cried Kitty, as she swept into the room
late that afternoon in full gala costume.
It would have been impossible for the primmest, the sourest, or the most
sensible creature in the world to say that it wasn’t a pretty sight. The
long train, the big chignon, the apology for a bonnet, were all
ridiculous,—no one could deny that,—but youth, beauty, and a happy heart
made even those absurdities charming. The erect young figure gave an air
to the crisp folds of the delicate dress; the bright eyes and fresh
cheeks under the lace rosette made one forget its size; and the rippling
brown hair won admiration in spite of the ugly bunch which disfigured
the girl’s head. The little jacket set “divinely,” the new gloves were
as immaculate as white kids could be, and to crown all, Lizzie King, in
a burst of generosity, lent Kitty the blue and white Paris sunshade
which she couldn’t use herself.
“Now I could die content; I’m perfect in all respects, and I know Jack
won’t be ashamed of me. I really owe it to him to look my best, you
know, and that’s why I’m so particular,” said Kitty, in an apologetic
tone, as she began to lay away her finery.
“I hope you will enjoy every minute of the time, deary. Don’t forget to
finish running up the facing; I’ve basted it carefully, and would do it
if my head didn’t ache so, I really can’t hold it up any longer,”
answered Pris, who had worked like a disinterested bee, while Kitty had
flown about like a distracted butterfly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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