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CHAPTER XVI LADIES’ DAY
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The storm was followed by the thaw1; a very thorough-going thaw, which gave Blue Bonnet2 her first experience of what country roads can be like under such conditions.

“We can’t skate, we can’t coast, we can’t ride, and the walking is—”

“That’s just what it is!” Boyd agreed.

“Then what can we do?” Blue Bonnet looked at Alec, as if expecting him to solve the difficulty.

“You might meditate3 and invite your soul,” he suggested.

It was a Saturday morning, and the three were sitting on the Clyde’s back porch in the sunshine. Blue Bonnet had explained that she could stay only “a moment”—that she was dusting; but Blue Bonnet’s minutes were apt to prove elastic4.

“I don’t want to invite my soul!” she protested now. On the whole, the past fortnight had been very tiresome5; what she wanted, more than anything at this moment, was to have some fun—fun spelled with a capital F.

Lying alone in the twilight6 that Saturday evening two weeks ago, she had made all manner of good resolutions, among which, being in early had289 taken prominent place. Then the thaw had come, and there had been no excuse for staying out.

Worst of all, the warm February wind, with its touch of Spring softness, blowing the last few days, would keep sending her thoughts back to the great open sweep of the prairie. Oh, for one long ride across it with Uncle Cliff! One glimpse of the old familiar ranch7 life! Of Uncle Joe and old Benita!

“Woodford is dull,” Boyd was saying,—“at least for us outsiders. There’s no use denying it.”

Blue Bonnet flicked8 her duster; that was what had brought her out to the porch in the first place, and whenever the thought that she ought to go in grew too insistent9, she flicked it again.

“That makes ten times,” Alec laughed. “I’ve kept tally10.”

“I suppose,” Blue Bonnet said, slowly, “that Aunt Lucinda would say, that neither was there any use in asserting it.”

“Without doubt,” Boyd agreed.

“Maybe it’s just me.” Blue Bonnet looked at Alec; and somehow, he couldn’t help feeling glad that she had not used Boyd’s “us.”

“I’m afraid not,” he answered, “though it’s very kind of you to be willing to shoulder all the responsibility. We might get up a crowd and go in town this afternoon.”

“Museum!” Boyd scoffed11. “Botanical Gardens! Library! I don’t see myself.”

290 “It’s club day,” Blue Bonnet said.

“Chuck it!” Boyd advised.

And suddenly, Blue Bonnet felt a strange desire to follow his suggestion. It would be an indoor meeting; they would all bring their work. She could see the six bags ranged in a circle about the table, could see Sarah taking small, precise stitches in the apron12 she was making for the third youngest Blake, could hear Kitty teasing them all, and Ruth trying to keep peace.

While between now and club time lay dusting, and mending, and lessons to get.

She was tired of being “good” and “behaving properly”! She might as well have been born Sarah Blake and done with it.

“Isn’t there anything new to do?” She turned imploring13 eyes to Alec. “Something exciting and out of the everlasting14 old rut!”

“What’s the use of asking him?” Boyd said. “He’s already made two suggestions.”

For a moment, Alec said nothing; then he got up. “May I have ten minutes—to make quite sure it is feasible in?”

Blue Bonnet’s face brightened. “Will it happen in ten minutes?”

“Happen, if it happens at all, it won’t happen until this afternoon. Come along, Boyd—there’ll be work enough for two.”

Blue Bonnet slipped from the porch railing to her291 feet. “Did you bring that horrid15 word in on purpose? And, Alec, you know, I can’t really ‘chuck’ the club—wouldn’t Aunt Lucinda love that word! It wouldn’t do.”

“Who wants you to?”

“Will the club be in it?”

“If I have to use a club to get them there!”

Boyd whistled softly; collectively, he did not find the “We are Seven’s” so interesting.

Ten minutes later, Blue Bonnet, down on her knees giving the final finish to the spindle legs of the oldest mahogany card table, heard Alec calling to her from one of the side windows. “All serene,” he said. “Mind, you show up at three o’clock, promptly16! Take the side door and make straight for the attic17! By the way, there’ll be supper afterwards. Norah’s grumbling18 beautifully about it right now.”

“And the club?” Blue Bonnet asked, joyfully19.

“Boyd and I’ll look out for them. So long!”

Blue Bonnet flew to tell Grandmother the good news, cheerfully ignoring the fact that she and her work-basket had been for some time overdue20 up there.

“Do you suppose it’s charades21?” she asked.

“Shall we two have a tableau22 now?” Grandmother suggested. “‘The Mending-hour’?”

“We played charades at the Doyles’ one night,” Blue Bonnet went on, as she settled herself in the292 low sewing-chair beside her grandmother. “They were lots of fun! This isn’t.” Blue Bonnet dropped the darning egg into the toe of a stocking rather impatiently. “It would be a whole lot easier just to run a draw string ’round the holes and tie them up.”

