“rags! bones! old iron!”
merrimeg put her head out of the front window and looked down the street.
a queer man with a dirty face was coming along, and he was bending down under a heavy sack which he was carrying on his back.
“rags! bones! old iron!” he cried, and all the children who were playing in the street ran indoors in a fright.
it was the rag-bone man. everybody said that if you didn’t look sharp he’d snatch you up and stuff you in his sack and carry you off and never, never bring you back any more; so all the children in that village were terribly afraid of him, and whenever they saw him coming they simply took to their heels and fled.
“rags! bones! old iron!” cried the rag-bone man.
[96]“oh, pshaw,” said merrimeg, “i’m not afraid.”
she went out into the street and watched him coming. he came on nearer and nearer. he reached the house next door and stopped there and stared at merrimeg.
“rags! bones! old iron!” he shouted out, at the top of his voice, and quick as a wink merrimeg sprang back into the house and banged the door and bolted it and ran to her room and buried her head under the pillows. it was a long time before she came out again.
when she did come out, she didn’t go into the street, because the rag-bone man was still there, probably. she went into the cabbage garden, where her mother was hanging up clothes.
“where are you going, merrimeg?” said her mother.
“nowhere,” said merrimeg.
“you’d better go over to tish’s house now. they’re expecting you to have supper with them. and don’t get your dress soiled, and don’t stay too late.”
[97]“no’m,” said merrimeg.
“before you go, take these handkerchiefs and spread them out on the rose bushes in the sun to dry.”
“yes’m,” said merrimeg.
her mother kissed her, and went into the kitchen; and merrimeg, carrying the wet handkerchiefs, walked over to the apple orchard, thinking about apples, and forgetting all about the rose bushes. she always liked to eat apples just before meals.
in the orchard she stopped under a tree and reached up towards the lowest branch, and just at that moment she heard the sound of some one crying. it seemed to come from the other side of the tree. she tiptoed around the tree to see who it was.
it was the rag-bone man. he was sitting on the ground, with his back against the tree, and his sack beside him, and he was crying to himself pretty loud, and sniffling and wiping away the tears with the back of his hand.
[98]merrimeg was so frightened that she could not move.
“gimme a handkerchief quick,” said the rag-bone man
“gimme a handkerchief, quick,” said the rag-bone man, and he snatched the handkerchiefs out of her hand and put one of them to his nose.
“oh!” he said, and threw the handkerchiefs down. “they’re wet! they won’t do! what good is a wet handkerchief? haven’t you got a dry one?”
“no, sir,” said merrimeg, in a shaky little voice.
“then it’s no use,” said the rag-bone man. “i reckon i’ll have to stop crying. you can’t cry without a handkerchief. why didn’t you bring me a dry one?”
“i didn’t know you wanted one,” said merrimeg.
“well, you didn’t think i could cry into a wet one, did you? you don’t expect me to do that, do you? do you, or don’t you?”
“no, sir,” said merrimeg.
“the next time you come around me when[99] i’m crying, you bring me a dry one, d’you understand?”
“yes, sir,” said merrimeg.
“don’t say ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir’ all the time. why don’t you ask me what i’m crying about?”
“yes, sir,” said merrimeg, twisting her apron. “i mean—if you please——”
“i’m crying about—i’m crying about—oh, dear! i’m going to cry again, i know i am! and i never have any handkerchief!”
he burst into tears again, and merrimeg began to feel sorry for him.
“yes, sir?” said she.
he wiped his face with the back of his hand, and smeared the dirt all over it most terribly.
“it’s—it’s—about the children,” he said, crying out louder than before. “i can’t—i can’t—help it. it’s because they—they won’t come near me—they’re afraid of me—they won’t speak to me—they won’t let me tell ’em about rags—they run away from me—oh, it’s too hard, it’s too hard!”
[100]he sniffled and gulped. merrimeg felt very sorry for him indeed.
“please, sir,” said she, “do you want——”
“i want a handkerchief. look in that bag and see if you can find one. oh, dear! if the children would only let me speak to ’em! then i could tell ’em all about rags! why don’t you hurry? can’t you see i need a handkerchief? will you, or won’t you?”
merrimeg quickly opened the sack. she put her head down into it and looked in; and before she knew what was going on her heels were lifted up and she was plopped down head first into the bag, and there she was, tied up tight inside the rag-bone sack.
she kicked and screamed, but it wasn’t any use. the rag-bone man slung the sack on his back and made off through the orchard as fast as he could go.
merrimeg stopped kicking, when she found it wasn’t any use, and after a long time she came down on the ground with a bump, and she heard the rag-bone man call out, “open the door!”
[101]the sack was untied, and she stood up. she was standing before a little house in the woods, and the trees about it were dark and gloomy, and the sun had gone down.
the door of the little house opened, and a little girl, smaller than merrimeg, stood in the doorway. she was a very ragged little girl, and her face was dirty and sad. she looked at merrimeg with big solemn eyes.
