Bessie in the City

by Joanna H. Mathews

  Produced by Melissa McDaniel, Diane Monico, and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)

  BESSIE IN THE CITY.

  _BOOKS BY JOANNA H. MATHEWS._

  I. THE BESSIE BOOKS.6 vols. In a box. $7.50.

  II. THE FLOWERETS.A SERIES OF STORIES ON THE COMMANDMENTS.6 vols. In a box. $3.60.

  III. LITTLE SUNBEAMS.6 vols. In a box. $6.00.

  IV. KITTY AND LULU BOOKS.6 vols. In a box. $6.00.

  V. MISS ASHTON'S GIRLS.6 vols. In a neat box. $7.50.

  VI. HAPS AND MISHAPS.6 vols. $7.50.

  _BY JULIA A. MATHEWS._

  I. DARE TO DO RIGHT SERIES.5 vols. In a box. $5.50.

  II. DRAYTON HALL STORIES.Illustrative of the Beatitudes. 6 vols. In a box. $4.50.

  III. THE GOLDEN LADDER SERIES.Stories illustrative of the Lord's Prayer. 6 vols. $3.00.

  ROBERT CARTER AND BROTHERS,_New York._

  FRONTISPIECE. Bessie in City.]

  Bessie in the City.

  BY_JOANNA H. MATHEWS_,

  AUTHOR OF "BESSIE AT THE SEA-SIDE."

  "_Little drops of water, little grains of sand,Make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land._"

  New York:ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS,530 Broadway.

  Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, byROBERT CARTER AND BROTHERS,in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United Statesfor the Southern District of New York.

  To the Children of_DR. JOHN MURRAY CARNOCHAN_,THE KIND FRIEND AND PHYSICIAN

  _To whose skill and patience I owe a life-longdebt of gratitude_,

  IS THIS LITTLE BOOK_Most Affectionately Dedicated_.

  CONTENTS.

  PAGE

  _I. Little Friends at Home_, 9

  _II. Maggie's Plan_, 30

  _III. The Miser_, 52

  _IV. Flossy_, 73

  _V. The Colonel's Story_, 104

  _VI. The Story Continued_, 127

  _VII. The Peach-Stones_, 147

  _VIII. The New Gloves_, 167

  _IX. Two Lost Pets_, 187

  _X. Home Again_, 212

  _XI. New Plans_, 236

  _XII. A Visitor_, 255

  _XIII. The Bank-Notes_, 281

  _XIV. Discovery_, 297

  _XV. The Snow_, 309

  _XVI. Shopping for Christmas_, 330

  _XVII. Christmas_, 352

  _XVIII. The Purchase of the Library_, 378

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  BESSIE IN THE CITY.

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  I.

  _LITTLE FRIENDS AT HOME._

  "MAMMA," said Maggie Bradford, as she sat upon the floor in hermother's room, lacing her walking boots,--"mamma, I wish I had anotherterrible fault."

  "Why, Maggie!" said Mrs. Bradford.

  "I do, indeed, mamma,--a dreadful fault, something a great deal worsethan carelessness."

  Mrs. Bradford was busy unpacking trunks and arranging drawers andclosets; for the family had just come home from the sea-shore, wherethey had been spending the summer; but she was so surprised to hearMaggie say this that she turned around with her hands full, to look ather little daughter. She saw that Maggie was very much in earnest, andhad some reason for this strange wish.

  "And why do you wish that, daughter?" she asked.

  "Because, mamma, if I had such a fault, people would be so very anxiousI should cure it. Oh, dear! there's another knot in my shoe-string!"and Maggie gave a jerk and a hard pull at her boot-lace. "I do not atall wish to keep it, only to break myself of it."

  "But why should you wish for a fault which would grieve your friendsand trouble yourself only that you may be at the pains of curing it,Maggie? You have faults enough, dear; and if they are not what may becalled very terrible, they are quite serious enough to need all yourattention, and you should be thankful that it does not require a harderstruggle to overcome them."

  "I know that, mamma," answered Maggie, with a very grave face; "butthen you see if my friends wished me very much to cure my fault,perhaps they would offer me money to do it. You know when I used tobe so very, very careless, Grandpapa Duncan paid me for trying to dobetter, so that I might help earn the easy-chair for lame Jemmy Bent.And I want money very much,--a great deal of it, mamma."

