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The Little Princess Chapter 15 - The Magic · The Frances Hodgson Burnett Library

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Speaker 1: CHAPTER XV. THE MAGIC When Sarah had passed the house
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Speaker 1: next door, she had seen Ram Dass closing the shutters,
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Speaker 1: and caught her glimpse of this room also.' It is
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Speaker 1: a long time since I saw a nice place from
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Speaker 1: the inside,' was the thought which crossed her mind. There
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Speaker 1: was the usual bright fire glowing in the grate, and
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Speaker 1: the Indian gentleman was sitting before it. His head was
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Speaker 1: resting in his hand, and he looked as lonely and
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Speaker 1: unhappy as ever.' Poor man,' said Sarah.' I wonder what
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Speaker 1: you are supposing.' And this was what he was supposing
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Speaker 1: at that very moment.' Suppose,' he was thinking.' Suppose. Even
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Speaker 1: if Carmichael traces the people to Moscow,' The little girl
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Speaker 1: they took from Madame Pascal's school in Paris is not
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Speaker 1: the one we are in search of. Suppose she proves
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Speaker 1: to be a quite different child. What step shall I
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Speaker 1: take next? When Sarah went into the house, she met
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Speaker 1: Miss Minchin, who had come downstairs to scold the cook.
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Speaker 1: Where have you wasted your time? she demanded. You've been
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Speaker 1: out for hours. It was so wet and muddy, Sarah answered.
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Speaker 1: It was hard to walk. because my shoes were so
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Speaker 1: bad and slipped about.'' Make no excuses,' said Miss Minchin,'
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Speaker 1: and tell no falsehoods.' Sarah went in to the cook.
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Speaker 1: The cook had received a severe lecture and was in
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Speaker 1: a fearful temper as a result. She was only too
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Speaker 1: rejoiced to have someone to vent her rage on, and
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Speaker 1: Sarah was a convenience as usual.' Why didn't you stay
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Speaker 1: all night?' she snapped. Sarah laid her purchases on the table.'
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Speaker 1: Here are the things, she said. The cook looked them over, grumbling.
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Speaker 1: She was in a very savage humor indeed. May I
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Speaker 1: have something to eat? Sarah asked rather faintly. Teas over
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Speaker 1: and done with, was the answer. Did you expect me
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Speaker 1: to keep it hot for you? Sarah stood silent for
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Speaker 1: a second. I had no dinner, she said next, and
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Speaker 1: her voice was quite low. She made it low because
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Speaker 1: she was afraid it would tremble. There's some bread in
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Speaker 1: the pantry, said the cook. That's all you'll get at
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Speaker 1: this time of day. Sarah went and found the bread.
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Speaker 1: It was old and hard and dry. The cook was
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Speaker 1: in too vicious a humor to give her anything to
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Speaker 1: eat with it. It was always safe and easy to
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Speaker 1: vent her spite on Sarah. Really, it was hard for
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Speaker 1: the child to climb the three long flights of stairs
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Speaker 1: leading to her attic. She often found them steep and
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Speaker 1: long when she was tired. but tonight it seemed as
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Speaker 1: if she would never reach the top. Several times she
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Speaker 1: was obliged to stop and rest. When she reached the
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Speaker 1: top landing, she was glad to see the glimmer of
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Speaker 1: a light coming from under her door. That meant Ermengarde
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Speaker 1: had managed to creep up to pay her a visit.
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Speaker 1: There was some comfort in that. It was better than
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Speaker 1: to go into the room alone and find it empty
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Speaker 1: and desolate. The mere presence of plump, comfortable Ermengarde, wrapped
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Speaker 1: in her red shawl, would warm it a little. Yes,
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Speaker 1: there ermengarde was when she opened the door she was
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Speaker 1: sitting in the middle of the bed with her feet
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Speaker 1: tucked safely under her she had never become intimate with
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Speaker 1: melchizedek and his family though they rather fascinated her when
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Speaker 1: she found herself alone in the attic she always preferred
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Speaker 1: to sit on the bed until sara arrived she had
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Speaker 1: in fact on this occasion had time to become rather
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Speaker 1: nervous because Melchizedek had appeared and sniffed about a good deal,
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Speaker 1: and once had made her utter a repressed squeal by
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Speaker 1: sitting up on his hind legs and, while he looked
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Speaker 1: at her, sniffing pointedly in her direction.' Oh, Sarah!' she
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Speaker 1: cried out.' I am glad you have come. Melky would
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Speaker 1: sniff about so. I tried to coax him to go back,
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Speaker 1: but he wouldn't for such a long time. I like him,
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Speaker 1: you know, but it does frighten me when he sniffs
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Speaker 1: right at me.'' Do you think he ever would jump?' No,
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Speaker 1: answered Sarah. Ermengarde crawled forward on the bed to look
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Speaker 1: at her. You do look tired, Sarah, she said. You
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Speaker 1: are quite pale. I am tired, said Sarah, dropping onto
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Speaker 1: the lopsided footstool. Oh, there's Melchizedek, poor thing. He's come
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Speaker 1: to ask for his supper. Melchizedek had come out of
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Speaker 1: his hole as if he had been listening for her footstep.
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Speaker 1: Sarah was quite sure he knew it. He came forward
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Speaker 1: with an affectionate, expectant expression as Sarah put her hand
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Speaker 1: in her pocket and turned it inside out, shaking her head.
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Speaker 1: I'm very sorry, she said. I haven't one crumb left.
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Speaker 1: Go home, Melchizedek, and tell your wife there was nothing
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Speaker 1: in my pocket. I'm afraid I forgot because the cook
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Speaker 1: and Miss Minchin were so cross. Melchizedek seemed to understand.
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Speaker 1: He shuffled resignedly, if not contentedly, back to his home.
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Speaker 1: I did not expect to see you tonight, Ami, Sarah said.
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Speaker 1: Ermengarde hugged herself in the red shawl. Miss Amelia has
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Speaker 1: gone out to spend the night with her old aunt,
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Speaker 1: she explained. No one else ever comes and looks into
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Speaker 1: the bedrooms after we are in bed. I could stay
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Speaker 1: here till morning if I wanted to. She pointed toward
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Speaker 1: the table under the skylight. Sarah had not looked toward
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Speaker 1: it as she came in. A number of books were
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Speaker 1: piled upon it. Ermengarde's gesture was a dejected one. Papa
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Speaker 1: has sent me some more books, Sarah, she said. There
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Speaker 1: they are. Sarah looked round and got up at once.
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Speaker 1: She ran to the table, and picking up the top volume,
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Speaker 1: turned over its leaves quickly. For the moment she forgot
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Speaker 1: her discomforts. Ah! she cried out. How beautiful! Carlisle's French Revolution!
