 | On picket duty, and other tales |  |
2. THE KING OF CLUBS AND THE QUEEN OF
HEARTS.
A STORY FOR YOUNG AMERICA.
FIVE and twenty ladies, all in a row, sat on one side of the
hall, looking very much as if they felt like the little old
woman who fell asleep on the king's highway and awoke with
abbreviated drapery, for they were all arrayed in gray tunics
and Turkish continuations, profusely adorned with many-colored
trimmings. Five and twenty gentlemen, all in a
row, sat on the opposite side of the hall, looking somewhat
subdued, as men are apt to do when they fancy they are in
danger of making fools of themselves. They, also, were en
costume, for all the dark ones had grown piratical in red
shirts, the light ones nautical in blue; and a few boldly appeared
in white, making up in starch and studs what they lost
in color, while all were more or less Byronic as to collar.
On the platform appeared a pile of dumb-bells, a regiment
of clubs, and a pyramid of bean-bags, and stirring nervously
among them a foreign-looking gentleman, the new leader of
a class lately formed by Dr. Thor Turner, whose mission it
was to strengthen the world's spine, and convert it to a belief
in air and exercise, by setting it to balancing its poles
and spinning merrily, while enjoying the “Sun-cure” on a
large scale. His advent formed an epoch in the history of
the town; for it was a quiet old village, guiltless of bustle,
fashion, or parade, where each man stood for what he was;
and, being a sagacious set, every one's true value was pretty
accurately known. It was a neighborly town, with gossip
or wonder, yet do no harm. A sensible, free-and-easy
town, for the wisest man in it wore the worst boots, and no one
thought the less of his understanding; the belle of the village
went shopping with a big sun-bonnet and tin pail, and
no one found her beauty lessened; oddities of all sorts
ambled peacefully about on their various hobbies, and no one
suggested the expediency of a trip on the wooden horse upon
which the chivalrous South is always eager to mount an irrepressible
abolitionist. Restless people were soothed by the
lullaby the river sang in its slow journey to the sea, old people
found here a pleasant place to make ready to die-in,
young people to survey the world from, before taking their
first flight, and strangers looked back upon it, as a quiet nook
full of ancient legends and modern lights, which would keep
its memory green when many a gayer spot was quite forgotten.
Anything based upon common sense found favor with
the inhabitants, and Dr. Turner's theories, being eminently
so, were accepted at once and energetically carried out. A
sort of heathen revival took place, for even the ministers and
deacons turned Muselemen; old ladies tossed bean-bags till
their caps were awry, and winter roses blossomed on their
cheeks; school-children proved the worth of the old proverb,
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” by
getting their backs ready before the burdens came; pale girls
grew blithe and strong swinging their dumb namesakes; and
jolly lads marched to and fro embracing clubs as if longevity
were corked up in those wooden bottles, and they all took
“modest quenchers” by the way.
August Bopp, the new leader of the class, was a German
possessing but a small stock of English, though a fine gymnast;
and, being also a bashful man, the appointed moment
had no sooner arrived than he found his carefully prepared
to do from under unhappy souls first mounted upon skates.
An awful silence reigned; Mr. Bopp glanced nervously
over his shoulder at the staring rows, more appalling in their
stillness than if they had risen up and hooted at him, then
piling up the bags for the seventh time, he gave himself a
mental shake, and, with a crimson visage, was about to
launch his first “Ladees und gentlemen,” when the door
opened, and a small, merry-faced figure appeared, looking
quite at ease in the novel dress, as, with a comprehensive
nod, it marched straight across the hall to its place among
the weaker vessels.
A general glance of approbation followed from the gentlemen's
side, a welcoming murmur ran along the ladies', and
the fifty pairs of eyes changed their focus for a moment.
Taking advantage of which, Mr. Bopp righted himself, and
burst out with a decided, —
“Ladees und gentlemen: the time have arrived that we
shall begin. Will the gentlemen serve the ladees to a wand,
each one, then spread theirselves about the hall, and follow
the motions I will make as I shall count.”
Five minutes of chaos, then all fell into order, and nothing
was heard but the leader's voice and the stir of many
bodies moving simultaneously. An uninitiated observer would
have thought himself in Bedlam; for as the evening wore on,
the laws of society seemed given to the winds, and humanity
gone mad. Bags flew in all directions, clubs hurtled
through the air, and dumb-bells played a castinet accompaniment
to peals of laughter that made better music than
any band. Old and young gave themselves up to the universal
merriment, and, setting dignity aside, played like happy-hearted
children for an hour. Stout Dr. Quackenboss
gasped twice round the hall on one toe; stately Mrs.
her competitor; Tommy Inches, four feet three, trotted
away with Deacon Stone on his shoulder, while Mr. Steepleton
and Miss Maypole hopped together like a pair of lively
young ostriches, and Ned Amandine, the village beau, blew
arrows through a pop-gun, like a modern Cupid in pegtops
instead of pinions.
The sprightly young lady whose entrance had been so opportune
seemed a universal favorite, and was overwhelmed
with invitations to “bag,” “hop,” and “blow” from the
gentlemen who hovered about her, cheerfully distorting themselves
to the verge of dislocation in order to win a glance of
approbation from the merry black eyes which were the
tapers where all these muscular moths singed their wings.
Mr. Bopp had never seen such a little piece of earnestness
before, and began to think the young lady must be training
for a boat-race or the ring. Her dumb-bells flew about till a
pair of white arms looked like the sails of a windmill; she
hit out from the shoulder with a vigor that would have done
execution had there been anything but empty air to “punish;”
and the “one, two, three!” of the Zouave movement
went off with a snap; while the color deepened from pink
to scarlet in her cheeks, the black braids tumbled down upon
her shoulders, and the clasp of her belt flew asunder; but
her eye seldom left the leader's face, and she followed every
motion with an agility and precision quite inspiring. Mr.
Bopp's courage rose as he watched her, and a burning desire
to excel took possession of him, till he felt as if his muscles
were made of India-rubber, and his nerves of iron. He
went into his work heart and soul, shaking a brown mane
out of his eyes, issuing commands like a general at the head
of his troops, and keeping both interest and fun in full blast
till people laughed who had not laughed heartily for years;
developed, and, when the clock struck ten, all were
bubbling over with that innocent jollity which makes youth
worth possessing, and its memory the sunshine of old age.
The last exercise was drawing to a close, and a large ring
of respectable members of society were violently sitting
down and rising up in a manner which would have scandalized
Miss Wilhelmina Carolina Amelia S. Keggs to the last
degree, when Mr. Bopp was seen to grow very pale, and
drop in a manner which it was evident his pupils were not
expected to follow.
At this unexpected performance, the gentlemen took advantage
of their newly-acquired agility to fly over all obstacles
and swarm on to the platform, while the ladies successfully
lessened their unusual bloom by staring wildly at one
another and suggesting awful impossibilities. The bustle
subsided as suddenly as it arose; and Mr. Bopp, rather damp
about the head and dizzy about the eye, but quite composed,
appeared, saying, with the broken English and appealing
manner which caused all the ladies to pronounce him “a
dear” on the spot, —
“I hope you will excoose me for making this lesson to be
more short than it should; but I have exercise nine hours
this day, and being just got well from a illness, I have not
recover the strength I have lost. Next week I shall be able
to take time by the hair, so that I will not have so much engagements
in one day. I thank you for your kindness, and
say good-efening.