“Until you came to walking on them,” Mrs. Clyde laughed. “Careful, dear—remember, ‘the more haste, the less speed.’”

“That’s one of the things I never can remember; and that reminds me—Grandmother, I’ve never answered Carita Judson’s Christmas-box letter.”

“Then isn’t it about time you did?”

“Uncle Joe—when he’s away from the ranch—just wires every little while,—he says it saves time and trouble.”

“I hardly think I should adopt that plan with Carita, dear.”

“No, but I’ll write to her to-morrow afternoon, after I’ve written Uncle Cliff.”

Promptly at quarter to three the other members of the club appeared in a body, and the seven went across to the Trent’s side door, where several pairs of rubbers showed that they were not the first arrivals.

Up the two flights of stairs to the attic they hurried. “What are they doing!” Kitty exclaimed. “It sounds like steam rollers!”

293 “Who says we can’t go skating?” Alec laughed, coming to meet them, as they reached the head of the second flight.

“Alec!” Blue Bonnet cried, joyfully. “Oh, you are the cleverest boy!”

“Roller skating!” Kitty clapped her hands, delightedly. “That will be fun! Alec, Blue Bonnet’s right!”

A wide space had been cleared from end to end of the big attic, and the stairway opening protected by a line of trunks; over other trunks bits of curtain stuff had been thrown for seats; before the windows, Alec had fastened heavy draperies, shutting out the daylight, while from the rafters hung lighted Chinese lanterns, left over from some garden party.

“Isn’t it pretty!” Susy cried—“We never dreamed of anything like this!”

“Ladies’ Day at the new Trent Rink!” Boyd said. “We have made rather a tidy job of it, haven’t we?—considering what short notice we had.”

“Step this way, ladies—for your skates!” Billy Slade cried, from the corner where the table stood piled with skates.

“We’re all here now—so the party can begin,” Alec agreed.

“Just we girls and a boy apiece,” Debby was counting heads.

294 “But,” Blue Bonnet questioned, as Alec fastened her skates for her, “whatever made you think of it?”

“It was pretty well up to me to think of something—mighty quick; and I had an inward conviction that what you wanted was something with more or less movement to it.”

“One thing,” Billy Slade announced, one eye on Kitty,—“if anybody should dare anybody to go to the end of the pond, they could get back all right before—”

“Billy’s thinking of his supper already!” Kitty cut in; at which Billy, who certainly had a weakness in that direction, colored hotly, and immediately after, by way of adding to his ease of mind, sat down with more abruptness23 than grace.

“You don’t mean to say that you’re too faint to stand!” Kitty held out a mocking hand.

But Billy was not the only one to sit down in like fashion, poor Sarah being especially active in that line. Indeed, Kitty declared it made her positively24 dizzy, trying to decide whether Sarah was going down, or getting up.

“I—I’ve never had on roller skates before,” Sarah explained rather breathlessly, and the look in her eyes seemed to imply that she hoped never to have them on again.
“‘LADIES’ DAY AT THE TRENT RINK’ PROVED A THOROUGH SUCCESS.”

“But it’s fun—isn’t it?” Blue Bonnet caught her enthusiastically about the waist. “To think295 that, if it hadn’t been for Alec, we girls would have been sitting poked25 up over our work!”

This time, Sarah’s look implied that in her opinion there were worse ways of passing an afternoon than sitting comfortably around a bright fire with one’s sewing.

“I—” she began, then went down, taking Blue Bonnet with her.

“That’s right!” Kitty called, “just sit down together and talk it over,” and promptly followed their example, thanks to a gentle shove from Billy Slade.

But if there were frequent tumbles, there were no serious ones; as Debby put it, they fell to rise again.

“We’ll start a roller-skating club, and call ourselves the ‘Phoenix Club,’” one of the boys declared.

All in all, “Ladies’ Day at the Trent Rink” proved a thorough success. It proved, too, an excellent outlet26 for the superfluous27 energies of at least one member there.

“I don’t know when I’ve had such a good time, or been so tired!” Blue Bonnet confided28 to Amanda, as they sat resting on a low steamer trunk.

For the afternoon had been by no means confined to skating—in the exact sense of the word; everything which could be done on roller skates, and some—which, as it proved, could not,—had296 been tried. Tag, blind-man’s buff, hide and seek; and as the grand finale, the Virginia Reel, to the tune29 of Alec’s whistling.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Norah paused more than once in her work to wonder if the old house was coming down about her ears.

“Let’s do it every week!” Kitty urged, as they dropped down, breathless and happy, to take off their skates—while from below came the appetizing odor of hot chocolate.

