Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott

exclamation: “Yes, we re a pair of heathens, and there’s no one to

save us if I don’t.”

That was true enough; for Molly’s father was a busy man, careless

of everything but his mills, Miss Bat was old and lazy, and felt as

if she might take life easy after serving the motherless children for

many years as well as she knew how. Molly was beginning to see

how much amiss things were at home, and old enough to feel

mortified, though, as yet, she had done nothing to mend the matter

except be kind to the little boy.

“You will, my dear,” answered Mrs. Pecq, encouragingly, for she

knew all about it. “Now you ve each got a mission, let us see how

well you will get on. Keep it secret, if you like, and report once a

week. I’ll be a member, and we’ll do great things yet.”

“We won’t begin till after Christmas; there is so much to do, we

never shall have time for any more. Don’t tell, and we’ll start fair

at New Year s, if not before,” said Jill, taking the lead as usual.

Then they went on with the gay ladies, who certainly were heathen

enough in dress to be in sad need of conversion to common-sense

at least.

“I feel as if I was at a party,” said Jill, after a pause occupied in

surveying her gallery with great satisfaction, for dress was her

delight, and here she had every conceivable style and color.

“Talking of parties, isn’t it too bad that we must give up our

Christmas fun? Can’t get on without you and Jack, so we are not

going to do a thing, but just have our presents,” said Merry, sadly,

as they began to fit different heads and bodies together, to try droll

effects.

“I shall be all well in a fortnight, I know; but Jack won t, for it will

take more than a month to mend his poor leg. Maybe, they will

have a dance in the boys big room, and he can look on,” suggested

Jill, with a glance at the dancing damsel on the wall, for she dearly

loved it, and never guessed how long it would be before her light

feet would keep time to music again.

“You d better give Jack a hint about the party. Send over some

smart ladies, and say they have come to his Christmas ball,”

proposed audacious Molly Loo, always ready for fun.

So they put a preposterous green bonnet, top-heavy with plumes,

on a little lady in yellow, who sat in a carriage; the lady beside her,

in winter costume of velvet pelisse and ermine boa, was fitted to a

bride’s head with its orange flowers and veil, and these works of

art were sent over to Jack, labelled “Miss Laura and Lotty Burton

going to the Minots’ Christmas balI” a piece of naughtiness on

Jill’s part, for she knew Jack liked the pretty sisters, whose gentle

manners made her own wild ways seem all the more blamable.

No answer came for a long time, and the girls had almost forgotten

their joke in a game of Letters, when “Tingle, tangle!” went the

bell, and the basket came in heavily laden. A roll of colored papers

was tied outside, and within was a box that rattled, a green and

silver horn, a roll of narrow ribbons, a spool of strong thread, some

large needles, and a note from Mrs. Minot:

“Dear Jill-I think of having a Christmas tree so that our invalids

can enjoy it, and all your elegant friends are cordially invited.

Knowing that you would like to help, I send some paper for

sugar-plum horns and some beads for necklaces. They will

brighten the tree and please the girls for themselves or their dolls.

Jack sends you a horn for a pattern, and will you make a

ladder-necklace to show him how? Let me know if you need

anything.

Yours in haste,

Anna Minot”

“She knew what the child would like, bless her kind heart,” said

Mrs. Pecq to herself, and something brighter than the most silvery

bead shone on Jack’s shirt-sleeve, as she saw the rapture of Jill

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *