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The Little Princess Chapter 7 - The Diamond Mines Again · The Frances Hodgson Burnett Library

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Speaker 1: CHAPTER VII. THE DIAMOND MINES AGAIN When Sarah entered the
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Speaker 1: holly-hung schoolroom in the afternoon, she did so as the
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Speaker 1: head of a sort of procession. Miss Minchin, in her
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Speaker 1: grandest silk dress, led her by the hand. A manservant followed,
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Speaker 1: carrying the box containing the last doll. A housemaid carried
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Speaker 1: a second box, and Becky brought up the rear, carrying
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Speaker 1: a third and wearing a clean apron and a new cap.
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Speaker 1: Sarah would much have preferred to enter in the usual way,
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Speaker 1: but Miss Minchin had sent for her and after an
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Speaker 1: interview in her private sitting-room had expressed her wishes.' This
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Speaker 1: is not an ordinary occasion,' she said.' I do not
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Speaker 1: desire that it should be treated as one.' So Sarah
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Speaker 1: was led grandly in, and felt shy when, on her entry,
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Speaker 1: the big girls stared at her and touched each other's elbows,
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Speaker 1: and the little ones began to squirm joyously in their seats.' Silence,
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Speaker 1: young ladies!' said Miss Minchin, at the murmur which arose.' James,
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Speaker 1: place the box on the table and remove the lid. Emma,
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Speaker 1: put yours upon a chair.'' Becky!' suddenly and severely. Becky
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Speaker 1: had quite forgotten herself in her excitement. and was grinning
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Speaker 1: at Lottie, who was wriggling with rapturous expectation. She almost
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Speaker 1: dropped her box, the disapproving voice so startled her, and
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Speaker 1: her frightened, bobbing curtsy of apology was so funny that
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Speaker 1: Lavinia and Jessie tittered.' It is not your place to
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Speaker 1: look at the young ladies,' said Miss Minchin.' You forget yourself.
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Speaker 1: Put your box down.' Becky obeyed with alarmed haste, and
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Speaker 1: hastily backed toward the door.' You may leave us,' Miss
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Speaker 1: Minchin announced to the servants with a wave of her hand.
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Speaker 1: Becky stepped aside respectfully to allow the superior servants to
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Speaker 1: pass out first. She could not help casting a longing
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Speaker 1: glance at the box on the table. Something made of
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Speaker 1: blue satin was peeping from between the folds of tissue paper.'
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Speaker 1: If you please, Miss Minchin,' said Sarah suddenly, 'mayn't Becky stay?'
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Speaker 1: It was a bold thing to do. Miss Minchin was
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Speaker 1: betrayed into something like a slight jump. Then she put
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Speaker 1: her eyeglass up and gazed at her show pupil disturbedly.' Becky!'
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Speaker 1: she exclaimed.' My dearest Sarah!' Sarah advanced a step toward her.'
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Speaker 1: I want her because I know she would like to
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Speaker 1: see the presents,' she explained.' She' s a little girl too,
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Speaker 1: you know.' Miss Minchin was scandalized. She glanced from one
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Speaker 1: figure to the other. My dear Sarah, she said, Becky
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Speaker 1: is the scullery maid. Scullery maids are not little girls.
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Speaker 1: It really had not occurred to her to think of
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Speaker 1: them in that light. Scullery maids were machines who carried
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Speaker 1: coal scuttles and made fires. But Becky is, said Sarah,
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Speaker 1: and I know she would enjoy herself. Please let her stay,
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Speaker 1: because it is my birthday. Miss Minchin replied with much dignity.
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Speaker 1: as you ask it as a birthday favour, she may stay. Rebecca,
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Speaker 1: thank Miss Sarah for her great kindness. Becky had been
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Speaker 1: backing into the corner, twisting the hem of her apron
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Speaker 1: in delighted suspense. She came forward, bobbing curtsies, but between
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Speaker 1: Sarah's eyes and her own there passed a gleam of
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Speaker 1: friendly understanding while her words tumbled over each other. Oh,
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Speaker 1: if you please, miss, I'm that grateful, miss. I did
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Speaker 1: want to see the doll, miss, that I did. Thank you, Miss.
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Speaker 1: I thank you, Mum, turning and making an alarmed bob
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Speaker 1: to Miss Minchin, for letting me take the liberty. Miss
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Speaker 1: Minchin waved her hand again. This time it was in
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Speaker 1: the direction of the corner near the door. Go and
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Speaker 1: stand there, she commanded, not too near the young ladies.
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Speaker 1: Becky went to her place, grinning. She did not care
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Speaker 1: where she was sent, so that she might have the
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Speaker 1: luck of being inside the room, instead of being downstairs
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Speaker 1: in the scullery while these delights were going on. She
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Speaker 1: did not even mind when Miss Minchin cleared her throat
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Speaker 1: ominously and spoke again.' Now, young ladies, I have a
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Speaker 1: few words to say to you,' she announced.' She' s going
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Speaker 1: to make a speech,' whispered one of the girls.' I
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Speaker 1: wish it was over.' Sarah felt rather uncomfortable, as this
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Speaker 1: was her party and It was probable that the speech
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Speaker 1: was about her. It is not agreeable to stand in
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Speaker 1: a schoolroom and have a speech made about you. You
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Speaker 1: are aware, young ladies, the speech began, for it was
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Speaker 1: a speech, that dear Sarah is eleven years old today.
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Speaker 1: Dear Sarah, murmured Lavinia. Several of you here have also
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Speaker 1: been eleven years old, but Sarah's birthdays are rather different
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Speaker 1: from other little girls' birthdays. When she is older, she
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Speaker 1: will be an heiress to a large fortune, which it
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Speaker 1: will be her duty to spend in a meritorious manner.''