“I’ve never seen you so beautifully untidy before in all my life, Sarah Blake,” Debby assured Sarah, as the girls went down to the best room to freshen up for supper.

“I am afraid we have been very boisterous,” Sarah said, soberly, “and yet—it has been rather enjoyable.”

“It’s a good thing the General wasn’t home,” Susy laughed; “though I suppose if he had been Alec wouldn’t have planned such a lively party.”

They had a picnic supper, instead of the regulation sit-down-to-the-table affair; fresh graham bread sandwiches, apple-pie and cheese, doughnuts, and the hot chocolate with whipped cream.

And the appetites!

“Sure ’tis a comfort to know none of you do be pinin’ like,” Norah laughed, as she refilled the sandwich plate for the third time.

297 “You shouldn’t make them so good,” one of the boys told her.

“And you should have seen how hard we worked,” Ruth added.

“I’m not sayin’ I’ve not been hearin’ you!” Norah retorted. She smiled to herself as she glanced at Alec’s face—the boy was a boy for sure nowadays,—thanks mainly to “that there” Blue Bonnet.

After supper, they told stories—not being inclined to anything more active in the way of amusement; and when presently the General appeared, he found his dining-room given up to a very contented30 set of young people.

“We’re having a beautiful time!” Blue Bonnet went to meet him. “Don’t you want to come tell stories, too? But it hasn’t been all story-telling.”

“And what has it all been?” General Trent asked, as Alec helped him off with his overcoat, and drew forward a chair.

“The Great and Only Trent Roller-Skating Rink opened its doors to the public this afternoon, sir,” Boyd explained.

“Isn’t that something new?” his grandfather asked.

“It had to be something new, sir; our neighbor,” Boyd glanced towards Blue Bonnet, “insisted upon that. I think we more than fulfilled expectations.298 But it was certainly impromptu31. Wasn’t it, old chap?” he smiled good-naturedly at Alec.

“Rather,” Alec answered, dryly.

“Well! Well!” the General said. And Blue Bonnet felt that he was giving credit for the idea, where credit was not due; and that Boyd had meant him to.

“One would think——” she began.

Alec looked up quickly. “Have you any strength left for thinking?”

“Attention!” Boyd commanded. “General Trent has the floor. He is going to tell us a story.”

The General looked gratified, though he protested that his stories were all old. He liked to tell of those early days of his at West Point; but he had got out of the habit of speaking of them to Alec; he didn’t want the boy to feel how disappointed he was that he was not to be a West Pointer, too. Lately, however, since Boyd’s coming, he had been led more than once to draw upon his memories of cadet life. Boyd had suddenly decided33 that he should like to take his chance at being “General Trent” some day. “Someone ought to keep the old name up in the old line,” he explained to Alec, “and since it doesn’t appear to be your line, I may as well make it mine.”

And he listened, really interested now, to the stories his grandfather told, taking care not to hide299 his interest; conscious, as the General was, that Alec had drawn34 a little back from the circle of light thrown by the fire.

Blue Bonnet noticed it too, and forgot to listen with this new feeling of indignant sympathy crowding out all other ideas except the fear that Alec had overtired himself on her account. He had managed not to take too active a share in the afternoon’s merrymaking; all the same, she was afraid that it had proved rather too vigorous an affair for him.

“I don’t believe we will do it every week,” she said as they crossed the lawn together; “it might not be such fun again—second times are a bit risky—and I don’t want to spoil the thought of this.”

“Then the Trent Rink is to be a short-lived affair?”

“As far as I have any say about it.”

“It was opened in your honor, and it shall be closed at your command,” Alec laughed.

“You’re getting to be as accommodating as Uncle Cliff! I couldn’t put it stronger. But, Alec, how could you—”

“How could I what?”

“Let your grandfather think it was all—”

“See here,” Alec interposed. “I thought we were not to spoil—anything. Truly, Blue Bonnet, he did a lot of the work; and I daresay it may have looked to him as if he had pulled it off.”

300 “I don’t care how it looked to him! And if he is your cousin—I don’t like him—one bit! And I’ve had a splendid time—but it’s you I’m thanking for it!”

“You don’t expect me to find fault with you for that,” Alec laughed. “Good night, my lady.”

“Good night,” Blue Bonnet answered, and went on into the sitting-room35 to give Grandmother and Aunt Lucinda an account of the afternoon’s doings.

“Maybe I’m not tired,” she said, curling herself up among the pillows on the lounge, “and maybe we haven’t had a good time!”

“Doing what, my dear?” Aunt Lucinda asked, laying down her book, and suddenly realizing that the evening had seemed rather longer than usual.

“‘Acting up,’” Norah called it. “She said it sounded to her like there were forty instead of fourteen up attic, and that we weren’t one of us a day over four.”

“Poor Norah!” Mrs. Clyde laughed. “But what did ‘acting up’ consist of?”

“Falling down and getting up, mostly,” Blue Bonnet answered; “that is, for some of us. Alec rented a lot of roller-skates and turned the attic into the jolliest rink. Wasn’t it the cutest idea? And that horrid Boyd—”

“Blue Bonnet!” Miss Lucinda began.

“Well, he is horrid, Aunt Lucinda! Taking all the credit! I wish he’d never come—and I think301 Alec wishes it, too, though he’d die, rather than let on that—” Blue Bonnet paused to slip another pillow behind her back. “Please don’t let’s talk about him, Aunt Lucinda!”

“My dear, I am not aware that we were talking about him.”

“He makes me feel cross all over—the same as making crocheted36 shawls does.”

“I thought we were not to talk about him,” Miss Lucinda suggested, while Grandmother asked, laughingly, how many such shawls Blue Bonnet had made.

Whereupon, Blue Bonnet subsided37. Gradually the little pucker38 of irritation39 the thought of Boyd had called up disappeared; the vague feeling of discontent and longing40 of the morning had disappeared, too, by now. She felt very grateful to Alec. She had been just in the mood for—almost anything in the way of mischief41; and then—to-night, it would have been like that Saturday night, two weeks ago, all over again. Only this time, how could Grandmother and Aunt Lucinda have believed her honestly in earnest, have felt that she was ever to be depended on?

She was glad now that she had done her dusting and mending—so long as Grandmother and Aunt Lucinda were so keen about it. And at the same time, somewhere in the back of her mind was the dim remembrance of something that had been left302 undone42, a remembrance which, in her present drowsy43 condition, she was perfectly44 willing should remain in the back of her mind.

And when, presently, Grandmother spoke45 to her, Blue Bonnet was fast asleep.

“She should be in bed,” Miss Lucinda said, as Mrs. Clyde got up to lay a light afghan over the curled-up figure among the cushions.

“She will probably rouse up in a few moments,” Mrs. Clyde answered. “I remember how I used to enjoy such a little nap before the fire at her age.”

“What is Blue Bonnet’s age?” Miss Lucinda asked, half gravely, half laughingly. “It would seem to be as variable as the weather, ranging all the way from six years to normal, but striking the latter point very seldom.”

“Are you in a hurry to have her grow up, Lucinda?”

Miss Lucinda was rather long in answering this question. “Not to grow up—as you put it,” she said at last. “I should like to see her become more responsible. She will be sixteen in June.”

Mrs. Clyde glanced at the sleeping face. “We must trust to time, and—the grace of God.”

Miss Lucinda glanced also at the flushed face in its frame of tangled46 hair. Blue Bonnet asleep looked more childish than ever; and yet—

303 “She should really be in bed,” Miss Lucinda said. “She is likely to take cold sleeping there.”

But at that moment, Blue Bonnet sat up, facing them with eyes almost tragic47.

“Do you know!” she brought each word out with emphatic48 distinctness, “I haven’t prepared my lessons for Monday! I knew there was something I’d forgotten—I just couldn’t study last evening; I hated the mere49 sight of those tiresome books! And to-day, I forgot all about them!”

Blue Bonnet slipped to her feet and started for the closet where she kept her school-books. “That’s what comes of having a place for things and putting them in it! If they’d only been laying ’round—”

“Not to-night, Blue Bonnet,” her aunt said. “It is altogether too late for studying. You must get an early start Monday morning.”

“All right,” Blue Bonnet agreed with a readiness Miss Lucinda found discouraging; “only you’ll have to call me, Aunt Lucinda.”

“I don’t suppose,” she confided to Solomon, as she tucked his warm blanket about him, “I don’t suppose Sarah Blake ever forgets to get her lessons, do you?”

She put the question to Sarah herself, on the way home from church the next morning.

“Why, no,” Sarah answered, wonderingly. “I don’t think one ought—”

304 “How many oughts make a must?” Blue Bonnet interrupted.

Sarah colored slightly. “I am afraid I do use that word too often.” She stood a moment, her hand on the parsonage gate. There seemed to be so many more oughts in her life than in Blue Bonnet’s; and yet, everyone liked Blue Bonnet. Dr. Clark had said only the other day that she was as refreshing50 as one of the breezes from off her own prairies. Sarah had no desire to be called breezy, but of late she was conscious that she didn’t want to be thought—the word came hard—priggish. That was the exact term Kitty had used yesterday. “I—I don’t want to seem to be—preaching at you,” she added.

“You weren’t! You’re just a dear, good old Sarah!” In spite of the fact that they were standing51 right on the main street, Blue Bonnet gave her companion a hearty52 hug.