  "But that would be a very poor reason for wishing to rid yourself of abad fault, my child. And why do you want so much money? It seems to methat you have everything given to you which a reasonable little girlcan want; and besides you have your weekly allowance of six cents."

  "Yes, ma'am," said Maggie, with another jerk at her boot-lace; "butBessie and I want to save all our allowance for Christmas. We want tohave two whole dollars, so that we can give presents to every one ofthe family and all the servants and Colonel and Mrs. Rush. And we havetold every one that we are going to do it, so it would not be quitefair to take the money for anything else; would it, mamma?"

  "Not if you have promised to spend it in that way," said Mrs. Bradford,with a smile at the thought of how much the two dollars were expectedto furnish; "but it is wiser not to make such large promises. Youshould have been very sure that you wished to spend your money forpresents before you said you would do so."

  "But I do wish to use it for that, Mamma, and so does Bessie, but wehave another plan in our minds. Bessie and I like to have plans,and this is a charity plan, mamma, and will take a great deal ofmoney. There, now, there's that boot-lace broken! I just believe thatshoemaker sells bad laces on purpose to provoke little girls. Somethingought to be done to him. It's such a bother to lace my boots, and 'mostalways just when I have one done, the lace breaks. It's too bad!"

  "Yes, it is too bad, Maggie, quite too bad that you should destroyso many laces; but I scarcely think Mr. White does his work poorlyon purpose to vex his little customers. It is your own impatienceand heedlessness, my daughter, which are to blame. You pull and dragat your shoe-strings, not taking time to fasten them properly, andof course they knot and break. That is the second one this week, andlast week, also, you destroyed two. You say you wish to learn to dressyourself, that you may be a useful and helpful little girl; but youmake more trouble than you save when you tear the buttons and stringsfrom your clothes, or knot and fray your shoe-laces. It would have beenmuch more convenient for me to put on your boots for you than it is toleave what I am doing to find a lace among all these trunks and boxes.Do you see, Maggie?"

  "Yes, mamma," said Maggie, looking very much mortified, "but do you notthink my carelessness is any better?"

  "Indeed, I do, pussy. I do not wish to take from my little girl any ofthe credit she deserves, and you need not look so distressed. You aremuch more careful than you were six months ago; you have tried hard,and improved very much; but you have still something to do in that way,dear. I think you will find the old faults quite troublesome enoughwithout wishing for new ones to cure."

  "Yes, ma'am," said Maggie, "but then--"

  "Well, dear, but then--what?"

  "Why, mamma, I wouldn't feel as if it was quite right to wish to bepaid twice over for curing myself of the same fault, and GrandpapaDuncan might think it was not fair."

  "You are right, Maggie," said Mrs. Bradford, "and I am glad to hear yousay that; but I should like to understand why you and Bessie wish for agreat deal of money. If it is for a good purpose, I think I can put youin th
e way of earning some."

  "Oh, would you, mamma? That would be so nice! Bessie,"--as her littlesister came into the room, dressed for her walk, and followed by Janewith Maggie's hat and sack in her hand,--"Bessie, mamma thinks she canlet us earn some money."

  "Thank you, mamma," said Bessie; "that is _delighterful_. I am soglad."

  "I will tell you what it is for, mamma," said Maggie.

  "Not now, dear," said Mrs. Bradford; "it is time for your walk, and youmust let Jane put on your things. When you come home, you shall tellme, and meanwhile, I will be thinking in what way I can help you. Butremember, I only promise to do so if I think well of your plan. You maythink it a very wise one, while I may think it very foolish."

  "Oh, mamma," said Maggie, "I am quite sure you will think this is wise.Mrs. Rush made it, and she is so very good that it must be quite right."

  "Yes, I think any plan Mrs. Rush proposes for you will be a safe one,"said Mrs. Bradford, with a smile.

  "You mean you have trust in her, mamma?" said Bessie.

  "Yes, dear. I can trust her. She is a true and faithful friend to meand to my little ones," answered Mrs. Bradford, as she stooped andkissed first one and then the other of her little girls. "And nowgood-by, my darlings. I will hear all when you come back. I hope youwill have a pleasant walk."

  "I shall not, mamma," said Maggie, with a solemn shake of her curlyhead. "I am so very anxious to tell you, and to hear what we can do,that I shall not enjoy my walk at all. I wish I could stay at home."