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Speaker 1: The diamond mines?' giggled Jessie in a whisper. Sarah did
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Speaker 1: not hear her, but as she stood with her grey-green
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Speaker 1: eyes fixed steadily on Miss Minchin, she felt herself growing
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Speaker 1: rather hot. When Miss Minchin talked about money, she felt
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Speaker 1: somehow that she always hated her, and of course it
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Speaker 1: was disrespectful to hate grown-up people.' when her dear papa,
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Speaker 1: Captain Crewe, brought her from India and gave her into
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Speaker 1: my care. The speech proceeded. He said to me, in
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Speaker 1: a jesting way, I am afraid she will be very rich,
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Speaker 1: Miss Minchin. My reply was, her education at my seminary,
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Speaker 1: Captain Crewe, shall be such as will adorn the largest fortune.
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Speaker 1: Sarah has become my most accomplished pupil. Her French and
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Speaker 1: her dancing are a credit to the seminary. Her manners,
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Speaker 1: which have caused you to call her Princess Sarah— are
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Speaker 1: perfect her amiability she exhibits by giving you this afternoon's
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Speaker 1: party i hope you appreciate her generosity i wish you
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Speaker 1: to express your appreciation of it all by saying aloud
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Speaker 1: all together thank you sara the entire schoolroom rose to
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Speaker 1: its feet as it had done the morning sara remembered
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Speaker 1: so well thank you sara it said and it must
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Speaker 1: be confessed that lottie jumped up and down sara looked
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Speaker 1: rather shy for a moment she made a curtsey and
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Speaker 1: it was a very nice one. Thank you, she said,
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Speaker 1: for coming to my party. Very pretty indeed, Sarah, approved
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Speaker 1: Miss Minchin. That is what a real princess does when
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Speaker 1: the populace applauds her. Lavinia, scathingly, the sound you just
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Speaker 1: made was extremely like a snort. If you are jealous
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Speaker 1: of your fellow pupil, I beg you will express your
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Speaker 1: feelings in some more ladylike manner. Now I will leave
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Speaker 1: you to enjoy yourselves. The instant she had swept out
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Speaker 1: of the room, the spell her presence always had upon
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Speaker 1: them was broken. The door had scarcely closed before every
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Speaker 1: seat was empty. The little girls jumped or tumbled out
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Speaker 1: of theirs, the older ones wasted no time in deserting theirs.
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Speaker 1: There was a rush toward the boxes. Sarah had bent
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Speaker 1: over one of them with a delighted face.' These are books,
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Speaker 1: I know,' she said. The little children broke into a
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Speaker 1: rueful murmur, and Ermengarde looked aghast. Does your papa send
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Speaker 1: you books for a birthday present? she exclaimed. Why, he's
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Speaker 1: as bad as mine. Don't open them, Sarah. I like them,
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Speaker 1: Sarah laughed, but she turned to the biggest box. When
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Speaker 1: she took out the last doll, it was so magnificent
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Speaker 1: that the children uttered delighted groans of joy and actually
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Speaker 1: drew back to gaze at it in breathless rapture. She's
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Speaker 1: almost as big as Lottie, someone gasped. Lottie clapped her
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Speaker 1: hands and danced about, giggling. She's dressed for the theatre,
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Speaker 1: said Lavinia. Her cloak is lined with ermine. Oh, cried Ermengarde,
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Speaker 1: darting forward. She has an opera glass in her hand,
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Speaker 1: a blue and gold one. Here is her trunk, said Sarah.
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Speaker 1: Let us open it and look at her things. She
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Speaker 1: sat down upon the floor and turned the key. The
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Speaker 1: children crowded clamouring around her as she lifted tray after
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Speaker 1: tray and revealed their contents. Never had the schoolroom been
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Speaker 1: in such an uproar. There were lace collars and silk
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Speaker 1: stockings and handkerchiefs. There was a jewel case containing a
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Speaker 1: necklace and a tiara which looked quite as if they
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Speaker 1: were made of real diamonds. There was a long seal
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Speaker 1: skin and muff. There were ball dresses and walking dresses
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Speaker 1: and visiting dresses. There were hats and tea gowns and fans.
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Speaker 1: Even Lavinia and Jessie forgot that they were too elderly
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Speaker 1: to care for dolls and uttered exclamations of delight and
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Speaker 1: caught up things to look at them.' Suppose,' Sarah said
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Speaker 1: as she stood by the table, putting a large black
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Speaker 1: velvet hat on the impassively smiling owner of all these splendors.'
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Speaker 1: Suppose she understands human talk and feels proud of being admired.''
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Speaker 1: You are always supposing things,' said Lavinia, and her air
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Speaker 1: was very superior.' I know I am,' answered Sarah undisturbedly.'
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Speaker 1: I like it. There's nothing so nice as supposing. It's
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Speaker 1: almost like being a fairy.' you suppose anything hard enough
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Speaker 1: it seems as if it were real it's all very
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Speaker 1: well to suppose things if you have everything said Lavinia
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Speaker 1: could you suppose and pretend if you were a beggar
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Speaker 1: and lived in a garret Sarah stopped arranging the last
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Speaker 1: dolls ostrich plumes and looked thoughtful I believe I could
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Speaker 1: she said if one was a beggar one would have
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Speaker 1: to suppose and pretend all the time. But it mightn't
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Speaker 1: be easy.' She often thought afterward how strange it was
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Speaker 1: that just as she had finished saying this, just at
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Speaker 1: that very moment, Miss Amelia came into the room.' Sarah,'
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Speaker 1: she said. Your papa's solicitor, Mr. Barrow, has called to
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Speaker 1: see Miss Minchin, and as she must talk to him alone,
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Speaker 1: and the refreshments are laid in her parlour, you had
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Speaker 1: all better come and have your feast now, so that
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Speaker 1: my sister can have her interview here in the schoolroom.