Sarah colored considerably53 more than slightly this time; no one had ever hugged her on Main Street before.

“I think,” Blue Bonnet announced later, at the dinner-table, “that, when you remember her bringing up, Sarah isn’t half bad!”

Grandmother’s eyes twinkled. “It is very kind of you to make proper allowances for her bringing up, though I had not supposed there was anything out of the way about it.”

305 “There is—from the Texas point of view,” Blue Bonnet laughed. “Anyhow, I mean to try and be more like her. That would suit you right down to the ground, wouldn’t it, Aunt Lucinda?”

“How soon do you begin, Blue Bonnet?” Miss Lucinda’s smile was most expressive54.

“Why, right away!” the girl answered.

She wrote to Uncle Cliff and Carita that afternoon, was in early from her run with Solomon, and after supper was found by Miss Lucinda standing before one of the tall bookcases in the back parlor55, studying the titles inside with dubious56 eyes.

“Aren’t there any one-volume Lives, Aunt Lucinda?” she asked. “Sarah’s Sunday evening reading was always devoted57 to ‘Lives.’”

“Certainly, Blue Bonnet; but just now, I think your grandmother is waiting for you to sing for her.”

Blue Bonnet relinquished58 her pursuit of a one-volume Life that should look fairly tempting59 from the outside, most willingly. Singing hymns60 to Grandmother in the twilight, with a break now and then into the old Spanish Ave Maria learned from Benita, seemed a far pleasanter way of passing the time.

“Grandmother,” she asked, when the singing was over, and Aunt Lucinda had lighted the low reading-lamp on the center table, “did you like reading306 dull books when you were my age? Lives, you know, and—?”

“But they are not necessarily dull reading, Blue Bonnet. My mother used to read them with me of a Sunday evening; I got to think it one of the most enjoyable evenings of the whole week. It was she who gave me my fondness for reading about things that had really happened, and of people who had really lived and struggled.”

“The persons in the books one loves best do seem alive,” Blue Bonnet said.

“So they do,” Grandmother agreed. She got up and, going over to the bookcase, which to Blue Bonnet had seemed likely to yield very little in the way of fruit, came back presently with Helen Keller’s “The Story of My Life.”

“Suppose we begin this, Blue Bonnet. I shall be much mistaken if you find it ‘dull.’”

Blue Bonnet established herself in a big chair opposite; Solomon pressed close against her skirts,—Solomon meant to insinuate61 himself into the chair beside his mistress so soon as Grandmother’s attention had become sufficiently62 diverted. Solomon appeared to enjoy being read to quite as much as Blue Bonnet did.

Very far from dull the latter found the story of the deaf, dumb, and blind girl—as told by herself. “Shall we go on with it next Sunday evening,307 Blue Bonnet?” Grandmother asked, as she closed the book.

“Mayn’t we go on with it right now, Grandmother, please?”

Mrs. Clyde pointed32 to the clock on the mantel. “There is studying to be done to-morrow morning before breakfast, you remember; which must mean an early start to-night.”

Blue Bonnet shoved Solomon gently to the floor—Solomon had accomplished63 his intention. “I am not at all sure that I approve of studying before breakfast,” she sighed.

She was quite sure that she did not when Aunt Lucinda tapped at her door the next morning, punctual to the moment. It seemed to Blue Bonnet that Woodford people carried their love of punctuality to an unnecessary extreme.

“I surely would like,” she told herself, sleepily, “to live for one while where there were no clocks!” Then she snuggled comfortably down under the warm blankets for “just one minute more.”

The next thing Blue Bonnet knew, Delia was tapping at her door with—“Half past seven, Miss!”

“Half past seven!” Blue Bonnet tumbled out of bed, very wide awake. She had been asleep a whole hour!

Being in a hurry, it naturally followed that everything308 went wrong. It was an extremely flushed Blue Bonnet that slipped into her place at the breakfast table five minutes late.

“Did you get through all right, dear?” Grandmother asked.

“I didn’t begin! I—fell asleep again! I just know the ‘jolly good—’”

“Who, Blue Bonnet?” her aunt interposed.

“Miss Fellows will be anything but a ‘jolly—’ I beg your pardon, Aunt Lucinda—will be tiresome.” Blue Bonnet added an extra spoonful of sugar to her porridge, as if she felt that her day was likely to prove far from sweet. Grandmother looked disappointed, and Aunt Lucinda looked—; yet when you came to think of it, she was the one who would have to face the music.

“Something’s happened to somebody!” Kitty chanted, as her fellow club member came upstairs to the dressing-room that morning.

Blue Bonnet swung her strap64 of books impatiently. “I haven’t prepared a single lesson—except what I did in study hour Friday—I forgot to do them!”

