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The Little Princess Chapter 16 - The Visitor · The Frances Hodgson Burnett Library

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Speaker 1: CHAPTER XVI. THE VISITOR Imagine, if you can, what the
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Speaker 1: rest of the evening was like— how they crouched by the
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Speaker 1: fire which blazed and leaped and made so much of
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Speaker 1: itself in the little grate— how they removed the covers of
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Speaker 1: the dishes— how and found rich, hot, savory soup, which was
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Speaker 1: a meal in itself, and sandwiches and toast and muffins
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Speaker 1: enough for both of them. The mug from the washstand
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Speaker 1: was used as Becky's teacup, and the tea was so
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Speaker 1: delicious that it was not necessary to pretend that it
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Speaker 1: was anything but tea. They were warm and full-fed and happy,
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Speaker 1: and it was just like Sarah that, having found her
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Speaker 1: strange good fortune real, she should give herself up to
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Speaker 1: the enjoyment of it, to the utmost. She had lived
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Speaker 1: such a life of imaginings that she was quite equal
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Speaker 1: to accepting any wonderful thing that happened, and almost to cease,
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Speaker 1: in a short time, to find it bewildering. I don't
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Speaker 1: know anyone in the world who could have done it,
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Speaker 1: she said, but there has been someone, and here we
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Speaker 1: are sitting by their fire, and, and it's true, and
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Speaker 1: whoever it is, whoever they are, I have a friend, Becky.
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Speaker 1: Someone is my friend. It cannot be denied that as
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Speaker 1: they sat before the blazing fire and ate the nourishing,
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Speaker 1: comfortable food, they felt a kind of rapturous awe and
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Speaker 1: looked into each other's eyes with something like doubt. Do
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Speaker 1: you think, Becky faltered once in a whisper, Do you
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Speaker 1: think it could melt away, miss? Hadn't we better be quick?
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Speaker 1: and she hastily crammed her sandwich into her mouth. If
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Speaker 1: it was only a dream, kitchen manners would be overlooked. No,
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Speaker 1: it won't melt away, said Sarah. I am eating this muffin,
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Speaker 1: and I can taste it. You never really eat things
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Speaker 1: in dreams. You only think you are going to eat them. Besides,
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Speaker 1: I keep giving myself pinches, and I touched a hot
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Speaker 1: piece of coal just now on purpose. The sleepy comfort
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Speaker 1: which at length almost overpowered them was a heavenly thing.
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Speaker 1: It was the drowsiness of happy, well-fed childhood, and they
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Speaker 1: sat in the fire-glow and luxuriated in it until Sarah
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Speaker 1: found herself turning to look at her transformed bed. There
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Speaker 1: were even blankets enough to share with Becky. The narrow
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Speaker 1: couch in the next attic was more comfortable that night
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Speaker 1: than its occupant had ever dreamed that it could be.
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Speaker 1: As she went out of the room, Becky turned upon
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Speaker 1: the threshold and looked about her with devouring eyes. If
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Speaker 1: it ain't here in the morning, miss, she said, it's
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Speaker 1: been here tonight anyways, and I shall never forget it.
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Speaker 1: She looked at each particular thing as if to commit
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Speaker 1: it to memory. The fire was there, pointing with her finger,
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Speaker 1: and the table was before it, and the lamp was there,
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Speaker 1: and the light looked rosy red, and there was a
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Speaker 1: satin cover on your bed, and a warm rug on
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Speaker 1: the floor, and everything looked beautiful, and... She paused a
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Speaker 1: second and laid her hand on her stomach tenderly. There
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Speaker 1: was soup and sandwiches and muffins. There was. And, with
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Speaker 1: this conviction a reality at last, she went away. Through
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Speaker 1: the mysterious agency which works in schools and among servants,
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Speaker 1: it was quite well known in the morning that Sarah
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Speaker 1: Crewe was in horrible disgrace, that Ermengarde was under punishment,
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Speaker 1: and that Becky would have been packed out of the
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Speaker 1: house before breakfast, but that a scullery maid could not
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Speaker 1: be dispensed with at once. The servants knew that she
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Speaker 1: was allowed to stay, because Miss Minchin could not easily
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Speaker 1: find another creature helpless and humble enough to work like
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Speaker 1: a bounden slave for so few shillings a week. The
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Speaker 1: elder girls in the schoolroom knew that if Miss Minchin
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Speaker 1: did not send Sarah away it was for practical reasons
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Speaker 1: of her own.' She' s growing so fast and learning such
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Speaker 1: a lot somehow,' said Jessie to Lavinia,' that she will
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Speaker 1: be given classes soon, and Miss Minchin knows she will
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Speaker 1: have to work for nothing.' It was rather nasty of you, Lavi,
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Speaker 1: to tell about her having fun in the garret. How
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Speaker 1: did you find it out? I got it out of Lottie.
