not very long after this, mrs. gray, came back to rosewood with flaxie and the dear rescued baby whom everybody was eager to see, for,—
"they loved him more and more.
ah, never in their hearts before,
was love so lovely born."
and ninny cried as she took him in her arms, and said,—
"he doesn't look as he used to, does he, papa? his eyes are very different."
"you think that because we came so near losing him," replied dr. papa.
baby philip looked round upon them all with "those deep and tender twilight eyes," which seemed to be full of sweet meanings; but i must confess that he was thinking of nothing in the world just then but his supper.
the travellers had not been home a week before grandpa pressy sent for ninny to go and make him and grandma a visit, and this left flaxie frizzle rather lonesome; for preston did not care to play with girls when he could be with bert abbott. besides, he and his cousin bert were uncommonly busy about this time, getting up a pin-show in dr. gray's barn.
so flaxie's mamma often let her run over to aunt jane abbott's to see lucy and rose. i have not told you before of these cousins, because there have been so many other things to talk about that i have not had time. lucy was a black-eyed little gipsy, and rose was a sweet little creature, you could never see without wanting to kiss.
just now aunt jane had a lively young niece from albany spending the fall with her, named gussie ricker. one day, when flaxie frizzle was at aunt jane's, gussie proposed that flaxie and lucy should make a call upon a little girl who was visiting mrs. prim.
"o, yes," said lucy, "we truly must call on dovey sparrow. she has frizzly curls like flaxie's, and she can play five tunes on the piano. but, gussie, how do you make calls?"
"o," replied miss gussie, with a twinkle in her eye, "all sorts of ways. sometimes we take our cards; but it isn't really necessary for little girls to do that. then we just touch the lady's hand,—this way,—and[99] talk about the weather; and, in three minutes or so, we go away."
"i've seen calls a great many times," said flaxie frizzle, thoughtfully. "i can make one if lucy will go with me."
"i could make one better alone," said lucy, in a very cutting tone. she was two years older than flaxie, and always remembered it.
"i'll go wiv you, flaxie, if lucy doesn't," put in little rose, the sweet wee sister; and then it was flaxie's turn to be cutting, for as it happened she was just two years older than rose.
"poh," said she; "you can't do calls, a little speck of a thing like you! you don't grow so much in a year as my thumb grows in five minutes!"
rose hid her blushing face in the rocking-chair.
"do you truly think we'd better go, gussie?" asked lucy; for gussie was laughing, and lucy did not like to be made fun of, though she did make fun of flaxie frizzle.
"o, certainly," said gussie, trying to look very sober; "don't i always say what i mean?"
so, as they were going, lucy took flaxie one side that afternoon and instructed her how to behave.
"dovey came from boston, and we never saw her only in church; so i s'pose we must carry cards."
"where'll we get 'em?"
"o, my mamma has plenty, and so has gussie. i know gussie would be glad to lend me her silver card-case that uncle william gave her; she wants me to be so polite! but i don't dare ask her, so i guess i'll borrow it without asking."
"hasn't somebody else got a gold one that i could borrow?" asked miss frizzle, looking rather unhappy as the pretty toy dropped into lucy's pocket.
"o, it's no matter about you; you don't need a card-case, for i shall be with you to take care of you," returned lucy, as they both stood in mrs. abbott's guest-chamber before the tall looking-glass. "do tell me, flaxie, does my hat look polite? i mean is it style enough?"
"it's as style as mine," replied flaxie, gazing into the glass with lucy. how pretty she thought lucy was, because her eyes were black and her hair was dark and didn't "friz!"
"i wish i wasn't a 'tow-head,' and i wish i was as tall as you!" sighed she.
"well, you don't care," said lucy, graciously. "you'll grow. you're just as[102] good as i am if you only behave well. you mustn't run out your tongue, flaxie: it looks as if you were catching flies. and you mustn't sneeze before people: it's very rude."
"i heard you once, lu abbott, and it was in church too!"
"o, then 'twas an accident; you must scuse accidents. and now," added lucy, giving a final touch to her gloves, "i want you to notice how i act, flaxie frizzle, and do just the same; for my mother has seen the president and yours hasn't."
"well, my mamma's seen an elephant," exclaimed flaxie, with spirit; "and she has two silk dresses and a smelling-bottle."
"poh! my cousin gussie's got a gold watch, and some nightly blue sirreup. uncle william gives her lots of things; but i shouldn't think of telling o' that! now, do you know what to do when anybody induces you to strangers?"
"what you s'pose?" replied flaxie, tartly. "i speak up and say 'yes'm.'"
lucy laughed, as if she were looking down, down from a great hight upon her little cousin.
"and shake hands, too," added flaxie, quickly, for fear she had made a mistake.
"no, you give three fingers, not your hand. just as if you were touching a toad. and you raise your eyebrows up,—this way,—and quirk your mouth,—so,—and nod your head.
"'how d'ye do, miss dovey sparrow? it's a charr-rming day. are they all well at boston?' you'll see how i'll do it, flaxie! then i shall take out my hang-verchief and shake it, so the sniff of the nightly blue[104] sirreup will waft all round the room.—o, i've seen 'em!
"then i shall wipe my nose—this way—and sit down. i've seen young ladies do it a great many times."
"so've i," chimed in flaxie frizzle, admiring her cousin's fine graces. such tiptoeing and courtesying and waving of hands before the looking-glass. how did lucy manage it so well?
"and, if people have plants," continued lucy, "then you say, 'how flagrant!' and, if people have children, you say, 'what darlings!' and pat their hair, and ask, 'do you go to school, my dear?'"