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Speaker 1: I have so wanted to read that. I haven't, said Ermengarde,
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Speaker 1: and Papa will be so cross if I don't. He'll
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Speaker 1: expect me to know all about it when I go
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Speaker 1: home for the holidays. What shall I do? Sarah stopped
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Speaker 1: turning over the leaves and looked at her with an
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Speaker 1: excited flush on her cheeks. Look here, she cried. If
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Speaker 1: you'll lend me these books, I'll read them and tell
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Speaker 1: you everything that's in them afterward, and I'll tell it
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Speaker 1: so that you will remember it, too. Oh, goodness, exclaimed Ermengarde.
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Speaker 1: Do you think you can? I know I can, Sarah answered.
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Speaker 1: The little ones always remember what I tell them. Sarah,
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Speaker 1: said Ermengarde, hope gleaming in her round face. If you'll
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Speaker 1: do that and make me remember, I'll give you anything.
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Speaker 1: I don't want you to give me anything, said Sarah.
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Speaker 1: I want your books. I want them. And her eyes
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Speaker 1: grew big, and her chest heaved. Take them, then, said Ermengarde.
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Speaker 1: I wish I wanted them, but I don't. I'm not clever,
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Speaker 1: and my father is, and he thinks I ought to be.
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Speaker 1: Sarah was opening one book after the other.' What are
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Speaker 1: you going to tell your father?' she asked, a slight
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Speaker 1: doubt dawning in her mind.' Oh, he needn't know,' answered Ermengarde.'
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Speaker 1: He' ll think I've read them.' Sarah put down her book
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Speaker 1: and shook her head slowly.' That' s almost like telling lies,'
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Speaker 1: she said.' And lies? Well, you see, they are not
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Speaker 1: only wicked, they're vulgar.'' Sometimes,' reflectively, I thought perhaps I
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Speaker 1: might do something wicked. I might suddenly fly into a
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Speaker 1: rage and kill Miss Minchin, you know, when she was
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Speaker 1: ill-treating me. But I couldn't be vulgar. Why can't you
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Speaker 1: tell your father I read them? He wants me to
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Speaker 1: read them, said Ermengarde, a little discouraged by this unexpected
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Speaker 1: turn of affairs. He wants you to know what is
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Speaker 1: in them, said Sarah, and if I can tell it
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Speaker 1: to you in an easy way and make you remember it,
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Speaker 1: I should think he would like that. He'll like it
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Speaker 1: if I learn anything in any way, said rueful Ermengarde.
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Speaker 1: You would if you were my father. It's not your
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Speaker 1: fault that, began Sarah. She pulled herself up and stopped
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Speaker 1: rather suddenly. She had been going to say, it's not
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Speaker 1: your fault that you are stupid. That what? Ermengarde asked.
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Speaker 1: That you can't learn things quickly, amended Sarah. If you can't,
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Speaker 1: you can't. If I can, why, I can, that's all.
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Speaker 1: She had always felt very tender of Ermengarde, and tried
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Speaker 1: not to let her feel too strongly the difference between
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Speaker 1: being able to learn anything at once and not being
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Speaker 1: able to learn anything at all. As she looked at
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Speaker 1: her plump face, one of her wise, old-fashioned thoughts came
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Speaker 1: to her.' Perhaps,' she said,' to be able to learn
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Speaker 1: things quickly isn't everything. To be kind is worth a
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Speaker 1: great deal to other people. If Miss Minchin knew everything
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Speaker 1: on earth, and was like what she is now—' She'd
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Speaker 1: still be a detestable thing, and everybody would hate her.
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Speaker 1: Lots of clever people have done harm and been wicked.
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Speaker 1: Look at Robespierre.' She stopped and examined Ermengarde's countenance, which
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Speaker 1: was beginning to look bewildered.' Don' t you remember?' she demanded.'
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Speaker 1: I told you about him not long ago. I believe
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Speaker 1: you've forgotten.'' Well, I don't remember all of it,' admitted Ermengarde.' Well,
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Speaker 1: you wait a minute,' said Sarah.' and I'll take off
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Speaker 1: my wet things and wrap myself in the coverlet and
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Speaker 1: tell you over again. She took off her hat and
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Speaker 1: coat and hung them on a nail against the wall,
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Speaker 1: and she changed her wet shoes for an old pair
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Speaker 1: of slippers. Then she jumped on the bed, and drawing
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Speaker 1: the coverlet about her shoulders, sat with her arms round
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Speaker 1: her knee.' Now listen,' she said. She plunged into the
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Speaker 1: gory records of the French Revolution, and told such stories
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Speaker 1: of it that Ermengarde's eyes grew round with alarm, and
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Speaker 1: she held her breath. But though she was rather terrified,
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Speaker 1: there was a delightful thrill in listening.' and she was
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Speaker 1: not likely to forget Robespierre again, or to have any
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Speaker 1: doubts about the Princesse de Lamballe. You know when they
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Speaker 1: put her head on a pike and danced round it,
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Speaker 1: Sarah explained, and she had beautiful floating blonde hair, and
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Speaker 1: when I think of her, I never see her head
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Speaker 1: on her body, but always on a pike, with those
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Speaker 1: furious people dancing and howling. It was agreed that Mr. St.
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Speaker 1: John was to be told the plan they had made,
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Speaker 1: and for the present, the books were to be left
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Speaker 1: in the attic. Now, let's tell each other things, said Sarah.
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Speaker 1: How are you getting on with your French lessons? Ever
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Speaker 1: so much better since the last time I came up
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Speaker 1: here and you explained the conjugations. Miss Minchin could not
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Speaker 1: understand why I did my exercises so well that first morning.
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Speaker 1: Sarah laughed a little and hugged her knees. She doesn't
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Speaker 1: understand why Lottie is doing her sums so well, she said,
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Speaker 1: but it is because she creeps up here too and
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Speaker 1: I help her. She glanced round the room the attic
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Speaker 1: would be rather nice if it wasn't so dreadful she
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Speaker 1: said laughing again it's a good place to pretend in
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Speaker 1: the truth was that ermengarde did not know anything of
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Speaker 1: the sometimes almost unbearable side of life in the attic
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Speaker 1: and she had not a sufficiently vivid imagination to depict
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Speaker 1: it for herself on the rare occasions that she could
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Speaker 1: reach sarah's room she saw only the side of it
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Speaker 1: which was made exciting by things which were pretended and
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Speaker 1: stories which were told Her visits partook of the character
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Speaker 1: of adventures, and though sometimes Sarah looked rather pale, and
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Speaker 1: it was not to be denied that she had grown
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Speaker 1: very thin, her proud little spirit would not admit of complaints.
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Speaker 1: She had never confessed that at times she was almost
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Speaker 1: ravenous with hunger, as she was tonight. She was growing rapidly,
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Speaker 1: and her constant walking and running about would have given
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Speaker 1: her a keen appetite, even if she had had abundant
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Speaker 1: and regular meals, of a much more nourishing nature than
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Speaker 1: the unappetizing inferior food snatched at such odd times as
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Speaker 1: suited the kitchen convenience. She was growing used to a
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Speaker 1: certain gnawing feeling in her young stomach.' I suppose soldiers
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Speaker 1: feel like this when they are on a long and
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Speaker 1: weary march,' she often said to herself. She liked the
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Speaker 1: sound of the phrase,' long and weary march.' It made
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Speaker 1: her feel rather like a soldier.' She had also a
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Speaker 1: quaint sense of being a hostess in the attic. If
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Speaker 1: I lived in a castle, she argued, and Ermengarde was
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Speaker 1: the lady of another castle, and came to see me,
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Speaker 1: with knights and squires and vassals riding with her, and
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Speaker 1: pennons flying, when I heard the clarions sounding outside the drawbridge,
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Speaker 1: I should go down to receive her, and I should
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Speaker 1: spread feasts in the banquet hall, and call in minstrels
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Speaker 1: to sing and play and relate romances.' When she comes
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Speaker 1: into the attic I can't spread feasts, but I can
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Speaker 1: tell stories, and not let her know disagreeable things. I
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Speaker 1: dare say poor Chatelaines had to do that in time
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Speaker 1: of famine, when their lands had been pillaged. She was
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Speaker 1: a proud, brave little Chatelaine, and dispensed generously the one
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Speaker 1: hospitality she could offer, the dreams she dreamed, the visions
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Speaker 1: she saw, the imaginings which were her joy and comfort. So,
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Speaker 1: as they sat together, Ermengarde did not know that she
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Speaker 1: was faint as well as ravenous, and that while she talked,
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Speaker 1: she now and then wondered if her hunger would let
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Speaker 1: her sleep when she was left alone. She felt as
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Speaker 1: if she had never been quite so hungry before. I
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Speaker 1: wish I was as thin as you, Sarah, Ermengarde said suddenly.
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Speaker 1: I believe you are thinner than you used to be.
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Speaker 1: Your eyes look so big, and look at the sharp
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Speaker 1: little bone sticking out of your elbow. Sarah pulled down
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Speaker 1: her sleeve, which had pushed itself up. I always was
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Speaker 1: a thin child, she said bravely, and I always had
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Speaker 1: big green eyes. I love your queer eyes, said Ermengarde,
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Speaker 1: looking into them with affectionate admiration. They always look as
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Speaker 1: if they saw such a long way. I love them,
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Speaker 1: and I love them to be green, though they look
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Speaker 1: black generally. They are cat's eyes, laughed Sarah, but I
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Speaker 1: can't see in the dark with them, because I have
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Speaker 1: tried and I couldn't. I wish I could. It was
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Speaker 1: just at this minute that something happened at the skylight,
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Speaker 1: which neither of them saw. If either of them had
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Speaker 1: chanced to turn and look, she would have been startled
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Speaker 1: by the sight of a dark face which peered cautiously
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Speaker 1: into the room and disappeared as quickly and almost as
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Speaker 1: silently as it had appeared. Not quite as silently, however. Sarah,
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Speaker 1: who had keen ears, suddenly turned a little and looked
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Speaker 1: up at the roof. That didn't sound like Melchizedek, she said.
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Speaker 1: It wasn't scratchy enough.' What?' said Ermengarde, a little startled.'
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Speaker 1: Didn' t you think you had something?' said Sarah.' No,' Ermengarde faltered.'
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Speaker 1: Did you?'' Perhaps I didn't,' said Sarah.' But I thought
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Speaker 1: I did. It sounded as if something was on the slates,
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Speaker 1: something that dragged softly.'' What could it be?' said Ermengarde.'
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Speaker 1: Could it be robbers?'' No.' Sarah began cheerfully. There is
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Speaker 1: nothing to steal. She broke off in the middle of
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Speaker 1: her words. They both heard the sound that checked her.
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Speaker 1: It was not on the slates, but on the stairs below,
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Speaker 1: and it was Miss Minchin's angry voice. Sarah sprang off
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Speaker 1: the bed and put out the candle. She is scolding Becky,
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Speaker 1: she whispered as she stood in the darkness. She is
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Speaker 1: making her cry. Will she come in here? Ermengarde whispered back, panic-stricken. No.
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Speaker 1: She will think I am in bed. Don't stir.' It
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Speaker 1: was very seldom that Miss Minchin mounted the last flight
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Speaker 1: of stairs. Sarah could only remember that she had done
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Speaker 1: it once before. But now she was angry enough to
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Speaker 1: be coming at least part of the way up, and
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Speaker 1: it sounded as if she was driving Becky before her.'
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Speaker 1: You impudent, dishonest child!' they heard her say.' Cook tells
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Speaker 1: me she has missed things repeatedly.'' T' were me, Mum,' said Becky, sobbing.
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Speaker 1: I was hungry enough, but twerp me, never. You deserve
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Speaker 1: to be sent to prison, said Miss Minchin's voice. Picking
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Speaker 1: and stealing, half a meat pie indeed. Twerp me, wept Becky.
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Speaker 1: I could have eat a whole one, but I never
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Speaker 1: laid a finger on it. Miss Minchin was out of
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Speaker 1: breath between temper and mounting the stairs. The meat pie
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Speaker 1: had been intended for her special late supper. It became
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Speaker 1: apparent that she boxed Becky's ears. Don't tell falsehoods. she said.'
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Speaker 1: Get your room this instant!' Both Sarah and Ermengarde heard
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Speaker 1: the slap, and then heard Becky run in her slipshod
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Speaker 1: shoes up the stairs and into her attic. They heard
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Speaker 1: her door shut, and knew that she threw herself upon
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Speaker 1: her bed.' I could have had two of them,' they
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Speaker 1: heard her cry into her pillow.' And I never took
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Speaker 1: a bite.' Twas Cook give it to a policeman.' Sarah
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Speaker 1: stood in the middle of the room in the darkness.
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Speaker 1: She was clenching her little teeth and opening and shutting
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Speaker 1: fiercely her outstretched hands. She could scarcely stand still, but
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Speaker 1: she dared not move until Miss Minchin had gone down
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Speaker 1: the stairs, and all was still.' The wicked, cruel thing!'
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Speaker 1: she burst forth.' The cook takes things herself, and then
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Speaker 1: says Becky steals them.' She doesn't! She doesn't!' She' s so
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Speaker 1: hungry sometimes that she eats crusts out of the ash-barrel!'
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Speaker 1: She pressed her hands hard against her face and burst
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Speaker 1: into passionate little sobs, and Ermengarde, hearing this unusual thing,
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Speaker 1: was overawed by it. Sarah was crying, the unconquerable Sarah.
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Speaker 1: It seemed to denote something new, some mood she had
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Speaker 1: never known. Suppose, suppose, a new dread possibility presented itself
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Speaker 1: to her kind, slow little mind all at once. She
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Speaker 1: crept off the bed in the dark, and found her
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Speaker 1: way to the table where the candle stood. She struck
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Speaker 1: a match and lit the candle. When she had lighted it,
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Speaker 1: she bent forward and looked at Sarah, with her new
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Speaker 1: thought growing to definite fear in her eyes.' Sarah?' she
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Speaker 1: said in a timid, almost awe-stricken voice.' Uh— uh— you never told me.
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Speaker 1: I don't want to be rude, but— are you ever hungry?'
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Speaker 1: It was too much just at that moment. The barrier
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Speaker 1: broke down. Sarah lifted her face from her hands.' Yes,'
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Speaker 1: she said in a new, passionate way.' Yes, I am.
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Speaker 1: I'm so hungry now that I could almost eat you.
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Speaker 1: And it makes it worse to hear poor Becky. She's
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Speaker 1: hungrier than I am.' Ermengarde gasped.' Oh, oh,' she cried woefully.'
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Speaker 1: And I never knew.' I didn't want you to know,
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Speaker 1: Sarah said. It would have made me feel like a
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Speaker 1: street beggar. I know I look like a street beggar. No,
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Speaker 1: you don't. You don't, Ermengarde broke in. Your clothes are
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Speaker 1: a little queer, but you couldn't look like a street beggar.
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Speaker 1: You haven't a street beggar face. A little boy once
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Speaker 1: gave me... a sixpence for charity, said Sarah, with a
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Speaker 1: short little laugh in spite of herself. Here it is.
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Speaker 1: And she pulled out the thin ribbon from her neck.
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Speaker 1: He wouldn't have given me his Christmas sixpence if I
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Speaker 1: hadn't looked as if I needed it. Somehow the sight
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Speaker 1: of the dear little sixpence was good for both of them.
20:08
Speaker 1: It made them laugh a little. though they both had
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Speaker 1: tears in their eyes.' Who was he?' said Ermengarde, looking
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Speaker 1: at it quite as if it had not been a
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Speaker 1: mere ordinary silver sixpence.' He was a darling little thing
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Speaker 1: going to a party,' said Sarah.' He was one of
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Speaker 1: the large family, the little one with the round legs,
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Speaker 1: the one I call Guy Clarence. I suppose his nursery
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Speaker 1: was crammed with Christmas presents and hampers full of cakes
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Speaker 1: and things, and he could see I had nothing.' Ermengarde
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Speaker 1: gave a little jump backward. The last sentences had recalled
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Speaker 1: something to her troubled mind and given her a sudden inspiration.' Oh, Sarah!'
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Speaker 1: she cried.' What a silly thing I am not to
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Speaker 1: have thought of it!'' Of what?'' Something splendid!' said Ermengarde
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Speaker 1: in an excited hurry.' This very afternoon my nicest aunt
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Speaker 1: sent me a box. It is full of good things.
21:04
Speaker 1: I never touched it. I had so much pudding at dinner.'
21:07
Speaker 1: and I was so bothered about Papa's books. Her words
21:11
Speaker 1: began to tumble over each other. It's got cake in it,
21:14
Speaker 1: and little meat pies, and jam tarts, and buns, and oranges,
21:18
Speaker 1: and red currant wine, and figs, and chocolate. I'll creep
21:21
Speaker 1: back to my room and get it this minute, and
21:22
Speaker 1: we'll eat it now. Sarah almost reeled. When one is
21:27
Speaker 1: faint with hunger, the mention of food has sometimes a
21:30
Speaker 1: curious effect. She clutched Ermengarde's arm. Do you think you could?
21:37
Speaker 1: She ejaculated.' I know I could,' answered Ermengarde, and she
21:42
Speaker 1: ran to the door, opened it softly, put her head
21:45
Speaker 1: out into the darkness, and listened. Then she went back
21:48
Speaker 1: to Sarah.' The lights are out. Everybody's in bed. I
21:52
Speaker 1: can creep and creep, and no one will hear.' It
21:56
Speaker 1: was so delightful that they caught each other's hands, and
21:58
Speaker 1: a sudden light sprang into Sarah's eyes.' Ermie,' she said,'
22:03
Speaker 1: let us pretend. Let us pretend it's a party.' And, oh,
22:07
Speaker 1: won't you invite the prisoner in the next cell? Yes, yes,
22:11
Speaker 1: let us knock on the wall now. The jailer won't hear.
22:15
Speaker 1: Sarah went to the wall, through which she could hear
22:17
Speaker 1: poor Becky crying more softly. She knocked four times. That means,
22:23
Speaker 1: come to me through the secret passage under the wall,
22:25
Speaker 1: she explained. I have something to communicate. Five quick knocks
22:30
Speaker 1: answered her. She's coming, she said. Almost immediately the door
22:35
Speaker 1: of the attic opened and Becky appeared. Her eyes were
22:38
Speaker 1: red and her cap was sliding off, and when she
22:40
Speaker 1: caught sight of Ermengarde she began to rub her face
22:43
Speaker 1: nervously with her apron. Don't mind me a bit, Becky,
22:47
Speaker 1: cried Ermengarde. Miss Ermengarde has asked you to come in,
22:51
Speaker 1: said Sarah, because she is going to bring a box
22:53
Speaker 1: of good things up here to us. Becky's cap almost
22:56
Speaker 1: fell off entirely. She broke in with such excitement. To eat, miss,
23:01
Speaker 1: she said. Things it's good to eat. Yes, answered Sarah,
23:06
Speaker 1: and we are going to pretend to party. And you
23:09
Speaker 1: shall have as much as you want to eat, put
23:11
Speaker 1: in Ermengarde. I'll go this minute. She was in such
23:15
Speaker 1: haste that as she tiptoed out of the attic, she
23:18
Speaker 1: dropped her red shawl and did not know it had fallen.
23:21
Speaker 1: No one saw it for a minute or two. Becky
23:24
Speaker 1: was too much overpowered by the good luck which had
23:26
Speaker 1: befallen her. Oh, miss, oh, miss, she gasped. And though
23:31
Speaker 1: it was you that asked her to let me come,
23:34
Speaker 1: it makes me cry to think of it. And she
23:36
Speaker 1: went to Sarah's side and stood and looked at her worshipingly.
23:40
Speaker 1: But in Sarah's hungry eyes, the old light had begun
23:44
Speaker 1: to glow and transform her world for her. Here in
23:47
Speaker 1: the attic, with the cold night outside, with the afternoon
23:51
Speaker 1: and the sloppy streets barely passed, with the memory of
23:55
Speaker 1: the awful, unfed look in the beggar child's eyes not
23:58
Speaker 1: yet faded— This simple, cheerful thing had happened, like a
24:03
Speaker 1: thing of magic. She caught her breath. Somehow, something always happens,
24:10
Speaker 1: she cried, just before things get to the very worst.