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Speaker 1: She's such a baby, she didn't know she was telling me.
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Speaker 1: There was nothing nasty at all in speaking to Miss Minchin.
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Speaker 1: I felt it my duty. Priggishly. She was being deceitful,
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Speaker 1: and it's ridiculous that she should look so grand and
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Speaker 1: be made so much of in her rags and tatters.
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Speaker 1: What were they doing when Miss Minchin caught them? pretending
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Speaker 1: some silly thing. Ermengarde had taken up her hamper to
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Speaker 1: share with Sarah and Becky. She never invites us to
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Speaker 1: share things. Not that I care, but it's rather vulgar
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Speaker 1: of her to share with servant girls in attics. I
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Speaker 1: wonder Miss Minchin didn't turn Sarah out, even if she
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Speaker 1: does want her for teacher. If she was turned out,
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Speaker 1: where would she go? inquired Jessie a trifle anxiously. How
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Speaker 1: do I know? snapped Lavinia. She'll look rather queer when
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Speaker 1: she comes into the schoolroom this morning, I should think,
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Speaker 1: after what's happened. She had no dinner yesterday, and she's
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Speaker 1: not to have any today. Jessie was not as ill-natured
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Speaker 1: as she was silly. She picked up her book with
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Speaker 1: a little jerk. Well, I think it's horrid, she said.
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Speaker 1: They've no right to starve her to death. When Sarah
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Speaker 1: went into the kitchen that morning, the cook looked askance
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Speaker 1: at her, and so did the housemaids, but she passed
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Speaker 1: them hurriedly. She had, in fact, overslept herself a little,
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Speaker 1: and as Becky had done the same, neither had had
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Speaker 1: time to see the other, and each had come downstairs
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Speaker 1: in haste. Sarah went into the scullery. Becky was violently
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Speaker 1: scrubbing a kettle and was actually gurgling a little song
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Speaker 1: in her throat. She looked up with a wildly elated face.
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Speaker 1: It was there when I wakened, miss, the blanket, she
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Speaker 1: whispered excitedly. It was as real as it was last night.
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Speaker 1: So was mine, said Sarah. It is all there now,
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Speaker 1: all of it. When I was dressing I ate some
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Speaker 1: of the cold things we left. How laws, how laws!
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Speaker 1: Becky uttered the exclamation in a sort of rapturous groan,
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Speaker 1: and ducked her head over her kettle just in time,
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Speaker 1: as the cook came in from the kitchen. Miss Minchin
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Speaker 1: had expected to see in Sarah, when she appeared in
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Speaker 1: the schoolroom, very much what Lavinia had expected to see.
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Speaker 1: Sarah had always been an annoying puzzle to her, because
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Speaker 1: severity never made her cry or look frightened. When she
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Speaker 1: was scolded, she stood still and listened politely with a
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Speaker 1: grave face. When she was punished, she performed her extra
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Speaker 1: tasks or went without her meals, making no complaint or
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Speaker 1: outward sign of rebellion. The very fact that she never
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Speaker 1: made an impudent answer seemed to mismention a kind of
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Speaker 1: impudence in itself. But after yesterday's deprivation of meals, the
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Speaker 1: violent scene of last night, the prospect of hunger to-day,
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Speaker 1: she must surely have broken down. It would be strange
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Speaker 1: indeed if she did not come downstairs with pale cheeks
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Speaker 1: and red eyes and an unhappy, humbled face. Miss Minchin
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Speaker 1: saw her for the first time when she entered the
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Speaker 1: schoolroom to hear the little French class recite its lessons
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Speaker 1: and superintend its exercises. And she came in with a
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Speaker 1: springing step, color in her cheeks and a smile hovering
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Speaker 1: about the corners of her mouth. It was the most
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Speaker 1: astonishing thing Miss Minchin had ever known. It gave her
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Speaker 1: quite a shock. What was the child made of? What
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Speaker 1: could such a thing mean? She called her at once
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Speaker 1: to her desk. You do not look as if you
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Speaker 1: realize that you are in disgrace, she said. Are you
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Speaker 1: absolutely hardened? The truth is that when one is still
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Speaker 1: a child, or even if one is grown up, and
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Speaker 1: has been well fed, and has slept long and softly
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Speaker 1: and warm— when one has gone to sleep in the
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Speaker 1: midst of a fairy story and has wakened to find
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Speaker 1: it real. One cannot be unhappy or even look as
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Speaker 1: if one were, and one could not, if one tried,
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Speaker 1: keep a glow of joy out of one's eyes. Miss
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Speaker 1: Minchin was almost struck dumb by the look of Sarah's
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Speaker 1: eyes when she made her perfectly respectful answer. I beg
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Speaker 1: your pardon, Miss Minchin, she said. I know that I
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Speaker 1: am in disgrace. Be good enough not to forget it,
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Speaker 1: and look as if you had come into a fortune.
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Speaker 1: It is an impertinence, and remember, you are to have
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Speaker 1: no food to-day.'' Yes, Miss Minchin,' Sarah answered, but as
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Speaker 1: she turned away, her heart leaped with the memory of
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Speaker 1: what yesterday had been.' If the magic had not saved
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Speaker 1: me just in time,' she thought, how horrible it would
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Speaker 1: have been.' She can't be very hungry,' whispered Lavinia.' Just
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Speaker 1: look at her.' Perhaps she is pretending she has had
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Speaker 1: a good breakfast, with a spiteful laugh. She's different from
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Speaker 1: other people, said Jessie, watching Sarah with her class. Sometimes
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Speaker 1: I'm a bit frightened of her. Ridiculous thing, ejaculated Lavinia.
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Speaker 1: All through the day the light was in Sarah's face
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Speaker 1: and the color in her cheek. The servants cast puzzled
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Speaker 1: glances at her and whispered to each other, and Miss
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Speaker 1: Amelia's small blue eyes wore an expression of bewilderment. What
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Speaker 1: such an audacious look of well-being under Augustus' pleasure could
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Speaker 1: mean she could not understand. It was, however, just like
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Speaker 1: Sarah's singular obstinate way. She was probably determined to brave
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Speaker 1: the matter out. One thing Sarah had resolved upon as
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Speaker 1: she thought things over. The wonders which had happened must
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Speaker 1: be kept a secret, if such a thing were possible.
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Speaker 1: If Miss Minchin should choose to to mount to the
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Speaker 1: attic again, of course all would be discovered. But it
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Speaker 1: did not seem likely that she would do so for
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Speaker 1: some time at least, unless she was led by suspicion.
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Speaker 1: Ermengarde and Lottie would be watched with such strictness that
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Speaker 1: they would not dare to steal out of their beds again.
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Speaker 1: Ermengarde could be told the story and trusted to keep
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Speaker 1: it secret. If Lottie made any discoveries, she could be
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Speaker 1: bound to secrecy also. Perhaps the magic itself would help
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Speaker 1: to hide its own marvels. But whatever happens, Sarah kept
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Speaker 1: saying to herself all day, whatever happens, somewhere in the
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Speaker 1: world there is a heavenly, kind person who is my friend,
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Speaker 1: my friend. If I never know who it is, if
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Speaker 1: I never can even thank him, I shall never feel
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Speaker 1: quite so lonely.' Oh, the magic was good to me.
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Speaker 1: If it was possible for weather to be worse than
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Speaker 1: it had been the day before, it was worse this day. Wetter, muddier, colder.
