waste of time – the footman’s cross face at the door, when she felt obliged to ring and send up a rather peremptory summons, a summons only responded to by Jasper, burdened with Chrissie’s far from satisfactory message – followed, just when Miss Earle was getting interested in the little boy’s reading, by a bang at the door and the younger girl’s noisy entrance, for she had overtaken Leila on the staircase and insisted on a race, in which, of course, she had been the winner.
“Chrissie!” exclaimed Miss Earle, surprised and remonstrant. “My dear child, you should not burst into the room in that way. It is too startling.”
“Yes, do speak to her, Miss Earle,” said Leila, in a complaining tone, with which their governess at one time would have had more sympathy than she now felt. For truly the little girls’ quarrels were almost always “six of one and half-a-dozen of the other.”
“She nearly knocked me downstairs and I was coming quite quietly.”
“And in the meantime neither of you has said good-morning to me, and it is eighteen minutes past the half-hour,” Miss Earle continued. “Besides which, you know you should be here before I come, with your books and all ready.”
Both children were silent. Then Christabel said, rather sullenly —
“I sent a message by Jasper. I suppose he didn’t give it properly.”
“He gave it as properly as a message that was not a proper one could be given,” was the reply, and Miss Earle’s voice was very cold.
“I must keep up my authority, such as it is,” she said to herself, “but oh, what a pity it is to have so constantly to find fault, when I love them and we might be so happy together.”
It was a bad beginning for the morning’s lessons, and as was to be expected, things did not go smoothly. In their hearts both Leila and Christabel were feeling rather ashamed of themselves, but outwardly this only showed itself by increased sleepy inattention in the one, and a kind of noisy defiance in the other. But Miss Earle knew children too well to “pile on the agony,” and said no more, hoping that the interest they really felt in their work would gradually clear the atmosphere.
So she gave them some history notes to copy out correctly, while Jasper went on with his reading.
He was not a very quick child, as I think I have said already, but it was impossible to feel vexed with him, as he did his very best – getting pink all over his fair little face when he came to some very difficult word. Nor was it always easy to help laughing at his comical mistakes, but a smile of amusement on his teacher’s face never hurt his feelings. It was different, however, when Chrissie burst into a roar at his solemnly narrating that “the gay-oler locked the door of the cell on the prisoner.”
“The what, my dear?” said Miss Earle.
Jasper’s eyes were intently fixed on the word.
“Go-aler,” he announced triumphantly.
Then came his sisters noisy laughter, and the child’s eyes filled with tears.
“Be silent, Chrissie,” said Miss Earle sternly, and Chrissie’s face just then was not pleasant to see.
Nor did she recover her good temper till the French lesson came and her translation was found to have only two faults, whereas Leila’s rejoiced in five!
On fine days the three children went for a walk with Miss Earle from twelve to one – that, at least, was the rule. But how seldom was it obeyed! At a quarter to twelve they were sent upstairs to get ready, but in spite of Nurse’s and Fanny’s doing their best, it was rarely, if ever, that Leila and Chrissie made their appearance again till ten or twenty minutes past the proper time. And to-day was no exception. Nurse brought them downstairs herself, almost in tears.
“Miss Earle,” she began, “I don’t know what to do. Will you – can you say anything to the young ladies? I did so want to tell their Mamma that they had been good while she was away, and it’s worse than ever. Miss Leila’s been reading all the time I was trying to dress her, and Miss Chrissie pulled off her hat three times and stamped on it.”
“She put it all on one side. I looked like Falstaff in it,” said Christabel coolly.
“Then why do you not put it on yourself?” said Miss Earle, as they went out.
“Why should I, when they’re there to dress us?” was the reply. Miss Earle was silent. Chrissie repeated her question.
“I don’t think there is any use in my answering you,” she said at last. “We look at these things in such a different way, according to different ideas.”
Chrissie grew more amiable at this. She liked to be spoken to as if she were grown-up.
“You may as well explain,” she said condescendingly. “Tell me how you mean.”
“I mean that if I were rich enough to have half-a-dozen maids to dress me – or nurses to make a baby of me – I should be, and at your age should have been, ashamed to be as helpless as you and Leila are,” said Miss Earle.
Leila, who was listening, wriggled a little. Chrissie tossed her head.
“I’m not helpless. I can do anything I choose to do.”
“Indeed,” said their governess drily, “I should not have thought it.”
“But why should we?” said Leila, “We don’t need to.”
“Why should you learn to be self-helpful and, to a certain extent, independent?” replied Miss Earle. “I should say, for two reasons. Because it would be good for your own characters, and also because nobody can tell what they may not have to do sooner or later, and surely it is best to be a little prepared for the chances and changes of life.”
“I suppose you mean we might be sent to school some day,” said Chrissie; “but we shan’t – that’s certain.”
“I meant nothing in particular. I was only answering your question. But I must add something. If you do let yourselves be treated like babies, at least you should be as nice as babies generally are – healthy babies, I mean – to those who treat them kindly.”
Both the girls grew red at this, and Miss Earle was glad to see it.
“I don’t fink I was a very nice baby,” said Jasper consideringly. “Mumsey says I cried lots. That’s why I must try to be good now.”
“Poor Jasper!” said Miss Earle, “perhaps you were a very delicate baby.”
“I fink p’raps I was,” he said with satisfaction. “I can’t remember very well, but I don’t fink I meaned to be naughty.”
“You did roar,” said Leila; “I can remember it; or rather squealed. You weren’t big enough to roar.”
“Everybody’s got to be naughty some time or other,” remarked Chrissie jauntily. “I know you think Lell and me horridly bad, Miss Earle, but p’raps we’ll turn out awfully good after all.”
“I hope so,” said their governess, smiling. Then she added rather gravely, “I wish, dears, you could understand how much sorrow and regret you would save yourselves in the future if you would really try to be more thoughtful now,” and for a few minutes
