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Memoirs of a Country Doll - Mary Curtis · Memoir of Jane Austen

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  Speaker 1: Chapter one, A Memoirs of a Country Doll. This is
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  Speaker 1: a Libery Box recording. All Liberary Box recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit liberyvox dot org. The first thing that I can
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  Speaker 1: recollect is that I was very long lying in a
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  Speaker 1: box in Soho Bazaar till one day was taken down
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  Speaker 1: by one of the shop keepers and shown to a
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  Speaker 1: very pretty little girl about three years old, who, after
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  Speaker 1: looking at a whole case though, chose me. This little
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  Speaker 1: girl had flaxen curls and was dressed very prettily. Her
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  Speaker 1: name was Lucy fitz Henry. She wrapped me up and
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  Speaker 1: carried me home to her house in the country, which
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  Speaker 1: was a very pretty country seat. Two or three days
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  Speaker 1: after she had me, her nurse cut some very pretty
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  Speaker 1: clothes for me. My underclothes were a very fine linen
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  Speaker 1: in my dresses of flowered muslin, blue merino, and spotted calicoes.
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  Speaker 1: My mother was very careful of me. She washed me
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  Speaker 1: every morning, for I was a porcelain doll, and dressed
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  Speaker 1: me and undressed me at night. One day she took
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  Speaker 1: me into town to see the Queen and Prince Albert,
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  Speaker 1: which I enjoyed very much. Indeed, as we were coming
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  Speaker 1: home in the carriage, little Lucy let me drop out
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  Speaker 1: of the window upon some burlock leaves, where I lay
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  Speaker 1: for some time. After I had lain there for about
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  Speaker 1: two or three hours, I was picked up by a
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  Speaker 1: little raspberry picker who was German named Joanna Warsol, who
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  Speaker 1: was overjoyed to find such a beautiful doll, and went
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  Speaker 1: instantly to show her brother Roberton, who was also very glad.
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  Speaker 1: They then agreed to wrap me up in a cloth
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  Speaker 1: in which they had brought from their dinner. And there
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  Speaker 1: I lay until night and thought over my past life,
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  Speaker 1: how my little mother Lucy had been so kind to me,
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  Speaker 1: how she had taken me out, ducked me in a
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  Speaker 1: little stream, and then dried me in the sun, laughed
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  Speaker 1: with me, kissed me, and talked about my new mamma.
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  Speaker 1: When suddenly Augusta Wynne took my cloak off, and I
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  Speaker 1: laid there very cold. However, my mother came very soon
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  Speaker 1: and took me up, poor doll. She said how very
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  Speaker 1: cold she must be, and therefore she wrapped me up
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  Speaker 1: in my dress very tightly, and then we went home
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  Speaker 1: their home was in a little building. It was once
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  Speaker 1: an outhouse, but the house had been removed and it
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  Speaker 1: stood alone, where we had a very nice supper of water, cresses,
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  Speaker 1: bread and cheese. After that I was covered over with
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  Speaker 1: some leaves, and there I went to sleep. End of
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  Speaker 1: chapter one, chapter two of Memoirs of a Country Doll.
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  Speaker 1: This is a Liberyvox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Early next morning, my mother woke
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  Speaker 1: me up and carried me to the field. After a while,
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  Speaker 1: she spoke to her brother Roberton, and said, Robbie, don't
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  Speaker 1: you tink dead? I better go and give dis little
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  Speaker 1: dolly to Emma our thirst, Yes, said Roberton, for don't
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  Speaker 1: you know how kind she was to us? So off
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  Speaker 1: they started to give me to Emma, who was about
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  Speaker 1: five years old. Little Emma was delighted and gave Joanna
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  Speaker 1: a half crown. My mother, Emma had another doll, whose
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  Speaker 1: name was Ellen Green. By the bye, I'd never had
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  Speaker 1: any name till my new mother gave me one, which
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  Speaker 1: was Josephine Ardoldsen. But I think to this day that
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  Speaker 1: she was a very naughty doll, for she always spilt
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  Speaker 1: her tea on her dress, knocked down chairs, danced on
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  Speaker 1: the table, and I don't know what else. One day,
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  Speaker 1: my mother came and took me early from my nice
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  Speaker 1: little bed and dressed me in a beautiful frock of
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  Speaker 1: white muslin, with a pink sash and violets and other
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  Speaker 1: flowers in my sash. I had seen my mother working
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  Speaker 1: on something for some time, and now I knew what
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  Speaker 1: it was. My mother then told me that it was
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  Speaker 1: May day and that I was to go to a
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  Speaker 1: May party. But she said that Ellen should not go
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  Speaker 1: because she had behaved so naughty. At first, I was
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  Speaker 1: glad to hear this, but after a while I felt
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  Speaker 1: differently and begged my mother to let her go. Whether
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  Speaker 1: my mother could not withstand my pleading or had determined
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  Speaker 1: to try Ellen once more, I don't know, but she
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  Speaker 1: at last consented to take Ellen. My mother was dressed
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  Speaker 1: in white, and so were a great many other little girls.
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  Speaker 1: We enjoyed ourselves very much, but at last Ellen began
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  Speaker 1: to behave badly. She tore a hole in her dress,
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  Speaker 1: and at last she acted so badly that my mother
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  Speaker 1: had to put her in the hollow trunk of a
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  Speaker 1: tree where we left her. Then we all went into
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  Speaker 1: a clump of them beautiful pine trees and eat her dinner.
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  Speaker 1: There After that we played around, and then we went home,
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  Speaker 1: not without taking Ellen with us. I had stayed with
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  Speaker 1: my present mother about six months when I was taken sick,
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  Speaker 1: the account of which I will defer to my next
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  Speaker 1: end of chapter two Chapter three of Memoirs of a
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  Speaker 1: Country Doll. This is a liberty Box recording. All libriyvox
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  Speaker 1: recordings are in the public domain. For more information or
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: to volunteer, please visit Liberyvox Star Work. One night, as
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  Speaker 1: I was lying in my bed, my head began to swim,
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  Speaker 1: My lips were parched, and I felt very sick. After
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  Speaker 1: passing the night in great distress, my mother came to
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  Speaker 1: me and said, dear little Josie, how sick you look?