24:14
Speaker 1: It is as if the magic did it. If I
24:17
Speaker 1: could only just remember that always. The worst thing never
24:21
Speaker 1: quite comes. She gave Becky a little cheerful shake. No, no,
24:27
Speaker 1: you mustn't cry, she said. We must make haste and
24:31
Speaker 1: set the table. Set the table, miss, said Becky, gazing
24:36
Speaker 1: round the room. What'll we set it with? Sarah looked
24:40
Speaker 1: round the attic too. There doesn't seem to be much,
24:44
Speaker 1: she answered, half laughing. That moment she saw something and
24:49
Speaker 1: pounced upon it. It was Ermengarde's red shawl, which lay
24:52
Speaker 1: upon the floor. Here's the shawl, she cried. I know
24:57
Speaker 1: she won't mind it, It will make such a nice
24:59
Speaker 1: red tablecloth. They pulled the old table forward and threw
25:03
Speaker 1: the shawl over it. Red is a wonderfully kind and
25:07
Speaker 1: comfortable colour. It began to make the room look furnished directly.
25:12
Speaker 1: How nice a red rug would look on the floor,
25:15
Speaker 1: exclaimed Sarah. We must pretend there is one. Her eye
25:19
Speaker 1: swept the bare boards with a swift glance of admiration.
25:23
Speaker 1: The rug was laid down already. How soft and thick
25:27
Speaker 1: it is! she said, with the little laugh which Becky
25:30
Speaker 1: knew the meaning of, and she raised and set her
25:33
Speaker 1: foot down again delicately, as if she felt something under it. Yes, miss,
25:38
Speaker 1: answered Becky, watching her with serious rapture. She was always
25:43
Speaker 1: quite serious. What next now? said Sarah, and she stood
25:48
Speaker 1: still and put her hands over her eyes. Something will
25:51
Speaker 1: come if I think and wait a little, in a
25:54
Speaker 1: soft expectant voice. The magic will tell me. One of
25:59
Speaker 1: her favourite fancies was that, on the outside, as she
26:02
Speaker 1: called it, thoughts were waiting for people to call them.
26:06
Speaker 1: Becky had seen her stand and wait many a time before,
26:10
Speaker 1: and knew that in a few seconds she would uncover
26:12
Speaker 1: an enlightened, laughing face. In a moment she did.' There!'
26:18
Speaker 1: she cried.' It has come! I know now! I must
26:21
Speaker 1: look among the things in the old trunk I had
26:23
Speaker 1: when I was a princess!' She flew to its corner
26:27
Speaker 1: and kneeled down. It had not been put in the
26:29
Speaker 1: attic for her benefit, but because there was no room
26:32
Speaker 1: for it elsewhere. Nothing had been left in it but rubbish,
26:36
Speaker 1: but she knew she should find something. The magic always
26:39
Speaker 1: arranged that kind of thing in one way or another.
26:43
Speaker 1: In a corner lay a package so insignificant-looking that it
26:46
Speaker 1: had been overlooked, and when she herself had found it
26:49
Speaker 1: she had kept it as a relic. It contained a
26:52
Speaker 1: dozen small white handkerchiefs. She seized them joyfully and ran
26:57
Speaker 1: to the table. She began to arrange them upon the
27:00
Speaker 1: red table cover, padding and coaxing them into shape, with
27:04
Speaker 1: the narrow lace edge curling outward, her magic working its
27:07
Speaker 1: spells for her as she did it.' These are the plates,'
27:11
Speaker 1: she said.' They are golden plates. These are the richly
27:15
Speaker 1: embroidered napkins. Nuns worked them in convents in Spain.'' Did they, miss?'
27:21
Speaker 1: breathed Becky, her very soul uplifted by the information.' You
27:26
Speaker 1: must pretend it,' said Sarah. If you pretend it enough,
27:30
Speaker 1: you will see them.' Yes, miss,' said Becky. And as
27:35
Speaker 1: Sarah returned to the trunk, she devoted herself to the
27:38
Speaker 1: effort of accomplishing an end so much to be desired.
27:42
Speaker 1: Sarah turned suddenly to find her standing by the table,
27:45
Speaker 1: looking very queer indeed. She had shut her eyes, and
27:48
Speaker 1: was twisting her face in strange, convulsive contortions, her hands
27:52
Speaker 1: hanging stiffly clenched at her sides. She looked as if
27:56
Speaker 1: she was trying to lift some enormous weight. What is
27:59
Speaker 1: the matter, Becky? Sarah cried. What are you doing? Becky
28:04
Speaker 1: opened her eyes with a start. I was... pretended, miss,
28:09
Speaker 1: she answered a little sheepishly. I was trying to see
28:12
Speaker 1: it like you do. I almost did, with a hopeful grin.
28:17
Speaker 1: But it takes a lot of strength. Perhaps it does
28:20
Speaker 1: if you are not used to it, said Sarah with
28:23
Speaker 1: friendly sympathy. But you don't know how easy it is
28:26
Speaker 1: when you've done it often. I wouldn't try so hard
28:29
Speaker 1: just at first. It will come to you after a while.
28:32
Speaker 1: I'll just tell you what things are. Look at these.
28:36
Speaker 1: She held an old summer hat in her hand which
28:38
Speaker 1: she had fished out of the bottom of the trunk.
28:40
Speaker 1: There was a wreath of flowers on it. She pulled
28:43
Speaker 1: the wreath off. These are garlands for the feast, she
28:48
Speaker 1: said grandly. They fill all the air with perfume. There's
28:53
Speaker 1: a mug on the washstand, Becky. Oh, and bring the
28:55
Speaker 1: soap dish for a centrepiece. Becky handed them to her reverently.'
28:59
Speaker 1: What are they now, miss?' she inquired.' You' d think they
29:04
Speaker 1: was made of crockery, but I know they ain't.'' This
29:07
Speaker 1: is a carven flagon,' said Sarah, arranging tendrils of the
29:12
Speaker 1: wreath about the mug.' And this,' bending tenderly over the
29:16
Speaker 1: soap-dish and heaping it with roses,' is purest alabaster encrusted
29:22
Speaker 1: with gems.' She touched the things gently, a happy smile
29:26
Speaker 1: hovering about her lips, which made her look as if
29:29
Speaker 1: she were a creature in a dream. My, ain't it lovely,
29:34
Speaker 1: whispered Becky. If we'd just had something for bonbon dishes,
29:39
Speaker 1: Sarah murmured.' There!' darting to the trunk again.' I remember
29:44
Speaker 1: I saw something this minute.' It was only a bundle
29:47
Speaker 1: of wool wrapped in red and white tissue paper, but
29:50
Speaker 1: the tissue paper was soon twisted into the form of
29:53
Speaker 1: little dishes and was combined with the remaining flowers to
29:56
Speaker 1: ornament the candlestick, which was to light the feast. Only
30:00
Speaker 1: the magic could have made it more than an old
30:02
Speaker 1: table covered with a red shawl and set with rubbish
30:05
Speaker 1: from a long, unopened trunk. But Sarah drew back and
30:09
Speaker 1: gazed at it, seeing wonders. And Becky, after staring in delight,
30:14
Speaker 1: spoke with bated breath.' This here,' she suggested, with a
30:19
Speaker 1: glance round the attic.' Is it the Bastille now, or
30:23
Speaker 1: has it turned into something different?'' Oh, yes, yes,' said Sarah.'