After a round of applause, as a last vent for their spirits,
the class dispersed, and Mr. Bopp was wrestling with a
vicious pin as he put on his collar (“a sure sign he has no
ma to see to his buttons, poor lamb!” thought Mrs. Fairbairn,
watching him from afar); when the sprightly young lady,
upon the platform, saying, with an aspect as cordial
as her words, —
“Good-evening, Professor. Allow me to introduce my
brother and myself, Dick and Dolly Ward, and ask you in
my mother's name, to come home with us; for the tavern is
not a cosy place, and after all this exertion you should be
made comfortable. Please come, for Dr. Turner always
stayed with us, and we promised to do the honors of the
town to any gentleman he might send to supply his place.”
“Of course we did; and mother is probably freezing her
blessed nose off watching for us; so don't disappoint her,
Bopp. It's all settled, the sleigh's at the door, and here's
your coat; so, come on!”
Dick was a fine sample of young America in its best aspect,
and would have said “How are you?” to Louis Napoleon
if he had been at hand, and have done it so heartily
that the great Frenchman would have found it hard to resist
giving as frank an answer. Therefore no wonder that Mr.
Bopp surrendered at once; for the young gentleman took
possession of him bodily, and shook him into his coat with
an amiable impetuosity which developed a sudden rent in the
well-worn sleeve thereof, and caused an expression of dismay
to dawn upon the owner's countenance.
“Beg pardon; never mind; mother'll sew you up in two
seconds, and your overcoat will hide the damage. Where is
it? I'll get it, and then we'll be off.”
Mr. Bopp colored distressfully, looked up, looked down,
and then straight into the lad's face, saying simply,—
“Thank you; I haf no coat but one.”
Dick opened his eyes, and was about opening his mouth
also, for the exit of some blunderingly good-natured reply,
when a warning poke from his sister restrained him, while
some women as the art of tying bows, said, as she led the
way out,—
“You see the worth of gymnastics, Dick, in this delightful
indifference to cold. I sincerely hope we may reach a
like enviable state of health, and look upon great-coats as
effeminate, and mufflers a weakness of the flesh. Do you
think we shall, Mr. Bopp?”
He shook his head with a perceptible shiver as the keen
north wind smote him in the face, but answered, with a look
half merry, half sad,—
“It is not choice, but what you call necessitee, with me;
and I truly hope you may never haf to exercise to keep life
in you when you haf sold your coat to pay a doctor's bill, or
teach the art of laughing while your heart is heavy as one
stone. You would not like that, I think, yet it is good, too;
for small things make much happiness for me, and a kind
word is often better than a rix dollar.”
There was something in the young man's tone and manner
which touched and won his hearers at once. Dolly secretly
resolved to put an extra blanket on his bed, and shower kind
words upon him, while Dick tucked him up in buffalo robes
where he sat helplessly beaming down upon the red hood at
his side.
A roaring fire shone out hospitably as they came, and
glorified the pleasant room, dancing on ancient furniture and
pictured walls till the jolly old portraits seemed to wink a
visible welcome. A cheery-faced little woman, like an elder
Dolly, in a widow's cap, stood on the threshold, with a
friendly greeting for the stranger, which warmed him as no
fire could have done.
If August Bopp had been an Englishman, he would have
felt much, but said less on that account; if he had been an
impress the family with his past grandeur, present importance,
or future prospects; being a German, he showed exactly
what he was, with the childlike frankness of his race.
Having had no dinner, he ate heartily of what was offered
him; being cold, he basked in the generous warmth; being
homesick and solitary, he enjoyed the genial influences that
surrounded him, and told his story, sure of sympathy; for
even in prosaic Yankeedom he had found it, as travellers
find Alpine flowers among the snow.
It was a simple story of a laborious boyhood, being early
left an orphan, with a little sister dependent on him, till an
opening in America tempted him to leave her and come to
try and earn a home for her and for himself. Sickness, misfortune,
and disappointment had been his companions for a
year; but he still worked, still hoped, and waited for the happy
hour when little Ulla should come to him across the sea.
This was all; yet as he told it, with the magical accompaniments
of gesture, look, and tone, it seemed full of pathos
and romance to his listeners, whose faces proved their interest
more flatteringly than their words.
Mrs. Ward mended the torn coat with motherly zeal, and
gave it many of those timely stitches which thrifty women
love to sew. The twins devoted themselves to their guest,
each in a characteristic manner. Dick, as host, offered every
article of refreshment the house afforded, goaded the fire to a
perpetual roar, and discussed gymnastics, with bursts of boyish
admiration for the grace and skill of his new leader,
whom he christened King of Clubs on the spot. Dolly made
the stranger one of them at once by talking bad German, as
an offset to his bad English, called him Professor in spite of
all denials, and unconsciously symbolized his future bondage
her mother's somewhat lengthened job.
The Cupid of the present day was undoubtedly “raised”
in Connecticut; for the ingenuity and shrewdness of that
small personage could have sprung from no other soil. In
former times his stratagems were of the romantic order.
Colin bleated forth his passion in rhyme, and cast sheep's
eyes from among his flock, while Phyllis coquetted with her
crook and stuck posies in his hat; royal Ferdinand and
Miranda played at chess; Ivanhoe upset his fellow-men like
ninepins for love of lackadaisical Rowena; and “sweet
Moll” turned the pages while her lover, Milton, sang. But
in our day the jolly little god, though still a heathen in the
severe simplicity of his attire, has become modernized in his
arts, and invented huskings, apple-bees, sleigh-rides, “dropins,”
gymnastics, and, among his finer snares, the putting on
of skates, drawing of patterns, and holding skeins, — the
last-named having superior advantages over the others, as all
will testify who have enjoyed one of those hand-to-hand skirmishes.
August Bopp was three and twenty, imaginative, grateful,
and heart-whole; therefore, when he found himself sitting opposite
a blooming little damsel, with a head, bound by a
pretty red snood, bent down before him, and very close to his
own a pair of distracting hands, every finger of which had a
hit to make, and made it, it is not to be denied that he felt
himself entering upon a new and very agreeable experience.
Where could he look but in the face opposite, sometimes so
girlishly merry and sometimes so beautifully shy? It was a
winning face, full of smooth curves, fresh colors, and sunshiny
twinkles, — a face every one liked, for it was as changeful as
an April day, and always pleasant, whether mischievous,
mournful, or demure.
Like one watching a new picture, Mr. Bopp inspected
every feature of the countenance so near his own; and, as
his admiration “grew by what it fed on,” he fell into a
chronic state of stammer and blush; for the frank eyes were
very kind, the smooth cheeks reflected a pretty shade of his
own crimson, and the smiling lips seemed constantly suggesting,
with mute eloquence, that they were made for kissing,
while the expressive hands picked at the knots till the Professor
felt like a very resigned fly in the web of a most enticing
young spider.
If the King of Clubs saw a comely face, the Queen of
Hearts saw what observing girls call a “good face;” and
with a womanly respect for strength, the manliest attribute of
man, she admired the broad shoulders and six feet one of her
new master. This face was not handsome, for, true to his
fatherland, the Professor had an eminent nose, a blonde beard,
and a crop of “bonny brown hair” long enough to have been
gathered into a ribbon, as in the days of Schiller and Jean
Paul; but Dolly liked it, for its strength was tempered with
gentleness; patience and courage gave it dignity, and the
glance that met her own was both keen and kind.
The silk was wound at last, the coat repaired. Dick with
difficulty concealed the growing stiffness of his shoulders,
while Dolly turned up the lamp, which bluntly hinted bed-time,
and Mrs. Ward successfully devoured six gapes behind
her hand, but was detected in the seventh by Mr. Bopp, who
glanced at the clock, stopped in the middle of a sentence,
and, with a hurried “goot-night,” made for the door without
the least idea whither he was going. Piloted by Dick, he
was installed in the “best chamber,” where his waking
dreams were enlivened by a great fire, and his sleeping ones
by an endless succession of skeins, each rapturously concluded
pretty maid.