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  Speaker 1: And so she did not take me up. By and by,
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  Speaker 1: the little girl who played the most with Emma came
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  Speaker 1: in and said, why Emma, you have not taken your
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  Speaker 1: doll up this morning? No, said Emma, she is very sick,
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  Speaker 1: and so I did not think it best to take
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  Speaker 1: her up. Well, the other girl I will be a doctor,
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  Speaker 1: and you must send for me to come and attend
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  Speaker 1: your doll. So Emma sent, and the little girl came
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  Speaker 1: and ordered me some pills and a powder which I
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  Speaker 1: was to take. I made the pills out of bread
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  Speaker 1: and the powder out of a stale pencil dust. I
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  Speaker 1: took these and they quieted my pain some, but still
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  Speaker 1: I was very sick. The next morning the doctor came
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  Speaker 1: over and ordered me something else, which I took as
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  Speaker 1: in duty bound, although I must say it did not
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  Speaker 1: taste very good. After two or three weeks, I began
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  Speaker 1: to get a little better, and then Ellen came and
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  Speaker 1: saw me. But she began to talk in her old
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  Speaker 1: way about having new dresses and she having to take
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  Speaker 1: mine for she and I were the same size, and
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  Speaker 1: her having to stay in the trunk while I enjoyed myself.
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  Speaker 1: And then she ended by saying that she was glad
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  Speaker 1: I was tick, for now she could have her own
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  Speaker 1: way as she had before I came. I found out
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  Speaker 1: afterward that my mother had been telling Ellen about me
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  Speaker 1: and saying that I was a pink of perfection and
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  Speaker 1: that she ought to pattern by me. So Ellen hated
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  Speaker 1: me heartly, which I was sorry for. As I had
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  Speaker 1: sort of a liking for her, although she did behave
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  Speaker 1: so badly. One evening after tea, Emma, having left the room,
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  Speaker 1: her father said, wife, I think that, as Emma is
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  Speaker 1: old enough to help us, that she had better begin
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  Speaker 1: next week about the dairy and help you. She will
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  Speaker 1: have to dispense with her dolls, and I think that
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  Speaker 1: she had better give her prettiest doll to her cousin,
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  Speaker 1: who I dare say will like it. When Emma came in,
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  Speaker 1: her father told her his intentions and how she had
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  Speaker 1: better give the handsomest doll to her cousin, Celeste. Emma
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  Speaker 1: cried very much at leaving her doll, and so did I,
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  Speaker 1: but she thought it better to do so. End of
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  Speaker 1: chapter three, Chapter four of Memoirs of a Country Doll.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: visit liberyvox dot org. Next day, Emma dressed herself very
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  Speaker 1: neatly and rode over to her cousins, which was about
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  Speaker 1: five miles from her father's house. Emma cried all the way,
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  Speaker 1: and I, in spite of myself, could not help crying too.
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  Speaker 1: At last we arrived at a very splendid mansion house
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  Speaker 1: where Emma's cousin lived. Her aunt was very glad to
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  Speaker 1: have Emma come, and Celeste was very much pleased with
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  Speaker 1: her doll, although she said that she was almost too
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  Speaker 1: old to have a doll. By and bye, Emma went
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  Speaker 1: home and I was left in the hands of my
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  Speaker 1: new Mamma. She then called to her brother, maximm Belmont
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  Speaker 1: to see her doll, which he thought was very pretty. Indeed,
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  Speaker 1: my last mother had told me that her aunt was
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  Speaker 1: a baroness and her uncle was a baron, which I
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  Speaker 1: was very glad to hear, as I thought I should
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  Speaker 1: see some very high life. The next day, my new
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  Speaker 1: mother went out with her governess to buy some things
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  Speaker 1: for me, and as they could not buy anything fit
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  Speaker 1: for me in the country, they went into town. They
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  Speaker 1: went to the very same place where I was first
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  Speaker 1: bought by my first Mamma, Lucy, and bought me a
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  Speaker 1: swinging bed with mattress and all complete, also a tea set,
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  Speaker 1: bureau piano, a set of polar furniture, and a most
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  Speaker 1: beautiful bracelet, necklace, ring and a pair of ear rings.
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  Speaker 1: We next drove to a jeweler's and had my ears pierced,
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  Speaker 1: and the bracelet was marked Josephine Arnoldson. I forgot to
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  Speaker 1: say that my mother had bought me a most beautiful
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  Speaker 1: little house that I could live in, and had it carpeted, papered, painted,
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  Speaker 1: and furnished. The next day, my mother's governess cut out
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  Speaker 1: some dresses for me. I had morning dresses, afternoon visiting, writing, party,
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  Speaker 1: and ball dresses. My party and ball dresses were so
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  Speaker 1: very handsome, indeed, that I think I must let my
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  Speaker 1: readers know what I had. My party dress was a
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  Speaker 1: pink silk looped up in front, showing a white satin
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  Speaker 1: skirt embroidered up and down with flowers all over the silk.
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  Speaker 1: My ball dress was a white satin with white carpover
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  Speaker 1: and a small bouquet down the front. White kid gloves
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  Speaker 1: and embroidered handkerchief, white silk stockings, and white satin slippers.
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  Speaker 1: Also a most beautiful wreath of orange flowers. And forgive
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  Speaker 1: me nots for my hair, for I had real hair
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  Speaker 1: that curled. End of chapter four.
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  Speaker 2: Chapter five of Memoirs of a Country Doll. This is
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  Speaker 2: a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: For more information or to all, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 2: Recording by Nan Dodge. Memoirs of a Country Doll by
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  Speaker 2: Mary Curtis Gardening. One day I observed my mother put
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  Speaker 2: on her things very slyly, call her governess and tell
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  Speaker 2: her to put on her things also and come out.
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  Speaker 2: I thought to myself, what can this mean? My mother
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  Speaker 2: has put on her clothes, called the footmen, and ordered
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  Speaker 2: the carriage, and has taken her governess with her. I
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  Speaker 2: guess it is something that I am not to know,
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  Speaker 2: for if it were not, I certainly would have gone
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  Speaker 2: with her. As I did not feel very well, I
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  Speaker 2: thought that I would lie down on my bed and
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  Speaker 2: take a nap. In a couple of hours, my mother
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  Speaker 2: came home, and, coming into the room where my baby
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  Speaker 2: house was, took me out of the bed without saying
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  Speaker 2: a word to me about her having been out. I
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  Speaker 2: burned all the time to know what she had been
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  Speaker 2: out for, for I could hardly eat my dinner, and
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  Speaker 2: when tea came I could eat nothing. The next day,
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  Speaker 2: at twelve, a man rang at the hall door, and
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  Speaker 2: my mother ran down to let him in. A thing
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  Speaker 2: that she had never done before, and which made me
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  Speaker 2: so curious that I could not stand. In a few minutes,
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  Speaker 2: my mother came running up stairs and put a little
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  Speaker 2: bundle into my hands. I opened it very quickly, and
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  Speaker 2: what did I see but a little hoe, rake, spade
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  Speaker 2: and wheelbarrow. I thought that I could never thank my
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  Speaker 2: mother enough. When she saw how pleased I was, she
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  Speaker 2: told me that I should have a piece of ground,
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  Speaker 2: and she would get me some seeds, and that she
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  Speaker 2: would also immediately make me a gardening dress so that
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  Speaker 2: I could commence the next day. Oh how I longed
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  Speaker 2: for the morrow to come, and when the morning dawned,
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  Speaker 2: I was almost crazy. My mother put on my dress
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  Speaker 2: and giving me my jools, took me into the garden,
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  Speaker 2: where I took my first lesson in gardening. I thought
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  Speaker 2: it was delightful. My mother told me that I should
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  Speaker 2: soon get along very fast, and that I should plant
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  Speaker 2: some flower and vegetable seeds. I felt very smart and
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  Speaker 2: began to work away quite industriously, making improvement in the
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  Speaker 2: looks of my garden. When my mother appeared and told
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  Speaker 2: me breakfast was ready, I could hardly believe it. The
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  Speaker 2: time had passed so quickly. The next morning, my mother
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  Speaker 2: waked me at half past five, and, dressing me, took
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  Speaker 2: me out. As we were going along to the garden,
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  Speaker 2: we saw by the roadside a flock of geese, and
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  Speaker 2: as we passed along, they set up a tremendous hissing.