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Speaker 1: Refreshments were not likely to be disdained at any hour,
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Speaker 1: and many pairs of eyes gleamed. Miss Amelia arranged the
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Speaker 1: procession into decorum, and then, with Sarah at her side
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Speaker 1: heading it, she led it away, leaving the last doll
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Speaker 1: sitting upon a chair with the glories of her wardrobe
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Speaker 1: scattered about her. Dresses and coats hung upon chair backs,
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Speaker 1: piles of lace-frilled petticoats lying upon their seats. Becky, who
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Speaker 1: was not expected to partake of refreshments, had the indiscretion
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Speaker 1: to linger a moment to look at these beauties. It
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Speaker 1: really was an indiscretion.' Go back to your work, Becky,'
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Speaker 1: Miss Amelia had said, but she had stopped to pick
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Speaker 1: up reverently first a muff and then a coat, and
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Speaker 1: while she stood looking at them adoringly she heard Miss
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Speaker 1: Minchin upon the threshold. and being smitten with terror at
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Speaker 1: the thought of being accused of taking liberties, she rashly
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Speaker 1: darted under the table, which hid her by its tablecloth.
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Speaker 1: Miss Minchin came into the room, accompanied by a sharp-featured,
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Speaker 1: dry little gentleman, who looked rather disturbed. Miss Minchin herself
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Speaker 1: also looked rather disturbed, it must be admitted, and she
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Speaker 1: gazed at the dry little gentleman with an irritated and
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Speaker 1: puzzled expression. She sat down with stiff dignity and waved
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Speaker 1: him to a chair.' Pray be seated, Mr. Barrow.' she said. Mr.
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Speaker 1: Barrow did not sit down at once. His attention seemed
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Speaker 1: attracted by the last doll and the things which surrounded her.
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Speaker 1: He settled his eyeglasses and looked at them in nervous disapproval.
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Speaker 1: The last doll herself did not seem to mind this
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Speaker 1: in the least. She merely sat upright and returned his
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Speaker 1: gaze indifferently.' A hundred pounds,' Mr. Barrow remarked succinctly. all
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Speaker 1: expensive material, and made at a Parisian modiste's. He spent
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Speaker 1: money lavishly enough, that young man.' Miss Minchin felt offended.
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Speaker 1: This seemed to be a disparagement of her best patron,
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Speaker 1: and was a liberty. Even solicitors had no right to
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Speaker 1: take liberties.' I beg your pardon, Mr. Barrow,' she said stiffly.'
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Speaker 1: I do not understand.'' Birthday presents,' said Mr. Barrow, in
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Speaker 1: the same critical manner.' To a child eleven years old.'
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Speaker 1: Mad extravagance, I call it. Miss Minchin drew herself up
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Speaker 1: still more rigidly. Captain Crewe is a man of fortune,
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Speaker 1: she said. The diamond mines alone. Mr. Barrow wheeled round
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Speaker 1: upon her. Diamond mines? he broke out. There are none,
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Speaker 1: never were. Miss Minchin actually got up from her chair. What?
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Speaker 1: she cried. What do you mean? At any rate, answered Mr.
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Speaker 1: Barrow quite snappishly, It would have been much better if
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Speaker 1: there never had been any.'' Any diamond mines?' ejaculated Miss Minchin,
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Speaker 1: catching at the back of a chair and feeling as
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Speaker 1: if a splendid dream was fading away from her.' Diamond
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Speaker 1: mines spell ruin oftener than they spell wealth,' said Mr. Barrow.'
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Speaker 1: When a man is in the hands of a very
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Speaker 1: dear friend, and is not a businessman himself, he had
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Speaker 1: better steer clear of the dear friend's diamond mines or
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Speaker 1: gold mines or any other kind of mines dear friends
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Speaker 1: want his money put into.' The late Captain Crewe. Here
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Speaker 1: Miss Minchin stopped him with a gasp. The late Captain Crewe,
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Speaker 1: she cried out. The late? You don't come to tell
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Speaker 1: me that Captain Crewe is— He's dead, ma'am, Mr. Barrow
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Speaker 1: answered with jerky brusqueness. Died of jungle fever and business
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Speaker 1: troubles combined. The jungle fever might not have killed him
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Speaker 1: if he had not been driven mad by the business troubles,
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Speaker 1: and the business troubles might not have put an end
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Speaker 1: to him if the jungle fever had not assisted. Captain
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Speaker 1: Crewe is dead. Miss Minchin dropped into her chair again.
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Speaker 1: The words he had spoken filled her with alarm. What
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Speaker 1: were his business troubles? she said. What were they? Diamond mines,
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Speaker 1: answered Mr. Barrow, and dear friends, and ruin. Miss Minchin
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Speaker 1: lost her breath. Ruin? she gasped out. Lost every penny.
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Speaker 1: That young man had too much money. The dear friend
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Speaker 1: was mad on the subject of the diamond mine. He
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Speaker 1: put all his own money into it and all Captain Crewe's.
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Speaker 1: Then the dear friend ran away. Captain Crewe was already
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Speaker 1: stricken with fever when the news came. The shock was
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Speaker 1: too much for him. He died delirious, raving about his
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Speaker 1: little girl, and didn't leave a penny. Now Miss Minchin understood,
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Speaker 1: and never had she received such a blow in her life.
