Golden Moments Part 13

As he came nearer to her, he called out--

"Three guesses, Maud. What have I got in my hand?"

"Oh, I don't know. Is it a parcel?"

"Yes, it is a brown paper parcel; but what is in it? That is one guess.

Now guess again."

"Is it a wax doll with curly hair?"

"No, not quite so large as that."

"Not so large? then is it a small thing? I have lost my thimble, and I've broken my china cup, so perhaps you have brought me one. Stop, stop; I have not had my third guess yet. Let me see: I gave my skipping-rope to Sally Brown. Oh, Phil, is it a skipping-rope?"

Philip laughed.

"Yes," said he, "it is a skipping-rope with fine painted handles. It is the prettiest I could find in the shop."

And Philip opened the parcel.

"Oh, what a beauty!" said Maud; "it is far prettier than mine was. And what nice rope! Oh, Phil, how good of you!"

"Well, now let me see if you can skip with it," said Philip, giving it into her hands.

And Maud began to skip.

"It is splendid," said she; "it almost skips of itself. I never skipped with such a skipping-rope before. It is the thing I wanted most, Philip.

How came you to think of it?"

"Why," said Philip, "that was not very hard. You gave your rope to little Sally because she was a poor little girl, and her mother could not buy one for her. So I thought it was the best present I could give you, and the best surprise, and I took a walk into Linton to the toy-shop there, and though I saw all sorts of toys, I only asked for skipping-ropes, and I bought the prettiest that the shop-keeper had to sell. I am glad you like it."

"Yes, I like it very much. I could skip all day with it."

"Well, don't do that, for I want to have a hopping-race with you, and then we will try the new jump. Where is it?"

"It is just at the end of the playground, over hurdles. They are not very high, and I think I can jump over them. I know you can, and now that you are here I will try."

And Maud put her skipping-rope into the brown paper, and laid it on the bench.

"We will hop down to the hurdles, and then we will have a grand jumping-match," said Philip.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "There's no compa.s.sion like a penny."]

AN EVENTFUL JOURNEY.

Patty was fifteen when she left home for the first time to pay a visit to her Aunt Martha in London. Patty's home was in the country (for her father was a farmer), so she was very eager to see all the wonders of London. Her father drove her into the market-town very early on the morning of her departure, and as it was a very busy day with him, he was obliged to leave her in the coach office all by herself, as the London coach was not expected to start for half an hour. Patty kissed her father with tears in her eyes, and he blessed her; and telling her to be a good girl and "not learn silly town ways," he strode off, whip in hand, towards the market-place, leaving Patty alone with her possessions.

They were not many--a leathern trunk that held all her wardrobe, a basket of flowers that hid a dozen of the largest and freshest eggs from her mother's poultry-yard, and last--to Patty's extreme annoyance--a doll that her mother had insisted on making and sending to little Betsy, Aunt Martha's youngest child. Patty herself had not long pa.s.sed the age for loving dolls, and was, therefore, all the more sensitive on the subject; so when the coach came thundering into the yard, and she was called to take her place by a man who addressed her as "Little Missy,"

she was ready to shed tears of vexation. Patty had to remember her mother's words, to "take great care of the doll, as it had been a lot of trouble to make," otherwise she might have been tempted to leave it behind, or let it drop out of the coach window.

Windsor was pa.s.sed after a time, then Staines, and as the twilight came on the coach was going at a good pace, with the last rays of sunset to the left behind it, and the dark stretch of Hounslow Heath, with its dismal gallows, in front. Suddenly the coach stopped, and was surrounded by three men on horseback, armed with pistols, their faces hidden behind black c.r.a.pe masks. The ladies screamed, the men turned pale and trembled, the guard made a faint show of resistance, but was at once overpowered; the driver looked on with apparent indifference while the coach was ransacked.

Patty had nothing worth taking--neither watch, jewels, nor money; but when asked by one of the men what she had, she held out the doll, almost hoping that he might take it, but he only laughed loudly. In a short time the coach was allowed to proceed on its way, Patty being the only traveller who had not been robbed.