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Speaker 1: There were more errands to be done, the cook was
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Speaker 1: more irritable, and knowing that Sarah was in disgrace, she
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Speaker 1: was more savage. But what does anything matter when one's
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Speaker 1: magic has just proved itself one's friend? Sarah's supper of
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Speaker 1: the night before had given her strength She knew that
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Speaker 1: she should sleep well and warmly, and even though she
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Speaker 1: had naturally begun to be hungry again before evening, she
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Speaker 1: felt that she could bear it until breakfast time on
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Speaker 1: the following day, when her meals would surely be given
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Speaker 1: to her again. It was quite late when she was
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Speaker 1: at last allowed to go upstairs. She had been told
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Speaker 1: to go into the schoolroom and study until ten o'clock,
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Speaker 1: and she had become interested in her work and remained
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Speaker 1: over her books later. When she reached the top flight
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Speaker 1: of stairs and stood before the attic door, It must
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Speaker 1: be confessed that her heart beat rather fast. Of course,
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Speaker 1: it might all have been taken away, she whispered, trying
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Speaker 1: to be brave. It might only have been lent to
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Speaker 1: me for just that one awful night. But it was
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Speaker 1: lent to me. I had it. It was real. She
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Speaker 1: pushed the door open and went in. Once inside, she
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Speaker 1: gasped slightly, shut the door, and stood with her back
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Speaker 1: against it, looking from side to side. the magic had
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Speaker 1: been there again. It actually had, and it had done
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Speaker 1: even more than before. The fire was blazing, in lovely
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Speaker 1: leaping flames, more merrily than ever. A number of new
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Speaker 1: things had been brought into the attic, which so altered
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Speaker 1: the look of it, that if she had not been
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Speaker 1: past doubting, she would have rubbed her eyes. Upon the
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Speaker 1: low table another supper stood, this time with cups and
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Speaker 1: plates for Becky as well as herself. A piece of bright, heavy,
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Speaker 1: strange embroidery covered the battered mantle, and on it some
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Speaker 1: ornaments had been placed. All the bare, ugly things which
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Speaker 1: could be covered with draperies had been concealed and made
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Speaker 1: to look quite pretty. Some odd materials of rich colors
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Speaker 1: had been fastened against the wall with fine, sharp tacks,
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Speaker 1: so sharp that they could be pressed into the wood
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Speaker 1: and plaster without hammering. Some brilliant fans were pinned up,
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Speaker 1: and there were several large cushions. big and substantial enough
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Speaker 1: to use as seats. A wooden box was covered with
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Speaker 1: a rug and some cushions lay on it, so that
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Speaker 1: it wore quite the air of a sofa. Sarah slowly
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Speaker 1: moved away from the door and simply sat down and
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Speaker 1: looked and looked again.' It is exactly like something fairy
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Speaker 1: come true,' she said.' There isn't the least difference. I
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Speaker 1: feel as if I might wish for anything, diamonds or
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Speaker 1: bags of gold, and they would appear.' That wouldn't be
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Speaker 1: any stranger than this. Is this my Garrett? Am I
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Speaker 1: the same cold, ragged, damp Sarah? And to think I
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Speaker 1: used to pretend and pretend and wish there were fairies.
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Speaker 1: The one thing I always wanted was to see a
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Speaker 1: fairy story come true. I am living in a fairy story.
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Speaker 1: I feel as if I might be a fairy myself
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Speaker 1: and able to turn things into anything else. She rose
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Speaker 1: and knocked upon the wall for the prisoner in the
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Speaker 1: next cell, and the prisoner came. When she entered, she
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Speaker 1: almost dropped in a heap upon the floor. For a
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Speaker 1: few seconds, she quite lost her breath.' Oh, laws!' she gasped.' Oh, laws, miss!''
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Speaker 1: You see,' said Sarah. On this night, Becky sat on
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Speaker 1: a cushion upon the hearth-rug and had a cup and
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Speaker 1: saucer of her own. When Sarah went to bed, she
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Speaker 1: found that she had a new thick mattress and big
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Speaker 1: downy pillows. Her old mattress and pillow had been removed
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Speaker 1: to Becky's bedstead, and consequently, with these additions, Becky had
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Speaker 1: been supplied with unheard-of comfort. Where does it all come from?
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Speaker 1: Becky broke forth once. Laws, who does it, miss? Don't
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Speaker 1: let us even ask, said Sarah. If it were not
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Speaker 1: that I want to say, oh, thank you, I would
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Speaker 1: rather not know. It makes it more beautiful. From that time,
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Speaker 1: life became more wonderful day by day. The fairy story continued.
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Speaker 1: Almost every day something new was done. Some new comfort
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Speaker 1: or ornament appeared each time Sarah opened the door at night,
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Speaker 1: until in a short time the attic was a beautiful
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Speaker 1: little room full of all sorts of odd and luxurious things.
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Speaker 1: The ugly walls were gradually entirely covered with pictures and draperies.
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Speaker 1: Ingenious pieces of folding furniture appeared. A bookshelf was hung
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Speaker 1: up and filled with books. New comforts and conveniences appeared
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Speaker 1: one by one, until there seemed nothing left to be desired.
