Little did the rosy5 girls of the Wareham Female Seminary (girls were still “young females” when all this happened)—little did they care about snow and sleet6 and ice. Studies went on all the better with the afternoon skating and sliding to look forward to. What joy to perch7 in the window-seat with your volume of Virgil, and translate “Hoc opus hic labor8 est” with half an eye on the gleaming ice of the pond, or the glittering crust of the hillsides! What fun to slip on your rubber boots, muffle9 yourself in your warm coat (made out of mother’s old mink10 cape), and run across the way to the Academy for recitations in mathematics or philosophy!
These joys, however, with their attendant responsibilities, duties, and cares, were to be suspended for a while at the Wareham Seminary, and the “young females” who graced that institution of learning were not inconsolable.
Bell Winship, an uncommonly11 nice girl herself and a born leader of other nice girls, had sent out five mysteriously worded notes that morning, five little notes to as many little maids, requesting the honor of their presence at ten a. m. precisely12, in Number 27, Second floor.
Where Bell Winship wished girls to be, there they always were, and on the minute, too, lest they should miss something; so there is nothing remarkable13 in this statement of the fact, that at ten o’clock in the morning, Number 27, Second floor, of the Wareham Female Seminary seemed to be overflowing14 with girls, although in reality there were but six, all told.
The wildest curiosity prevailed, and it was very imperfectly controlled, but, at length, the hostess, mounting a shoebox, spoke16 with great dignity in these words:
“Fellow-countrywomen: Whereas, our recitation-hall has been burned to the ground, thereby17 giving us a well-earned vacation of two weeks, I wish to impart to you a plan by which we can better resign ourselves to the afflicting18 and mysterious dispensation. You are aware,” she continued, still impressively, “that my highly respected parents are both away for the winter, thus leaving our humble19 cottage closed, and it occurred to me as a brilliant, if somewhat daring, idea, that we six girls should go over and keep house in it for a fortnight, alone and untrammeled.” Here the tidal wave of her eloquence20 was impeded21 by the overmastering enthusiasm of the audience. Cheers and applause greeted her. Everybody pounded with whatever she chanced to have in her hand, on any article of furniture that chanced to be near.
“Oh, Bell, Bell! what a lovely plan!” cried Lilia Porter; “a more than usually lovely plan; but will your mother ever allow it, do you suppose?”
“That’s the point,” answered Bell, gleefully. “Here is the letter I have just received from my father; he is a good parent, wholly worthy22 of his daughter:”
Baltimore, March 6th, 18—.
My dear Child:—We do not like to refuse you anything while
we are away enjoying ourselves, so, as the house is well
insured, you may go over and try your scheme. Your mother
says that you must not entirely23 demolish24 her jelly and
preserves. My only wish is that you will be careful of the
fires and lights.
I hope you won’t feel injured if I suggest your asking
advice and suggestion of Miss Miranda and Miss Jane, who are
your nearest neighbors. They will take you in charge anyway,
and you might as well put yourself nominally25 under their
care. Your uncle will, of course, have an eye to you,
perhaps two eyes, and I dare say he could use more than the
allotted26 number, but Grandmamma will lend him hers, no
doubt.
Write me a line every day, saying that the household timbers
are still standing27.
Your weakly indulgent but affectionate
Father.
“Isn’t he a perfect darling!” cried the enraptured28 quintette.
“I think,” said demure29 Patty Weld, “that before we permit ourselves to feel too happy, we had better consult our ‘powers that be,’ and see if we can accept Bell’s invitation.”
“I refuse to hear ‘No’ from one of you,” Bell answered, firmly. “I have thought it all over; spent the night upon it, in fact. You, Alice, and Josie Fenton, are too far from home to go there anyway, so I shall lead you off as helpless captives. Your mother is in town, Lilia, so that you can ask her immediately, and hear the worst; you and Edith, Patty, are only a half-day’s journey away, and can find out easily. I know you can get permission, for it’s going to be perfectly15 proper and safe. Grandmamma lives nearby, the Sawyer spinsters are the village duennas, and Uncle Harry30 can protect us from any rampaging burglars and midnight marauders that may happen in to pay their respects.”