30:28
Speaker 1: Quite different.' It is a banquet hall. My, I miss,
30:33
Speaker 1: ejaculated Becky. A blanket hall. And as she turned to
30:37
Speaker 1: view the splendours about her with awed bewilderment. A banquet hall,
30:42
Speaker 1: said Sarah. A vast chamber where feasts are given. It
30:46
Speaker 1: has a vaulted roof and a minstrel's gallery and a
30:49
Speaker 1: huge chimney filled with blazing oaken logs and it is
30:53
Speaker 1: brilliant with waxen tapers twinkling on every side. My, I miss, Sarah.
30:59
Speaker 1: gasped Becky again. Then the door opened and Ermengarde came in,
31:04
Speaker 1: rather staggering under the weight of her hamper. She started
31:08
Speaker 1: back with an exclamation of joy. To enter from the
31:11
Speaker 1: chill darkness outside and find oneself confronted by a totally
31:15
Speaker 1: unanticipated festal board, draped with red, adorned with white napery,
31:20
Speaker 1: and wreathed with flowers, was to feel that the preparations
31:24
Speaker 1: were brilliant indeed.' Oh, Sarah!' she cried out, You are
31:29
Speaker 1: the cleverest girl I ever saw.'' Isn' t it nice?' said Sarah.'
31:33
Speaker 1: They are things out of my old trunk. I asked
31:36
Speaker 1: my magic and it told me to go and look.'' But, oh, miss,'
31:40
Speaker 1: cried Becky,' wait till she's told you what they are.
31:43
Speaker 1: They ain't just—'' Oh, miss, please tell her,' appealing to Sarah.
31:48
Speaker 1: So Sarah told her, and because her magic helped her,
31:51
Speaker 1: she made her almost see it all. The golden platters,
31:55
Speaker 1: the vaulted spaces, the blazing logs, the twinkling waxen tapers.
32:00
Speaker 1: As the things were taken out of the hamper, the
32:03
Speaker 1: frosted cakes, the fruits, the bonbons and the wine, the
32:06
Speaker 1: feast became a splendid thing. It's like a real party,
32:12
Speaker 1: cried Ermengarde. It's like a queen's table, sighed Becky. Then
32:17
Speaker 1: Ermengarde had a sudden brilliant thought. I'll tell you what, Sarah,
32:22
Speaker 1: she said. Pretend you are a princess now and this
32:24
Speaker 1: is a royal feast. But it's your feast, said Sarah.
32:28
Speaker 1: You must be the princess and we will be your
32:31
Speaker 1: maids of honour. Oh, I can't, said Ermengarde. I'm too
32:36
Speaker 1: fat and I don't know how. You be her. Well,
32:40
Speaker 1: if you want me to, said Sarah. But suddenly she
32:44
Speaker 1: thought of something else and ran to the rusty grate.
32:48
Speaker 1: There is a lot of paper and rubbish stuffed in here,
32:51
Speaker 1: she exclaimed. If we light it, there will be a
32:54
Speaker 1: bright blaze for a few minutes and we shall feel
32:56
Speaker 1: as if it was a real fire. She struck a
32:59
Speaker 1: match and lighted it up with a great specious glow
33:03
Speaker 1: which illuminated the room. By the time it stops blazing,
33:07
Speaker 1: Sarah said, we shall forget about its not being real.
33:11
Speaker 1: She stood in the dancing glow and smiled. Doesn't it
33:14
Speaker 1: look real? She said. Now we will begin the party.
33:19
Speaker 1: She led the way to the table. She waved her
33:22
Speaker 1: hand graciously to Ermengarde and Becky. She was in the
33:25
Speaker 1: midst of her dream. Advance, fair damsels, she said in
33:30
Speaker 1: her happy dream voice, and be seated at the banquet table.
33:34
Speaker 1: My noble father, the king, who is absent on a
33:37
Speaker 1: long journey, has commanded me to feast you. She turned
33:41
Speaker 1: her head slightly toward the corner of the room. What ho, there, minstrels!
33:45
Speaker 1: Strike up with your vials and bassoons. Princesses, she explained
33:49
Speaker 1: rapidly to Ermengarde and Becky. always had minstrels to play
33:53
Speaker 1: at their feasts. Pretend there is a minstrel gallery up
33:56
Speaker 1: there in the corner. Now we will begin. They had
34:00
Speaker 1: barely had time to take their pieces of cake into
34:02
Speaker 1: their hands, not one of them had time to do more,
34:06
Speaker 1: when they all three sprang to their feet and turned
34:10
Speaker 1: pale faces toward the door, listening, listening. Someone was coming
34:16
Speaker 1: up the stairs. There was no mistake about it. Each
34:19
Speaker 1: of them recognized the angry mounting tread and knew that
34:23
Speaker 1: the end of all things had come. It's the missus,
34:28
Speaker 1: choked Becky, and dropped her piece of cake upon the floor. Yes,
34:34
Speaker 1: said Sarah, her eyes growing shocked and large in her
34:37
Speaker 1: small white face. Miss Minchin has found us out. Miss
34:43
Speaker 1: Minchin struck the door open with a blow of her hand.
34:46
Speaker 1: She was pale herself, but it was with rage. She
34:49
Speaker 1: looked from the frightened faces to the banquet table, and
34:52
Speaker 1: from the banquet table to the last flicker of the
34:55
Speaker 1: burnt paper in the grate.' I have been suspecting something
34:59
Speaker 1: of this sort,' she exclaimed.' But I did not dream
35:04
Speaker 1: of such audacity. Lavinia was telling the truth.' So they
35:09
Speaker 1: knew that it was Lavinia who had somehow guessed their
35:11
Speaker 1: secret and had betrayed them. Miss Minchin strode over to
35:15
Speaker 1: Becky and boxed her ears for a second time. You
35:20
Speaker 1: impudent creature, she said. You leave the house in the morning.
35:25
Speaker 1: Sarah stood quite still, her eyes growing larger, her face paler.
35:30
Speaker 1: Ermengarde burst into tears. Oh, don't send her away, she sobbed.
35:36
Speaker 1: My aunt sent me the hamper. We're only having a party.