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  Speaker 2: Oh how frightened I was. But my mother laughed at
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  Speaker 2: my fears and told me not to be afraid, as
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  Speaker 2: they would not hurt me. When I got to the garden,
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  Speaker 2: I was all of a tremble, and for five minutes
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  Speaker 2: I could not do anything. I got the garden all
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  Speaker 2: finished that morning before breakfast, and so I went in and,
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  Speaker 2: changing my dress, went out to take a walk. As
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  Speaker 2: I went along the paths, I could not help feeling overcome.
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  Speaker 2: It was a beautiful spring morning. The dew was on
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  Speaker 2: the grass, and the birds were singing their morning song
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  Speaker 2: of praise to the maker of all things as they
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  Speaker 2: soared towards heaven. When my breakfast bell rang, I came
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  Speaker 2: in and told my mother of my pleasant walk, and
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  Speaker 2: she seemed very glad. The next morning, my mother showed
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  Speaker 2: me how to plant seeds, after which she watered them,
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  Speaker 2: as she said the watering pot was too large for me,
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  Speaker 2: but that she was going to buy me one so
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  Speaker 2: that I could water my plants when they came up.
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  Speaker 2: In a day or two, my mother, her governess, and
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  Speaker 2: I went into the city and bought me a little
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  Speaker 2: watering pot and a little book that treated of gardening,
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  Speaker 2: which I put with my other books. One morning, about
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  Speaker 2: two weeks after planting my seeds, I was surprised to
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  Speaker 2: see several little green things, which I thought were weeds,
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  Speaker 2: and I was just going to pull them up, when
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  Speaker 2: I happened to think that perhaps they might not be
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  Speaker 2: weeds after all, and that I would stop and ask
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  Speaker 2: my mother. My mother appeering up the gravel walks just
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  Speaker 2: then I asked her what they were, and she told
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  Speaker 2: me that they were the plants just beginning to come up,
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  Speaker 2: and that I must water them every morning carefully, and
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  Speaker 2: soon they would come up higher and higher. Then the
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  Speaker 2: leaves would come out, and at last little buds would
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  Speaker 2: shoot forth and turn into flowers. But in order to
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  Speaker 2: have them do so, I must keep all the weeds
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  Speaker 2: away from them, water them morning and evening, and put
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  Speaker 2: up sticks for the running ones. End of chapter five,
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: Chapter six of Memoirs of a Country Doll. This is
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: Recording by Nan Dodge. Memoirs of a Country Doll by
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: Mary Curtis Blackberrying. At six the next morning, we both
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  Speaker 2: got up, that is my mother and I, and began
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  Speaker 2: dressing ourselves. Stop. Josephine said she, don't put on that dress,
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: as you are not going out into the garden this morning.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: Why not, said I? But I began to take off
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: my dress because, said my mother, Geraldine Norton has invited
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: me to a blackberrying and you are to go. Oh, mother,
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  Speaker 2: I am so glad that I don't know what to
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  Speaker 2: do with myself. But what dress am I to wear? Oh?
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  Speaker 2: Where your purple calico? In half an hour we were dressed,
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: had our breakfast eaten, and were ready to go. I
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: was so impatient to be off that I thought we
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  Speaker 2: should never go. Pretty soon, Celeste, my mother said she
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: saw them coming, and sure enough there they were a
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: whole troop of boys and girls with their pails and baskets.
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  Speaker 2: Celeste took me up in her arms and ran with
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  Speaker 2: me down the carriageway, not without having brought her pail
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  Speaker 2: and mine. We next called for a dozen more girls
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  Speaker 2: and boys at their houses. At eight o'clock we had
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: got about a couple of miles from the place, Antoinette
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Leland suddenly screamed out, here he comes, here he comes.
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  Speaker 2: What comes? Cried they all? The bull? The bull, said Antoinette,
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  Speaker 2: And sure enough there was a monstrous, large bull coming
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  Speaker 2: in double quick time right behind them. Such a scampering
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  Speaker 2: hell Mell went the whole troop to escape the pursuer.
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  Speaker 2: At last we saw a little cave not very far off,
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  Speaker 2: and all made a rush for that. When my mother
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  Speaker 2: screamed out to George Glover, throw off that red scarf, George,
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  Speaker 2: or else the bull will gore you to death. Look
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  Speaker 2: see how he foams, and how madly he paused the ground.
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  Speaker 2: The scarf was off in an instant, and the bull,
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  Speaker 2: rushing upon it, began tearing it into a thousand pieces.
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  Speaker 2: While he was doing this, we had time to get
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  Speaker 2: out of his sight before he made another attempt to
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  Speaker 2: attack us. We soon got to the burying place, and
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: then we began to pick and talk in earnest. The
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  Speaker 2: theme of the conversation was about the bull and how
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  Speaker 2: nicely they got away from him. George Glover made a
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  Speaker 2: wreath of leaves and presented it to Celeste, telling her
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  Speaker 2: that she was his guardian aid angel. Celeste gave him
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  Speaker 2: a box on the ear, but they both laughed heartily.