“i’ve brought you one at last!” cried the rag-bone man. “here she is! i’ve got one for you at last! somebody to play with! here she is, and she’s going to stay with you and play with you, and never go home any more! now we’ve got her we’ll keep her. now you’ll have company! ain’t she a pretty one, though? ain’t i a good father? come in, come on in!”
he seized the two little girls by the hand and ran into the house with them.
it was a tiny house, with only two rooms, one in front and one behind. the rag-bone man began to get out plates and knives and forks and[102] set them about on a table in the front room. the two little girls stood staring at each other.
“what’s your name?” said the rag-bone man’s little girl.
“merrimeg,” said she.
“my name is rags. that’s my father. he’s been trying for a long, long time to bring me somebody to live with me here and play with me, but they always ran away from him. you’re the first. are you lonely?”
“no,” said merrimeg.
“i am. but i won’t be any longer. i’ve got you to play with me now.”
“can’t i—ever—go home—any more?” said merrimeg.
“oh, father!” said little rags. “she wants to go home already!”
“go home?” cried the rag-bone man. “are you talking about going home already? oh, dear, don’t make me cry again! if you talk like that, i’ll cry, i know i will! you can’t leave us! it wouldn’t do! no, no! sit down and eat your supper. oh, dear, she wants to go home!”
[103]they sat down at the table, but merrimeg couldn’t eat; and after supper rags and merrimeg went to bed together in a little bed in the back room. the stars shone in through the window.
“to-morrow,” said rags, pulling the covers up over merrimeg, “we’ll have a grand play in the woods all day. oh, won’t i be happy, though! i know where there’s a lot of wild strawberries, and a brook with crawly things on the bottom, and—oh, i’m so glad you’ve come! and father won’t ever let you leave me as long as you live! oh, isn’t it jolly! i’ll never be lonely any more!”
she sighed with happiness, and nestled her head down on the pillow, and went to sleep.
but merrimeg didn’t go to sleep. she thought about her mother, and what would happen if she never went home any more, and how she would miss her mother, and what the other children in the village would say after she’d been away for years and years, and—she sat up in bed. the little house was very still. she made up her[104] mind that if she was ever going to get home, she had better try to steal away now. she got up quietly and dressed herself, and opened the door of the front room on a crack and peeked in.
a candle was burning on the table in there, and the rag-bone man was over at the other side of the room, opening the drawers of a bureau one after another, and rummaging about inside. he was sniffling dreadfully.
“i can’t find ’em,” he was saying to himself.[105] “where are the plaguey handkerchiefs, anyway? to think that after i’ve tried so hard, and brought one of ’em here at last, she wants to go right away home, before she’s been here ten minutes! they’re all alike, that’s what it is. they don’t like me, and they run away from me, and when one of ’em comes here at last she wants to go right off home again. there ain’t one of ’em can abide the sight of me, and it’s a cruel shame, that’s what it is. it’s cruel. oh, dear, i’m going to cry again—i just know i am—it’s coming on—i can feel it—where are those handkerchiefs, anyway?”
[106]
“i can see her peeking in through the door.”
[107]he opened another drawer, and rummaged about inside, and then sat down on a chair with his head on his hands.
“plague take it,” said he, “i just know i’m going to cry. and there’s no handkerchiefs in the house. why do they all run away from me? and she wants to go home before she’s been here ten minutes, and there’s no handkerchiefs in the house—boo-hoo-hoo!”
“i believe he’s crying,” said a voice outside.
“i believe he is, brother, i believe he is,” said another voice.
“how would it do to go in?” said the first voice.
“that’s a very clever idea, brother, very clever,” said the other voice.
the front door opened, and in walked the two gnomes.
“i believe she’s here, too, brother nibby,” said malkin. “i can see her peeking in through the door.”
“then,” said brother nibby, “i wonder why she doesn’t come in?”
[108]“i will come in,” said merrimeg. “oh, but i’m glad you’ve come!” and she stepped into the room.
“but she wants to go home!” said the rag-bone man, wiping his eyes and nose with the back of his hand. “have you got a dry handkerchief?”
“have you got a handkerchief, brother nibby?” said malkin.
“oh dear no,” said nibby. “i always forget it.”
“do you know where you left it, brother?” said malkin.
“oh dear yes,” said nibby. “in the ice box under the kitchen sink.”
“then please!” said the rag-bone man. “please! take me there and give it to me! oh, oh! when i think of all the children running away from me, and now she wants to go home, and no handkerchiefs in the house,—i’m going to cry again, i’m going to cry again, i just know it!” and sure enough, he began to cry, harder than ever.
[109]“maybe he’d feel better,” said malkin, “if we took him home and got him a handkerchief.”