“I tell you, Dolly, it won't do, and I'm not going to have
it.”
“Oh, indeed; and how will you help it, you absurd boy?”
“Why, if you don't stop it, I'll just say to Bopp, —
`Look here, my dear fellow; this sister of mine is a capital
girl, but she will flirt and' ”—
“And it's a family failing, Dick,” cut in Dolly.
“Not a bit of it. I shall say, `Take care of your heart,
Bopp, for she has a bad habit of playing battle-door and
shuttle-cock with these articles; and, though it may be very
good fun for a time, it makes them ache when they get a last
knock and are left to lie in a corner.' ”
“What eloquence! But you'd never dare to try it on Mr.
Bopp; and I shouldn't like to predict what would happen to
you if you did.”
“If you say `dare,' I'll do it the first minute I see him.
As for consequences, I don't care that for 'em;” and Dick
snapped his fingers with an aspect of much disdain. But
something in his sister's face suggested the wisdom of moderation,
and moved him to say, less like a lord of creation,
and more like a brother who privately adored his sister, but
of course was not going to acknowledge such a weakness, —
“Well, but soberly, now, I wish you wouldn't plague
Bopp; for it's evident to me that he is hit; and from the way
you've gone on these two months, what else was to be expected?
Now, as the head of the family, — you needn't
laugh, for I am, — I think I ought to interfere; and so I put
it to you, — do you like him, and will you have him? or are
you were out of pinafores? If you like him, all serene.
I'd rather have him for a brother than any one I know, for
he's a regular trump though he is poor; but if you don't, I
won't have the dear old fellow floored just because you like to
see it done.”
It may here be remarked that Dolly quite glowed to hear
her brother praise Mr. Bopp, and that she indorsed every
word with mental additions of double warmth; but Dick had
begun all wrong, and, manlike, demanded her confidence before
she had made up her mind to own she had any to bestow;
therefore nothing came of it but vexation of spirit; for it is a
well-known fact that, on some subjects, if boys will tease,
girls will fib, and both maintain that it is right. So Dolly
whetted her feminine weapon, and assumed a lofty superiority.
“Dear me! what a sudden spasm of virtue; and why, if
it is such a sin, has not the `head of the house' taken his
sister to task before, instead of indulging in a like degeneracy,
and causing several interesting persons to tear their
hair, and bewail his forgetfulness, when they ought to have
blessed their stars he was out of the way?”
Dick snowballed a dozing crow and looked nettled; for he
had attained that age when “Tom Brown at Oxford” was
the book of books, the twelfth chapter being the favorite,
and five young ladies having already been endowed with the
significant heliotrope flower; all of which facts Dolly had
skilfully brought to mind, as a return-shot for his somewhat
personal remarks.
“Bah! they were only girls, and it don't amount to anything
among us young folks; but Bopp is a grown man, and
you ought to respect him too much to play such pranks with
him. Besides, he's a German, and more tender-hearted than
we rough Yankees, as any one can see by the way he acts
and waits till he's sure you like him before he says anything;
and he'll need the patience of a family of Jobs at the rate
you're going on, — a honey-pot one day and a pickle-jar the
next. Do make up your mind, and say yes or no, right off,
Dolly.”
“Would you have me meet him at the door with a meek
courtesy, and say, `Oh, if you please, I'm ready to say
Yes, thank you, if you'll be good enough to say, Will you'?”
“Don't be a goose, child; you know I mean nothing of
the kind; only you girls never will do anything straight
ahead if you can dodge and fuss and make a mess of it. Just
tell me one thing: Do you, or don't you, like old Bopp?”
“What an elegant way to put it! Of course I like him
well enough as a leader; he is clever, and sort of cunning,
and I enjoy his funny ways; but what in the world should I
do with a great yellow-haired laddie who could put me in his
pocket, and yet is so meek that I should never find the heart
to henpeck him? You are welcome to him; and since you
love him so much, there's no need of my troubling myself on
his account; for with you for a friend, he can have no earthly
wish ungratified.”
“Don't try to be cutting, Dolly, because you look homely
when you do, and it's a woman's business to be pretty always.
All I've got to say is, you will be in a nice state of
mind if you damage Bopp; for every one likes him, and will
be down upon you for a heartless little wretch; and I shan't
blame them, I promise you.”
“I wish the town wouldn't put its fingers in other people's
pies, and you may tell it so, with my compliments; and all I
have to say is, that you men have more liberty than you know
what to do with, and we women haven't enough; so it's perfectly
fair that we should show you the worth of the thing by
dance, walk, ride, and flirt, whenever and with whomever I
see fit; and the whole town, with Mr. Dick Ward at their
head, can't stop me if I choose to go on. Now, then, what
next?” After which declaration of independence, Dolly
folded her arms, wheeled about and faced her brother, a
spirited statuette of Self Will, in a red hood and mittens.
Dick sternly asked, —
“Is that your firm decision, ma'am?”
“Yes.”
“And you will not give up your nonsense?”
“No.”
“You are quite sure you don't care for Bopp?”
“I could slap him with all my heart.”
“Very good. I shall see that you don't get a chance.”
“I wouldn't try a skirmish, for you'll get beaten, Dick.”
“We'll prove that, ma'am.”
“We will, sir.”
And the belligerents loftily paced up the lawn, with their
purpose so well expressed by outward signs that Mrs. Ward
knew, by the cock of Dick's hat and the decided tap of
Dolly's heels, that a storm was brewing, before they entered
the door.
This fraternal conversation took place some two months
from the evening of Mr. Bopp's advent, as the twins were
strolling home from school, which school must be briefly alluded
to in order to explain the foregoing remarks. It was
an excellent institution in all respects; for its presiding genius
stood high in the townfolks' esteem, and might have served
as an example to Dr. Watts' “busy bee,” in the zeal with
which he improved his “shining hours,” and laid up honey
against the winter, which many hoped would be long in coming.
All manner of aids were provided for sprouting souls
of which might have polished off Alcibiades a la Secrates,
or entertained Plato with “æsthetic tea.” But, sad
to relate, in spite of all these blessings, the students who resorted
to this academy possessed an Adam-and-Eve-like proclivity
for exactly what they hadn't got and didn't need; and,
not contented with the pleasures provided, must needs play
truant with that young scamp Eros, and turn the ancient
town topsy-turvy with modern innovations, till scandalized
spinsters predicted that the very babies would catch the fever,
refuse their panada in jealous gloom, send billet-doux in their
rattles, elope in wicker-carriages, and set up housekeeping in
dolls' houses, after the latest fashion.
Certain inflammable Southerners introduced the new game,
and left such romantic legends of their loves behind them that
their successors were fired with an ambition to do the like,
and excel in all things, from cricket to captivation.
This state of things is not to be wondered at; for America,
being renowned as a “fast” nation, has become a sort of hotbed,
and seems to force humanity into early bloom. Therefore,
past generations must not groan over the sprightly
present, but sit in the chimney-corner and see boys and girls
play the game which is too apt to end in a checkmate for one
of the players. To many of the lookers-on, the new order of
things was as good as a puppet-show; for, with the enthusiasm
of youth, the actors performed their parts heartily, forgetting
the audience in their own earnestness. Bless us! what revolutions
went on under the round jackets, and what love-tokens
lay in the pockets thereof. What plots and counterplots occupied
the heads that wore the innocent-looking snoods, and
what captives were taken in the many-colored nets that would
come off and have to be taken care of. What romances blossomed
like dandelions along the road to school, and what tales
musical speech. How certain gates were glorified by daily
lingerings thereat, and what tender memories hung about
dingy desks, old pens, and books illustrated with all manner
of symbolical designs.