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  Speaker 2: In a few moments they heard screams and beheld one
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  Speaker 2: of the girls rolling down the hill and all her
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  Speaker 2: berries spilt. One of the boys, however, stopped her and
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: all joined in filling her basket again. At noon we
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  Speaker 2: all had dinner, each of the party bringing something under
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  Speaker 2: a group of trees. The dinner was an excellent one.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: We brought clear cool water from the spring and squeezed
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  Speaker 2: berries into it. We had meats and everything that we
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: could want to make a gipsy dinner. One of the boys,
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  Speaker 2: Charles Hammond, to improve the repast, took a jew's harp
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: out of his pocket and played several tunes, beginning with
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: God Save the Queen and ending with an air from
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: Linda di Chamoni. His performance was loudly cheered. Bella Barker,
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: one of the gayest of the girls, then got up
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: and made a speech which was also clapped and cheered.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: The Dinner was then finished, and we went to pick
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: some more berries to make up for the ones we
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: had eaten. On our way home, my mother and all
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: the rest stopped to pick wild flowers when Lornette Edwards
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: ran forward to gather a little blue and white flower
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: which was a little before her. Suddenly she began to scream,
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: and running to the place where she stood, we found
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: ourselves in no very pleasant situation, as we had got
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: upon a marshy place and were over our shoes in
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: mud and water. We all began scrambling out as fast
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: as we could and turned our faces the other way.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: We went to a little spring that we saw, and
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: taking off our shoes and stockings, gave them a washing out,
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: for we said that we preferred to have wet stockings
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: and shoes on our feet to muddy one. After going
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: a little way, we saw a wild cherry tree up
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: which the boy soon scrambled and threw down the fruit
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: into our aprons. We got home about six o'clock, having
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: been gone eleven hours. I felt very tired and was
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: glad to have my supper and get into bed. End
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: of chapter six, Chapter seven of Memoirs of a Country Doll.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Nan Dodge. Memoirs of
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: a Country Doll by Mary Curtis, Balls, Parties, et cetera.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: About a week after my dresses were made, my mother
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: said that we were going to the opera that night,
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: and the opera was going to be Robert D. Diabley Oh,
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: how glad I was. I almost went out my wits
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: for joy. For now I knew that I should see
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: some most splendid things. I was dressed in a blue
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: silk with an opera cloak and hood. My mother was
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: dressed so also. At last we came to the opera.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: Oh how my heart beat. After sitting a little while,
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: the musicians began to play, Oh such music, I felt
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: as if I never wanted to go home, but wanted
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: to stay there all my life. My mother then told
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: me to hark and try to hear a little bell
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: that would ring very soon. I listened, and in a
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: minute I heard it ring, and then ring again, and
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: then the curtain was pulled up. The most beautiful singing
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: that ever I heard was sung that night. I felt
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: as if I was a bou the clouds and listening
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: to angels instead of mortals. By and by, the curtain
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: came down, and then my mother told me that was
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: the end of the opera, but there was to be
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: a ballet soon. I now had an opportunity to look
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: round the house. The place was immense and was filled
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: with people. I never saw so many before in all
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: my life, and I never could have believed that so
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: many persons could be got into one place. Pretty soon
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: we had the ballet, and if I was pleased with
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: the singing, I was still more so with the dancing.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: The ballet was las silphied, and Taglione took the principal part.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: We got home about one o'clock and I laid till ten.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: The next morning, I was so sleepy. In a couple
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: of weeks, my mother took me to the Earl of
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: Egmont's Ball, where we had a most superb supper. There
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: were about six hundred persons there, and I passed a
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: most delightful night. I got home at twelve o'clock. I
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: thanked my mother next morning for all her kindness to me,
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: and she told me in the future that I should
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: accompany her to all the ball she went to. So
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: I went to a great many balls and parties, to
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: which I owe my present polished manners. Even in the
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: midst of their gaiety, I had not forgotten my mother,
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: Emma Arthurst, and my sister Ellen, and was on the
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: point of asking my present mother to let me go
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: and see them, when she came running into the room
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: and said, dear Josie, here is a letter for you
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: from your last mother, Emma. It ran thus end of
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: chapter seven, Chapter eight of Memoirs of a Country Doll.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox reques recordings are
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Nan Dodge, Memoirs
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: of a Country Doll by Mary Curtis, Doll's correspondents. Dear Josie,
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: I at last thought that I would write you. I
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: hope you have not quite forgotten your last Mamma, for
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: I have not forgotten you. Your sister Ellen still continued
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: the same bad girl, and so I sent her to
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: a ragman who gave me a shilling for her. Though
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: I guess he will repent of his bargain before long
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: if she acts as naughty as she has with me.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: I am very busy now. I help my mother in
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: a great many things, and am quite useful to her.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: From Emily Arthurst, I wrote back an answer which was this,
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: dear mother Emily, indeed, I have not forgot gotten you
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: as you thought. Although I have everything I can wish
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: for jewelry, clothes and food, yet I can never forget
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: the happy year I passed with you. I had hoped
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: that my sister Ellen would have reformed, but I am
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: very sorry that she has not. My present Mamma is
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: very kind to me. She has taken me to the
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: opera and to balls and parties. From your affectionate daughter.
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: That was Josephine Arnoldson. About a week after I received
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: another letter which read, thus, my dear daughter, I am
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: very much pleased to hear that you still remember me
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: as well as I remember you, and that you hoped
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: that Ellen would reform. I hope you enjoy yourself where
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: you are and see as many nice things as you
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: can wish. And closed I send you a nice little
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: pen for you to write me letters with once a week.
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: If your Mamma will let you from your late mother,
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: Emily Arthurst. I answered it, dear mother, I am very
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: much pleased with my pen, and my present mother has
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: given me leave to write once a week. Josephine Arnoldson,
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: end of chapter eight.
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: Chapter nine of Memoirs of a Country Doll. This is
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: Memoirs of a Country Doll by Mary Curtis. The Seashore,
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: my mother Celeste once took me down to Ramsgate, thinking,
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: as she said, that I needed sea beating. She packed
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: your clothes in mine and ordered my house, the baby house,
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: to be carried behind her. The next morning, my mother
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: rode in her carriage, which was made expressly for herself
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: and me, to the water side, where we went into
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: a little house, and, putting on our bathing clothes, jumped
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: into the water. My mother had fastened me by a
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: string to her waist, and so could swim without being
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: troubled by me. She then showed me how to keep
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: myself above water and how to swim, for she said
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: that soon she was going to let me bathe alone.
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: I enjoyed the water very much and thought what a
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: great loss it must be to some dolls who cannot
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: go into the water because their complexion will not allow
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: them to be washed in anything but sweet oil or butter.