"they've said that to me ever so many times; and i've got real sick of it," remarked flaxie.
"and they keep calling every thing char-ar-ming and bee-you-oo-tiful! with such tight gloves on, i know their fingers feel choked!"
"i spect we ought to go," said flaxie, tired of all this instruction. "i don't believe you know how to behave, lu abbott. you never made any calls, more'n i did."
as they went through the hall, flaxie thought she would "borrow" aunt jane's lace veil; but lucy did not observe this till they had started off. they tripped along the roadside, past mr. potter's store, past the church, their feet scarcely touching the grass. lucy felt like a princess royal till they reached mrs. prim's beautiful grounds, and then her heart fluttered a little. she had a sudden longing to run home and get gussie to come back with them.
"pull the bell," said she to flaxie. flaxie pulled so hard that her veil flew off, and she had to chase it several rods.
"put it in your pocket, you awful child," exclaimed lucy, as kitty maloney, the kitchen girl, opened the door in alarm, thinking something dreadful had happened.
"why, bless my soul, if 'tisn't docther gray's little snip of a mary. and who's this? why, it's miss abbott's little gee-url. anybody sick?"
now was the time for miss frizzle's courage to come up. she stepped in front of the frightened lucy, and exclaimed, boldly,—
"i'm flaxie frizzle, you know, and this is my cousin. we want to see dovey sparrow."
as flaxie spoke, lucy tremblingly drew out her card-case.
"yes, she's in. she and miss prim has just come from ridin'. will ye walk in?" said katy, very respectfully.
"please give her these," faltered lucy, placing in kitty's hands two cards, one bearing the name, "augusta l. ricker," the other a few words in pencil, which somebody must have written for a memorandum:—
"kerosene oil.
vanilla.
oatmeal soap."
kitty stared at the cards, then at the exquisite lucy, and suddenly put her calico apron up to her face.
"will ye wait till i give her the kee-ards, young ladies, or will ye come in the parlor now?" said she, in a stifled voice.
flaxie frizzle concluded to walk in; and lucy, who was now nothing but flaxie's shadow, followed her in silence.
kitty maloney disappeared; and, in about a minute, dovey sparrow tripped in, blushing and looking as frightened as a wood-pigeon. the roguish kitty had just told her that her little visitors were very ginteel folks, and she must talk to 'em as if she was reading it out of a book.
meantime kitty was hiding in the back parlor, with her apron over her mouth, forgetting her potato yeast in her curiosity to watch these fine young ladies.
flaxie rose and shook hands, but entirely forgot to speak. lucy did the same.
"h'm," said flaxie, snapping the card-case, which she had taken from lucy.
"yes'm," responded dovey, trembling.
it was getting rather awkward.
flaxie wiped her nose, and so did miss lucy. then flaxie folded her arms; also lucy.
poor miss dovey tried to think of a speech grand enough to make to these wise little people; but the poor thing could not remember any thing but her geography lessons.
flaxie frizzle was also laboring in vain. the only thing that came into her head was a wild desire to sneeze.
at last, her eye chancing to rest on the crimson trimmings of dovey's dress, she was suddenly reminded of turkeys and their dislike of red things. so she cried out in despair,—
"do you keep a turkey at your house?"
o, strange question!
"does your papa keep sheep?" chimed in lucy.
"we don't keep a thing!" replied dovey, in great surprise at these remarkable speeches; "nor a dog either."
then flaxie frizzle, growing bolder and bolder, came out brilliantly with this:—
"you got any trundlebeds to boston?"
this was too much; the ice was beginning to crack.
"why, flaxie frizzle!" said lucy; and then she laughed.
"look at that clock on the bracket! why, what are you laughing at, girls?"
"o, how funny!" cried flaxie frizzle, dancing out of her chair.
"do stop making me shake so!" said miss dovey, dropping to the floor, and rocking back and forth.
"o, ho," screamed lucy, hopping across the rug, "you don't look like a bird any more'n i do, dovey sparrow."
they were all set in a very high gale by this time.
"be still," said flaxie frizzle, holding up both hands. "there, now, i had a sneeze; but, o, dear, i can't sneeze it!"
"you're just like anybody, after all," tittered the sparrow. "don't you want to go out and jump on the hay?"
"well, there," replied miss lucy, rolling her gloves into a ball, "you never asked us to take our things off, you never!"
"i didn't want you to," said dovey; "you scared me half to death!"
"did we?" cried lucy, in delight. "well, i never was so 'fraid my own self. you ought to heard my heart beat when we rang that bell."
"me, too," said flaxie frizzle.
"but you're such a darling, though," pursued lucy, kissing her new friend warmly. "i'm glad you don't know how to behave!"
"i'm glad you don't, either," said dovey, tilting herself on a rocker like a bird on a bough, "i thought you were going to be, o, so polite, for you set kitty all of a tremble. come, let's go out and play."
"so we will. come along, flaxie frizzle."
"what! is that flaxie frizzle? o, i always did want to see flaxie frizzle. mrs. prim has told me lots about her," said dovey, as they skipped out to the barn.
you may be sure lucy lost the "borrowed" card-case in the hay; and, when it was found, weeks afterward, it bore the marks of horse's teeth; but gussie said,—
"it is good enough for me; i ought not to have filled the children's heads with such nonsense."
i am happy to state that aunt jane's veil,—a beautiful lace one,—reached home safely, and that this was the last fashionable call lucy and flaxie frizzle ever made.