Let those laugh who will; older and wiser men and women
might have taken lessons of these budding heroes and heroines;
for here all was honest, sincere, and fresh; the old
world had not taught them falsehood, self-interest, or mean
ambitions. When they lost or won, they frankly grieved or
rejoiced, and wore no masks except in play, and then got them
off as soon as possible. If blue-eyed Lizzie frowned, or went
home with Joe, Ned, with a wisdom older lovers would do well
to imitate, went in for another game of foot-ball, gave the rejected
apple to little Sally, and whistled “Glory Hallelujah,”
instead of “Annie Laurie,” which was better than blowing
a rival's brains out, or glowering at woman-kind forever after.
Or, when Tom put on Clara's skates three successive days,
and danced with her three successive evenings, leaving Kitty
to freeze her feet in the one instance and fold her hands in
the other, she just had a “good cry,” gave her mother an extra
kiss, and waited till the recreant Tom returned to his allegiance,
finding his little friend a sweetheart in nature as in
name.
Dick and Dolly were foremost in the ranks, and expert in
all the new amusements. Dick worshipped at many shrines,
but most faithfully at that of a meek divinity, who returned
charming answers to the ardent epistles which he left in her
father's garden wall, where, Pyramus and Thisbe-like, they
often chatted through a chink; and Dolly was seldom seen
without a staff of aids who would have “fought, bled, and
died” for her as cheerfully as the Little Corporal's Old
had not yet come.
With the charming perversity of her sex in such matters,
no sooner had Dolly declared that she didn't like Mr. Bopp,
than she began to discover that she did; and so far from desiring
“to slap him,” a tendency to regard him with peculiar
good-will and tenderness developed itself, much to her own
surprise; for with all her coquetry and seeming coldness,
Dolly had a right womanly heart of her own, though she had
never acknowledged the fact till August Bopp looked at her
with so much love and longing in his honest eyes. Then she
found a little fear mingling with her regard, felt a strong desire
to be respected by him, discovered a certain something
which she called conscience, restraining a reckless use of her
power, and, soon after her lofty denial to Dick, was forced to
own that Mr. Bopp had become her master in the finer species
of gymnastics that came in with Adam and Eve, and have
kept all creation turning somersets ever since. Of course
these discoveries were unconfessed, even to that best bosom
friend which any of us can have; yet her mother suspected
them, and, with much anxiety, saw all, yet held her peace,
knowing that her little daughter would, sooner or later, give
her a fuller confidence than could be demanded; and remembering
the happiest moments of her own happy past, when an
older Dick wooed another Dolly, she left that flower, which
never can be forced, to open at its own sweet will.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bopp, though carrying his heart upon his
sleeve, believed his secret buried in the deepest gloom, and
enjoyed all the delightful miseries lovers insist upon making
for themselves. When Dolly was quiet and absent, he became
were getting tired of the humbug; when Dolly was blithe
and bland, he grew radiant, exercised within an inch of his
life as a vent for his emotions, and people went home declaring
gymnastics to be the crowning triumph of the age;
and when Dolly was capricious, Mr. Bopp became a bewildered
weathercock, changing as the wind changed, and dire
was the confusion occasioned thereby.
Like the sage fowl in the story, Dick said nothing, but
“kept up a terrible thinking,” and, not having had experience
enough to know that when a woman says No she is very
apt to mean Yes, he took Dolly at her word. Believing it
to be his duty to warn “Old Bopp,” he resolved to do it
like a Roman brother, regardless of his own feelings or his
sister's wrath, quite unconscious that the motive power in the
affair was a boyish love of ruling the young person who
ruled every one else.
Matters stood thus, when the town was electrified by a
general invitation to the annual jubilee at Jollyboys Hall,
which this spring flowered into a masquerade, and filled the
souls of old and young with visions of splendor, frolic, and
fun. Being an amiable old town, it gave itself up, like a
kind grandma, to the wishes of its children, let them put its
knitting away, disturb its naps, keep its hands busy with
vanities of the flesh, and its mind in a state of chaos for
three mortal weeks. Young ladies were obscured by tarletan
fogs, behind which they concocted angels' wings, newspaper
gowns, Minnehaha's wampum, and Cinderella's slippers. Inspired
but incapable boys undertook designs that would have
daunted a costumer of the first water, fell into sloughs of
despond, and, emerging, settled down from peers and paladins
into jovial tars, friar waterproofs, and officers in miscellaneous
uniforms. Fathers laughed or grumbled at the
grace, as the case might be; but the mothers, whose interest
in their children's pleasure is a sort of evergreen that no
snows of time can kill, sewed spangles by the bushel, made
wildernesses of tissue-paper blossom as the rose, kept tempers
sweet, stomachs full, and domestic machinery working
smoothly through it all, by that maternal magic which makes
them the human providences of this naughty world.
“What shall I go as?” was the universal cry. Garrets
were taken by storm, cherished relics were teased out of old
ladies' lavendered chests (happy she who saw them again!),
hats were made into boots, gowns into doublets, cloaks into
hose, Sunday bonnets despoiled of their plumage, silken cauliflowers
sown broadcast over the land, and cocked-up caps
erected in every style of architecture, while “Tag, Rag, and
Bobtail” drove a smashing business, and everybody knew
what everybody else was going to be, and solemnly vowed
they didn't — which transparent falsehood was the best joke
of the whole.
Dolly allowed her mates to believe she was to be the
Queen of Hearts, but privately laid hold of certain brocades
worn by a trim grandmother half a century ago, and one
evening burst upon her brother in a charming “Little Bo-Peep”
costume, which, for the benefit of future distressed
damsels, may be described as a white silk skirt, scarlet overdress,
“neatly bundled up behind,” as ancient ladies expressed
it, blue hose with red clocks, high-heeled shoes with
silver buckles, a nosegay in the trucker, and a fly-way hat
perched in this case on the top of black curls, which gave
additional archness to Dolly's face as she entered, singing
that famous ditty.
Dick surveyed her with approval, turning her about like a
lay figure, and expressing his fraternal opinion that she was
the remark by adding, “Of course you don't call
it a disguise, do you? and don't flatter yourself that you
won't be known; for Dolly Ward is as plainly written in
every curl, bow, and gimcrack, as if you wore a label on
your back.”
“Then I shan't wear it;” and off went the hat at one
fell blow, as Dolly threw her crook in one corner, her posy in
another, and sat down an image of despair.
“Now don't be a goose, and rip everything to bits; just
wear a domino over all, as Fan is going to, and then, when
you've had fun enough, take it off and do the pretty. It
will make two rigs, you see, and bother the boys to your
heart's content.”
“Dick, I insist upon kissing you for that brilliant suggestion;
and then you may run and get me eight yards of
cambric, just the color of Fan's; but if you tell any one,
I'll keep her from dancing with you the whole evening;”
with which bribe and threat Dolly embraced her brother, and
shut the door in his face, while he, putting himself in good
humor by imagining she was somebody else, departed on his
muddy mission.
If the ghosts of the first settlers had taken their walks
abroad on the eventful Friday night, they would have held
up their shadowy hands at the scenes going on under their
venerable noses; for strange figures flitted through the quiet
streets, and instead of decorous slumber, there was decidedly,
—
“A sound of revelry by night.”