35:41
Speaker 1: So I see, said Miss Minchin witheringly, with the Princess
35:46
Speaker 1: Sarah at the head of the table. She turned fiercely
35:50
Speaker 1: on Sarah.' It is your doing, I know,' she cried.'
35:54
Speaker 1: Ermengarde would never have thought of such a thing. You
35:57
Speaker 1: decorated the table, I suppose, with this rubbish.' She stamped
36:02
Speaker 1: her foot at Becky.' Go to your attic,' she commanded,
36:06
Speaker 1: and Becky stole away, her face hidden in her apron,
36:10
Speaker 1: her shoulders shaking. Then it was Sarah's turn again.' I
36:15
Speaker 1: will attend to you to-morrow,' You shall have neither breakfast, dinner,
36:19
Speaker 1: nor supper. I have not had either dinner or supper today,
36:23
Speaker 1: Miss Minchin, said Sarah rather faintly. Then all the better.
36:28
Speaker 1: You will have something to remember. Don't stand there. Put
36:31
Speaker 1: those things into the hamper again. She began to sweep
36:35
Speaker 1: them off the table into the hamper herself and caught
36:38
Speaker 1: sight of Ermengarde's new books. And you, to Ermengarde, have
36:43
Speaker 1: brought your beautiful new books into this dirty attic. Take
36:47
Speaker 1: them up and go back to bed. You will stay
36:49
Speaker 1: there all day tomorrow and I shall write to your papa.
36:53
Speaker 1: What would he say if he knew where you are tonight?'
36:57
Speaker 1: Something she saw in Sarah's grave fixed gaze at this
37:00
Speaker 1: moment made her turn on her fiercely.' What are you
37:04
Speaker 1: thinking of?' she demanded.' Why do you look at me
37:07
Speaker 1: like that?'' I was wondering,' answered Sarah, as she had
37:13
Speaker 1: answered that notable day in the schoolroom. What were you wondering?
37:18
Speaker 1: It was very like the scene in the schoolroom. There
37:21
Speaker 1: was no pertness in Sarah's manner. It was only sad
37:25
Speaker 1: and quiet. I was wondering, she said in a low voice,
37:31
Speaker 1: what my papa would say if he knew where I
37:34
Speaker 1: am tonight. Miss Minchin was infuriated, just as she had
37:39
Speaker 1: been before, and her anger expressed itself, as before, in
37:43
Speaker 1: an intemperate fashion. She flew at her and shook her.'
37:47
Speaker 1: You insolent, unmanageable child!' she cried.' How dare you! How
37:53
Speaker 1: dare you!' She picked up the books, swept the rest
37:57
Speaker 1: of the feast back into the hamper in a jumbled heap,
38:00
Speaker 1: thrust it into Ermengarde's arms, and pushed her before her
38:03
Speaker 1: toward the door.' I will leave you to wonder,' she said.'
38:07
Speaker 1: Go to bed this instant!' And she shut the door
38:11
Speaker 1: behind herself, and poor stumbling Ermengarde and left Sarah standing
38:16
Speaker 1: quite alone. The dream was quite at an end. The
38:21
Speaker 1: last spark had died out of the paper in the
38:24
Speaker 1: grate and left only black tinder. The table was left bare,
38:29
Speaker 1: the golden plates and richly embroidered napkins, and the garlands
38:33
Speaker 1: were transformed again into old handkerchiefs, scraps of red and
38:37
Speaker 1: white paper, and discarded artificial flowers all scattered on the floor.
38:42
Speaker 1: The minstrels in the minstrel gallery had stolen away, and
38:45
Speaker 1: the vials and bassoons were still. Emily was sitting with
38:50
Speaker 1: her back against the wall, staring very hard. Sarah saw her,
38:55
Speaker 1: and went and picked her up with trembling hands.' There
38:59
Speaker 1: isn't any banquet left, Emily,' she said.' And there isn't
39:03
Speaker 1: any princess. There is nothing left but the prisoners in
39:07
Speaker 1: the Bastille.' And she sat down and hid her face.
39:12
Speaker 1: what would have happened if she had not hidden it
39:14
Speaker 1: just then and if she had chanced to look up
39:17
Speaker 1: at the skylight at the wrong moment i do not
39:19
Speaker 1: know perhaps the end of this chapter might have been
39:22
Speaker 1: quite different because if she had glanced at the skylight
39:26
Speaker 1: she would certainly have been startled by what she would
39:28
Speaker 1: have seen she would have seen exactly the same face
39:31
Speaker 1: pressed against the glass and peering in at her as
39:34
Speaker 1: it had peered in earlier in the evening when she
39:37
Speaker 1: had been talking to ermengarde but she did not look
39:41
Speaker 1: up she sat with her little black head and her
39:44
Speaker 1: arms for some time she always sat like that when
39:47
Speaker 1: she was trying to bear something in silence Then she
39:50
Speaker 1: got up and went slowly to the bed. I can't
39:55
Speaker 1: pretend anything else while I am awake, she said. There
39:59
Speaker 1: wouldn't be any use in trying. If I go to sleep,
40:03
Speaker 1: perhaps a dream will come and pretend for me. She
40:08
Speaker 1: suddenly felt so tired, perhaps through want of food, that
40:13
Speaker 1: she sat down on the edge of the bed quite weakly.
40:17
Speaker 1: Suppose there was a bright fire in the grate. with
40:20
Speaker 1: lots of little dancing flames, she murmured. Suppose there was
40:25
Speaker 1: a comfortable chair before it, and suppose there was a
40:28
Speaker 1: small table near, with a little hot, hot supper on it.
40:33
Speaker 1: And suppose, as she drew the thin coverings over her,
40:38
Speaker 1: suppose this was a beautiful soft bed, with fleecy blankets
40:42
Speaker 1: and large downy pillows. Suppose, suppose, and her very weariness
40:50
Speaker 1: was good to her, for her eyes closed and she
40:53
Speaker 1: fell fast asleep. She did not know how long she slept,
41:00
Speaker 1: but she had been tired enough to sleep deeply and profoundly,
41:03
Speaker 1: too deeply and soundly to be disturbed by anything, even
41:07
Speaker 1: by the squeaks and scamperings of Melchizedek's entire family, if
41:11
Speaker 1: all his sons and daughters had chosen to come out
41:13
Speaker 1: of their hole to fight and tumble and play. When
41:17
Speaker 1: she awakened, It was rather suddenly, and she did not
41:20
Speaker 1: know that any particular thing had called her out of
41:22
Speaker 1: her sleep. The truth was, however, that it was a
41:26
Speaker 1: sound which had called her back, a real sound, the
41:29
Speaker 1: click of the skylight as it fell in closing after
41:32
Speaker 1: a lithe white figure, which slipped through it and crouched
41:36
Speaker 1: down close by upon the slates of the roof, just
41:39
Speaker 1: near enough to see what happened in the attic, but
41:42
Speaker 1: not near enough to be seen. At first she did
41:45
Speaker 1: not open her eyes. She felt too sleepy and, curiously enough,
41:51
Speaker 1: too warm and comfortable. She was so warm and comfortable
41:55
Speaker 1: indeed that she did not believe she was really awake.