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Speaker 1: When Sarah went downstairs in the morning, the remains of
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Speaker 1: the supper were still on the table, and when she
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Speaker 1: returned to the attic in the evening, the magician had
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Speaker 1: removed them and left another nice little meal. Miss Mention
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Speaker 1: was as harsh and insulting as ever, Miss Amelia as peevish,
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Speaker 1: and the servants were as vulgar and rude. Sarah was
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Speaker 1: sent on errands in all weathers, and scolded and driven
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Speaker 1: hither and thither. She was scarcely allowed to speak to
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Speaker 1: Ermengarde and Lottie. Lavinia sneered at the increasing shabbiness of
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Speaker 1: her clothes, and the other girls stared curiously at her
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Speaker 1: when she appeared in the schoolroom. But what did it
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Speaker 1: all matter while she was living in this wonderful, mysterious story?
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Speaker 1: It was more romantic and delightful than anything she had
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Speaker 1: ever invented to comfort her starved young soul and save
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Speaker 1: herself from despair. Sometimes, when she was scolded, she could
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Speaker 1: scarcely keep from smiling.' If you only knew!' she was
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Speaker 1: saying to herself, if you only knew. The comfort and
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Speaker 1: happiness she enjoyed were making her stronger, and she had
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Speaker 1: them always to look forward to. If she came home
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Speaker 1: from her errands wet and tired and hungry, she knew
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Speaker 1: she would soon be warm and well-fed after she had
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Speaker 1: climbed the stairs. During the hardest day, she could occupy
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Speaker 1: herself blissfully by thinking of what she should see when
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Speaker 1: she opened the attic door, and wondering what new delight
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Speaker 1: had been prepared for her. In a very short time,
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Speaker 1: she began to look less thin. Color came into her cheeks,
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Speaker 1: and her eyes did not seem so much too big
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Speaker 1: for her face. Sarah Crewe looks wonderfully well, Miss Minchin
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Speaker 1: remarked disapprovingly to her sister. Yes, answered poor silly Miss Amelia.
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Speaker 1: She is absolutely fattening. She was beginning to look like
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Speaker 1: a little starved crow. Starved! exclaimed Miss Minchin angrily. There
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Speaker 1: was no reason why she should look starved. She always
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Speaker 1: had plenty to eat. Of course, agreed Miss Amelia humbly,
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Speaker 1: alarmed to find that she had, as usual, said the
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Speaker 1: wrong thing. There is something very disagreeable in seeing that
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Speaker 1: sort of thing in a child of her age, said
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Speaker 1: Miss Minchin, with haughty vagueness. What sort of thing? Miss
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Speaker 1: Amelia ventured. It might almost be called defiance, answered Miss Minchin,
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Speaker 1: feeling annoyed because she knew the thing she resented was
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Speaker 1: nothing like defiance, and she did not know what other
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Speaker 1: unpleasant term to use. The spirit and will of any
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Speaker 1: other child would have been entirely humbled and broken by— by
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Speaker 1: the changes she has had to submit to. But upon
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Speaker 1: my word, she seems as little subdued as if— as if
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Speaker 1: she were a princess.' Do you remember,' put in the
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Speaker 1: unwise Miss Amelia,' what she said to you that day
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Speaker 1: in the schoolroom?' about what you would do if you
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Speaker 1: found out that she was—'' No, I don't,' said Miss Minchin.'
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Speaker 1: Don' t talk nonsense.' But she remembered very clearly indeed. Very naturally,
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Speaker 1: even Becky was beginning to look plumper and less frightened.
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Speaker 1: She could not help it. She had her share in
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Speaker 1: the secret fairy story, too. She had two mattresses, two pillows,
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Speaker 1: plenty of bed covering, and every night a hot supper
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Speaker 1: and a seat on the cushions by the fire. The
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Speaker 1: Bastille had melted away, the prisoners no longer existed. Two
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Speaker 1: comforted children sat in the midst of delights. Sometimes Sarah
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Speaker 1: read aloud from her books, sometimes she learned her own lessons,
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Speaker 1: sometimes she sat and looked into the fire, and tried
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Speaker 1: to imagine who her friend could be, and wished she
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Speaker 1: could say to him some of the things in her heart.