Spurs clanked and swords rattled over the frosty ground,
as if the British were about to make another flying call;
hooded monks and nuns paced along, on carnal thoughts
intent; ancient ladies and bewigged gentlemen seemed hurrying
barrels staggered and stuck through narrow ways, as if temperance
were still among the lost arts, while bears, apes,
imps, and elves pattered or sparkled by, as if a second Walpurgis
Night had come, and all were bound for Blocksberg.
“Hooray for the rooster!” shouted young Ireland, encamped
on the sidewalk to see the show, as Mephistopheles'
red cock's feather skimmed up the stairs, and he left a pink
domino at the ladies' dressing-room door, with the brief
warning, “Now cut your own capers and leave me to mine,”
adding, as he paused a moment at the great door, —
“By Jove! isn't it a jolly sight, though?”
And so it was; for a mammoth boot stood sentinel at the
entramce; a Bedouin Arab leaned on his spear in one corner,
looking as if ready to say, —
“Fly to the desert, fly with me,”
irreproachable legs, settled his plumage in another, still undecided
to which Ophelia he would first address
“The honey of his music vows.”
would have filled that stout potentate with respectful admiration,
while Queen Katherine flirted with a Fire Zouave. Alcipades
whisked Mother Goose about the room till the old
lady's conical hat tottered on her head, and the Union held
fast to a very little Mac. Flocks of friars, black, white, and
gray, pervaded the hall, with flocks of ballet girls, intended
to represent peasants, but failing for lack of drapery; morning
and evening stars rose or set, as partners willed; lively
red demons harassed meek nuns, and knights of the Leopard,
the Lion, or Griffin, flashed by, looking heroically uncomfortable
in their gilded cages; court ladies promenaded with
Jonathan whittled, Aunt Dinah jabbered, Ingomar flourished
his club, and every one felt warmly enthusiastic and vigorously
jolly.
“Ach himmel! Das ist wunder sehön!” murmured a tall,
gray monk, looking in, and quite unconscious that he spoke
aloud.
“Hullo, Bopp! I thought you weren't coming,” cried
Mephistopheles in an emphatic whisper.
“Ah, I guess you! yes, you are well done. I should
like to be a Faust for you, but I haf no time, no purse for a
dress, so I throw this on, and run up for a hour or two.
Where is — who is all these people? Do you know them?”
“The one with the Pope, Fra Diavolo; the telegraph,
and two knights asking her to dance, is Dolly, if that's what
you want to know. Go in and keep it up, Bopp, while you
can; I am off for Fan;” and Mephistopheles departed over
the banisters with a weird agility that delighted the beholders;
while the gray friar stole into a corner and watched the
pink domino for half an hour, at the end of which time his
regards were somewhat confused by discovering that there
were two pink damsels so like that he could not tell which
was the one pointed out by Dick and which the new-comer.
“She thinks I will not know her, but I shall go now and
find out for myself;” and, starting into sudden activity, the
gray brother strode up to the nearest pink lady, bowed, and
offered his arm. With a haughty little gesture of denial to
several others, she accepted it, and they joined the circle of
many-colored promenaders that eddied round the hall. As
they went, Mr. Bopp scrutinized his companion, but saw only
a slender figure shrouded from head to foot, and the tip of a
white glove resting on his arm.
“I will speak; then her voice will betray her,” he
thought, forgetting that his own was undisguisable.
“Madame, permit me that I fan you, it is so greatly
warm.”
A fan was surrendered with a bow, and the masked face
turned fully toward his own, while the hood trembled as if
its wearer laughed silently.
“Ah, it is you, — I know the eyes, the step, the laugh.
Miss Dolly, did you think you could hide from me?”
“I did not wish to,” was the whispered answer.
“Did you think I would come?”
“I hoped so.”
“Then you are not displease with me?”
“No; I am very glad; I wanted you.”
The pink head drooped a little nearer, and another white
glove went to meet its mate upon his arm with a pretty, confiding
gesture. Mr. Bopp instantly fell into a state of bliss,
— the lights, music, gay surroundings, and, more than all,
this unwonted demonstration, put the crowning glory to the
moment; and, fired with the hopeful omen, he allowed his
love to silence his prudence, and lead him to do, then and
there, the very thing he had often resolved never to do at all.
“Ah, Miss Dolly, if you knew how much, how very
much you haf enlarged my happiness, and made this efening
shine for me, you would more often be a little friendly, for
this winter has been all summer to me, since I knew you and
your kind home, and now I haf no sorrow but that after the
next lesson I come no more unless you gif me leaf. See
now I must say this even here, when so much people are
about us, because I cannot stop it; and you will forgif me
that I cannot wait any longer.”
“Mr. Bopp, please don't, please stop!” began the pink
stopped. He had dammed up the stream so long, that now
it rushed on fast, full, and uncontrollable; for, leading her
into one of the curtained recesses near by, he sat down
beside her, and, still plying the fan, went on impetuously, —
“I feel to say that I lofe you, and tho' I try to kill it, my
love will not die, because it is more strong than my will,
more dear than my pride, for I haf much, and I do not ask
you to be meine Frau till I can gif you more than my heart
and my poor name. But hear now; I will work, and save,
and wait a many years if at the end you will take all I haf
and say, `August, I lofe you.' Do not laugh at me because
I say this in such poor words; you are my heart's dearest,
and I must tell it or never come again. Speak to me one
kind yes, and I will thank Gott in himmel for so much joy.”
The pink domino had listened to this rapid speech with
averted head, and, when it ended, started up, saying eagerly,
“You are mistaken, sir, I am not Dolly;” but as she spoke
her words were belied, for the hasty movement displaced her
mask, and Mr. Bopp saw Dolly's eyes, a lock of dark hair,
and a pair of burning cheeks, before the screen was readjusted.
With redoubled earnestness he held her back,
whispering, —
“Do not go mitout the little word, Yes, or No; it is not
much to say.”
“Well then, No!”
“You mean it? Dolly! truly mean it?”
“Yes, let me go at once, sir.”
Mr. Bopp stood up, saying slowly, — “Yes, go now;
they told me you had no heart; I beliefe it, and thank you
for that No;” then bowed, and walked straight out of the
hall, while the pink domino broke into a fit of laughter,
saying to herself, —
“I've done it! I've done it! but what a piece of work
there'll be to-morrow.”
“Dick, who was that tall creature Fan was parading with
last night? No one knew, and he vanished before the masks
were taken off,” asked Dolly, as she and her brother lounged
in opposite corners of the sofa the morning after the masquerade,
“talking it over.”
“That was old Bopp, Mrs. Peep.”
“Gracious me! why, he said he wasn't coming.”
“People sometimes say what they don't mean, as you may
have discovered.”
“But why didn't he come and speak to a body, Dick?”
“Better employed, I suppose.”
“Now don't be cross, dear, but tell me all about it, for I
don't understand how you allowed him to monopolize Fan
so.”
“Oh, don't bother, I'm sleepy.”
“No you're not; you look wicked; I know you've been
in mischief, and I insist upon hearing all about it, so come
and `fess' this instant.”
Dolly proceeded to enforce her command by pulling away
his pillow and dragging her brother into a sitting posture in
spite of his laughing resistance and evident desire to exhaust
her patience; for Dick excelled in teasing, and kept his sister
in a fidget from morning till night, with occasional fits of
penitence and petting which lasted till next time. Therefore,
though dying to `fess,' he was undecided as to the best
method of executing that task in the manner most aggravating
to his listener and most agreeable to himself, and sat
regarding her with twinkling eyes, and his curly pate in a
failing signally.