  But Maggie found herself mistaken; for the day was so bright andpleasant, the park so cool, green, and shady, and so full, of otherlittle children, that she not only enjoyed her walk very much, but forthe time quite forgot her plan and her wish to earn money. And in thepark, our little girls met a friend whom they were very glad to see.They were running down one of the broad paths, when Bessie saw an oldgentleman coming towards them with a pleasant smile on his face. Shestood still to take a second look, and then called to her sister.

  "Oh, Maggie, here's our dear friend, Mr. Hall!"

  "Why, so it is!" said Maggie, in glad surprise, for this was a veryunexpected pleasure.

  Mr. Hall lived but two or three doors from Mr. Bradford, and as hegenerally came for a walk in the park after his breakfast, Maggie andBessie were almost sure to meet him when they were out in the morning.But he was not apt to be there in the afternoon, and so they had notlooked for him at this time.

  It so happened that Mr. Hall had stepped out upon his front stoop justas Mrs. Bradford's little flock started for their walk; and therehe saw them all going down the street. He put on his hat, took hisgold-headed cane, and walked out after them.

  "Mr. Hall, I am very pleased to see you," said Bessie.

  "And so am I, Mr. Hall," said Maggie.

  "And I am very much pleased to see you," said Mr. Hall; "but I shouldlike to know what has become of two little granddaughters of mine, whowent away to the sea-shore two months since. I thought I should findthem in the park; but in their place I find two little strangers, whohave no name for me but Mr. Hall."

  "Oh, I forgot,--Grandpapa Hall," said Maggie.

  "Dear Grandpapa Hall," said Bessie, "please don't let your feelings behurt, 'cause we only forgot for one moment. You know it's so long sincewe saw you."

  "And did you forget me while you were away?" asked Mr. Hall.

  "Oh, no," said Bessie, "we thinked about you very often, and talkedabout you too."

  "Well, let us sit down and talk a little," said Mr. Hall, as he seatedhimself on a bench, and made Maggie and Bessie take their places, oneon each side of him. "And so you came back from Quam Beach yesterday?"he said.

  "Yes, sir," said Bessie,--"yesterday, in the afternoon. How did youknow it?"

  "Oh, I saw the carriages drive up, and papa and mamma and a wholeregiment of little folks pouring out of them. I came out this morning,expecting to find you in the park, but you were nowhere to be seen."

  "No," said Bessie, "mamma was so busy nurse and Jane had to help her,so we could not take our walk."

  "Ah, to be sure, I might have thought of that, and called for youmyself."

  "But we helped mamma too, and she said we were of great use to her, sowe could not have gone out," said Maggie.

  "That was right," said Mr. Hall. "Always be of use to dear mamma whenyou can."

  "We can't do much," said Bessie; "we are too little."

  "I do not know about that," answered Mr. Hall. "These little hands andfeet can help mamma a good deal, if they are only willing. If you cando nothing else, you can be quiet and patient when she is busy. If youdo not make trouble, you save trouble."

  "And we can 'muse baby," said Bessie.

  "So you can. Halloa, little man! How do you do?" This was said toFranky, who had just come up with Jane.

  Franky remembered Mr. Hall quite well, and he also remembered how theold gentleman used to give him sugar-plums out of his pocket.

  "Welly well," he answered. "Me want sudar-plum."

  "Oh, you naughty boy!" said Maggie.

  "Dear, dear," said Mr. Hall. "I quite forgot the sugar-plums thisafternoon. When I saw my little friends going up the street, I thoughtof nothing but the pleasure of joining them, and hurried out as quicklyas I could."

  "Dive Franky sudar-plums," said the child again.

  "Oh, Franky!" said Bessie, "don't be so yude. You make us verymortified. Please to 'scuse him, Mr. Hall; he don't know any better,'cause he's only three years old."

  Mr. Hall laughed and offered Franky his stick to ride on, but thelittle boy would not take it; and when he found he could not have thesugar-plums, walked away with an offended air, which amused the oldgentleman very much, though it distressed his sisters, who thought himvery impolite.

  "And now tell me about Quam Beach," said Mr. Hall. "You liked it verymuch, did you?"

  "Yes, sir," said Bessie, "the sea is there."