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Speaker 1: Her show pupil, her show patron, swept away from the
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Speaker 1: select seminary at one blow. She felt as if she
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Speaker 1: had been outraged and robbed, and that Captain Crewe and
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Speaker 1: Sarah and Mr. Barrow were equally to blame. Do you
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Speaker 1: mean to tell me, she cried out, that he left nothing,
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Speaker 1: that Sarah will have no fortune, that the child is
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Speaker 1: a beggar, that she has left on my hands a
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Speaker 1: little pauper instead of an heiress? Mr. Barrow was a
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Speaker 1: shrewd businessman, and felt it as well to make his
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Speaker 1: own freedom from responsibility quite clear without any delay. She
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Speaker 1: is certainly left a beggar, he replied, and she is
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Speaker 1: certainly left on your hands, ma, as she hasn't a
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Speaker 1: relation in the world that we know of. Miss Minchin
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Speaker 1: started forward. She looked as if she was going to
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Speaker 1: open the door and rush out of the room to
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Speaker 1: stop the festivities going on joyfully, and rather noisily, that
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Speaker 1: moment over the refreshments.' It is monstrous,' she said.' She' s
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Speaker 1: in my sitting-room at this moment, dressed in silk gauze
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Speaker 1: and lace petticoats, giving a party at my expense.' She's
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Speaker 1: giving it at your expense, madam, if she's giving it,
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Speaker 1: said Mr. Barrow calmly. Barrow and Skipworth are not responsible
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Speaker 1: for anything. There never was a cleaner sweep made of
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Speaker 1: a man's fortune. Captain Crewe died without paying our last bill,
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Speaker 1: and it was a big one. Miss Minchin turned back
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Speaker 1: from the door in increased indignation. This was worse than
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Speaker 1: anyone could have dreamed of its being.' That is what
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Speaker 1: has happened to me!' she cried.' I was always so
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Speaker 1: sure of his payments!' that I went to all sorts
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Speaker 1: of ridiculous expenses for the child. I paid the bills
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Speaker 1: for that ridiculous doll and her ridiculous fantastic wardrobe. The
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Speaker 1: child was to have anything she wanted. She has a
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Speaker 1: carriage and a pony and a maid, and I've paid
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Speaker 1: for all of them since the last check came.' Mr.
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Speaker 1: Barrow evidently did not intend to remain to listen to
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Speaker 1: the story of Miss Minchin's grievances after he had made
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Speaker 1: the position of his firm clear and related the mere
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Speaker 1: dry facts. He did not feel any particular sympathy for
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Speaker 1: irate keepers of boarding schools. You had better not pay
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Speaker 1: for anything more, ma'am, he remarked, unless you want to
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Speaker 1: make presents to the young lady. No one will remember you.
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Speaker 1: She hasn't a brass farthing to call her own. But
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Speaker 1: what am I to do? demanded Miss Minchin, as if
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Speaker 1: she felt it entirely his duty to make the matter right.
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Speaker 1: What am I to do? There isn't anything to do,
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Speaker 1: said Mr. Barrow, folding up his eyeglasses and slipping them
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Speaker 1: into his pocket. Captain Crewe is dead. The child has
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Speaker 1: left a pauper. Nobody is responsible for her but you.
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Speaker 1: I am not responsible for her, and I refuse to
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Speaker 1: be made responsible. Miss Minchin became quite white with rage. Mr.
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Speaker 1: Barrow turned to go. I have nothing to do with that, madam,
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Speaker 1: he said uninterestedly. Barrow and Skipworth are not responsible. Very
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Speaker 1: sorry the thing has happened, of course. If you think
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Speaker 1: she is to be foisted off on me, you are
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Speaker 1: greatly mistaken, Miss Minchin gasped.' I have been robbed and cheated!
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Speaker 1: I will turn her into the street!' If she had
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Speaker 1: not been so furious, she would have been too discreet
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Speaker 1: to say quite so much. She saw herself burdened with
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Speaker 1: an extravagantly brought-up child whom she had always resented, and
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Speaker 1: she lost all self-control. Mr. Barrow undisturbedly moved toward the door.'
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Speaker 1: I wouldn't do that, madam,' he commented.' It wouldn't look well.
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Speaker 1: Unpleasant story to get about in connection with the establishment.'
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Speaker 1: Pupil bundled out penniless and without friends?' He was a
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Speaker 1: clever businessman, and he knew what he was saying. He
18:43
Speaker 1: also knew that Miss Minchin was a businesswoman, and would
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Speaker 1: be shrewd enough to see the truth. She could not
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Speaker 1: afford to do a thing which would make people speak
18:50
Speaker 1: of her as cruel and hard-hearted.' Better keep her and
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Speaker 1: make use of her,' he added.' She' s a clever child,
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Speaker 1: I believe. You can get a good deal out of
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Speaker 1: her as she grows older.'' I will get a good
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Speaker 1: deal out of her before she grows older,' exclaimed Miss Minchin.
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Speaker 1: I am sure you will, ma'am, said Mr. Barrow, with
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Speaker 1: a little sinister smile. I am sure you will. Good morning.
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Speaker 1: He bowed himself out and closed the door. And it
19:18
Speaker 1: must be confessed that Miss Minchin stood for a few
19:20
Speaker 1: moments and glared at it. What he had said was
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Speaker 1: quite true. She knew it. She had absolutely no redress.