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Speaker 1: Then it came about that another wonderful thing happened. A
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Speaker 1: man came to the door and left several parcels. all
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Speaker 1: were addressed in large letters to the little girl in
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Speaker 1: the right-hand attic sarah herself was sent to open the
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Speaker 1: door and take them in she laid the two largest
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Speaker 1: parcels on the hall table and was looking at the
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Speaker 1: address when miss minchin came down the stairs and saw
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Speaker 1: her' Take the things to the young lady to whom
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Speaker 1: they belong,' she said severely.' Don' t stand there staring at them.''
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Speaker 1: They belong to me,' answered Sarah quietly.' To you!' exclaimed
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Speaker 1: Miss Minchin.' What do you mean?'' I don't know where
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Speaker 1: they come from,' said Sarah.' but they are addressed to me.
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Speaker 1: I sleep in the right-hand attic. Becky has the other one.
20:15
Speaker 1: Miss Minchin came to her side and looked at the
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Speaker 1: parcels with an excited expression.' What is in them?' she demanded.'
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Speaker 1: I don't know,' replied Sarah.' Open them,' she ordered. Sarah
20:29
Speaker 1: did as she was told. When the packages were unfolded,
20:32
Speaker 1: Miss Minchin's countenance wore suddenly a singular expression. What she
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Speaker 1: saw was pretty and comfortable clothing, clothing of different kinds, shoes,
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Speaker 1: stockings and gloves, and a warm and beautiful coat. There
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Speaker 1: were even a nice hat and an umbrella. They were
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Speaker 1: all good and expensive things, and on the pocket of
20:52
Speaker 1: the coat was pinned a paper on which were written
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Speaker 1: these words, To be worn every day, will be replaced
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Speaker 1: by others when necessary. Miss Minchin was quite agitated. This
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Speaker 1: was an incident which suggested strange things to her sordid mind.
21:09
Speaker 1: Could it be that she had made a mistake, after all,
21:12
Speaker 1: and that the neglected child had some powerful though eccentric
21:15
Speaker 1: friend in the background, perhaps some previously unknown relation, who
21:19
Speaker 1: had suddenly traced her whereabouts, and chose to provide for
21:22
Speaker 1: her in this mysterious and fantastic way? Relations were sometimes
21:26
Speaker 1: very odd, particularly rich old bachelor uncles, who did not
21:30
Speaker 1: care for having children near them. A man of that
21:33
Speaker 1: sort might prefer to overlook his young relation's welfare at
21:36
Speaker 1: a distance. Such a person, however, would be sure to
21:39
Speaker 1: be crotchety and hot-tempered enough to be easily offended. It
21:43
Speaker 1: would not be very pleasant if there were such a one,
21:45
Speaker 1: and he should learn all the truth about the thin,
21:48
Speaker 1: shabby clothes, the scant food, and the hard work. She
21:52
Speaker 1: felt very queer indeed, and very uncertain, and she gave
21:56
Speaker 1: a side glance at Sarah.' Well,' she said, in a
22:01
Speaker 1: voice such as she had never used since the little
22:03
Speaker 1: girl lost her father.' Someone is very kind to you.
22:07
Speaker 1: As the things have been sent, and you are to
22:10
Speaker 1: have new ones when they are worn out, you may
22:12
Speaker 1: as well go and put them on and look respectable.
22:15
Speaker 1: After you are dressed you may come downstairs and learn
22:17
Speaker 1: your lessons in the schoolroom. You need not go out
22:20
Speaker 1: on any more errands to-day.' About half an hour afterward,
22:24
Speaker 1: when the schoolroom door opened and Sarah walked in, the
22:27
Speaker 1: entire seminary was struck dumb. My word, ejaculated Jessie, jogging
22:34
Speaker 1: Lavinia's elbow. Look at the Princess Sarah. Everybody was looking,
22:40
Speaker 1: and when Lavinia looked, she turned quite red. It was
22:44
Speaker 1: the Princess Sarah indeed. At least since the days when
22:48
Speaker 1: she had been a princess, Sarah had never looked as
22:50
Speaker 1: she did now. She did not seem the Sarah they
22:53
Speaker 1: had seen come down the back stairs a few hours ago.
22:56
Speaker 1: She was dressed in the kind of frock Lavinia had
22:58
Speaker 1: been used to envying her the possession of. It was
23:01
Speaker 1: deep and warm in colour, and beautifully made. Her slender
23:05
Speaker 1: feet looked as they had done when Jessie had admired them,
23:08
Speaker 1: and the hair, whose heavy locks had made her look
23:11
Speaker 1: rather like a Shetland pony when it fell loose about
23:13
Speaker 1: her small, odd face, was tied back with a ribbon.