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: I thought how sticky it must feel during the process,
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: and how uncomfortable it must be. Afterwards. We went into
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: the little house again after bathing and put on our
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: skirts and dresses. All day, it was very hot, and
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: we remained in the house until evening, when we went
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: to bathe again. While bathing, I saw several large birds
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: fly over the water, and several times dip down into
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: the waves. I asked my mother what they were, and
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: she said they were seagulls. The next morning, when we
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: were in the midst of bathing, there was a cry
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: of a shark, a shark. As soon as this was said,
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: everyone started for shore, and all got there safely, except
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: one little girl about nine years of age, who was
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: so frightened that she could not swim. The shark was
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: nearing to her every moment. At last, a strong and
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: brave man jumped into the water and, swimming up to
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: the shark, killed him with a long knife, which he
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: carried in his belt. After a couple weeks spent in
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: this manner, we went home. End of chapter.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: Nine, Chapter ten of Memoirs of a Country Doll. This
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: liberyvox dot org. In about a month, I had a
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: terrible accident which I am about to relate. One summer afternoon,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: as I was looking out the window, I fell out
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: of it into a whining stream, where lay floating down.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: I don't know where. I was so stunned by the
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: fall that I fainted and did not recover myself till
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: i'd floated down some miles. When I recovered, I found
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: that I was in the hands of some fishermen. They
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: were not regular fishermen, but only angling for sport, who
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: examined me very attentively. At last one said, I'm sure
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: I don't know what to do with this little doll,
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: Oh said the other one. There goes a little milkmaid.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Let's give it to her, So I say, said the first. Here,
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: little girl, don't you want a doll? If you do,
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: here's one thank you, sir, said my new mother, whose
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: name was Agnes Earle. I am very much obliged to you,
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: so Agnes took me home. She was a very pretty
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: little girl. She had black eyes, black hair, and a
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: dark complexion. I passed a very pleasant life with my mother.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: She used often to talk to me in a very
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: motherly way, such as this, my dear Josephine, I am
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: very glad to see you behave so well, and I'm
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: very sorry that I cannot bring you into a better
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: society than I can. However, I think that we had
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: better not worry about it, as you are almost polished enough.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: My mother used to talk to me in this way
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: of evenings, and I hope I profited by some of
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: her lectures to me. On goodness. My mother used to
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: often give me baths, to which I think I owe
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: my good health. One afternoon, after my mother had bathed
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: me as was her usual custom, and had laid me
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: in the sun to dry, two little girls came along
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: and picked me up. End of chapter ten, chapter eleven
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: of Memoirs of a Country Doll. This is a Libervox recording.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer. Please visit Liberyvox artwork. Halla, here's
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: a doll. I'll have it, said the biggest girl, whose
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: name is Martha Griggs. No, you won't eat either, So
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: there you told a lie, said Madge Griggs. I'm the
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: oldest and ought to have it, screamed Martha. And I'm
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: the youngest and the oldest ought to give up to
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: the smallest one, said Madge. You shan't you shan't you
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: am prudent Jade, So you may just clear out of
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: the way, yelled Martha, striking her sister with all her might.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: Oh oh, oh, how you have hurt me. I shall
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: tell mother of you as soon as we get home,
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: said Madge. I don't care if you do, miss, said Martha.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Then they went home, Martha with the doll and Madge
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: followed behind her all the way. I thought that I
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: was very unfortunate in the change of my mamma's for thought.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: I I can't pass a very pleasant time with these
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: quarrelsome mammas. And I'm afraid that I may have my
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: legs or arms or even my head broken and afray,
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: which I should not like very much. At last, we
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: came to the house where they lived, and then we
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: had supper, and I was put to bed. I cried
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: very much that night, for I was sad at leaving
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: my little mother Agnes, and I felt bad at having
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: such a quarrelsome mothers as I had. Now, I never
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: could get a moment's peace. For if one of my
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: mothers wanted me put to bed, the other one wanted
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: me to get up. I can remember one day what
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: a quarrel occurred, and these were the words, as nearly
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: as I can recollect. Madge, where's my doll? It's not
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: your doll. That's a lie. It ain't I'll have that doll.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: You won't. I found it in the grass. I'm the
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: youngest and ought to have it. Father says you ought
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: to give up to the youngest. Will you tell me
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: where that doll is, for I want to put its
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: apron on. Aha, you won't get it now if you
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: want to put its apron on, for I'm going to
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: put its worst dress on so as to let it
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: slabber in the dirt. No, you won't either. And Martha
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: gave Madge slap after slap and slap after slap till
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: I thought that Madge would never see a light again.
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: That night, when I went to bed, I thought how
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: much better it would have been for Martha to have
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: kindly ass Madge for me, and for Match to have
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: answered kindly. And I hope that all my readers will
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: never imitate Madge and Martha. End of chapter eleven, Chapter
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: twelve of Memoirs of a Country Doll. This is a
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: liberyvox recording. All livery vox recordings are in the public domain.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit liberyvox dot org.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: The next day, after the quarrel, my mother said that
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: the children during racess at school were going to make
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: a snow man, and that they would take me to
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: school with them. At twelve, they had their recess when Martha,
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: not finding her scarf as usual, weighed the loss of
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: it to match and said, you, Madge, what have you
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: done with my scarf? Bring it here. I have not
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: done anything with it, said Madge, you lie. Was the
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: coarse and unladylike retort. At last, Martha found her scarf
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: hanging on her nail with her cloak over it. When
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: we got into the yard, my mothers brushed away those
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: snow from a little place on the steps, and set
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: me down there to see the making of the snowman.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: The manner of making it was thus they each took
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: a small snowball and rolled it into the snow over
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: and over, and then they joined all together and made
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: one large ball. Then took a stick and made a
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: couple of holes in the ball for eyes, and made
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: a straight mark rather deep for its mouth. And then
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: took a piece of snow and made it into a
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: nose as well as they could, and fastened it on.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: Then they made another ball considerably larger than the first
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: for his body. Legs and arms were also fastened upon
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: the body. When this was all done, they gave three
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: cheers and went into the school room. When my mother
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: got home, they thought that they would try to make
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: a snowman such as the boys had made in the schoolyard.
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: They had got the head made and were looking after
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: a stick with which to make the eyes and mouth,
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: when down came the head upon match, knocking her down
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: to the ground and covering her up with snow. As
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: soon as she had extricated herself, she let loose her tongue,
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: and another scene and storm of words flowed after their
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: usual manner. Such frequent disputes as these made me regret
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: more and more my previous home, and longed to make
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: some change, which I thought must certainly be for the better.