  "And you were fond of the sea?"

  "Oh, yes, sir! it is beautiful, and it has waves, and they come up onthe beach and bring the sea-weed and shells, and make such a pleasantsound. And we could see so far, far away out over the water, and wesaw the ships and steamers too. And there are yocks that we could siton and play on, and we liked it so much. I wish there was a sea here,Grandpapa Hall. Did you ever go to the sea-shore?"

  "Yes, often, and I have been to Quam Beach, and thought it quite aspleasant as you seem to have found it."

  "We used to have clam-bakes," said Maggie.

  "And go out in the boat," said Bessie.

  "And in the wagon for straw rides, and to swing in the barn," saidMaggie.

  "And over to the hotel to see grandmamma, and Colonel and Mrs. Yush,"said Bessie.

  "Who are Colonel and Mrs. Rush?" asked Mr. Hall.

  "Old friends of papa and mamma, and new friends of me and Maggie,"answered Bessie; "and we love them--oh, so much!"

  "Colonel Rush is an English soldier," said Maggie, "and he was shot ina battle, so his foot had to be cut off, and he has been very sick,but he's better now."

  "And they came to the city with us yesterday," said Bessie, "and wentto the hotel; and Mrs. Yush is going to have a class on Sunday, and weare to go to it."

  "Are you going to leave your Sunday-school?" asked Mr. Hall.

  "I never went to Sunday-school," said Bessie. "Maggie did, but mammathought I was too little; but she said I might go to Mrs. Yush, 'causeit was not too far. Mrs. Yush can't go to Sunday-school, 'cause shemust yide to church with the colonel, and she cannot come back for himin time. Maggie's teacher is going away, and she is to go to Mrs. Yushtoo, and Lily Norris and Gracie Howard."

  "We are all to go to her on Sunday mornings," said Maggie; "and whenshe and the colonel go to church, they are to take Bessie, if it istoo cold for her to walk; so now she can go to church 'most everySunday. Last winter she went very seldom because mamma thought the walktoo long for her, and was afraid she would take cold. Don't you thinkit is a very nice 'rangement, Grandpapa Ha
ll?"

  "Very," said Mr. Hall, smiling at Maggie's long word,--"a very nicearrangement; and I think Mrs. Rush must be a very kind, good lady."

  "She is," answered Maggie, "she's lovely."

  "Grandpapa Duncan says she is as good as she is pretty, and as prettyas she is good," said Bessie.

  "And the colonel is very good too," said Maggie, "and they are bothvery fond of us."

  "That shows them to be sensible people," said Mr. Hall. "I think I mustmake the acquaintance of this famous Colonel and Mrs. Rush. Will youintroduce me to them?"

  "Oh, yes, we will," answered Bessie, "and perhaps you'll see thecolonel in the park some day. He says he shall come and walk here whenhe feels well enough. He's going to live over there in the hotel;" andBessie pointed to the great white building that fronted the park.

  "And how is Grandpapa Duncan?" asked Mr. Hall.

  "Very well, and Uncle John and Aunt Helen are well too, and Nellie isbetter, and has ever so many new teeth. Quam Beach did her a great dealof good. Papa and mamma are going to Riverside the day after to-morrow,and Maggie and I are going with them."

  "I think I know some one beside Nellie to whom Quam Beach has donegood," said Mr. Hall. "There is some color in these little cheekswhich were so pale when you went away, and you are stronger andmore able to run about; while as for Maggie, she has become quite aroly-poly."

  "Mr. Hall," said Bessie, "do you know what we are going to bring fromRiverside?"

  "No, how should I, when no one has told me?"

  "Our little dog that Donald, the gardener, gave us," said Bessie. "Hisname is Flossy, and he's old enough to leave his mother now; so we areto have him at home."

  "Oh, I remember you told me about him in the spring. So his name isFlossy; is it?"

  "Yes, sir, and he's Maggie's and mine. Do you think he will be lonelywithout his puppy brothers?"

  "Not with two such nice little playmates as you and Maggie," said Mr.Hall. "You must bring him out every day and let him have a run in thepark."

  "Yes, sir, and papa is going to buy him a collar with his name on itand where he lives, so people will know he is ours if he yuns away."

  "Very good," said Mr. Hall, "and now suppose we walk around a little,or nurse will think I am keeping you quiet too long."

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