CHAPTER XII.
MAKING ACQUAINTANCE.
They did not have to wait long for Miss Chapman, the principal of theschool, to come in. Almost before the girl had closed the parlor door,and before Ruby had had time to do much more than glance about theroom, the door opened again, and the dearest and sweetest of Quakerladies came in. She had on a plain gray dress, and a whitehandkerchief was folded about her neck. She wore a little white capover her silver hair, and her eyes were so kind that Ruby was quitesure that she should love her very, very much, and should never doanything to displease her if she could help it.
Miss Chapman greeted Aunt Emma very warmly, and was introduced to Mrs.Birkenbaum, and then she turned to the children.
"So these are the little girls I have been expecting," she said,shaking hands with them.
She asked them a few questions about their journey, and whether theyhad come together, and then she talked again with the ladies.
While this conversation was going on, the children looked about them,Maude no less curiously than Ruby, for boarding-school was a newexperience to her, too.
It was a pleasant room. In one corner of it was a table with a globeupon it, and some books, and in another corner was a what-not, withshells and other curious things that Ruby wished she might go over andexamine.
She was wondering whether she might not whisper to Aunt Emma how eagershe was to go over to the what-not, and ask whether she might do so,when Miss Chapman rose, and took the party up to their rooms. Ruby wasto room with her Aunt Emma, which was a very good arrangement for morethan one reason; for she would be less apt to be homesick with heraunt, and besides that she would not be in danger of transgressingrules by speaking to other pupils after the lights had been put out forthe night.
Maude was to room with one of the other girls, and her room was at theend of the hall. It was a very comfortable little room with two littlewhite beds in it, but Maude did not seem very well satisfied with it.The room in which Ruby was to sleep was larger, because it was ateacher's room, and it did not please Maude to find that Ruby or indeedany one else, should have anything that was better than what sheherself had. She looked very sullen, but she did not say anythingwhile Miss Chapman was upstairs.
After Miss Emma and Ruby had gone to their own room and she was leftalone with her mother in the room which she was to share, she threwherself down upon one of the beds, exclaiming angrily,--
"I don't want to stay here, mamma. I just wish you would either makethem give me the nicest room in the house, or take me home with you.Do you spose I want a mean little room like this when Ruby Harper hassuch a nice one? The idea of a little country girl having a betterroom than I have! I won't stay if I have to have this room, so."
"Oh, yes," said Mrs. Birkenbaum, soothingly. "Yes, you will stay,Maude. The only reason that Ruby has a larger room is because it isher aunt's room, and of course a teacher has to have a larger and nicerroom than the scholars. It will be ever so much nicer to be in thisroom. I am sure you would not like to be in the same room with ateacher and have her listening to everything you said. And now mind,you must be careful what you say to Ruby, for she will probably tellher aunt everything, and the teachers won't like you if you complainabout things. Don't fuss about the room, that is a good child, and Iwill send you a new ring, and you shall have a great big box of cakeevery month, and then all the other girls will want to be friends withyou. This is a nice room; see, it has two windows."
But Maude did not feel disposed to let herself be coaxed into likingthe room.
"It's a horrid little bit of a room," she repeated again, pettishly."I don't like it, and I won't stay, unless you send me a beautifulring. What kind of a ring will it be, if I stay, mamma?"
"What kind of a ring would you like?" asked her mother. "You shalltell me just what you would like, and I will coax papa to buy it foryou."
"I want a ring with red and blue stones in it," said Maude, sitting up,and looking less unhappy now that she was interested in her ring. "Ifpapa will send me a ring like that then maybe I will stay, but you mustremember to send me lots of cake and candy."
"Very well, dear, I will," said her mother, pleased at having coaxedthe wilful little girl into submission.
"And you will be good, too, won't you, Maude? You know papa wants youto learn something, and you won't learn anything at home, so we wantyou to get along in your lessons here. Don't let little Ruby Harperbeat you in everything. You are ever so much smarter than she is, ifyou only study."
"I guess I am smarter," said Maude, tossing her head. "Ruby is only acountry girl, and I guess I can beat her in lessons and everything elseif I make up my mind to it, but if I study you must give me everythingI want for Christmas."
"Yes, we will," her mother answered. "Now get up and let me brush yourhair, Maude, and we will go downstairs for a little while, and lookabout, and then I will unpack your trunk, and get things settled foryou."
Maude felt better-natured by this time, so she got up from the bed, andlet her mother brush her hair, and forgot to complain about things, ormake bargains concerning her Christmas presents, while she lookedthrough the window and watched the girls playing ring-toss down on thelawn.