“But I thought you intended getting up early,” Sarah began.

“I thought so, too—yesterday,” Blue Bonnet interrupted. She didn’t feel in the least inclined to adopt Sarah for a model this morning. Just at present the sight of Sarah’s placid65 face, framed309 in smooth plaits of blond hair, roused a sudden unreasoning desire in her to shake Sarah Blake. Sarah would answer every question put to her in her slow, correct way.

“You’ll have to bluff66 for all you’re worth,” Debby advised,—Debby was an authority in the gentle art of bluffing67 teachers.

“Yes,” Kitty chimed in. “When you forget to ‘do’ your lessons, you must remember to ‘do’ the teacher.”

Blue Bonnet turned away; they were very unsympathetic! Uncle Cliff would have cared—and Alec.

Miss Fellows was at her desk; her smile, as she said good morning, sent a warm glow to the girl’s heart. She was sorry things would have to be horrid, they had got on beautifully—so far.

All at once she turned, coming up to the desk. “You might as well know the worst beforehand, Miss Fellows,” she said, impulsively68. “I expect I’ll have a lot of failures to-day.”

“Dear me, are you quite sure?” Miss Fellows asked, sympathetically.

“Quite—and it’s all my own fault,” Blue Bonnet went on to explain the situation; when she reached the “one minute more” part, her listener felt suddenly for her pocket handkerchief. “It isn’t very easy getting up early these mornings,”310 she observed; “but we won’t give up hope so soon, Blue Bonnet.”

It was after morning exercises, that Miss Fellows announced, most unexpectedly, that the Latin lesson that morning would be in the nature of a general review.

“Why couldn’t she have told us Friday, instead of giving out a lesson the same as usual?” Kitty whispered to Amanda.

Blue Bonnet came home that afternoon at the usual time and quite her usual light-hearted self. Balancing on the arm of a chair, she gleefully explained the turn affairs had taken at school that day.

“Wasn’t it the luckiest thing that the ‘jolly good’—please, Aunt Lucinda, I must call her that this time!—should have hit on to-day for a review all along the line?”

“Including English, Blue Bonnet?” Miss Lucinda suggested.

Blue Bonnet laughed. “Including everything—except French—she doesn’t have that; but I managed all right there, I’d been over the ground at home. As it happened, I needn’t have told her what I did this morning.”

“And what did you tell her?” Grandmother asked.

“Why all about what Kitty calls—my sleep and311 a forgetting. I thought she might as well be prepared for what was coming.”

“Lucinda,” Mrs. Clyde remarked, when Blue Bonnet had gone out. “Suppose we were to invite Miss Fellows to tea some evening? She strikes me as being a woman of a—singularly sympathetic disposition69.”

Miss Lucinda smiled—a little unwillingly70.

“Please, Aunt Lucinda,” Blue Bonnet came back just then to say, “I forgot to tell you—I’m so sorry I got you up unnecessarily this morning. I reckon getting out early to study isn’t much in my line.”