23:18
Speaker 1: Perhaps someone has left her a fortune, Jessie whispered. I
23:22
Speaker 1: always thought something would happen to her. She's so queer.
23:26
Speaker 1: Perhaps the diamond-mint have suddenly appeared again, said Lavinia scathingly.
23:31
Speaker 1: Don't please her by staring at her in that way,
23:33
Speaker 1: you silly thing. Sarah, broke in Miss Minchin's deep voice,
23:38
Speaker 1: come and sit here. And while the whole schoolroom stared
23:42
Speaker 1: and pushed with elbows and scarcely made any effort to
23:45
Speaker 1: conceal its excited curiosity, Sarah went to her old seat
23:49
Speaker 1: of honor and bent her head over her books. That
23:53
Speaker 1: night when she went to her room, after she and
23:55
Speaker 1: Becky had eaten their supper, she sat and looked at
23:58
Speaker 1: the fire seriously for a long time. Are you making
24:02
Speaker 1: something up in your head, miss? Becky inquired with a
24:05
Speaker 1: respectful softness. When Sarah sat in silence and looked into
24:09
Speaker 1: the coals with dreaming eyes, it generally meant that she
24:12
Speaker 1: was making a new story. But this time she was not,
24:17
Speaker 1: and she shook her head. No, she answered. I am
24:22
Speaker 1: wondering what I ought to do. Becky stared, still respectfully.
24:28
Speaker 1: She was filled with something approaching reverence for everything Sarah
24:31
Speaker 1: did and said. I can't help thinking about my friend,
24:36
Speaker 1: Sarah explained. If he wants to keep himself a secret,
24:40
Speaker 1: it would be rude to try and find out who
24:42
Speaker 1: he is. But I do so want him to know
24:45
Speaker 1: how thankful I am to him and how happy he
24:47
Speaker 1: has made me. Anyone who is kind wants to know
24:50
Speaker 1: when people have been made happy. They care for that
24:54
Speaker 1: more than for being thanked. I wish... I do wish.
24:59
Speaker 1: She stopped short, because her eyes at that instant fell
25:02
Speaker 1: upon something standing on a table in a corner. It
25:06
Speaker 1: was something she had found in the room when she
25:08
Speaker 1: came up to it only two days before. It was
25:11
Speaker 1: a little writing-case, fitted with paper and envelopes and pens
25:15
Speaker 1: and ink. Oh! she exclaimed. Why did I not think
25:20
Speaker 1: of that before? She rose and went to the corner
25:23
Speaker 1: and brought the case back to the fire. I can
25:27
Speaker 1: write to him, she said joyfully, and leave it on
25:30
Speaker 1: the table. Then perhaps the person who takes the things
25:33
Speaker 1: away will take it too. I won't ask him anything.
25:36
Speaker 1: He won't mind my thanking him, I feel sure. So
25:40
Speaker 1: she wrote a note. This is what she said. I
25:44
Speaker 1: hope you will not think it is impolite that I
25:46
Speaker 1: should write this note to you when you wish to
25:48
Speaker 1: keep yourself a secret. Please believe I do not mean
25:52
Speaker 1: to be impolite or try to find out anything at all.
25:56
Speaker 1: Only I want to thank you for being so kind
25:58
Speaker 1: to me, so heavenly kind, and making everything like a
26:02
Speaker 1: fairy story. I am so grateful to you, and I
26:05
Speaker 1: am so happy, and so is Becky. Becky feels just
26:10
Speaker 1: as thankful as I do. It is all just as
26:12
Speaker 1: beautiful and wonderful to her as it is to me.
26:15
Speaker 1: We used to be so lonely and cold and hungry,
26:19
Speaker 1: and now... Oh, just think what you have done for us.
26:23
Speaker 1: Please let me say just these words. It seems as
26:26
Speaker 1: if I ought to say them. Thank you. Thank you.
26:31
Speaker 1: Thank you. The Little Girl in the Attic The next
26:37
Speaker 1: morning she left this on the little table, and in
26:40
Speaker 1: the evening it had been taken away with the other things,
26:43
Speaker 1: so she knew the magician had received it, and she
26:46
Speaker 1: was happier for the thought. She was reading one of
26:49
Speaker 1: her new books to Becky just before they went to
26:51
Speaker 1: their respective beds, when her attention was attracted by a
26:54
Speaker 1: sound at the skylight. When she looked up from her page,
26:58
Speaker 1: she saw that Becky had heard the sound also, as
27:01
Speaker 1: she had turned her head to look and was listening
27:03
Speaker 1: rather nervously. Something's there, miss, she whispered. Yes, said Sarah slowly.