So the “Jolly Six,” as they were called by their schoolmates, separated, to build many castles in the air. Bell, it was decided31, was to go on to her country home in advance, and, with the help of a neighboring farmer’s daughter, prepare and provision the house for an unusual siege.
The girls had determined32 to have no servant, and their many ingenious plans for managing and dividing the work were the source of great amusement to the teachers, some of whom had been admitted to their confidence. Josie Fenton and Bell were to do the cooking, Jo claiming the sternly practical department best suited to her—meat, vegetables, and bread—while Bell was to concoct33 puddings, cakes, and the various little indigestible dainties toward which schoolgirl hearts are so tender. Alice Forsaith, the oldest of the party and the beauty of the school, with Edith Lambert, as an aid, was to manage the making of the beds, tidying of rooms, and setting of tables, while Lilia Porter and Patty Weld, with noble heroism34 and selfsacrifice, offered to shoulder that cross of an old-fashioned girl’s life—the washing and wiping of dishes.
On a Wednesday morning the two maiden35 ladies living nearly opposite the Winship cottage were transfixed with wonder by the appearance of Bell, who asked for the house-key left in safe keeping with them.
“Du tell, Isabel!—I didn’t expect to see you this mornin’,—air your folks comin’ home or hev you been turned out o’ school?” asked Miss Miranda.
“Oh, no,” laughed Bell; “I’m going to housekeeping myself!”
“Good land! You haven’t run off and got married, have you?” cried Miss Jane.
“Not quite so bad as that; but I’m going to bring five of my schoolmates over to-morrow, and we intend to stay here two weeks all alone, as housekeepers36 and householders.”
“Land o’ mercy,” moaned the nervous Miss Miranda. “That Pa o’ yourn would let you tread on him and not notice it. How any sensible man could do sech a crazy thing as to let a pack of girls tear his house to pieces, I don’t see. You’ll burn us all up before a week’s out; I declare I sha’n’t sleep a wink37 for worrying the whole time.”
“You needn’t be afraid, Miss Sawyer,” said Bell, with some spirit. “If six girls, none of them younger than fourteen, can’t take care of a few stoves and fireplaces, I should think it was a pity. Everybody seems to think nowadays that young people have no common sense. The world’s growing wiser all the time, and I don’t see why we shouldn’t be as bright as those detestable pattern-girls of fifty years ago.”
“Well, well, don’t get huffy, Isabel; you mean well, but all girls are unstiddy at your age. Anyhow, I’ll try to keep an eye on ye. Here’s your key, and we can spare you a quart of milk a day and risin’s for your bread, if you’re going to try riz bread, though I don’t s’pose one of ye knows anything about flour food.”
“Thank you; that’ll be very nice, and now I’m going over to begin work, for I have heaps to do. Emma Jane Perkins has come to help me, and Grandma’s Betty will come down every afternoon. By the way, can I have Topsycat while I am here?”
“Yes, I s’pose so,” said Miss Jane, “though it’s been an awful sight of work gettin’ her used to our ways, and I’d never have done it if Mis’ Winship hadn’t set such store by her. She pretty near pined away the first week, and I’ve baked ginger38 cake for her and buttered her fritters every mornin’.”
“I won’t borrow her if you think she will be more troublesome afterward,” Bell answered, “but you know it’s almost impossible to keep house without a cat and a dog. Bobs came over from Uncle Harry’s the moment I arrived, and is waiting at the gate now.”
“I don’t agree with you,” said Miss Miranda. “‘Blessed be nothin’, I say, when it comes to live stock. We disposed of our horse, the pig went next, and the cow’s turn’s comin’. Even a cat is dreadful confinin’. If you have a cat and two hens you’re as much tied down as if you had a barn full of critters.”