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 thaw fUYz5     
v.(使)融化,(使)变得友善;n.融化,缓和
参考例句:
  • The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
  • The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。
2 bonnet AtSzQ     
n.无边女帽;童帽
参考例句:
  • The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光,使之不刺眼。
  • She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽,帽上缀着褪了色的假花。
3 meditate 4jOys     
v.想,考虑,(尤指宗教上的)沉思,冥想
参考例句:
  • It is important to meditate on the meaning of life.思考人生的意义很重要。
  • I was meditating,and reached a higher state of consciousness.我在冥想,并进入了一个更高的意识境界。
4 elastic Tjbzq     
n.橡皮圈,松紧带;adj.有弹性的;灵活的
参考例句:
  • Rubber is an elastic material.橡胶是一种弹性材料。
  • These regulations are elastic.这些规定是有弹性的。
5 tiresome Kgty9     
adj.令人疲劳的,令人厌倦的
参考例句:
  • His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
  • He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜,令人生厌。
6 twilight gKizf     
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期
参考例句:
  • Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
  • Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。
7 ranch dAUzk     
n.大牧场,大农场
参考例句:
  • He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
  • The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。
8 flicked 7c535fef6da8b8c191b1d1548e9e790a     
(尤指用手指或手快速地)轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 ); (用…)轻挥; (快速地)按开关; 向…笑了一下(或瞥了一眼等)
参考例句:
  • She flicked the dust off her collar. 她轻轻弹掉了衣领上的灰尘。
  • I idly picked up a magazine and flicked through it. 我漫不经心地拿起一本杂志翻看着。
9 insistent s6ZxC     
adj.迫切的,坚持的
参考例句:
  • There was an insistent knock on my door.我听到一阵急促的敲门声。
  • He is most insistent on this point.他在这点上很坚持。
10 tally Gg1yq     
n.计数器,记分,一致,测量;vt.计算,记录,使一致;vi.计算,记分,一致
参考例句:
  • Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
  • The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。
11 scoffed b366539caba659eacba33b0867b6de2f     
嘲笑,嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
  • A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。
12 apron Lvzzo     
n.围裙;工作裙
参考例句:
  • We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
  • She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。
13 imploring cb6050ff3ff45d346ac0579ea33cbfd6     
恳求的,哀求的
参考例句:
  • Those calm, strange eyes could see her imploring face. 那平静的,没有表情的眼睛还能看得到她的乞怜求情的面容。
  • She gave him an imploring look. 她以哀求的眼神看着他。
14 everlasting Insx7     
adj.永恒的,持久的,无止境的
参考例句:
  • These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
  • He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。
15 horrid arozZj     
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的
参考例句:
  • I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
  • The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃,她咽不下去。
16 promptly LRMxm     
adv.及时地,敏捷地
参考例句:
  • He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
  • She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。
17 attic Hv4zZ     
n.顶楼,屋顶室
参考例句:
  • Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
  • What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理?
18 grumbling grumbling     
adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的
参考例句:
  • She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
  • We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。
19 joyfully joyfully     
adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地
参考例句:
  • She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着,脚底下轻飘飘的。
  • During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里,她干得很高兴。
20 overdue MJYxY     
adj.过期的,到期未付的;早该有的,迟到的
参考例句:
  • The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了,被坏天气耽搁了。
  • The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了,因为房租过期未付。
21 charades 644c9984adb632add8d2e31c8dd554f6     
n.伪装( charade的名词复数 );猜字游戏
参考例句:
  • She and her three brothers played charades. 她和3个兄弟玩看手势猜字谜游戏。 来自辞典例句
  • A group of children were dressed to play charades. 一群孩子穿着夜礼服在玩字迷游戏。 来自辞典例句
22 tableau nq0wi     
n.画面,活人画(舞台上活人扮的静态画面)
参考例句:
  • The movie was a tableau of a soldier's life.这部电影的画面生动地描绘了军人的生活。
  • History is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.历史不过是由罪恶和灾难构成的静止舞台造型罢了。
23 abruptness abruptness     
n. 突然,唐突
参考例句:
  • He hid his feelings behind a gruff abruptness. 他把自己的感情隐藏在生硬鲁莽之中。
  • Suddenly Vanamee returned to himself with the abruptness of a blow. 伐那米猛地清醒过来,象挨到了当头一拳似的。
24 positively vPTxw     
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实
参考例句:
  • She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
  • The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。
25 poked 87f534f05a838d18eb50660766da4122     
v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交
参考例句:
  • She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
  • His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
26 outlet ZJFxG     
n.出口/路;销路;批发商店;通风口;发泄
参考例句:
  • The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
  • Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。
27 superfluous EU6zf     
adj.过多的,过剩的,多余的
参考例句:
  • She fined away superfluous matter in the design. 她删去了这图案中多余的东西。
  • That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it.我这样写的时候觉得这个请求似乎是多此一举。
28 confided 724f3f12e93e38bec4dda1e47c06c3b1     
v.吐露(秘密,心事等)( confide的过去式和过去分词 );(向某人)吐露(隐私、秘密等)
参考例句:
  • She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
  • He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露,他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
29 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
30 contented Gvxzof     
adj.满意的,安心的,知足的
参考例句:
  • He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
  • The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。
31 impromptu j4Myg     
adj.即席的,即兴的;adv.即兴的(地),无准备的(地)
参考例句:
  • The announcement was made in an impromptu press conference at the airport.这一宣布是在机场举行的临时新闻发布会上作出的。
  • The children put on an impromptu concert for the visitors.孩子们为来访者即兴献上了一场音乐会。
32 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
33 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
34 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
35 sitting-room sitting-room     
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室
参考例句:
  • The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
  • Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。
