Milly-Molly-Mandy’s School Days

by Joyce Lankester Brisley

  Contents

  Milly-Molly-Mandy Gets to Know Teacher

  Milly-Molly-Mandy and Dum-Dum

  Milly-Molly-Mandy and a Wet Day

  Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes Excavating

  Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes Sledging

  Milly-Molly-Mandy Gets to Know Teacher

  Once upon a time there were changes at Milly-Molly-Mandy’s school. Miss Sheppard, the head-mistress, was going away, and Miss Edwards, the second teacher, was to be head-mistress in her place, and live in the teacher’s cottage just by the school, instead of coming in by the bus from the town each day.

  Miss Edwards was very strict, and taught arithmetic and history and geography, and wore high collars.

  Milly-Molly-Mandy wasn’t particularly interested in the change, though she liked both Miss Sheppard and Miss Edwards quite well. But one afternoon Miss Edwards gave her a note to give to her Mother, and the note was to ask if Milly-Molly-Mandy’s Mother would be so very good as to let Miss Edwards have a bed at the nice white cottage with the thatched roof for a night or two until Miss Edwards got her new little house straight.

  Father and Mother and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle and Aunty talked it over during supper, and they thought they might manage it for a few nights.

  Milly-Molly-Mandy was very interested, and tried to think what it would be like to have Teacher sitting at supper with them, and going to sleep in the spare room, as well as teaching in school all day. And she couldn’t help feeling just a little bit glad that it was only to be for a night or two.

  Next day she took a note to school for Teacher from Mother, to say, yes, they would be pleased to have her. And after school Milly-Molly-Mandy told little-friend-Susan and Billy Blunt about it.

  And little-friend-Susan said, “Ooh! Won’t you have to behave properly! I’m glad she’s not coming to us!”

  And Billy Blunt said, “Huh! – hard lines!”

  Milly-Molly-Mandy was quite glad Teacher was only coming to stay for a few nights.

  Miss Edwards arrived at the nice white cottage with the thatched roof just before supper time the following evening.

  Milly-Molly-Mandy was looking out for her, and directly she heard the gate click she called Mother and ran and opened the front door wide, so that the hall lamp could shine down the path. And Teacher came in out of the dark, just as Mother hurried from the kitchen to welcome her.

  Teacher thanked Mother very much for having her, and said she felt so dusty and untidy because she had been putting up shelves in her new little cottage ever since school was over.

  So Mother said, “Come right up to your room, Miss Edwards, and Milly-Molly-Mandy will bring you a jug of hot water. And then I expect you’ll be glad of some supper straight away!”

  So Milly-Molly-Mandy ran along to the kitchen for a jug of hot water, thinking how funny it was to hear Teacher’s familiar voice away from school. She tapped very politely at the half-open door of the spare room (she could see Teacher tidying her hair in front of the dressing-table, by the candlelight), and Teacher smiled at her as she took the steaming jug, and said:

  “That’s kind of you, Milly-Molly-Mandy! This is just what I want most. What a lovely smell of hot cakes!”

  Milly-Molly-Mandy smiled back, though she was quite a bit surprised that Teacher should speak in that pleased, hungry sort of way – it was more the kind of way she, or little-friend-Susan, or Father or Mother or Grandpa or Grandma or Uncle or Aunty, might have spoken.

  When Teacher came downstairs to the kitchen they all sat down to supper. Teacher’s place was just opposite Milly-Molly-Mandy’s and every time she caught Milly-Molly-Mandy’s eye she smiled across at her. And Milly-Molly-Mandy smiled back, and tried to remember to sit up, for she kept on almost expecting Teacher to say, “Head up, Milly-Molly-Mandy! Keep your elbows off the desk!” – but she never did!

  They were all a little shy of Teacher, just at first; but soon Father and Mother and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle and Aunty were talking away, and Teacher was talking too, and laughing. And she looked so different when she was laughing that Milly-Molly-Mandy found it quite difficult to get on with her bread-and-milk before it got cold. Teacher enjoyed the hot cakes, and wanted to know just how Mother made them. She asked a lot of questions, and Mother said she would teach Teacher how to do it, so that she could make them in her own new little kitchen.

  Milly-Molly-Mandy thought how funny it would be for Teacher to start having lessons.