“Now, then, up and tell,” commanded Dolly.
“Well, if you won't take my head off till I'm done, I'll
tell you the best joke of the season. Are you sure the pink
domino with Bopp wasn't yourself, — for she looked and
acted very like you?”
“Of course I am. I didn't even know he was there, and
think it very rude and ungentlemanly in him not to come and
speak to me. You know it was Fan, so do go on.”
“But it wasn't, for she changed her mind and wore a
black domino; I saw her put it on myself. Her Cousin Jack
came unexpectedly, and she thought if she altered her dress
and went with him, you wouldn't know her.”
“Who could it have been, Dick?”
“That's the mystery, for, do you know, Bopp proposed to
her.”
“He didn't!” and Dolly flew up with a startled look that,
to adopt a phrase from his own vocabulary, was “nuts” to
her brother.
“Yes he did; I heard him.”
“When, where, and how?”
“In one of these flirtation boxes; they dropped the curtain,
but I heard him do it, on my honor I did.”
“Persons of honor don't listen at curtains and key-holes.
What did they say?”
“Oh, if it wasn't honorable to listen, it isn't to hear; so I
won't tell, though I could not help knowing it.”
“Merey! don't stop now, or I shall die with curiosity. I
dare say I should have done the same; no one minds at such
a place, you know. But I don't see the joke yet,” said
Dolly dismally.
“I do,” and Dick went off into a shout.
“You idiotic boy, take that pillow out of your mouth, and
tell me the whole thing, — what he said, what she said, and
what they both did. It was all fun of course, but I'd like
to hear about it.”
“It may have been fun on her part, but it was solemn earnest
on his, for he went it strong I assure you. I'd no idea
the old fellow was so sly, for he appeared smashed with you,
you know, and there he was finishing up with this unknown
lady. I wish you could have heard him go on, with tears in
his eyes” —
“How do you know if you didn't see him?”
“Oh, well, that's only a figure of speech; I thought so
from his voice. He was ever so tender, and took to Dutch
when English was too cool for him. It was really touching,
for I never heard a fellow do it before; and, upon my word,
I should think it was rather a tough job to say that sort of
thing to a pretty woman, mask or no mask.”
“What did she say?” asked Dolly, with her hands pressed
tight together, and a curious little quiver of the lips.
“She said, No, as short as pie-crust; and when he rushed
out with his heart broken all to bits apparently, she just burst
out laughing, and went and polked at a two-forty pace for
half an hour.”
Dora unclasped her hands, took a long breath, and cried
out, —
“She was a wicked, heartless hussy! and if I know her,
I'll never speak to her again; for if he was really in earnest,
she ought to be killed for laughing at him.”
“So ought you, then, for making fun of poor Fisher when
he went down on his knees behind the huckleberry bushes
last summer. He was earnest enough, for he looked as
black-and-blue as his berries when he got home. Your
theory is all right, ma'am, but your practice is all bosh.”
“Hold your tongue about that silly thing. Boys in college
think they know everything, can do everything, have
everything, and only need beckon, and all womankind will
come and adore. It made a man of him, and he'll thank me
for taking the sentimental nonsense and conceit out of him.
You will need just such a lesson at the rate you go on, and I
hope Fan will give it to you.”
“When the lecture is over, I'll go on with the joke, if you
want to know it.”
“Isn't this enough?”
“Oh, bless you, no! the cream of it is to come. What
would you give to know who the lady was?”
“Five dollars, down, this minute.”
“Very good, hand 'em over, and I'll tell you.”
“Truly, Dick?”
“Yes, and prove it.”
Dolly produced her purse, and, bill in hand, sat waiting
for the disclosure. Dick rose with a melo-dramatic
bow, —
“Lo, it was I.”
“That's a great fib, for I saw you flying about the whole
evening.”
“You saw my dress, but I was not in it.”
“Oh! oh! who did I keep going to, then? and what
did I do to make a fool of myself, I wonder?”
Purse and bill dropped out of Dolly's hand, and she looked
at her brother with a distracted expression of countenance.
Dick rubbed his hands and chuckled.
“Here's a jolly state of things. Now I'll tell you the
whole story. I never thought of doing it till I saw Bopp and
told him who you were; but on my way for Fan I wondered
if he'd get puzzled between you two; and then a grand idea
popped into my head to puzzle him myself, for I can take you
she lent me hoops and gown and the pink domino, and if
ever I thanked my stars I wasn't tall, I did then, for the
things fitted capitally as to length, tho' I kept splitting something
down the back, and scattering hooks and eyes in all directions.
I wish you could have heard Jack roar while they
rigged me. He had no dress, so I lent him mine, till just
before the masks were taken off, when we cut home and
changed. He told me how you kept running to him to tie up
your slippers, find your fan, and tell him funny things, thinking
it was me. I never enjoyed anything so much in my
life.”
“Go on,” said Dolly in a breathless sort of voice, and the
deluded boy obeyed.
“I knew Bopp, and hovered near till he came to find out
who I was. I took you off in style, and it deceived him, for
I'm only an inch or two taller than you, and kept my head
down in the lackadaisical way you girls do; I whispered, so
my voice didn't betray me; and was very clinging, and
sweet, and fluttery, and that blessed old goose was sure it
was you. I thought it was all over once, for when he came
the heavy in the recess, I got a bit flustered, he was so serious
about it, my mask slipped, but I caught it, so he only saw my
eyes and forehead, which are just like yours, and that finished
him, for I've no doubt I looked as red and silly as you would
have done in a like fix.”
“Why did you say No?” and Dolly looked as stern as
fate.
“What else should I say? You told me you wouldn't
have him, and I thought it would save you the bother of saying
it, and him the pain of asking twice. I told him some
time ago that you were a born flirt; he said he knew it; so I
was surprised to hear him go on at such a rate, but supposed
I kept thinking of him all night, as he looked when he said,
`They told me you had no heart, now I believe it, and I
thank you for that No.' It was rather a hard joke for him,
but it's over now, and he won't have to do it again. You
said I wouldn't dare tell him about you; didn't I? and
haven't I won the” —
The rest of the sentence went spinning dizzily through
Dick's head, as a sudden tingling sensation pervaded his left
ear, followed by a similar smart in the right; and, for a moment,
chaos seemed to have come again. Whatever Dolly
did was thoroughly done: when she danced, the soles of her
shoes attested the fact; when she flirted, it was warm work
while it lasted; and when she was angry, it thundered, lightened,
and blew great guns till the shower came, and the
whole affair ended in a rainbow. Therefore, being outwitted,
disappointed, mortified, and hurt, her first impulse was to find
a vent for these conflicting emotions, and possessing skilful
hands, she left them to avenge the wrong done her heart,
which they did so faithfully, that if ever a young gentleman's
ears were vigorously and completely boxed, Dick was that
young individual. As the thunder-clap ceased, the gale began
and blew steadily for several minutes.
“You think it a joke, do you? I tell you, it's a wicked,
cruel thing; you've told a lie; you've broken August's
heart, and made me so angry that I'll never forgive you as
long as I live. What do you know about my feelings? and
how dare you take it upon yourself to answer for me? You
think because we are the same age that I am no older than
you, but you're mistaken, for a boy of eighteen is a boy, a
girl is often a woman, with a woman's hopes and plans; you
don't understand this any more than you do August's love for
me, which you listened to and laughed at. I said I didn't
I was afraid to tell you lest you'd twit me with it. But now
I care for no one, and I say I do like him, — yes, I love him
with all my heart and soul and might and I'd die this minute
if I could undo the harm you've done, and see him happy.