"The girls that go to this school are n't one bit stylish," she saidpresently. "I guess I shall have nicer clothes than any of them. Iwonder if they are nice girls. Do you spose I shall like them, mamma?"
"Oh, yes, I am sure you will," said her mother, encouragingly. "Theyare very nice, I am sure, and you will be so happy here that you won'thardly want to come home for the holidays. It won't be long beforeChristmas comes, so if you get homesick you must remember that."
"I guess I won't be homesick, if I can do as I want, and have plenty ofcandy and cake," said Maude, carelessly. "I am glad Ruby Harper ishere, I shall not be so lonely then."
"You must give her some of the things I send you," said her mother.
"I will see," said Maude. "If she does as I want her to I will, but Iam not going to give them all away. I want to keep some for myself."
"Now your hair looks all right," said her mother, giving one last brushto the waves of tightly crimped hair that fell below Maude's waist."We will go downstairs and see the school-room, and look about thegarden."
In the mean time Ruby had been helping Aunt Emma unpack her littletrunk and she was so impatient to see what was in the mysteriouspackage that Orpah had given her that she could scarcely wait for thetrunk to be unlocked.
She lifted it out, and laid it on the bed, and untied the string.
"See if you can guess what is in it," she said to Aunt Emma.
"I guess a work-box," Aunt Emma said.
"I can't guess at all," Ruby answered, as she opened the paper, andfound another wrapping of tissue paper covering the gift.
"Oh, Aunt Emma, what do you spose it is? See how carefully it iswrapped up."
She unfolded the tissue paper, and then she gave a little scream ofdelight. I think you would have been just as delighted as Ruby herselfwas, if you had had such a beautiful gift.
It was a little writing-desk, with a plate on the top, with the wordRuby engraved upon it, and a lock in front, with a little key in it.When Ruby turned the key, and opened the lid, she was more delightedeven than she had been at first; for surely, no little girl ever had aprettier desk, with a more complete outfit in it.
There was a pretty little inkstand in one little compartment, with asilver top which screwed on so tightly that the ink could not possiblyspill out when Ruby carried the desk around, and in the oppositecompartment was a little silver box for stamps. There was a place forpen-holders and pencils, and when Ruby took off its cover and lookedinto it, she found the dearest pen-holder of silver, with her initialupon it, and a pen in it all ready for use. There was a little silverpencil in it too, that opened and shut, when it was screwed andunscrewed. Then there was a place for paper, and envelopes, andanother place in which to keep all the dear home letters, that R
ubyknew she was going to receive every week.
The envelopes were pink and cream, and chocolate and a pale blue, tomatch the paper, and they all had "H" upon them just as if they hadbeen made especially for Ruby.
Orpah had directed one of the envelopes to herself, and put a stampupon it all ready for Ruby to write to her.
All this was enough to make Ruby forget that she was tired and awayfrom home, and to make her eyes shine like stars; but there was stillsomething else, that I think she liked better than everything else inthe desk put together.
Perhaps, it was because it was something that she had never dreamedthat she should possess for her very own, that she was so delightedwith it. There was a little outfit of sealing-wax, with sticks ofdifferent-colored wax, tiny tapers, and a little candlestick just bigenough to hold such wee bits of candles, in the shape of a pond lily,and a little seal with "R" on it. So when Ruby had written her lettersand put them in their envelopes, she could light one of the littletapers, drop some wax upon the back of the envelope, and press it downwith the seal, just as she had seen her papa do.
"Oh, oh, oh," she cried, in delight. "I do think Orpah is just thenicest girl. Did you ever see anything quite so perfectly lovely, AuntEmma? You shall use it when you write letters, if you want to, and oh,may I write a letter this very minute, and seal it with my seal?"
"Not just this minute, dear," said her aunt, smiling at her eagerness."Wait until we have unpacked our trunks, and get a little settled, andthen you may write and tell your mamma what a nice journey you had, andhow kind the old gentleman was to you."
It was a very sure indication that Ruby was trying to be good, that shedid not fret because she could not do as she wished that very minute.She put the things back in her desk, closed it, and locked it with thepretty little key, and said,
"Aunt Emma, I do wish I had a little ribbon so I could wear this keyaround my neck."
"I have a nice little piece of blue ribbon that I will give you as soonas I open my trunk," Aunt Emma said; and very soon Ruby had the cunninglittle key tied fast around her neck, where she could put up her handand feel it every now and then, and think of the pretty gift, and aboveall of the sealing-wax, which was the chief charm of the desk.
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