beseechingly.
“You do know, now; I ‘ve told her, Polly,” said Fan, as they sat
down together, and Maud perched herself on the bed, so that she
might retire among the pillows if her feelings were too much for
her.
“I ‘m glad you take it so well, dear; I was afraid it might upset
you,” said Polly, seeing now that in spite of her quiet manner, Fan’s
eyes had an excited look, and her cheeks a feverish color.
“I shall groan and moan by and by, I dare say, but at first it sort of
dazed me, and now it begins to excite me. I ought to be full of
sorrow for poor papa, and I am truly sorry, but, wicked as it may
seem, it ‘s a fact, Polly, that I ‘m half glad it ‘s happened, for it
takes me out of myself, and gives me something to do.”
Fanny’s eyes fell and her color rose as she spoke, but Polly
understood why she wanted to forget herself, and put her arm
round her with a more tender sympathy than Fanny guessed.
“Perhaps things are not as bad as they seem; I don’t know much
about such matters, but I ‘ve seen people who have failed, and they
seemed just as comfortable as before,” said Polly.
“It won’t be so with us, for papa means to give up everything, and
not have a word said against him. Mamma’s little property is
settled upon her, and has n’t been risked. That touched her so
much! She dreads poverty even more than I do, but she begged
him to take it if it would help him. That pleased him, but he said
nothing would induce him to do it, for it would n’t help much, and
was hardly enough to keep her comfortable.”
“Do you know what he means to do?” asked Polly, anxiously.
“He said his plans were not made, but he meant to go into the little
house that belonged to grandma, as soon as he could, for it was n’t
honest for a bankrupt to keep up an establishment like this.”
“I shan’t mind that at all, I like the little house ’cause it ‘s got a
garden, and there ‘s a cunning room with a three-cornered closet in
it that I always wanted. If that ‘s all, I don’t think bankrupting is so
very bad,” said Maud, taking a cheerful view of things.
“Ah, just wait till the carriage goes and the nice clothes and the
servants, and we have to scratch along as we can. You ‘ll change
your mind then, poor child,” said Fanny, whose ideas of failure
were decidedly tragical.
“Will they take all my things away?” cried Maud, in dismay.
“I dare say; I don’t know what we are allowed to keep; but not
much, I fancy,” and Fan looked as if strung up to sacrifice
everything she possessed.
“They shan’t have my new ear-rings, I ‘ll hide ’em, and my best
dress, and my gold smelling bottle. Oh, oh, oh! I think it ‘s mean to
take a little girl’s things away!” And Maud dived among the
pillows to smother a wail of anguish at the prospect of being bereft
of her treasures.
Polly soon lured her out again, by assurances that she would n’t be
utterly despoiled, and promises to try and soften the hard hearts of
her father’s creditors, if the ear-rings and the smelling-bottle were
attached.
“I wonder if we shall be able to keep one servant, just till we learn
how to do the work,” said Fanny, looking at her white hands, with
a sigh.
But Maud clapped hers, and gave a joyful bounce, as she cried,
“Now I can learn to cook! I love so to beat eggs! I ‘ll have an
apron, with a bib to it, like Polly’s, and a feather duster, and sweep
the stairs, maybe, with my head tied up, like Katy. Oh, what fun!”
“Don’t laugh at her, or discourage her; let her find comfort in bibs
and dust-pans, if she can,” whispered Polly to Fan, while Maud
took a joyful “header” among the pillows, and came up smiling
and blowzy, for she loved house-work, and often got lectured for