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: But the time had not yet come. End of Chapter twelve,
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen of Memoirs of a Country Doll. This is
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: a Libery Box recording. All Livery box recordings are in
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: visit liberyvox dot org. The next week, the children's teachers
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: said that he would take them to the theater, for
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: they had behaved so well. I thought differently. There was
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: nothing talked of but the theater from morning till night,
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: and I am sorry to say that this was a
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: subject of dispute too. Once said they would get the
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: first bill and have theirs read through first, and the
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: other was going to hear the bell jingle first and
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: sit in the front seat. One was going to be
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: looked at the most and be dressed first, and the
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: other was going to get into the carriage first and
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: get the best seat, and so on. The day at
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: length arrived, I felt happy, too, though there was such
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: a dispute, for I remembered when I went to the
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: opera with my late mother, Celeste Belmont, and how I
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: enjoyed myself. The children were in high spirits and kept
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: incessantly talking of what a nice time they would have
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: if only they were there now. I longed to tell
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: them to have a little patience, but I was afraid
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: I should get my neck broke if I did so.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: At length, the maid arrived to dress them, and in
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: their hurry to get up the stairs before each other,
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: Madge tumbled down the stairs, but did not hurt her much.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: Such dressings, while you would almost think their clothes flew
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: off as they did their buttons in hurry to get
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: dressed before each other. Martha got dressed first, and then
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: she went for me. I was in a pink muslin
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: with blue roses in my hair, and my mother thought
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: that I looked splendidly. We lived out of town and
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: had to ride into the city, so we had a
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: very nice ride. We went to the Cavett Garden Theater.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: It is a splendid place, but not so pretty as
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: the Royal Italian Opera House, where I went with my mother,
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: Celeste Belmont. There was some scrambling to get to the
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: front seat between Madge and Martha. But at last it
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: was settled. We sat in a stage box, which was beautiful.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: The play began. There was once a beautiful young girl,
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: and she had two lovers. She liked one and the
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: other she didn't like. And there were meetings and humbling
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: down places and all that sort of thing. At last,
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: this pretty young girl married the lover she liked, and
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: the other lover went away when I tumbled onto the
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: stage in a bouquet, which they threw, though they did
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: not know that they had thrown me. End of chapter thirteen,
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen of Memoirs of a Country Doll. This is
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: a liberyvox recording. All liberyvox recordings are in the public domain.
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit liberyvox dot org.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: I was now in the hands of a pretty little danceuse,
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: who ran with me into the green room, saying, oh, mother,
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: see this beautiful dolly that was thrown to me in
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: a bouquet. Isn't it pretty? Yes? Said her mother, it
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: is very pretty. But hadn't you better put it down
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: and go to the dance kracko vienne which you have
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: got to dance, certainly, mother, as soon as I've got
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: my heels on, I found out soon afterwards that it
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: was her dancing heels. My new mother's name was Caroline Edgrave.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: We soon went home in a very nice house where
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: we were boarded. That night. How thankful I was that
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: I had gotten away from Magin Martha. For now I
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: felt I should enjoy myself very much, and besides that
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: I should see behind the scenes and be in the
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: dressing room, which I had often wished for. The Next day,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: my mother took me to the rehearsal, and when she
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: began to dance, she put me beside one of the wings,
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: so that I might learn to dance. We lived out
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: in the country, about ten miles south of my late
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: mother's house, in a very neat cottage. My new mother
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: taught me a great many fancy dances, among which were
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: La Kasasha, lakkrakovin Las Molenska highland fling, and a great
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: many hornpipes, besides quadrills, polkas, waltz, and the mazurka, redwoa
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: and shotishy. My mother was to dance and act in
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: a new pantrmime which was called The Elements and fairies
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: and which she was determined to have me act in.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: So she asked the manager if he could not have
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: me do something in it. The manager consented, and when
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: my mother told me, Oh, how happy I felt. My
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: mother took me to the rehearsal every day with her
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: and made me a dress. It was a white gauze
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: over white satin, with gold spangles and a gold paper
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: crown on my head. Of course, I had little silver
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: shoes and flushings. I was to represent the fairy's guard
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: in the clouds and to appear in the sun. I
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: at first felt rather giddy when I mounted the pedal
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: behind the sun, but soon I got accustomed to it.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: I appeared to a lover and a dream. I did
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: not feel degraded, and I hope my readers will not
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: think less of me. End of chapter fourteen. Chapter fifteen
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: of Memoirs of a Country Doll. This is a Libery
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: Box recording. All Libery Box recordings are in the public domain.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit liberyvox dot org.
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: The evening arrived, we drove into town rather earlier than usual.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: My mother let me peep through a little slit in
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: the curtain to see if the house was full. The
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: play commenced, and it was as follows. First there came
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: a most beautiful fairy and said, Elements, I beg your
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: come forward, and be not afraid. Immediately a waterfall that
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: was pouring over some rocks divided, and a most beautiful
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: fairy came out and said, Queen, I come to thy command.
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: What would'st thou have? Be patient? Spirit? Then the fairy
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: of air appeared and said, Queen, what wouldst thou Be patient?
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: Then the fairy of Earth came right out of the
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: floor and said, O Queen, I come at thy call.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: Be patient. Then the spirit of fire came forth out
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: of a rock with a loud, hissing noise, and said,
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: what would you have me do? I'll burn down houses
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: and land, nor do with a partial hand stop, said
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: the Queen, none of this. Instead of hurting, I want
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: you to befriend a poor young man who goes to
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: get the talismanic wand which will put him in the
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: possession of the most beautiful princess in the world. Therefore
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: I request that you shall aid him. Then they all answered,
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: whatever is thy will we do. The next scene was wood,
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: where this young man passes through and is attacked by demons, snakes,
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: and all sorts of bad things. At length he goes
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: to sleep, And I appeared to him in the sun
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: and hold a scroll which says on it persevere the
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: fairies like guardians are ever near. Then the scene changes
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: to a demon's place of resort. Here is all fire
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: and demons with square faces, and some with humpbacks, and
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: some with google eyes, claws, wings, and tails. The king
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: then said, ye, devils of lower regions, come forward, And
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: instantly a whole troop of devils of all shapes and
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: sizes came forward. He then told them that he wanted
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: them to exert themselves and to try to keep that
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: young man from getting the wand so that he could
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: not get the princess. Then one of the devils said
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: that he would go and misguide him. And so he
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: dressed up as a handsome young man and went and
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: met this man that was going to get the wand
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: and said, friend, where goest thou I go seek the
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: Wand you do, why then you've got the wrong path
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: I have. Why twas only a minute ago that an
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: old man said I had gone the right path if
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: I went to seek the wand do not believe him
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: he lies. That is the way which lies open before
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: take that path there adieu. The young man that was
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: to seek the wand said, how lucky that I had
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: met that man, for if I had not, I should
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: have gone the wrong way and missed the princess forever.
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: Then there was a clashing sound, and I appeared in
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: the sun and held another scroll which said that young
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: man is a demon in disguise and has led you
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: into the wrong path. Take this ball and throw it
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: before you, and wherever it rolls, you follow. I throw
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: him down a ball. He then followed the ball and disappeared.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: The next scene was where the fairies were, and they
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: sung splendidly. Presently, the Queen came through the air, riding
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: a chariot drawn by Peacock's She said, listen, fairies. Then
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: the fairy said, we will. The Queen said, the young
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: man will soon reach the place where the Wand is kept.