41:59
Speaker 1: She never was as warm and cosy as this, except
42:02
Speaker 1: in some lovely vision. What a nice dream, she murmured.
42:08
Speaker 1: I feel quite warm. I don't want to wake up.
42:15
Speaker 1: Of course it was a dream. She felt as if warm,
42:18
Speaker 1: delightful bedclothes were heaped upon her. She could actually feel blankets,
42:24
Speaker 1: and when she put out her hand, it touched something
42:26
Speaker 1: exactly like a satin-covered eiderdown quilt. She must not awaken
42:31
Speaker 1: from this delight. She must be quite still and make
42:34
Speaker 1: it last. But she could not. Even though she kept
42:39
Speaker 1: her eyes closed tightly, she could not. Something was forcing
42:43
Speaker 1: her to awaken, something in the rooms. It was a
42:47
Speaker 1: sense of light and a sound, the sound of a crackling,
42:51
Speaker 1: roaring little fire. Oh, I am awakening, she said mournfully.
42:58
Speaker 1: I can't help it. I can't. Her eyes opened in
43:02
Speaker 1: spite of herself. And then she actually smiled, for what
43:07
Speaker 1: she saw she had never seen in the attic before
43:10
Speaker 1: and knew she never should see. Oh, I haven't awakened.
43:16
Speaker 1: She whispered, daring to rise on her elbow and look
43:19
Speaker 1: all about her.' I am dreaming yet.' She knew it
43:23
Speaker 1: must be a dream, for if she were awake, such
43:26
Speaker 1: things could not— could not be. Do you wonder that she
43:31
Speaker 1: felt sure she had not come back to earth? This
43:34
Speaker 1: is what she saw. In the grate there was a glowing,
43:38
Speaker 1: blazing fire. On the hob was a little brass kettle,
43:42
Speaker 1: hissing and boiling— spread upon the floor was a thick
43:45
Speaker 1: warm crimson rug before the fire a folding chair unfolded
43:51
Speaker 1: and with cushions on it by the chair a small
43:54
Speaker 1: folding table unfolded covered with a white cloth and upon
43:58
Speaker 1: it spread small covered dishes a cup a saucer a
44:02
Speaker 1: teapot on the bed were new warm coverings and a
44:06
Speaker 1: satin covered down quilt at the foot a curious wadded
44:10
Speaker 1: silk robe a pair of quilted slippers and some books.
44:15
Speaker 1: The room of her dream seemed changed into fairyland, and
44:19
Speaker 1: it was flooded with warm light, for a bright lamp
44:22
Speaker 1: stood on the table, covered with a rosy shade. She
44:26
Speaker 1: sat up, resting on her elbow, and her breathing came
44:30
Speaker 1: short and fast.' It does not melt away,' she panted.' Oh,
44:37
Speaker 1: I never had such a dream before.' She scarcely dared
44:41
Speaker 1: to stir. but at last she pushed the bedclothes aside
44:45
Speaker 1: and put her feet on the floor with a rapturous smile.
44:48
Speaker 1: I am dreaming. I am getting out of bed, she
44:52
Speaker 1: heard her own voice say. And then, as she stood
44:56
Speaker 1: up in the midst of it all, turning slowly from
44:58
Speaker 1: side to side, I am dreaming it stays real. I'm
45:03
Speaker 1: dreaming it feels real. It's bewitched, or I'm bewitched. I
45:08
Speaker 1: only think I see it all. Her words began to
45:11
Speaker 1: hurry themselves. If I can only keep on thinking it,
45:15
Speaker 1: she cried, I don't care, I don't care. She stood
45:19
Speaker 1: panting a moment longer and then cried out again. Oh,
45:23
Speaker 1: it isn't true, she said. It can't be true. But oh,
45:28
Speaker 1: how true it seems. The blazing fire drew her to
45:32
Speaker 1: it and she knelt down and held out her hands
45:35
Speaker 1: close to it, so close that the heat made her
45:38
Speaker 1: start back. A fire I only dreamed wouldn't be hot,
45:43
Speaker 1: she cried. She sprang up, touched the table, the dishes,
45:47
Speaker 1: the rug. She went to the bed and touched the blankets.
45:51
Speaker 1: She took up the soft wadded dressing gown and suddenly
45:54
Speaker 1: clutched it to her breast and held it to her cheek.
45:58
Speaker 1: It's warm. It's soft. She almost sobbed. It's real. It
46:04
Speaker 1: must be. She threw it over her shoulders and put
46:08
Speaker 1: her feet into the slippers. They are real, too. It's
46:12
Speaker 1: all real. I am not— I am not dreaming. She almost
46:17
Speaker 1: staggered to the books and opened the one which lay
46:20
Speaker 1: upon the top. Something was written on the fly-leaf, just
46:24
Speaker 1: a few words, and they were these. To the little
46:28
Speaker 1: girl in the attic. From a friend. When she saw that,
46:33
Speaker 1: wasn't it a strange thing for her to do? She
46:36
Speaker 1: put her face down upon the page and and burst
46:39
Speaker 1: into tears.' I don't know who it is,' she said.'
46:43
Speaker 1: But somebody cares for me a little. I have a friend.'
46:48
Speaker 1: She took her candle and stole out of her own
46:50
Speaker 1: room and into Becky's, and stood by her bedside.' Becky! Becky!'
46:56
Speaker 1: she whispered as loudly as she dared.' Wake up!' When
47:00
Speaker 1: Becky wakened, and she sat upright staring aghast, her face
47:04
Speaker 1: still smudged with traces of tears. Beside her stood a
47:08
Speaker 1: little figure in a luxurious wadded robe of crimson silk.
47:12
Speaker 1: The face she saw was a shining, wonderful thing. The
47:15
Speaker 1: Princess Sarah, as she remembered her, stood at her very bedside,
47:20
Speaker 1: holding a candle in her hand.' Come,' she said.' Oh, Becky, come!'
47:27
Speaker 1: Becky was too frightened to speak. She simply got up
47:30
Speaker 1: and followed her, with her mouth and eyes open and
47:33
Speaker 1: without a word. and when they crossed the threshold, Sarah
47:38
Speaker 1: shut the door gently and drew her into the warm,
47:41
Speaker 1: glowing midst of things which made her brain real and
47:44
Speaker 1: her hungry senses faint.' It' s true! It's true!' she cried.'
47:50
Speaker 1: I' ve touched them all! They are as real as we are!
47:53
Speaker 1: The magic has come and done it, Becky, while we
47:56
Speaker 1: were asleep! The magic that won't let those worst things
47:59
Speaker 1: ever quite happen!' End of chapter 15