I know I've been selfish, vain, and thoughtless, but I am not
now; I hoped he'd love me, hoped he'd see I cared for him,
that I'd done trifling, and didn't mind if he was poor, for I'd
enough for both; that I longed to make his life pleasant after
all his troubles; that I'd send for the little sister he loves so
well, and never let him suffer any more; for he is so good, so
patient, so generous, and dear to me, I cannot do enough for
him. Now it's all spoilt; now I can never tell him this,
never comfort him in any way, never be happy again all my
life, and you have done it.”
As Dolly stood before her brother, pouring out her words
with glittering eyes, impetuous voice, and face pale with passionate
emotion, he was scared; for as his scattered wits returned
to him, he felt that he had been playing with edge
tools, and had cut and slashed in rather a promiscuous manner.
Dazed and dizzy, he sat staring at the excited figure before
him, forgetting the indignity he had received, the mistake
he had made, the damage he had done, in simple wonder at
the revolutions going on under his astonished eyes. When
Dolly stopped for breath, he muttered with a contrite look, —
“I'm very sorry, — it was only fun; and I thought it
would help you both, for how the deuce should I know you
liked the man when you said you hated him?”
“I never said that, and if I'd wanted advice I should have
gone to mother. You men go blundering off with half an
idea in your heads, and never see your stupidity till you have
made a mess that can't be mended; we women don't work so,
but save people's feelings, and are called hypocrites for our
you how I've been serving you, while you've been harming
me: every one of those notes from Fan which you admire so
much, answer so carefully, and wear out in your pocket,
though copied by her, were written by me.”
“The devil they were!” Up flew Dick, and clapping his
hand on the left breast-pocket, out came a dozen pink notes
tied up with a blue ribbon, and much the worse for wear. He
hastily turned them over as Dolly went on.
“Yes, I did it, for she didn't know how to answer your
notes, and came to me. I didn't laugh at them, or make fun
of her, but helped her silly little wits, and made you a happy
boy for three months, though you teased me day and night,
for I loved you, and hadn't the heart to spoil your pleasure.”
“You've done it now with a vengeance, and you're a pair
of deceitful minxes. I've paid you off. I'll give Fan one
more note that will keep her eyes red for a month; and I'll
never love or trust a girl again as long as I live, — never!
never!”
Red with wrath, Dick flung the treasured packet into the
fire, punched it well down among the coals, flung away the
poker, and turned about with a look and gesture which would
have been comically tragic if they had not been decidedly
pathetic, for, in spite of his years, a very tender heart beat
under the blue jacket, and it was grievously wounded at the
perfidy of the gentle little divinity whom he worshipped with
daily increasing ardor. His eyes filled, but he winked resolutely;
his lips trembled, but he bit them hard; his hands
doubled themselves up, but he remembered his adversary was
a woman; and, as a last effort to preserve his masculine dignity,
he began to whistle.
As if the inconsistencies of womankind were to be shown
him as rapidly as possible, at this moment the shower came
weeping so infectiously, that, after standing rigidly erect till a
great tear dropped off the end of his nose, ignominiously announcing
that it was no go, Dick gave in, and laying his head
on Dolly's shoulder, the twins quenched their anger, washed
away their malice, and soothed their sorrow by one of those
natural processes, so kindly provided for poor humanity, and
so often despised as a weakness when it might prove a better
strength than any pride.
Dick cleared up first, with no sign of the tempest but a
slight mist through which his native sunshine glimmered pensively.
“Don't dear, don't cry so; it will make you sick, and
won't do any good, for things will come right, or I'll make
'em, and we'll be comfortable all round.”
“No, we never can be as we were, and it's all my fault.
I've betrayed Fan's confidence, I've spoiled your little romance,
I've been a thoughtless, wicked girl, I've lost August;
and, oh, dear me, I wish I was dead!” with which funereal
climax Dolly cried so despairingly that, like the youngest
Miss Pecksniff, she was indeed “a gushing creature.”
“Oh, come now, don't be dismal, and blame yourself for
every trouble under the sun. Sit down and talk it over, and
see what can be done. Poor old girl, I forgive you the notes,
and say I was wrong to meddle with Bopp. I got you into
the scrape, and I'll get you out if the sky don't fall, or
Bopp blow his brains out, like a second Werther, before to-morrow.”
Dick drew the animated fountain to the wide chair, where
they had sat together since they were born, wiped her eyes,
laid her wet cheek against his own, and patted her back, with
an idea that it was soothing to babies, and why not to girls?
“I wish mother was at home,” sighed Dolly, longing for
that port which was always a haven of refuge in domestic
squalls like this.
“Write, and tell her not to stay till Saturday.”
“No; it would spoil her visit, and you know she deferred
it to help us through this dreadful masquerade. But I don't
know what to do.”
“Why, bless your heart, it's simple enough. I'll tell
Bopp, beg his pardon, say `Dolly's willing,' and there you
are all taut and ship-shape again.”
“I wouldn't for the world, Dick. It would be very hard
for you, very awkward for me, and do no good in the end;
for August is so proud he'd never forgive you for such a
trick, would never believe that I `had a heart' after all
you've said and I've done; and I should only hear with my
own ears that he thanked me for that No. Oh, why can't
people know when they are in love, and not go heels over
head before they are ready!”
“Well, if that don't suit, I'll let it alone, for that is all I
can suggest; and if you like your woman's way better, try it,
only you'll have to fly round, because to-morrow is the last
night, you know.”
“I shan't go, Dick.”
“Why not? we are going to give him the rose-wood set of
things, have speeches, cheers for the King of Clubs, and no
end of fun.”
“I can't help it; there would be no fun for me, and I
couldn't look him in the face after all this.”
“Oh, pooh! yes, you could, or it will be the first time you
dared not do damage with those wicked eyes of yours.”
“It is the first time I ever loved any one.” Dolly's voice
was so low, and her head drooped so much, that this brief
confession was apparently put away in Dick's pocket, and being
with a desire to deposit a similar one in the other pocket,
which, being emptied of its accustomed contents, left a somewhat
aching void in itself and the heart underneath. After
a moment's silence, he said, —
“Well, if you won't go, you can settle it when he comes
here, though I think we should all do better to confess coming
home in the dark.”
“He won't come here again, Dick.”
“Won't he! that shows you don't know Bopp as well as I.
He'll come to say good-by, to thank mother for her kindness,
and you and me for the little things we've done for him (I
wish I'd left the last undone!), and go away like a gentleman,
as he is, — see if he don't.”
“Do you think so? Then I must see him.”
“I'm sure he will, for we men don't bear malice and sulk
and bawl when we come to grief this way, but stand up and
take it without winking, like the young Spartan brick when
the fox was digging into him, you know.”
“Then, of course, you'll forgive Fan.”
“I'll be hanged if I do,” growled Dick.
“Ah ha! your theory is very good, sir, but your practice
is bosh,” quoted Dolly, with a gleam of the old mischief in
her face.
Dick took a sudden turn through the room, burst out
laughing, and came back, saying heartily, —
“I'll own up; it is mean to feel so, and I'll think about
forgiving you both; but she may stop up the hole in the wall,
for she won't get any more letters just yet; and you may devote
your epistolary powers to A. Bopp in future. Well,
what is it? free your mind, and have done with it; but don't
make your nose red, or take the starch out of my collar with
any more salt water, if you please.”
“No, I won't; and I only want to say that, as you owe the
explanation to us both, perhaps it would be best for you to tell
August your part of the thing as you come home to-morrow,
and then leave the rest to fate. I can't let him go away
thinking me such a heartless creature, and once gone it will
be too late to mend the matter. Can you do this without
getting me into another scrape, do you think?”