Very glad was Patty to see her uncle's kind face when the coach stopped in London at the end of its journey, and great was the excitement when it became known that they had been attacked by the way. When Patty told the story of the highwaymen to her aunt, and how she had offered them her doll, Aunt Martha gave a cry of horror.

"La, child; you were nearer the truth than you knew!" she said; and taking a pair of scissors, she cut the st.i.tches that held together the rag body of the doll, and there fell out some golden guineas on the table, that the farmer had sent to his sister to pay for his Patty while she was in London.

Patty enjoyed her visit to London, and came home again quite safely, as did the doll, which Patty asked if she might keep in remembrance of that eventful journey.

BIRTHDAYS.

Laura had a birthday last week, and asked some children to have tea with her, and we went, but I don't think any of us enjoyed it one bit. Etty and I went, and our governess, Miss Ashton, went too; and we were very glad of that, for we like Miss Ashton, and she takes care of us, because Etta isn't very strong. Laura has no brothers or sisters, poor thing! so she doesn't know how to behave; and Miss Ashton tells us we ought to be sorry for her, and so we are, only she needn't be _quite_ so disagreeable.

Laura was very grandly dressed. She had a new cream muslin hat on, and a frock with puffs and things on the sleeves, and all worked about in that pretty pattern Etty likes so much. Then she had on a pale-green sash, and thin bronze shoes, and white silk socks. You never saw anything so silly! We went with Miss Ashton and Miss Morris--that's Laura's governess--into a field and played games; but Laura was so disagreeable, she kept on saying, "But it's _my_ birthday!" if any one else suggested a game, and she wouldn't think of anything nice herself.

At last Miss Morris suggested _Oranges and Lemons_, and Laura thought she'd like that; so we began to play, Miss Ashton and Miss Morris holding hands for the arch. But Laura didn't like me to hold her by her frock, and when I held her sash it came undone, and she was angry, and said I hit her with a little twig I had in my hand, but that wasn't true. So, as she was cross, we all sat down till it was tea-time, and after that we went away. Etty and I _were_ glad to be home again.

I was telling mother all about it when we came home; for _my_ birthday was yesterday, and _I_ was to have a party too, and I didn't want Laura at my birthday party. Mother looked grave, and told me she wished Laura to be invited; and then I said--you see, I didn't think what I was saying--"But it's _my_ birthday, mother!" Then I saw Etty looking at me, and felt so ashamed, because it was just like Laura, of whom I had been complaining. Mother wasn't angry: she only said she hoped I would set Laura a better example, and let her see that people should not be selfish, even on their birthdays.

Well, my party was yesterday. Etty and I _did_ work hard, and we had lots of games, and took it in turns to choose them; but I forgot all about setting Laura a good example until everybody said good-by, and told us how much they had enjoyed it. Laura threw her arms round my neck when she said good-by. She didn't say anything else until she got outside the door, then she put in her head to tell us, "Next time you come to tea, Georgy, you and Etty shall choose _all_ the games!"

A MOTHER'S PROPHECY.

"Well, children, have you been good at school?" inquired their mother, as Lina and Marie ran gleefully up the path.

"Oh, so good!" promptly answered Marie, clapping her fat little hands as if to applaud her own virtue. "We danced in a ring till Dolly was so giddy I had to sit down."

"Poor Dolly!" said Mrs. Wolf.

"Oh! she'll be better soon," said Marie cheerfully. "She's lying back because she's faint--at least, she says so; but I do believe the real reason is she likes it better than being at the bottom of the bag."

"Very likely she does," said Mrs. Wolf, smiling at Marie's speech, for the little four-year-old girl quite believed her doll felt things as she did. Then turning to Lina, "And what have you done, my darling?"

Lina was seven years old, and could read and write nicely, and was in a higher form in the school than Marie, whose school-work was, very properly, mostly play.

"We did a new sort of lesson to-day, mother," said Lina. "See!" and she handed a book to her mother, who stooped down to be on a level with the little scholar.

"Open it at page forty-six, please, mother."