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: I wish you to help him across the golden lake.
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: Now disperse. Then all the fairies disappeared. The next scene
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: was where the demons were again, and the demon screamed horribly,
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: and the king came through the air in a coach
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: drawn by serpents, and said, hark demons, and the demon said,
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: we will. The King said, the young man, who will
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: soon be at the palace, in spite of her endeavors,
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: is to cross the golden Lake. And I wish you
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: to do in all your power to prevent him from
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: getting that wand now go, and all the devils went.
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: The next scene was at the palace where the wand
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: was kept, and the young man got the wand in
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: spite of all the devils and bats and owls, serpents,
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: dragons and ghosts. As soon as he had got the
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: wand in his hands, the devils all uttered in a
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: scream and went through the floor, and a chariot came
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: through the air with the princess who was my mother,
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: and the fairy Queen. The scene changed into a most
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: beautiful garden, with the Palace of the Sun at the back,
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: and the Sun over it, and I in it. All
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: the performers were on stage at once and danced a
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: fairy dance. This ended the pantomime, or rather spectacle, for
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: nearly all spoke. After the performance, a little girl came
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: into the dressing room and her father and mother. My
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: mother saw that she cast longing eyes at me, and
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: so she stepped up and said, will you be so
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: kind to accept this doll? The little girl said she would.
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: End of chapter fifteen Chapter sixteen of Memoirs of a
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: Country Doll. This is a liberyvox recording. All liveryvox recordings
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: please visit liberyvox dot org. We then drove home. My
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: mother's name was Gara Flna Shopper. They were a very vulgar,
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: purse proud, stuck up people. My little mother was all
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: the time talking to me about money and making a show.
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: We went to a party one night. My mother's mother,
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: my grandmother, did not know how to dress in a
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: good taste at all. She was dressed in black and
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: yellow changeable silk, and my mother was dressed in a
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: green and orange with a wreath of red roses in
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: her hair. My grandmother tried to talk in French, but
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: she mispronounced every word. That evening, when anyone was introduced,
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: she would ask them if they could barely cowse frog's hay,
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: And at supper she said that she would take chalk
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: a lot. It was such a soul stirring beverage. She
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: took ice cream and said that she always took ice
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: cream because she thought it cooled her a heterogeneous and
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: amalgamated system. Besides, it was the very merry month of Jewin.
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: At home. When we had company, she always talked, so
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: we had some pretty high folks, for she had worked
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: her way into the upper ten. One evening, Sir Thomas
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: Fritzpatrick came to see her at tea. She said, dear sir,
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: let me persuade you to take one airy mouthful of
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: farm boyses or else, do consent to taste some formage.
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: It's quite new, my lord, and I hope it will
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: please your diddle Detroit. Taste after tea, she said, Oh,
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: my lord, don't you perfectly adore Bryan and Shakespeare. I
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: think that one is so chirumbucal and the other is
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: so sraphacal. Don't you recollect that passage from macbeth An
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: Act second and scene second, hark who lies i the
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: second Chamber, and in Hamlet's sulky and scene fifth, act
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: first alas poor ghost, my little mother used to prink
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: me before the glass and hold me up to see
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: how handsome I was till I was very tired of
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: looking at myself. My mother never let me do any sewing,
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: for fear I should spoil my fingers, and thus I
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: passed a very idle life. I could not read much,
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: as my mother was afraid that I would hurt my eyes.
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: One day, my mother said that her grandmother was coming
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: to live with us, and also her aunt, who was
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: not married. She said that she hated old maids, though
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: they had to come, but she would not speak to them.
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: I was very sorry, indeed to hear this end of
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: chapter sixteen, Chapter seventeen of Memoirs of a Country Doll.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All libriyvox recordings are in
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: the public. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: libryvox dot org. One day before her grandmother and aunt came,
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: my fine mother, gar Flina told me that she had
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: been invited to a nutting, but as a nutting was
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: so low a pastime, she had half a mind not
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: to go. Her mother, however, told her she would cut
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: such a grand show that she had better go. So
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: she had consented and was going to take me with her.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: The next morning, my mother was up early and awoke
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: me when the following conversation was held. Josie, my dear,
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: I think that you had better have on your silk dress,
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: as I want you to make a grand show, said
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: my mother, but said I hadn't I better wear another,
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: as I may spoil it.
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: Child, what can you be thinking of? Don't you want
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: to make a show? Yes, mother, but I had rather
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: take comfort than make a show. Stop, do as I
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: bid you and say no more about it. In the
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: course of an hour, my mother and I had got dressed,
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: and as we descended into the dining room, Groflina's mother
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: said to her, my dear, the young missus and masters
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: have all been waiting here for some time, and I
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: told them that you were not up yet, and so
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: they waited. Dear me, how sorry I am, said my
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: mother in her most effective tone, to have given these
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: young ladies and gentlemen the affliction of waiting for me?
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: Not at all, they politely replied. We now started, And
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: as we got out of the door, my mother started
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: back and said, mercy on me, haven't you any carriage
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: or beruche for us to ride in? I shall be
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: so extremely and exceedingly fatigued. However, they had not, and
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: so we started along gar Flina, all the time laminating
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: that she had not got her land due with her,
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: and as she would die very soon in an hour
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: or so. We got to the woods where we sat
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: down to rest ourselves. While thus resting, we heard a
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: very loud screaming, and turning in the direction of the cry,
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: there we saw my mother, Garflina, screeching with all her might.
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: Oh save me, save me, she cried. All the boys
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: and girls ran to her and asked her what was
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: the matter. Oh, the spider. The spider, she screamed, and
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: upon looking they found a very small spider on her dress,
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: and she, instead of shaking it off, began to scream lusciously.
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: I thought my mother was very foolish to make so
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: much ado about a little spider, but I did not
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: tell her so. Garflina, being rid of the spider, began
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: to gather nuts with the rest of the party. But
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: then she tore her dress on a bramble bush and
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: had her veil torn off by the boughs, which accidents
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: made her so ill humored that they all secretly agreed
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: never to invite her again. As they were going home,
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: they saw a drove of cows before them, which made
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: my mother run and scream like a maniac. One of
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: the little girls said that they were her mother's cows,
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: and that if they would come into the cowyard they
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: could see the milk. None of the party hesitated, but Garflina,
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: who said that she did not want to go into
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: a dirty, old case cowyard. Soon, however, she had changed
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: her mind and went, I had seen cow's milk at
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: my mother's house. I mean, Agnes Earles, But I enjoyed
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: the scene before me very much. First half of the
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: girls tried, and then the other half, and then half
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: of the boys, and then the other half. When it
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: came to Garflina's turn, she went about it so awkwardly
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: that it made them all laugh. She splattered a shower
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: of milk over upon her dress. The cow knocked her down,
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: and when she got up she was indeed a sight.