“maybe he would, there’s something in that,” said nibby.
“then let’s do it,” said malkin.
“but oh, dear!” said the rag-bone man, pointing at merrimeg. “i can’t leave her here. she’d run away.”
“then we’d better take her with us, brother nibby,” said malkin. “what do you say?”
“just what i was thinking,” said nibby. “you took the words out of my mouth.”
“all right,” said the rag-bone man. “when i’ve gotten the handkerchief i’ll bring her back again. now then,” said he to merrimeg, picking up his bag, “jump into the sack. quick. will you, or won’t you?”
“no, no!” said merrimeg. “i don’t like the sack. i won’t!”
“not very polite to-day, brother nibby,” said malkin. “i think she ought to do what the gentleman says.”
[110]“you’re right, brother, you’re always right,” said nibby.
“well,” said merrimeg, “if you say i ought to do it, i will. but i don’t want to.”
she stepped into the bag, and at that moment a voice sounded from the back door. “no, no! don’t go away!”
it was little rags, in her nightgown. she ran to merrimeg and threw her arms around her and clung to her tight.
[111]“don’t go, don’t go!” cried little rags. “don’t leave me! stay and play with me! oh please, oh please!”
“she’s coming back,” said her father. “i’ll bring her back as soon as i get the handkerchief. she’d run away if i left her here. she’ll be back.”
merrimeg put her arm around little rags and kissed her.
“good-by,” said she. “don’t cry. i’ve got to go now. don’t cry. good-by.”
the rag-bone man pulled the sack up over merrimeg and hoisted it up on his back.
“don’t go, don’t go!” said little rags, and put her head down on her arm.
the door closed behind the rag-bone man and his sack, and the two gnomes; and little rags in her nightgown stood all alone in the room, weeping.
the rag-bone man walked so far and so long that merrimeg fell asleep in the sack. when she woke up she was standing on the mossy roof of the gnomes’ house, rubbing her eyes; and in[112] a moment they were all four going down the ladder into the gnomes’ kitchen.
nibby ran to the ice box under the sink, and put his hand in.
“it’s no use, brother, it isn’t here,” said nibby.
“then we’d better look somewhere else, brother,” said malkin.
they looked in the coffeepot, and the bread box, and in the oven, and everywhere; but they couldn’t find the handkerchief.
“oh, dear!” said the rag-bone man. “it’s enough to make a person cry his eyes out, that’s what it is. oh, what a day i’ve had! what are you going to do now?”
“i’ll tell you,” said merrimeg. “i left a lot of them in the apple orchard at home, and they’re all dry by now. let’s go there!”
“do you think they’re dry?” said the rag-bone man.
“of course they are!” said merrimeg. “come along! hurry!”
she led them up the ladder, and when they[113] were outside she got into the sack again. the rag-bone man swung her onto his back, and before very long she was dropped to the ground with a bump, and she got out of the sack. they were standing in the apple orchard behind her house, and there on the ground were the handkerchiefs, where the rag-bone man had thrown them.
the rag-bone man picked them up. they were wet.
“oh, dear! oh, dear!” he cried. “they’re all wet! i knew they wouldn’t be dry! they’re no earthly good! what’ll i do? no handkerchiefs, and all the children running away from me, and—oh, dear! i’m going to cry again! oh, what a day i’ve had! what’ll i do? what’ll i do?”
“bless my soul, brother nibby,” said malkin. “i know where our handkerchief is. i put it there myself. it’s in the handkerchief box on the bureau. i wonder why we didn’t think to look for it there?”
“i believe you’re right, brother,” said nibby.[114] “it’s the last place i would have thought of looking for it.”
“then we’d better take him back to get it before he cries again,” said nibby. “let’s go.”
“oh, dear!” said the rag-bone man. “such a lot of running back and forth in the middle of the night! come along,” he said to merrimeg, “jump into the sack again, and let’s go back. oh, dear! so much trouble, nothing but trouble! quick, jump into the sack.”
“no, no!” cried merrimeg, starting to run. “i’m home now. i’m not going back! good-by!” and she ran away as fast as her feet would carry her, through the apple orchard, across the cabbage garden, and in at the kitchen door.
“funny how we came to bring her back right to her own home, brother,” said malkin.
“very funny, very funny indeed,” said nibby.
“oh! oh! oh!” said the rag-bone man. “what’ll my poor little rags do now? oh, what a terrible day i’ve had! oh, dear! oh, dear!”
[115]he put his head down and burst out crying, and the two gnomes led him away.
in the front room, merrimeg’s mother was sitting at the window sewing.
“well,” she said. “i thought you were never coming home! i told you not to stay at tish’s so late. did you have a nice supper? get ready for bed, and next time don’t stay so long.”
“yes, mother,” said merrimeg.