19:28
Speaker 1: Her show pupil had melted into nothingness, leaving only a friendless,
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Speaker 1: beggared little girl. Such money as she herself had advanced
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Speaker 1: was lost and could not be regained. And as she
19:40
Speaker 1: stood there breathless under her sense of injury, there fell
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Speaker 1: upon her ears a burst of gay voices from her
19:46
Speaker 1: own sacred room which had actually been given up to
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Speaker 1: the feast. She could at least stop this. But as
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Speaker 1: she started toward the door, it was opened by Miss Amelia, who,
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Speaker 1: when she caught sight of the changed, angry face, fell
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Speaker 1: back a step in alarm.' What is the matter, sister?'
20:04
Speaker 1: she ejaculated. Miss Minchin's voice was almost fierce when she answered.
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Speaker 1: Where is Sarah Crewe? Miss Amelia was bewildered. Sarah? she stammered. Why,
20:17
Speaker 1: she's with the children in your room, of course. Has
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Speaker 1: she a black frock in her sumptuous wardrobe? In bitter irony.
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Speaker 1: A black frock? Miss Amelia stammered again. A black one?
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Speaker 1: She has frocks of every other colour. Has she a
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Speaker 1: black one? Miss Amelia began to turn pale. No, yes,
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Speaker 1: she said. But it is too short for her. She
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Speaker 1: has only the old black velvet, and she has outgrown it.
20:44
Speaker 1: Go and tell her to take off that preposterous pink
20:47
Speaker 1: silk gauze and put the black one on, whether it
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Speaker 1: is too short or not. She is done with finery.
20:53
Speaker 1: Then Miss Amelia began to wring her fat hands and cry. Oh, sister,
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Speaker 1: she sniffed. Oh, sister, what can have happened? Miss Minchin
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Speaker 1: wasted no words. Captain Crewe is dead, she said. He
21:08
Speaker 1: has died without a penny. That spoiled, pampered, fanciful child
21:11
Speaker 1: has left a pauper on my hands.' Miss Amelia sat
21:15
Speaker 1: down quite heavily in the nearest chair.' Hundreds of pounds
21:19
Speaker 1: have I spent on nonsense for her, and I shall
21:21
Speaker 1: never see a penny of it. Put a stop to
21:23
Speaker 1: this ridiculous party of hers. Go and make her change
21:26
Speaker 1: her frock at once.'' I?' panted Miss Amelia.' Must I
21:32
Speaker 1: go and tell her now?'' This moment,' was the fierce answer.'
21:36
Speaker 1: Don't sit staring like a goose. Go! Poor Miss Amelia
21:41
Speaker 1: was accustomed to being called a goose. She knew, in fact,
21:44
Speaker 1: that she was rather a goose, and that it was
21:46
Speaker 1: left to geese to do a great many disagreeable things.
21:50
Speaker 1: It was a somewhat embarrassing thing to go into the
21:53
Speaker 1: midst of a room full of delighted children and tell
21:56
Speaker 1: the giver of the feast that she had suddenly been
21:58
Speaker 1: transformed into a little beggar and must go upstairs and
22:01
Speaker 1: put on an old black frock which was too small
22:03
Speaker 1: for her. But the thing must be done. This was
22:07
Speaker 1: evidently not the time when questions might be asked. She
22:11
Speaker 1: rubbed her eyes with her handkerchief until they looked quite red,
22:14
Speaker 1: after which she got up and went out of the
22:16
Speaker 1: room without venturing to say another word. When her older
22:19
Speaker 1: sister looked and spoke as she had done just now,
22:22
Speaker 1: the wisest course to pursue was to obey orders without
22:25
Speaker 1: any comment. Miss Minchin walked across the room. She spoke
22:30
Speaker 1: to herself aloud without knowing that she was doing it.
22:33
Speaker 1: During the last year, the story of the diamond mines
22:35
Speaker 1: had suggested all sorts of possibilities to her. Even proprietors
22:39
Speaker 1: of seminaries might make fortunes in stocks with the aid
22:43
Speaker 1: of owners of mines. And now, instead of looking forward
22:46
Speaker 1: to gains, she was left to look back upon losses.
22:50
Speaker 1: The Princess Sarah, indeed, she said. The child has been
22:55
Speaker 1: pampered as if she were a queen. She was sweeping
22:58
Speaker 1: angrily past the corner table as she said it, and
23:01
Speaker 1: the next moment, she started at the sound of a loud,
23:04
Speaker 1: sobbing sniff which issued from under the cover. What is that?
23:10
Speaker 1: she exclaimed angrily. The loud, sobbing sniff was heard again,
23:15
Speaker 1: and she stooped and raised the hanging folds of the
23:18
Speaker 1: table cover. How dare you! she cried out. How dare you!
23:23
Speaker 1: Come out immediately! It was poor Becky who crawled out,
23:27
Speaker 1: and her cap was knocked on one side, and her
23:30
Speaker 1: face was red with repressed crying. If you please, it's me, Mum,
23:36
Speaker 1: she explained. I know I hadn't ought to, but I
23:39
Speaker 1: was looking at the doll, Mum, and I was frightened
23:41
Speaker 1: when you come in. It slipped under the table. You
23:44
Speaker 1: have been there all the time, listening, said Miss Minchin. No, Mum,
23:49
Speaker 1: Becky protested, barbing curtsies. Not listening. I thought I could
23:53
Speaker 1: slip out without you noticing. I couldn't, and I had
23:56
Speaker 1: to stay. But I didn't listen, Mum. I wouldn't for nothing.
24:01
Speaker 1: I couldn't help hearing. Suddenly it seemed almost as if
24:05
Speaker 1: she lost all fear of the awful lady before her.
