Tom and Maggie Tulliver

by George Eliot

  Chapter VI.

  THE MAGIC MUSIC.

  The children were to pay an afternoon visit on the following day toAunt Pullet at Garum Firs, where they would hear Uncle Pullet'smusical-box.

  Already, at twelve o'clock, Mrs. Tulliver had on her visiting costume.Maggie was frowning, and twisting her shoulders, that she might, ifpossible, shrink away from the prickliest of tuckers; while her motherwas saying, "Don't, Maggie, my dear--don't look so ugly!" Tom's cheekswere looking very red against his best blue suit, in the pockets ofwhich he had, to his great joy, stowed away all the contents of hiseveryday pockets.

  As for Lucy, she was just as pretty and neat as she had been yesterday,and she looked with wondering pity at Maggie pouting and writhing underthe tucker. While waiting for the time to set out, they were allowedto build card-houses, as a suitable amusement for boys and girls intheir best clothes.

  Tom could build splendid houses, but Maggie's would never bear thelaying on of the roof. It was always so with the things that Maggiemade, and Tom said that no girls could ever make anything.

  But it happened that Lucy was very clever at building; she handled thecards so lightly, and moved so gently, that Tom admired her houses aswell as his own--the more readily because she had asked him to teachher. Maggie, too, would have admired Lucy's houses if Tom had notlaughed when her houses fell, and told her that she was "a stupid."

  "Don't laugh at me, Tom!" she burst out angrily. "I'm not a stupid. Iknow a great many things you don't."

  "Oh, I dare say, Miss Spitfire! I'd never be such a cross thing asyou--making faces like that. Lucy doesn't do so. I like Lucy betterthan you. I wish Lucy was _my_ sister."

  "Then it's wicked and cruel of you to wish so," said Maggie, startingup from her place on the floor and upsetting Tom's wonderful pagoda.She really did not mean it, but appearances were against her, and Tomturned white with anger, but said nothing. He would have struck her,only he knew it was cowardly to strike a girl.

  Maggie stood in dismay and terror while Tom got up from the floor andwalked away. Lucy looked on mutely, like a kitten pausing from itslapping.

  "O Tom," said Maggie at last, going half-way towards him, "I didn'tmean to knock it down--indeed, indeed, I didn't."

  Tom took no notice of her, but took, instead, two or three hard peasout of his pocket, and shot them with his thumbnail against the window,with the object of hitting a bluebottle which was sporting in thespring sunshine.

  Thus the morning had been very sad to Maggie, and when at last they setout Tom's coldness to her all through their walk spoiled the fresh airand sunshine for her. He called Lucy to look at the half-built bird'snest without caring to show it to Maggie, and peeled a willow switchfor Lucy and himself without offering one to Maggie. Lucy had said,"Maggie, shouldn't _you_ like one?" but Tom was deaf.

  Still, the sight of the peacock spreading his tail on the stackyardwall, just as they reached the aunt's house, was enough to turn themind from sadness. And this was only the beginning of beautiful sightsat Garum Firs.

  All the farmyard life was wonderful there--bantams, speckled andtop-knotted; Friesland hens, with their feathers all turned the wrongway; Guinea-fowls that flew and screamed, and dropped theirpretty-spotted feathers; pouter pigeons, and a tame magpie; nay, agoat, and a wonderful dog, half mastiff, half bull-dog, as large as alion!

  Uncle Pullet had seen the party from the window, and made haste tounbar and unchain the front door. Aunt Pullet, too, appeared at thedoorway, and as soon as her sister was within hearing said, "Stop thechildren, Bessy; don't let 'em come up the doorsteps. Sally's bringingthe old mat and the duster to rub their shoes."

  "You must come with me into the best room," she went on as soon as herguests had passed the portal.

  "May the children come too, sister?" inquired Mrs. Tulliver, who sawthat Maggie and Lucy were looking rather eager.

  "Well," said Aunt Pullet, "it'll perhaps be safer for the girls tocome; they'll be touching something if we leave 'em behind."

  When they all came down again Uncle Pullet said that he reckoned themissis had been showing her bonnet--that was what had made them so longupstairs.

  Meanwhile Tom had spent the time on the edge of the sofa directlyopposite his Uncle Pullet, who looked at him with twinkling gray eyesand spoke to him as "young sir."

  "Well, young sir, what do you learn at school?" was the usual questionwith Uncle Pullet; whereupon Tom always looked sheepish, rubbed hishand across his face, and answered, "I don't know."

  The appearance of the little girls made Uncle Pullet think of somesmall sweetcakes, of which he kept a stock under lock and key for hisown private eating on wet days; but the three children had no soonergot them between their fingers than Aunt Pullet desired them to abstainfrom eating till the tray and the plates came, since with those crispcakes they would make the floor "all over" crumbs.

  Lucy didn't mind that much, for the cake was so pretty she thought itwas rather a pity to eat it; but Tom, watching his chance while theelders were talking, hastily stowed his own cake in his mouth at twobites. As for Maggie, she presently let fall her cake, and by anunlucky movement crushed it beneath her foot--a source of such disgraceto her that she began to despair of hearing the musical snuff-boxto-day, till it occurred to her that Lucy was in high favour enough toventure on asking for a tune.

  So she whispered to Lucy, and Lucy, who always did what she was askedto do, went up quietly to her uncle's knee, and, blushing all over herneck while she fingered her necklace, said, "Will you please play us atune, uncle?" But Uncle Pullet never gave a too ready consent. "We'llsee about it," was the answer he always gave, waiting till a suitablenumber of minutes had passed.

  Perhaps the waiting increased Maggie's enjoyment when the tune began.For the first time she quite forgot that she had a load on hermind--that Tom was angry with her; and by the time "Hush, ye prettywarbling choir" had been played, her face wore that bright look ofhappiness, while she sat still with her hands clasped, which sometimescomforted her mother that Maggie could look pretty now and then, inspite of her brown skin. But when the magic music ceased, she jumpedup, and running towards Tom, put her arm round his neck and said, "OTom, isn't it pretty?"

  Now Tom had his glass of cowslip wine in his hand, and Maggie jerkedhim so as to make him spill half of it. He would have been an extrememilksop if he had not said angrily, "Look there, now!"

  "Why don't you sit still, Maggie?" her mother said peevishly.

  "Little gells mustn't come to see me if they behave in that way," saidAunt Pullet.

  "Why, you're too rough, little miss," said Uncle Pullet.

  Poor Maggie sat down again, with the music all chased out of her soul.

  Mrs. Tulliver wisely took an early opportunity of suggesting that, nowthey were rested after their walk, the children might go and play outof doors; and Aunt Pullet gave them leave, only telling them not to gooff the paved walks in the garden, and if they wanted to see thepoultry fed, to view them from a distance on the horse-block.

  For a long time after the children had gone out the elders sat deep intalk about family matters, till at last Mrs. Pullet, observing that itwas tea-time, turned to reach from a drawer a fine damask napkin, whichshe pinned before her in the fashion of an apron. Then the door wasthrown open; but instead of the tea-tray, Sally brought in an object sostartling that both Mrs. Pullet and Mrs. Tulliver gave a scream,causing Uncle Pullet to swallow a lozenge he was sucking--for the fifthtime in his life, as he afterwards noted.

  The startling object was no other than little Lucy, with one side ofher person, from her small foot to her bonnet-crown, wet anddiscoloured with mud, holding out two tiny blackened hands, and makinga very piteous face.