27:12
Speaker 1: It sounds rather like a cat trying to get in.
27:17
Speaker 1: She left her chair and went to the skylight. It
27:20
Speaker 1: was a queer little sound she heard, like a soft scratching.
27:24
Speaker 1: She suddenly remembered something and laughed. She remembered a quaint
27:27
Speaker 1: little intruder who had made his way into the attic
27:30
Speaker 1: once before. She had seen him that very afternoon, sitting
27:34
Speaker 1: disconsolately on a table before a window in the Indian
27:37
Speaker 1: gentleman's house.' Suppose,' she whispered in pleased excitement,' just suppose
27:44
Speaker 1: it was the monkey who got away again. Oh, I
27:46
Speaker 1: wish it was!' She climbed on a chair, very cautiously
27:50
Speaker 1: raised the skylight, and peeped out. It had been snowing
27:54
Speaker 1: all day, and on the snow quite near her crouched
27:57
Speaker 1: a tiny, shivering figure, whose small, black face wrinkled itself
28:01
Speaker 1: piteously at sight of her.' It is the monkey!' she
28:05
Speaker 1: cried out.' He' s crept out of the Lasker's attic, and
28:08
Speaker 1: he saw the light.' Becky ran to her side.' Are
28:12
Speaker 1: you going to let him in, miss?' she said.' Yes,'
28:16
Speaker 1: Sarah answered joyfully.' It' s too cold for monkeys to be out.
28:20
Speaker 1: They're delicate. I'll coax him in.' She put her hand
28:24
Speaker 1: out delicately, speaking in a coaxing voice. as she spoke
28:27
Speaker 1: to the sparrows and to Melchizedek, as if she were
28:31
Speaker 1: some friendly little animal herself.' Come along, monkey darling,' she said.'
28:36
Speaker 1: I won't hurt you.' He knew she would not hurt him.
28:41
Speaker 1: He knew it before she laid her soft, caressing little
28:44
Speaker 1: paw on him and drew him towards her. He had
28:47
Speaker 1: felt human love in the slim brown hands of Ram Dass,
28:51
Speaker 1: and he felt it in hers. He let her lift
28:54
Speaker 1: him through the skylight, and when he found himself in
28:56
Speaker 1: her arms, he cuddled up to her breast and looked
28:59
Speaker 1: up into her face. Nice monkey, nice monkey, she crooned,
29:06
Speaker 1: kissing his funny head. Oh, I do love little animal things.
29:11
Speaker 1: He was evidently glad to get to the fire, and
29:14
Speaker 1: when she sat down and held him in her knee,
29:16
Speaker 1: he looked from her to Becky with mingled interest and appreciation.
29:20
Speaker 1: He is plain looking, miss, ain't he? said Becky. He
29:24
Speaker 1: looks like a very ugly baby, laughed Sarah. I beg
29:28
Speaker 1: your pardon, monkey, but I'm glad you are not a baby.
29:31
Speaker 1: Your mother couldn't be proud of you, and no one
29:34
Speaker 1: would dare to say you look like any of your relations. Oh,
29:37
Speaker 1: I do like you. She leaned back in her chair
29:41
Speaker 1: and reflected. Perhaps he's sorry he's so ugly, she said,
29:46
Speaker 1: and it's always on his mind. I wonder if he
29:49
Speaker 1: has a mind. Monkey, my love, have you a mind?
29:54
Speaker 1: But the monkey only put a tiny paw up and
29:56
Speaker 1: scratched his head. What shall you do with him? Becky asked.'
30:00
Speaker 1: I shall let him sleep with me to-night, and then
30:03
Speaker 1: take him back to the Indian gentleman to-morrow. I am
30:06
Speaker 1: sorry to take you back, Monkey, but you must go.
30:09
Speaker 1: You ought to be fondest of your own family, and
30:11
Speaker 1: I am not a real relation.' And when she went
30:15
Speaker 1: to bed, she made him a nest at her feet,
30:18
Speaker 1: and he curled up and slept there as if he
30:20
Speaker 1: were a baby, and much pleased with his quarters. End
30:25
Speaker 1: of chapter 16