Feminist fiction; Suffragists -- Fiction; Women -- Fiction
The lady drew a flat, shiny wooden box out of the inside pocket of her
cloak. The little girl seized it rapturously.
'Oh, did you only bring Sara's bock?' wailed the smaller Tunbridge. 'I
told you expecially we wanted _two_ bocks.'
'I've got two pockets and I've got two bocks. Let me give him his, Sara
darling.'
But 'Sara darling' dropped her own 'bock' the better to cling round the
neck of the giver.
Naturally Master Cecil sounded the horn of indignation.
'Hush!' commanded his sister. 'Don't you know his little lordship never
did that?' And to emphasize this satirical appeal to a higher standard
of manners, Sara loosened her tight-locked arms an instant; but still
holding to the visitor with one hand, she picked up the pillow and
deftly hurled it at the neighbouring cot, extinguishing the little boy.
Through the general recriminations that ensued, the culprit cried with
shrill rapture, 'Lady Gladys never pillow-fought! Lady Gladys was a
little lady and never did _any_thing!' The merry eyes shamelessly
invited Miss Levering to mock at Dampney's former charges. But the
visitor detached herself from Miss Sara, and wishing apparently to
ingratiate herself with the offended majesty of the nurse, Miss Levering
said gravely over her shoulder, 'Now, lie down, Sara, and be a good
girl.' Sara's reply to that was to (what she called) 'diddle up and
down' on her knees and emit shrill squeals of some pleasurable emotion
not defined. This, too, in spite of the fact that Dampney had picked up
the pillow and was advancing upon Miss Sara with an expression
calculated to shake the stoutest heart. It obviously shook the
visitor's. 'Listen, Sara! If you don't be quiet and let nurse cover you
up, she won't want me to stay.' Miss Levering actually got up off the
little boy's bed, and stood as though ready to carry the obnoxious
suggestion into instant effect.
Sara darted under the bedclothes like a rabbit into its burrow. The
rigid woman, without words, restored the tousled pillow to the head of
the bed, extracted Miss Sara from her hiding-place with one hand,
smoothed out the rebellious legs with the other, covered the child
firmly over, and tucked the bedclothes in.
'What's the use of all that? Mother always does it over again.'
'You know very well she's been and done it once already.'
'She's coming again if father doesn't need her.'
'There's a whole big dinner-party needing her, so you needn't think she
can come twice to say good-night to a Jumping-Jack like you.'
'You ought to say a Jumping-Jill,' amended Sara.
During this interchange Master Cecil was complaining to the visitor--
'I can't see you with that thing all round your head.'
'Yes, take it off!' his sister agreed; and when the lady had unwound her
lace scarf--'Now the coat! And you have to sit on my bed this time. It's
my turn.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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