The day was very cold, and both Bell and Emma Jane shivered as they unlocked one frost-bitten door after another.
“We shall freeze as stiff as pokers,” said Bell, with chattering39 teeth; “but we can’t help it; let’s build a fire in every stove in the honse and thaw40 things out.” This was done, and in an hour they were moderately comfortable. The weather being so cold, Bell decided upon using only three rooms, all on the first floor—the large, handsome family sitting-room41, the kitchen, and Mrs. Win-ship’s chamber42. This being very capacious, she moved a couple of bedsteads from other rooms, and placing the three side by side, filled up the intervening spaces with bolsters43, thus making one immensely wide bed.
“There, Emma Jane, isn’t that a bright idea! We can all sleep in a row, and then there’ll be no quarreling about bedfellows or rooms. I certainly am a good contriver,” cried Bell, with a triumphant44 little laugh.
“It looks awful like a hospital, and the bolsters will keep fallin’ down in between and it’ll be dreadful hard mak-in’ ’em up of a mornin’,” rejoined Emma Jane, who was no flatterer, being New England born and bred.
The sitting-room coal stove had accommodations, on top and back, for cooking, so Bell thought that their suppers, with perhaps an occasional breakfast, might be prepared there. The large bay-window, with its bright drugget, would serve as a sort of tiny diningroom, so the mahogany extension-table, with its carved legs, pretty red cover, and silver service, was carried there. This accomplished45, and every room made graceful46 and attractive by Bell (who was a born homemaker, and placed photographs, lamps, sofa-pillows, fir-boughs, and bowls of red apples just where they were needed in the picture), she went over to her Grandmother’s, where four loaves of bread were baking and pies being filled, in order that the young housekeepers might begin with a full pantry.
“Oh, Grandma,” she exclaimed breathlessly, tearing off her cloud and bringing down with it a sunshiny mass of bronze hair, “it does look lovely, if I do say it; and as for setting that house on fire, there’s no danger, for it will take a week to thaw it into a state in which it would burn. I have made up my mind that I sha’n’t be the one to build the fires every morning, even if I am hostess. I don’t want to freeze myself daily for the cause of politeness. Has the provision man come yet!”
“Yes,” said Uncle Harry, “and brought eatables enough for an army—more than you girls can devour47 in a month.”
“You’ll see,” said Bell, laughingly.
“You don’t know the capacity of the ‘Jolly Six’ yet. Now, Betty, please take the eggs and potatoes and fish and put them in our store room. I’ve just time to make my cake and custard before I drive to the station for the girls. Do you know, Uncle Harry, I am going to do the most astounding48 thing! I’ve borrowed Farmer Allen’s one-seated old pung,—the one he takes to town filled with vegetables,—and I am going to keep it for our sleigh-rides. It will hold all six of us, and what do we care for public opinion!” said she, with a disdainful gesture.
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1
pussy
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| n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪 | |
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willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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4
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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sleet
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| n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹 | |
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7
perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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8
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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muffle
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| v.围裹；抑制；发低沉的声音 | |
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mink
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| n.貂，貂皮 | |
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11
uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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12
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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13
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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14
overflowing
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| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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15
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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16
spoke
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| 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 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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afflicting
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| 痛苦的 | |
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19
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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20
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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21
impeded
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| 阻碍，妨碍，阻止( impede的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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23
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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24
demolish
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| v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等) | |
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25
nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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26
allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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28
enraptured
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| v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29
demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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30
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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31
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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concoct
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| v.调合，制造 | |
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heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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housekeepers
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| n.（女）管家( housekeeper的名词复数 ) | |
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wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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ginger
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| n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气 | |
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39
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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40
thaw
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| v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和 | |
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41
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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43
bolsters
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| n.长枕( bolster的名词复数 )；垫子；衬垫；支持物v.支持( bolster的第三人称单数 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助 | |
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44
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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45
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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47
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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48
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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