“I haven't a doubt of it, and I call that sensible. I'll fix
it capitally, — go down on my knees in the mud, if it is
necessary; treat you like eggs for fear of another smash-up;
and bring him home in such a tip-top state, you'll only have
to nod and find yourself Mrs. B. any day you like. Now
let's kiss and be friends, and then go pitch into that pie for
luncheon.”
So they did, and an hour afterward were rioting in the
garret under pretence of putting grandma's things away; for
at eighteen, in spite of love and mischief, boys and girls have
a spell to exorcise blue devils, and a happy faculty of forgetting
that “the world is hollow, and their dolls stuffed with
saw-dust.”
Dick was right, for on the following evening, after the lesson,
Mr. Bopp did go home with him, “to say good-by, like a
gentleman as he was.” Dolly got over the first greeting in
the dusky hall, and as her guest passed on to the parlor, she
popped her head out to ask anxiously, —
“Did you say anything, Dick?”
“I couldn't; something has happened to him; he'll tell
you about it. I'm going to see to the horse, so take your
time, and do what you like,” with which vague information
Dick vanished, and Dolly wished herself anywhere but where
she was.
Mr. Bopp sat before the fire, looking so haggard and worn
out that the girl's conscience pricked her sorely for her part in
among the tea-cups, asking, —
“What shall I give you sir?”
“Thank you, I haf no care to eat.”
Something in his spiritless mien and sorrowful voice made
Dolly's eyes fill; but knowing she must depend upon herself
now, and make the best of her position, she said kindly, yet
nervously, —
“You look tired; let me do something for you if I can;
shall I sing for you a little? you once said music rested you.”
“You are kind; I could like that I think. Excoose me if
I am dull, I haf — yes, a little air if you please.”
More and more disturbed by his absent, troubled manner,
Dolly began a German song he had taught her, but before the
first line was sung he stopped her with an imploring —
“For Gott sake not that! I cannot hear it this night; it
was the last I sung her in the Vaterland.”
“Mr. Bopp, what is it? Dick says you have a trouble;
tell me, and let us help you if we can. Are you ill, in want,
or has any one wronged or injured you in any way? Oh, let
me help you!”
Tears had been streaming down Mr. Bopp's cheeks, but as
she spoke he checked them, and tried to answer steadily, —
“No, I am not ill; I haf no wants now, and no one has
hurt me but in kindness; yet I haf so great a grief, I could not
bear it all alone, and so I came to ask a little sympathy from
your good Mutter, who has been kind to me as if I was a son.
She is not here, and I thought I would stop back my grief;
but that moosic was too much; you pity me, and so I tell you.
See, now! when I find things go bright with me, and haf a
hope of much work, I take the little store I saved, I send it
to my friend Carl Hoffman, who is coming from my home,
and say, `Bring Ulla to me now, for I can make life go well
tell no one, for I am bold to think that one day I come here
with her in my hand, to let her thank you in her so sweet way
for all you haf done for me. Well, I watch the wind, I
count the days, I haf no rest for joy; and when Carl comes,
I fly to him. He gifs me back my store, he falls upon my
neck and does not speak, then I know my little Kind will
never come, for she has gone to Himmel before I could make
a home for her on earth. Oh, my Ulla! it is hard to bear;”
and, with a rain of bitter tears, poor Mr. Bopp covered up
his face and laid it down on his empty plate, as if he never
cared to lift it up again.
Then Dolly forgot herself in her great sympathy, and,
going to him, she touched the bent head with a soothing
hand; let her tears flow to comfort his; and whispered in
her tenderest voice, —
“Dear Mr. Bopp, I wish I could heal this sorrow, but as
I cannot, let me bear it with you; let me tell you how we
loved the little child, and longed to see her; how we should
have rejoiced to know you had so dear a friend to make your
life happy in this strange land; how we shall grieve for your
great loss, and long to prove our respect and love for you. I
cannot say this as I ought, but, oh, be comforted, for you will
see the child again, and, remembering that she waits for you,
you will be glad to go when God calls you to meet your Ulla
in that other Fatherland.”
“Ah, I will go now! I haf no wish to stay, for all my life
is black to me. If I had found that other little friend to fill
her place, I should not grieve so much, because she is weller
there above than I could make her here; but no; I wait for
that other one; I save all my heart for her; I send it, but it
comes back to me; then I know my hope is dead, and I am
all alone in the strange land.”
There was neither bitterness nor reproach in these broken
words, only a patient sorrow, a regretful pain, as if he saw
the two lost loves before him and uttered over them an irrepressible
lament. It was too much for Dolly and with sudden
resolution she spoke out fast and low, —
“Mr. Bopp, that was a mistake. It was not I you saw
at the masque; it was Dick. He played a cruel trick; he
insulted you and wronged me by that deceit, and I find it
very hard to pardon him.”
“What! what is that!” and Mr. Bopp looked up with
tears still shining in his beard, and intense surprise in every
feature of his face.
Dolly turned scarlet, and her heart beat fast as she repeated
with an unsteady voice, —
“It was Dick, not I.”
A cloud swept over Mr. Bopp's face, and he knit his brows
a moment as if Dolly had not been far from right when she
said “he never would forgive the joke.” Presently, he
spoke in a tone she had never heard before, — cold and
quiet, — and in his eye she thought she read contempt for her
brother and herself, —
“I see now, and I say no more but this; it was not kind
when I so trusted you. Yet it is well, for you and Richart
are so one, I haf no doubt he spoke your wish.”
Here was a desperate state of things. Dolly had done her
best, yet he did not, or would not, understand, and, before she
could restrain them, the words slipped over her tongue, —
“No! Dick and I never agree.”
Mr. Bopp started, swept three spoons and a tea-cup off the
table as he turned, for something in the hasty whisper reassured
him. The color sprang up to his cheek, the old warmth
to his eye, the old erectness to his figure, and the eager accent
to his voice. He rose, drew Dolly nearer, took her face between
masterful, as he said with an earnestness that stirred her as
words had never done before, —
“Dollee, he said No! do you say Yes?”
She could not speak, but her heart stood up in her eyes and
answered him so eloquently that he was satisfied.
“Thank the Lord, it's all right!” thought Dick, as, peeping
in at the window ten minutes later, he saw Dolly enthroned
upon Mr. Bopp's knee, both her hands in his, and an
expression in her April countenance which proved that she
found it natural and pleasant to be sitting there, with her head
on the kind heart that loved her; to hear herself called
“meine leibchen;” to know that she alone could comfort him
for little Ulla's loss, and fill her empty place.
“They make a very pretty landscape, but too much honey
isn't good for 'em, so I'll go in, and we'll eat, drink, and be
merry, in honor of the night.”
He rattled the latch and tramped on the mat to warn them
of his approach, and appeared just as Dolly was skimming
into a chair, and Mr. Bopp picking up the spoons, which he
dropped again to meet Dick, with a face “clear shining after
rain;” and kissing him on both cheeks after the fashion of
his country, he said, pointing to Dolly, —
“See, it is all fine again. I forgif you, and leave all
blame to that bad spirit, Mephistopheles, who has much
pranks like that, but never pays one for their pain, as you haf
me. Heart's dearest, come and say a friendly word to Richart,
then we will haf a little health, — Long life and happiness
to the King of Clubs and the Queen of Hearts.”
“Yes, August, and as he's to be a farmer, we'll add another,
— `Wiser wits and better manners to the Knave of
Spades.”'
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