St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, No 10, August 1878: Scribner's IllustratedVarious
General
St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, No 10, August 1878: Scribner's Illustrated
Various
Children's literature -- Periodicals; Children's periodicals, American
Miss Celia called them little Una and her lion, and read the pretty
story to the children when they wondered what she meant. Ben, with great
pains, taught the dog to spell "Betty," and surprised her with a display
of this new accomplishment, which gratified her so much that she was
never tired of seeing Sanch paw the five red letters into place, then
come and lay his nose in her hand, as if he added: "That's the name of
my dear mistress."
Of course Bab was glad to have everything pleasant and friendly again,
but in a little dark corner of her heart there was a drop of envy, and a
desperate desire to do something which would make every one in her small
world like and praise her as they did Betty. Trying to be as good and
gentle did not satisfy her; she must _do_ something brave or surprising,
and no chance for distinguishing herself in that way seemed likely to
appear. Betty was as fond as ever, and the boys were very kind to her;
but she felt that they both liked "little Betcinda," as they called her,
best, because she found Sanch, and never seemed to know that she had
done anything brave in defending him against all odds. Bab did not tell
any one how she felt, but endeavored to be amiable while waiting for her
chance to come, and when it did arrive made the most of it, though there
was nothing heroic to add a charm.
Miss Celia's arm had been doing very well, but it would, of course, be
useless for some time longer. Finding that the afternoon readings amused
herself as much as they did the children, she kept them up, and brought
out all her old favorites, enjoying a double pleasure in seeing that her
young audience relished them as much as she did when a child; for to all
but Thorny they were brand new. Out of one of these stories came much
amusement for all, and satisfaction for one of the party.
"Celia, did you bring our old bows?" asked her brother, eagerly, as she
put down the book from which she had been reading Miss Edgeworth's
capital story of "Waste not Want not; or, Two Strings to your Bow."
"Yes, I brought all the playthings we left stored away in uncle's garret
when we went abroad. The bows are in the long box where you found the
mallets, fishing-rods and bats. The old quivers and a few arrows are
there also, I believe. What is the idea now?" asked Miss Celia in her
turn, as Thorny bounced up in a great hurry.
"I'm going to teach Ben to shoot. Grand fun this hot weather, and by and
by we'll have an archery meeting, and you can give us a prize. Come on,
Ben. I've got plenty of whip-cord to rig up the bows, and then we'll
show the ladies some first-class shooting."
"_I_ can't; never had a decent bow in my life. The little gilt one I
used to wave round when I was a Coopid wasn't worth a cent to go,"
answered Ben, feeling as if that painted "prodigy" must have been a very
distant connection of the respectable young person now walking off
arm-in-arm with the lord of the manor.
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