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: Her dress and veil were torn and splattered with dirt,
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: and her dress was all covered with spots where the
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: milk had been splattered upon her. When she got home,
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: she complained of the ill treatment she had received, and
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: her mother said that she should never go again to
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: a nutting. When I went to sleep that night, I
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: prayed that I might be delivered from such a mother
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: and be placed in the hands of a better one,
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: who had more sense and was not so ill humored
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: and proud. Early next morning, my mother told me sorrowfully
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: that her old aunt and grandmother were coming next week,
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: for which I was quite sorry for my mother, for
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: I thought that I had enough of troubles. End of
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: chapter seventeen. Chapter eighteen of Memoirs of a Country Doll.
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: This is a liberyvox recording. All liveryvox recordings are in
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, pleased
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: with the liberyvox dot org. In a week they arrived.
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: The old maid was a quittling thing, and the grandmother
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: was always saying that she could never get a cold,
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: and then she would tell how she got it. One day,
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: this aunt, her name was Besty Harper, said to my mother,
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: do you make your doll's hair curl a little more
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: in the front and tie her shoe string a little longer?
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: And there do you fix her apron string? I hate
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: to see it touch the placket hole, Oh, said her grandmother.
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: Never mind Besty, if you had such a cold as
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: I've got, I never can get rid of it. Do stop,
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: said Besty. This aunt objected to my having my soup
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: eaten so quick. She always allowed herself five minutes to
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: have it eaten, and no more nor less. Then I
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: was to hold my spoon just so, and only to
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: put half a spoonful in at a time. For she
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: had known little girls, and she said, why not dolls
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: as well as girls to be choked in taking a
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: whole spoonful at a time. Nor must I take a
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: quarter of a spoonful, as I would not have my
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: soup eaten in five minutes. I am sorry to say
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: that I often wished that this aunt was in the
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: Red Sea, and not very near dry land. But I
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: suppose that it was all meant for my good. One
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: evening there was company, and one lady took me up
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: and said, this is a beautiful doll. But don't you
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: think that she would be handsomer if she had her
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: hair curled a little closer, and if one of her
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: nostrils was a little better shaped, and if one of
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: her eyes was a little higher and blacker, said Besty Harper,
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: I don't know I'm sure, sighed the lady. At this moment,
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: Garflina came up and said that if the lady would
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: be pleased to accept of the doll and care ca
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: read it home to her little girl, that she would
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: be very much obliged to her. The lady thanked Gara
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: Flina and said that Amelia would be very much pleased
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: with me. I hoped that my new mother would take
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: good care of me and would love me very much.
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: Whether she did or not, he will hear it in
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: the next chapter. End of chapter eighteen, Chapter nineteen of
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: Memoirs of a Country Doll. This is a Libery Box recording.
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: All Libery Box recordings are in the public domain. For
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: more information or to volunteer, please visit liberyvox dot org. Amelia,
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: see what I bought you, said missus joyce to her
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: little girl. What is it? Mother, A most beautiful little doll? Oh,
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: goody mother, how glad I am? Well, my little girl,
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: I am glad to see that you liked the doll.
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: But wait till morning, and then you can see her plainly.
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: The next day was occupied in admiring me. Her mother said, Amelia,
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: now you must be very careful of this doll. Her
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: name is Josephine Ardoldton. Oh, yes, mother, I shall be
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: very careful of her. Indeed, But in a week my
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: mother began to be rather careless of me. She left
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: me all around the house, and very often left me
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: in the barn and in the wood house all night.
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: One day, when as usual she had left me on
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: the sofa, a fat old lady came in and sat
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: on me and broke on my arms. All the time
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: that she was sitting on me. She hurt me dreadfully,
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: and I could not speak. She suffocated me. So after
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: she had gone, my mother found me and said, oh, oh,
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: my dear child, how much you must have suffered to
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: have had old missus Jones sit on you. And I
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: do declare if your arm is not broken. Her mother,
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: who stood by, said, Amelia, she would not have been
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: broken if you had not left her about. In future,
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: you must look out where you leave her, and to
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: night I will get your father to mend her arm.
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: My next accident was thus Amelia's brother took me by
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: the arm and flung me around the room, and then
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: suddenly let me drop and cracked a piece out of
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: my head. I was taken to a shopper. I had
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: my head mended. One could scarcely notice the mark, except
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: a very little white spot wider than the rest of
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: my body. One day, Amelia was washing me, and she
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: held me too near to the fire to dry me.
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: When my hair caught and in a moment was all
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: in flames. I screamed with all my might, and so
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: did my mother, and her nursery maid caught me up
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: and sused me with a basin of water. Such a
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: fright as I was, my hair was all burned off.
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: It was some time before I got over my fright
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: and pain. The next week I was taken to the city,
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: where a barbarous made me another wig. One day, a
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: large Newfoundland dog took me up in his mouth and
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: run away with me only in fun, but I was
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: terribly frightened. In a day he brought me home again,
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: much to the relief of my mother and myself. My
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: mother told me that she had suffered very much for
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: my absence, and she was going to give me up
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: for lost. For one of our servants said that she
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: had better hunt for me, but after a while she
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: said she couldn't. When her maid came running up with
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: me and said that she had just found me on
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: the front doorstep. In a month, I had my right
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: leg broken very badly, but after a while it got
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: well again. My mother carried me out to a walk
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: when the same dog snatched me away and took me
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: to my present mother. End of chapter nineteen, Chapter twenty
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: of Memoirs of a Country Doll. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: All liberyvox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit liberyvox dot org. My
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: new mother's name was Violet la Grange, and she was
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: very much pleased with me and showed me all around
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: the house. Everyone else seemed pleased with me too, especially Lily,
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: her younger sister, who patted the dog and called him
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: a real good dog and many other names. The place
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: where I now live is called Lagrange Place and is
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: a most beautiful mansion house with parks and everything else
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: befitting such a splendid place. My new mother made me
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: dresses and got me a little house in which I
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: can live. I think I shall never have any other mamma,
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: for she told her little sister that she should have
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: me when she herself is too old to play with me.
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: I have formed an acquaintance with another doll who lives
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: a little way from here. Her name is Maria Poppett,
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: and her mother is Lucy Ashbourne, the most intimate friend
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: of my mother. For Maria, I entertain a most lively friendship,
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: and when our mammas are playing round, we relate to
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: each other our adventures. Maria's adventures you may read in
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: a volume entitled The London Doll. I now close, hoping
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: that my readers will find as much pleasure in reading
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: my adventures as they have had in reading Maria's end
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: of chapter twenty