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
gentleman, 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 enough to
stir the social atmosphere with small gusts of interest 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 Musclemen; 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 gynmast; and, being also
a bashful man, the appointed moment had no sooner arrived than he
found his carefully prepared sentences slipping away from his memory
as the ice appears 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. Primmins ran like a girl of fifteen to
get her pins home before 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 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; lungs
got their fill for once, unsuspected muscles were suddenly
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, accompanied by a lad the masculine image
of herself, appeared 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 Dolly, with the innocent
hypocrisy which is as natural to 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 fine 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 American, he would have
tried to conceal his poverty, and 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 by
giving him a tangled skein to hold for the furtherance of 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, "drop-ins," 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 bedtime, 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 in the style of Sam
Weller when folding carpets with the 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 merely amusing yourself, as you have done ever since 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 when you snub him. He is proud, too, for all his
meekness, 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, be 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 taking it away now and then. I
shall do exactly as I please; 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 and
bodies, diversions innumerable, and society, some members of which
might have polished off Alcibiades _a la_ Socrates, or entertained
Plato with "ęsthetic 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 the river might have told if any one
could have learned its 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 Guard,
though she paid them only in words; for her Waterloo 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 pensive, the lesson dragged,
and people fancied they 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 whole thing and advanced pecuniary loans with
good or ill 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 tucker, 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
sauciest little turn-out he ever saw," and then wet-blanketed the
remarks 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 to enjoy a social cup of tea, and
groan over the tax; 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 entrance; a
Bedouin Arab leaned on his spear in one corner, looking as if ready
to say,--
"Fly to the desert, fly with me,"
to the pretty Jewess on his arm; a stately Hamlet, with
irreproachable legs, settled his plumage in another, still undecided
to which Ophelia he would first address "The honey of his music
vows."
Bluff King Hal's representative was waltzing in a way that 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
Jack tars, and dukes danced with dairy-maids, while Brother Jonathan
whittled, Aunt Dinah jabbered, Ingomar flourished his club, and
every one felt warmly enthusiastic and vigorously jolly.
"Ach himmel! Das ist wunder schon!" 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 domino in a
hurried whisper. But Mr. Bopp was not to be 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 high state of rumple, trying to appear innocently meek,
but 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."
"Mercy! 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."
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. 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 off to the life. Fan didn't want me to,
but I made her, so 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 that I was too amiable, and that misled
him. Poor old Bopp, 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 skillful 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 like him, and
I didn't find out till afterward that I did; then 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 pains. I never meant to tell you, but I
will now, to show 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 on, for, taking
him tenderly about the neck, Dolly fell to 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 forgave 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 an exceedingly novel
one, filled that inflammable youth 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 the change,
but plucking up her courage, she stirred briskly 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 to
her, and I am hungry till I haf her in my arms again.' I 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 his hands, and bending,
fixed on her a look tender yet 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, be 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 __Error! Hyperlink reference not
valid.__;_" 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.'"