24:08
Speaker 1: She burst into fresh tears. Oh, please, um, she said.
24:12
Speaker 1: I dare say you'll give me warning, ma'am, but I'm
24:15
Speaker 1: so sorry for poor Miss Sarah. I'm so sorry. Leave
24:19
Speaker 1: the room, ordered Miss Mention. Becky curtsied again, the tears
24:24
Speaker 1: openly streaming down her cheeks. Yes, um, I will, um,
24:28
Speaker 1: she said, trembling. But oh, I just wanted to ask you,
24:33
Speaker 1: Miss Sarah, she's been such a rich young lady, and
24:36
Speaker 1: she's been waited on and and and foot, and what
24:39
Speaker 1: will she do now, Mum, without no maid? If, if,
24:43
Speaker 1: oh please, would you let me wait on her after
24:45
Speaker 1: I've done my pots and kettles? I'd do him that quick.
24:49
Speaker 1: If you'd let me wait on her, now she's poor. Oh,
24:53
Speaker 1: breaking out afresh, poor little Miss Sarah, Mum, that was
24:57
Speaker 1: called a princess. Somehow she made Miss Minchin feel more
25:02
Speaker 1: angry than ever. That the very scullery maid should range
25:05
Speaker 1: herself on the side of this child, whom she realized
25:08
Speaker 1: more fully than ever that she had never liked, was
25:11
Speaker 1: too much. She actually stamped her foot.' No, certainly not,'
25:18
Speaker 1: she said.' She will wait on herself, and on other people, too.
25:22
Speaker 1: Leave the room this instant, or you'll leave your place.'
25:26
Speaker 1: Becky threw her apron over her head and fled. She
25:29
Speaker 1: ran out of the room and down the steps into
25:31
Speaker 1: the scullery, and there she sat down among her pots
25:34
Speaker 1: and kettles and wept as if her heart would break.
25:38
Speaker 1: It's exactly like the ones in the stories, she wailed.
25:42
Speaker 1: Them poor princess ones that was drove into the world.
25:47
Speaker 1: Miss Minchin had never looked quite so still and hard
25:50
Speaker 1: as she did when Sarah came to her a few
25:52
Speaker 1: hours later in response to a message she had sent her.
25:56
Speaker 1: Even by that time, It seemed to Sarah as if
25:59
Speaker 1: the birthday party had either been a dream or a
26:02
Speaker 1: thing which had happened years ago and had happened in
26:05
Speaker 1: the life of quite another little girl. Every sign of
26:08
Speaker 1: the festivities had been swept away. The holly had been
26:12
Speaker 1: removed from the schoolroom walls and the forms and desks
26:15
Speaker 1: put back into their places. Miss Minchin's sitting room looked
26:19
Speaker 1: as it always did. All traces of the feast were
26:22
Speaker 1: gone and Miss Minchin had resumed her usual dress. The
26:26
Speaker 1: pupils had been ordered to lay aside their party frocks,
26:29
Speaker 1: and this having been done, they had returned to the
26:32
Speaker 1: schoolroom and huddled together in groups, whispering and talking excitedly.
26:37
Speaker 1: Tell Sarah to come to my room, Miss Minchin had
26:40
Speaker 1: said to her sister, and explain to her clearly that
26:43
Speaker 1: I will have no crying or unpleasant scenes. Sister, replied
26:48
Speaker 1: Miss Amelia, she is the strangest child I ever saw.
26:51
Speaker 1: She has actually made no fuss at all. You remember
26:54
Speaker 1: she made none when Captain Carew went back to India.
26:57
Speaker 1: When I told her what had happened, she just stood
27:00
Speaker 1: quite still and looked at me without making a sound.
27:02
Speaker 1: Her eyes seemed to get bigger and bigger, and she
27:06
Speaker 1: went quite pale. When I had finished, she still stood
27:09
Speaker 1: staring for a few seconds, and then her chin began
27:12
Speaker 1: to shake and she turned round and ran out of
27:14
Speaker 1: the room and upstairs. Several of the other children began
27:17
Speaker 1: to cry, but she did not seem to hear them
27:20
Speaker 1: or to be alive to anything but just what I
27:22
Speaker 1: was saying. It made me feel quite queer not to
27:25
Speaker 1: be answered. And when you tell anything sudden and strange,
27:28
Speaker 1: you expect people will say something, whatever it is. Nobody
27:33
Speaker 1: but Sarah herself ever knew what happened in her room
27:35
Speaker 1: after she had run upstairs and locked her door. In fact,
27:39
Speaker 1: she herself scarcely remembered anything but that she walked up
27:42
Speaker 1: and down, saying over and over again to herself, in
27:46
Speaker 1: a voice which did not seem her own, My papa
27:50
Speaker 1: is dead. My papa is dead. Once she stopped before Emily,
27:55
Speaker 1: who sat watching her from her chair, and cried out wildly, Emily,
28:01
Speaker 1: do you hear? Do you hear? Papa is dead. He
28:05
Speaker 1: is dead in India, thousands of miles away. When she
28:10
Speaker 1: came into Miss Minchin's sitting-room in answer to her summons,
28:13
Speaker 1: her face was white, and her eyes had dark rings
28:16
Speaker 1: around them. Her mouth was set, as if she did
28:19
Speaker 1: not wish it to reveal what she had suffered, and
28:22
Speaker 1: was suffering. She did not look in the least like
28:25
Speaker 1: the rose-colored butterfly child who had flown about from one
28:28
Speaker 1: of her treasures to the other in the decorated schoolroom.