  After supper Teacher asked Milly-Molly-Mandy if she could make little sailor-girls, and when Milly-Molly-Mandy said no, Teacher drew a little sailor-girl, with a sailor-collar and sailor-hat and pleated skirt, on a folded piece of paper, and then she cut it out with Aunty’s scissors. And when she unfolded the paper there was a whole row of little sailor-girls all holding hands.

  Milly-Molly-Mandy did like it. She thought how funny it was that she should have known Teacher all that time and never known she could draw little sailor-girls.

  Then Mother said, “Now, Milly-Molly-Mandy, it is bedtime.” So Milly-Molly-Mandy kissed Father and Mother and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle and Aunty, and went to shake hands with Teacher. But Teacher said she wanted a kiss too. So they kissed each other in quite a nice friendly way.

  But still Milly-Molly-Mandy felt when she went upstairs she must get into bed extra quickly and quietly, because Teacher was in the house.

  Next morning Milly-Molly-Mandy and Teacher went to school together. And as soon as they got there Teacher was just her usual self again, and told Milly-Molly-Mandy to sit up, or to get on with her work, as if she had never laughed at supper, or cut out little sailor-girls, or kissed anyone goodnight.

  After school Milly-Molly-Mandy showed little-friend-Susan and Billy Blunt the row of little sailor-girls.

  And little-friend-Susan opened her eyes and said, “Just fancy Teacher doing that!”

  And Billy Blunt folded them up carefully in the creases so that he could see how they were made, and then he grinned and gave them back.

  And little-friend-Susan and Billy Blunt didn’t feel so very sorry for Milly-Molly-Mandy having Teacher to stay, then.

  That evening Teacher came up to the nice white cottage with the thatched roof earlier than she did the day before. And when Milly-Molly-Mandy came into the kitchen from taking a nice meal out to Toby the dog, and giving him a good bedtime romp round the yard, what did she see but Teacher, with one of Mother’s big aprons on and her sleeves tucked up, learning how to make apple turn-overs for supper! And Mother was saying, “Always mix pastry with a light hand,” and Teacher was looking so interested, and didn’t seem in the least to know she had a streak of flour down one cheek.

  When Teacher saw Milly-Molly-Mandy she said, “Come along, Milly-Molly-Mandy, and have a cooking lesson with me, it’s such fun!”

  So Milly-Molly-Mandy’s Mother gave her a little piece of dough, and she stood by Teacher’s side, rolling it out and making it into a ball again; but she was much more interested in watching Teacher being taught. And Teacher did everything she was told, and tried so hard that her cheeks got quite pink.

  When the turn-overs were all made there was a small piece of dough left on the board, so Teacher shaped it into the most beautiful little bird; and the bird and the turn-overs were all popped into the oven, together with Milly-Molly-Mandy’s piece (which had been a pig and a cat and a teapot, but ended up a little grey loaf).

  What did she see but Teacher learning how to make apple turn-overs

  When Father and Mother and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle and Aunty and Teacher and Milly-Molly-Mandy sat down to supper, Teacher put her finger on her lips to Milly-Molly-Mandy when the apple t
urnovers came on, so that Milly-Molly-Mandy shouldn’t tell who made them until they had been tasted. And Teacher watched anxiously, and presently Mother said, “How do you like these turn-overs?” And everybody said they were most delicious, and then Milly-Molly-Mandy couldn’t wait any longer, and she called out, “Teacher made them!” and everybody was so surprised.

  Milly-Molly-Mandy didn’t eat the little grey-brown loaf, because she didn’t quite fancy it (Toby the dog did, though), and she felt she couldn’t eat the little golden-brown bird, because it really looked too good to be eaten just yet. So she took it to school with her next day, to share with little-friend-Susan and Billy Blunt.

  And little-friend-Susan said, “Isn’t it pretty? Isn’t Teacher clever?”

  And Billy Blunt said, “Fancy Teacher playing with dough!”

  And little-friend-Susan and Billy Blunt didn’t feel at all sorry for Milly-Molly-Mandy having Teacher to stay, then.

  The next day was Saturday, and Teacher’s furniture had come, and she was busy all day arranging it and getting the curtains and the pictures up. And Milly-Molly-Mandy with little-friend-Susan and Billy Blunt came in the afternoon to help. And they ran up and down stairs, and fetched hammers and nails, and held things, and made themselves very useful indeed.