36 crocheted 62b18a9473c261d6b815602f16b0fb14     
v.用钩针编织( crochet的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Mom and I crocheted new quilts. 我和妈妈钩织了新床罩。 来自辞典例句
  • Aunt Paula crocheted a beautiful blanket for the baby. 宝拉婶婶为婴孩编织了一条美丽的毯子。 来自互联网
37 subsided 1bda21cef31764468020a8c83598cc0d     
v.(土地)下陷(因在地下采矿)( subside的过去式和过去分词 );减弱;下降至较低或正常水平;一下子坐在椅子等上
参考例句:
  • After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后,部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚, 暴风雨已经过去,四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
38 pucker 6tJya     
v.撅起,使起皱;n.(衣服上的)皱纹,褶子
参考例句:
  • She puckered her lips into a rosebud and kissed him on the nose.她双唇努起犹如一朵玫瑰花蕾,在他的鼻子上吻了一下。
  • Toby's face puckered.托比的脸皱了起来。
39 irritation la9zf     
n.激怒,恼怒,生气
参考例句:
  • He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
  • Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说,但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。
40 longing 98bzd     
n.(for)渴望
参考例句:
  • Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
  • His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。
41 mischief jDgxH     
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹
参考例句:
  • Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
  • He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。
42 undone JfJz6l     
a.未做完的,未完成的
参考例句:
  • He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。
43 drowsy DkYz3     
adj.昏昏欲睡的,令人发困的
参考例句:
  • Exhaust fumes made him drowsy and brought on a headache.废气把他熏得昏昏沉沉,还引起了头疼。
  • I feel drowsy after lunch every day.每天午饭后我就想睡觉。
44 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
45 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
46 tangled e487ee1bc1477d6c2828d91e94c01c6e     
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了,我梳不动。
  • A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。
47 tragic inaw2     
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的
参考例句:
  • The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
  • Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。
48 emphatic 0P1zA     
adj.强调的,着重的;无可置疑的,明显的
参考例句:
  • Their reply was too emphatic for anyone to doubt them.他们的回答很坚决,不容有任何人怀疑。
  • He was emphatic about the importance of being punctual.他强调严守时间的重要性。
49 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
50 refreshing HkozPQ     
adj.使精神振作的,使人清爽的,使人喜欢的
参考例句:
  • I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
  • The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼,特别解乏提神。
51 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
52 hearty Od1zn     
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的
参考例句:
  • After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了,他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
  • We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。
53 considerably 0YWyQ     
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上
参考例句:
  • The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
  • The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。
54 expressive shwz4     
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的
参考例句:
  • Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
  • He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的,富于表情的,生动活泼的脸。
55 parlor v4MzU     
n.店铺,营业室;会客室,客厅
参考例句:
  • She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
  • Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店?
56 dubious Akqz1     
adj.怀疑的,无把握的;有问题的,靠不住的
参考例句:
  • What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
  • He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。
57 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的
参考例句:
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
58 relinquished 2d789d1995a6a7f21bb35f6fc8d61c5d     
交出,让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 ); 放弃
参考例句:
  • She has relinquished the post to her cousin, Sir Edward. 她把职位让给了表弟爱德华爵士。
  • The small dog relinquished his bone to the big dog. 小狗把它的骨头让给那只大狗。
59 tempting wgAzd4     
a.诱人的, 吸引人的
参考例句:
  • It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
  • It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。
60 hymns b7dc017139f285ccbcf6a69b748a6f93     
n.赞美诗,圣歌,颂歌( hymn的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • At first, they played the hymns and marches familiar to them. 起初他们只吹奏自己熟悉的赞美诗和进行曲。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
  • I like singing hymns. 我喜欢唱圣歌。 来自辞典例句
61 insinuate hbBzH     
vt.含沙射影地说,暗示
参考例句:
  • He tried to insinuate himself into the boss's favor.他设法巧妙地渐渐取得老板的欢心。
  • It seems to me you insinuate things about her.我觉得你讲起她来,总有些弦外之音。
62 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地,充分地
参考例句:
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
63 accomplished UzwztZ     
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的
参考例句:
  • Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
  • Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。
64 strap 5GhzK     
n.皮带,带子;v.用带扣住,束牢;用绷带包扎
参考例句:
  • She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
  • The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。
65 placid 7A1yV     
adj.安静的,平和的
参考例句:
  • He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
  • You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。
66 bluff ftZzB     
v.虚张声势,用假象骗人;n.虚张声势,欺骗
参考例句:
  • His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。
  • John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。
67 bluffing bluffing     
n. 威吓,唬人 动词bluff的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • I don't think he'll shoot—I think he's just bluffing. 我认为他不会开枪—我想他不过是在吓唬人。
  • He says he'll win the race, but he's only bluffing. 他说他会赢得这场比赛,事实上只是在吹牛。
68 impulsively 0596bdde6dedf8c46a693e7e1da5984c     
adv.冲动地
参考例句:
  • She leant forward and kissed him impulsively. 她倾身向前,感情冲动地吻了他。
  • Every good, true, vigorous feeling I had gathered came impulsively round him. 我的一切良好、真诚而又强烈的感情都紧紧围绕着他涌现出来。
69 disposition GljzO     
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署
参考例句:
  • He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
  • He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。
70 unwillingly wjjwC     
adv.不情愿地
参考例句:
  • He submitted unwillingly to his mother. 他不情愿地屈服于他母亲。
  • Even when I call, he receives unwillingly. 即使我登门拜访,他也是很不情愿地接待我。


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