28:31
Speaker 1: She looked instead a strange, desolate, almost grotesque little figure.
28:37
Speaker 1: She had put on, without Mariette's help, the cast-aside black
28:41
Speaker 1: velvet frock. It was too short and tight, and her
28:45
Speaker 1: slender legs looked long and thin, showing themselves from beneath
28:48
Speaker 1: the brief skirt. As she had not found a piece
28:51
Speaker 1: of black ribbon— Her short thick black hair tumbled loosely
28:55
Speaker 1: about her face and contrasted strongly with its pallor. She
28:59
Speaker 1: held Emily tightly in one arm and Emily was swathed
29:03
Speaker 1: in a piece of black material. Put down your doll,
29:07
Speaker 1: said Miss Minchin. What do you mean by bringing her here? No,
29:12
Speaker 1: Sarah answered. I will not put her down. She is
29:16
Speaker 1: all I have. My papa gave her to me. She
29:19
Speaker 1: had always made Miss Minchin feel secretly uncomfortable and she
29:23
Speaker 1: did so now. She did not speak with rudeness so
29:26
Speaker 1: much as with a cold steadiness with which Miss Minchin
29:29
Speaker 1: felt it difficult to cope, perhaps because she knew she
29:32
Speaker 1: was doing a heartless and inhuman thing. You will have
29:36
Speaker 1: no time for dolls in future, she said. You will
29:39
Speaker 1: have to work and improve yourself and make yourself useful
29:43
Speaker 1: Sarah kept her big strange eyes fixed on her and
29:47
Speaker 1: said not a word everything will be very different now
29:51
Speaker 1: said Miss Minchin I suppose Miss Amelia has explained matters
29:55
Speaker 1: to you yes answered Sarah My papa is dead. He
30:01
Speaker 1: left me no money. I am quite poor. You are
30:04
Speaker 1: a beggar, said Miss Minchin, her temper rising at the
30:08
Speaker 1: recollection of what all this meant. It appears that you
30:11
Speaker 1: have no relations and no home and no one to
30:14
Speaker 1: take care of you. For a moment the thin, pale
30:18
Speaker 1: little face twitched, but Sarah again said nothing. What are
30:23
Speaker 1: you staring at? demanded Miss Minchin sharply. Are you so
30:27
Speaker 1: stupid that you cannot understand? I tell you that you
30:30
Speaker 1: are quite alone in the world and have no one
30:33
Speaker 1: to do anything for you, unless I choose to keep
30:36
Speaker 1: you here out of charity.' I understand,' answered Sarah in
30:41
Speaker 1: a low tone, and there was a sound as if
30:44
Speaker 1: she had gulped down something which rose in her throat.'
30:47
Speaker 1: I understand.'' That doll!' cried Miss Minchin, pointing to the
30:53
Speaker 1: splendid birthday gift seated near.' That ridiculous doll, with all
30:57
Speaker 1: her nonsensical extravagant things!' I actually paid the bill for her.
31:02
Speaker 1: Sarah turned her head toward the chair. The last doll,
31:07
Speaker 1: she said. The last doll. And her little mournful voice
31:12
Speaker 1: had an odd sound. The last doll indeed, said Miss Minchin.
31:18
Speaker 1: And she is mine, not yours. Everything you own is mine.
31:23
Speaker 1: Please take it away from me then, said Sarah. I
31:26
Speaker 1: do not want it. If she had cried and sobbed
31:30
Speaker 1: and seemed frightened, Miss Minchin might almost have had more
31:33
Speaker 1: patience with her. She was a woman who liked to
31:36
Speaker 1: domineer and feel her power, and as she looked at
31:39
Speaker 1: Sarah's pale little steadfast face and heard her proud little voice,
31:44
Speaker 1: she quite felt as if her might was being set
31:46
Speaker 1: at naught.' Don' t put on grand airs,' she said.' The
31:51
Speaker 1: time for that sort of thing is past. You are
31:53
Speaker 1: not a princess any longer.' Your carriage and your pony
31:56
Speaker 1: will be sent away. Your maid will be dismissed. You
31:59
Speaker 1: will wear your oldest and plainest clothes. Your extravagant ones
32:03
Speaker 1: are no longer suited to your station. You are like Becky.
32:07
Speaker 1: You must work for your living.' To her surprise, a
32:11
Speaker 1: faint gleam of light came into the child's eyes, a
32:14
Speaker 1: shade of relief.' Can I work?' she said.' If I
32:19
Speaker 1: can work it will not matter so much. What can
32:22
Speaker 1: I do?' You can do anything you are told, was
32:26
Speaker 1: the answer. You are a sharp child and pick up
32:29
Speaker 1: things readily. If you make yourself useful, I may let
32:32
Speaker 1: you stay here. You speak French well and you can
32:35
Speaker 1: help with the younger children. May I? exclaimed Sarah. Oh,
32:40
Speaker 1: please let me. I know I can teach them. I
32:43
Speaker 1: like them and they like me. Don't talk nonsense about
32:46
Speaker 1: people liking you, said Miss Minchin. You will have to
32:50
Speaker 1: do more than teach the little ones. You will run
32:53
Speaker 1: errands and help in the kitchen as well as in
32:55
Speaker 1: the schoolroom. If you don't please me, you'll be sent away.
32:59
Speaker 1: Remember that. Now go. Sarah stood still just a moment,
33:04
Speaker 1: looking at her. In her young soul, she was thinking
33:08
Speaker 1: deep and strange things. Then she turned to leave the room. Stop,
33:14
Speaker 1: said Miss Minchin. Don't you intend to thank me? Sarah paused.