  And at four o’clock Teacher sent Billy Blunt out to get some cakes from Mrs Hubble’s shop, while the others laid the table in the pretty little sitting-room. And they had a nice kind of picnic, with Milly-Molly-Mandy and little-friend-Susan sharing a cup, and Billy Blunt having a saucer for a plate, because everything wasn’t unpacked yet. And they all laughed and talked, and were as happy as anything.

  And when Teacher said it was time to send them all off home Milly-Molly-Mandy was so sorry to think Teacher wasn’t coming to sleep in the spare room any more that she wanted to kiss Teacher without being asked. And she actually did it, too. And little-friend-Susan and Billy Blunt didn’t look a bit surprised, either. And after that, somehow, it didn’t seem to matter that Teacher was strict in school, for they knew that she was really just a very nice, usual sort of person inside all the time!

  Milly-Molly-Mandy and Dum-Dum

  Once upon a time Milly-Molly-Mandy was wandering past the Big House down by the crossroads where the little girl Jessamine, and her mother, Mrs Green, lived (only they were away just now).

  There was always a lot of flowers in the garden of the Big House, so it was nice to peep through the gate when you passed. Besides, Mr Moggs, little-friend-Susan’s father, worked there (he was the gardener), and Milly-Molly-Mandy could see him now, weeding with a long-handled hoe.

  “Hello, Mr Moggs,” Milly-Molly-Mandy called through the gate (softly, because you don’t like to shout in other people’s gardens, even when you know the people are away). “Could I come in, do you think?”

  Mr Moggs looked up and said, “Well, now, I shouldn’t wonder but that you could!”

  So Milly-Molly-Mandy pushed open the big iron gate and slipped through.

  “Isn’t it pretty here!” she said, looking about her. “What do you weed it for, when there’s nobody to see?”

  “Ah,” said Mr Moggs, “you learn it doesn’t do to let things go, in a garden, or anywhere else. Weeds and all such like, they get to thinking they own the place if you let ’em alone awhile.”

  He went on scratching out weeds, so Milly-Molly-Mandy gathered them into his big wheelbarrow for him.

  Presently Mr Moggs scratched out a worm along with a tuft of dandelion, and Milly-Molly-Mandy squeaked because she nearly took hold of it without noticing (only she just didn’t).

  “Don’t you like worms?” asked Mr Moggs.

  “No,” said Milly-Molly-Mandy, “I don’t!”

  “Ah,” said Mr Moggs. “I know someone who does, though.”

  “Who?” asked Milly-Molly-Mandy, sitting back on her heels.

  “Old Dum-dum’s very partial to a nice fat worm,” said Mr Moggs. “Haven’t you met old Dum-dum?”

  “No,” said Milly-Molly-Mandy. “Who’s old Dum-dum?”

  “You come and see,” said Mr Moggs. “I’ve got to feed him before I go off home.”

  He trundled the barrow to the back garden and emptied it on the rubbish heap, and Milly-Molly-Mandy followed, carrying the worm on a trowel.

  Mr Moggs got a little tin full of grain from the tool-shed, and pulled a lettuce from the vegetable bed, and then he went to the end of the garden, Milly-Molly-Mandy following.

  There was a little square of grass fenced off with wire-netting in which was a little wooden gate. And in the middle of the square of grass was a little round pond. And standing at the edge of the little round pond, looking very solemn, hunched up in his feathers, was Dum-dum.

  “Oh!” said Milly-Molly-Mandy. “Dum-dum is a duck!”

  “Well, he’s a drake, really,” said Mr Moggs. “See the little curly feathers on his tail? That shows he’s a gentleman. Lady ducks don’t have curls on their tails.” He leaned over the netting and emptied the grain into a feeding-pan lying on the grass. “Come on, quack-quack!” said Mr Moggs. “Here’s your supper.”

  Dum-dum looked round at him, and at Milly-Molly-Mandy. Then he waddled slowly over on his yellow webbed feet, and shuffled his beak in the pan for a moment. Then he waddled slowly back to his pond, dipped down and took a sip, and stood as before, looking very solemn, hunched up in his feathers, with a drop of water hanging from his flat yellow beak.

  “He doesn’t want any supper!” said Milly-Molly-Mandy. “Why doesn’t he?”

  “Feels lonely, that’s what. Misses the folk up at the Big House. They used to come and talk to him sometimes and give him bits. He’s the little girl Jessamine’s pet.”

  “Poor Dum-dum!” said Milly-Molly-Mandy. “He does look miserable. Would you like a worm, Dum-dum?”

  He came waddling over again, and stretched up his beak. And down went the worm, snip-snap.

  “Doesn’t he make a funny husky noise? Has he lost his quack?” asked Milly-Molly-Mandy.

  “No,” said Mr Moggs, “gentlemen ducks never talk so loud as lady ducks.”

  “Huh! Huh! Huh!” quacked Dum-dum, asking for more worms as loudly as he could.

  So Milly-Molly-Mandy dug with the trowel and found another, a little one, and threw it over the netting.

  “Do you suppose worms mind very much?” she asked, watching Dum-dum gobbling.

  “Well, I don’t suppose they think a great deal about it, one way or t’other,” said Mr Moggs.

  He dug over a bit of ground with his spade, and Milly-Molly-Mandy found eight more worms. So Dum-dum had quite a good supper after all.

  Then Milly-Molly-Mandy leaned over the wire-netting and tried stroking the shiny green feathers on Dum-dum’s head and neck. And though he edged away a bit at first, after a few tries he stood quite still, holding his head down while she stroked as if he rather liked it.

  And then suddenly he turned and pushed his beak into Milly-Molly-Mandy’s warm hand and left it there, so that she was holding his beak as if she were shaking hands with it! It startled her at first, it felt so funny and cold.

  “Ah, he likes you,” said Mr Moggs, wiping his spade with a bunch of grass. “He’s a funny old bird; some he likes and some he doesn’t. Well, we must be going.”

  “Mr Moggs,” begged Milly-Molly-Mandy, still holding Dum-dum’s beak gently in her hand, “don’t you think I might come in sometimes to cheer him up, while his people are away? He’s so lonely!”

  “Well,” said Mr Moggs, “I don’t see why not – if you don’t go bringing your little playmates running around in here too. Look, if I’m not about you can get in by the side gate there.” And he showed her how to unfasten it and lock it up again. “But mind, I’m trusting you,” said Mr Moggs.

  So Milly-Molly-Mandy promised to be very careful indeed.

  After that she went into the Big House garden every day after school, to cheer up poor Dum-dum. And he got so cheerful he would run to his fence to m
eet her, saying “Huh! Huh! Huh!” directly he heard her coming. She used to go into his enclosure to play with him, and pour water on to the earth for him to make mud with. (He loved mud!)

  One day Milly-Molly-Mandy thought it would be nice if Dum-dum could have a change from that narrow run, so she asked Mr Moggs if she might let him out for a little walk. And Mr Moggs said she might try it, if she watched that he didn’t eat the flowers and vegetables or get out into the road. So Milly-Molly-Mandy opened his little wooden gate, and Dum-dum stepped out on his yellow feet, looking at everything with great interest.

  He was so good and obedient, he followed her along the garden paths and came where she called, like a little dog. So she often let him out after that. She turned over stones and things for him to hunt slugs and woodlice underneath. Sometimes she took him in the front garden too, and showed him to Billy Blunt through the gate.

  One morning Milly-Molly-Mandy was very early for school, because the clock at home was fast. At first, when she found no-one round the school gate, she thought it was late; but when she found it wasn’t she knew why little-friend-Susan hadn’t been ready when she passed the Moggses’ cottage!

  So, as there was plenty of time, she thought she’d go and visit Dum-dum before school today. So she slipped in by the side gate, and found him busily tidying his feathers in the morning sunshine. He looked surprised and very pleased to see her, and they had a run round the garden and found one slug and five woodlice (which Dum-dum thought very tasty for breakfast!). Then she shut him back in his enclosure, and latched his little gate, and shut the side gate and fastened it as Mr Moggs had shown her, and went off to school. (And she only just wasn’t late, this time!)

  Well, they’d sung the hymn, and Miss Edwards had called their names, and everybody was there except Billy Blunt and the new little girl called Bunchy. And they had just settled down for an arithmetic lesson when the little girl Bunchy hurried in, looking rather frightened. And she told Miss Edwards there was a great big goose outside, and she dared not come in before because she thought it might bite her!