33:20
Speaker 1: and all the deep, strange thoughts surged up in her breast.'
33:24
Speaker 1: What for?' she said.' For my kindness to you,' replied
33:30
Speaker 1: Miss Minchin.' For my kindness in giving you a home.'
33:35
Speaker 1: Sarah made two or three steps toward her, her thin
33:39
Speaker 1: little chest heaved up and down, and she spoke in
33:42
Speaker 1: a strange, unchildishly fierce way.' You are not kind,' she said.'
33:47
Speaker 1: You are not kind!' and it is not a home.
33:53
Speaker 1: And she had turned and run out of the room
33:55
Speaker 1: before Miss Minchin could stop her or do anything but
33:58
Speaker 1: stare after her with stony anger. She went up the
34:02
Speaker 1: stairs slowly, but panting for breath, and she held Emily
34:06
Speaker 1: tightly against her side. I wish she could talk, she
34:11
Speaker 1: said to herself. If she could speak, if she could speak.
34:16
Speaker 1: She meant to go to her room and lie down
34:18
Speaker 1: on the tiger-skin, with her cheek upon the great cat's head,
34:22
Speaker 1: and look into the fire, and think, and think, and think.
34:27
Speaker 1: But just before she reached the landing, Miss Amelia came
34:30
Speaker 1: out of the door and closed it behind her, and
34:32
Speaker 1: stood before her looking nervous and awkward. The truth was
34:36
Speaker 1: that she felt secretly ashamed of the thing she had
34:38
Speaker 1: been ordered to do.' You— you are not to go in there,'
34:43
Speaker 1: she said.' Not to go in?' exclaimed Sarah, and she
34:47
Speaker 1: fell back apace. That is not your room now, Miss
34:52
Speaker 1: Amelia answered, reddening a little. Somehow, all at once, Sarah understood.
34:58
Speaker 1: She realized that this was the beginning of the change
35:00
Speaker 1: Miss Minchin had spoken of. Where is my room? she asked,
35:06
Speaker 1: hoping very much that her voice did not shake. You
35:09
Speaker 1: ought to sleep in the attic, next to Becky. Sarah
35:13
Speaker 1: knew where it was. Becky had told her about it.
35:16
Speaker 1: She turned and mounted up two flights of stairs. The
35:20
Speaker 1: last one was narrow and covered with shabby strips of
35:23
Speaker 1: old carpet. She felt as if she were walking away
35:26
Speaker 1: and leaving far behind her the world in which that
35:29
Speaker 1: other child, who no longer seemed herself, had lived. This
35:34
Speaker 1: child in her short, tight old frock, climbing the stairs
35:37
Speaker 1: to the attic, was quite a different creature. When she
35:41
Speaker 1: reached the attic door and opened it, her heart gave
35:44
Speaker 1: a dreary little thump. Then she shut the door and
35:48
Speaker 1: stood against it, and looked about her. Yes, this was
35:53
Speaker 1: another world. The room had a slanting roof and was whitewashed.
35:57
Speaker 1: The whitewash was dingy and had fallen off in places.
36:01
Speaker 1: There was a rusty grate, an old iron bedstead, and
36:05
Speaker 1: a hard bed covered with a faded coverlet. Some pieces
36:08
Speaker 1: of furniture too much worn to be used downstairs had
36:11
Speaker 1: been sent up. Under the skylight in the roof, which
36:15
Speaker 1: showed nothing but an oblong piece of dull gray sky,
36:18
Speaker 1: there stood an old battered red footstool. Sarah went to
36:23
Speaker 1: it and sat down. She seldom cried. She did not
36:26
Speaker 1: cry now. She laid Emily across her knees and put
36:30
Speaker 1: her face down upon her and her arms around her
36:34
Speaker 1: and sat there, her little black head resting on the
36:37
Speaker 1: black draperies, not saying one word, not making one sound.
36:43
Speaker 1: And as she sat in this silence, there came a
36:46
Speaker 1: low tap at the door. such a low, humble one,
36:50
Speaker 1: that she did not at first hear it, and indeed
36:52
Speaker 1: was not roused until the door was timidly pushed open
36:56
Speaker 1: and a poor, tear-smeared face appeared peeping round it. It
37:00
Speaker 1: was Becky's face, and Becky had been crying furtively for
37:04
Speaker 1: hours and rubbing her eyes with her kitchen apron until
37:07
Speaker 1: she looked strange indeed. Oh, miss, she said under her breath,
37:14
Speaker 1: my eye, would you allow me just to come in?
37:18
Speaker 1: Sarah lifted her head and looked at her. She tried
37:21
Speaker 1: to begin a smile, and somehow she could not. Suddenly,
37:26
Speaker 1: and it was all through the loving mournfulness of Becky's
37:29
Speaker 1: streaming eyes, her face looked more like a child's, not
37:33
Speaker 1: so much too old for her years. She held out
37:36
Speaker 1: her hand and gave a little sob.' Oh, Becky,' she said.'
37:41
Speaker 1: I told you we were just the same. Only two
37:44
Speaker 1: little girls. Just two little girls.' You see how true
37:49
Speaker 1: it is. There's no difference now. I'm not a princess anymore.
37:54
Speaker 1: Becky ran to her and caught her hand and hugged
37:57
Speaker 1: it to her breast, kneeling beside her and sobbing with
38:01
Speaker 1: love and pain. Yes, miss, you are, she cried, and
38:06
Speaker 1: her words were all broken. Whatever happens to you, whatever,
38:10
Speaker 1: you'll be a princess all the same, and nothing could
38:13
Speaker 1: make you nothing different. End of chapter seven