The Fairchild Family Read online

  Emily's Recovery, and the Old Story of Mrs. Howard

  "What sound is that I hear?" said Emily]

  After Emily's fever was gone, she got rapidly better every day. Herkind mother never left her, but sat by her bed and talked to her, andprovided everything which was likely to do her good.

  When she was well enough, Mr. Fairchild borrowed Farmer Jones's coveredcart for two days; and he set out, with Mrs. Fairchild and Emily, tofetch Henry and Lucy from Mrs. Goodriche's. It was a lovely morning atthe finest season of the year. The little birds were singing in thehedges, and the grass and leaves of the trees shone with the dew. WhenJohn drove the cart out of the garden-gate and down the lane, "Oh,"said Emily, "how sweet the honeysuckles and the wild roses smell in thehedges! There, mamma, are some young lambs playing in the fields bytheir mothers; and there is one quite white--not a spot about it. Itturns its pretty face towards us. How mild and gentle it looks!"

  Whilst they were talking, the cart had come alongside a wood, which wasexceedingly shady and beautiful. Many tufts of primroses, violets, andwood-anemones grew on the banks by the wayside; and as the wind blewgently over these flowers, it brought a most delightful smell.

  "What sound is that which I hear among the trees?" said Emily. "It isvery sweet and soft."

  "That is the cooing of wood-pigeons or doves," said Mr. Fairchild. "Andlook, Emily, there they are! They are sitting upon the branch of atree; there are two of them."

  "Oh, I see them!" said Emily. "Oh, how soft and pretty they look! Butnow the noise of the cart has frightened them; they are flown away."

  By this time the cart had passed through the wood, and they were comein sight of Mrs. Goodriche's white house standing in a little gardenunder a hill.

  "Oh, mamma, mamma!" said Emily, "there is Mrs. Goodriche's house! And Ishall see my dear Lucy and Henry in a very little time."

  Just as Emily spoke, they saw Lucy and Henry step out of thehouse-door, and come running towards the cart. It would have pleasedyou to the heart had you seen how rejoiced these dear children were tomeet each other. Mr. Fairchild lifted Henry and Lucy into the cart; andthey cried for joy when they put their arms around dear Emily's neck.

  "Oh, Emily, Emily!" said Henry. "If you had died, I never would haveplayed again."

  "God be praised!" said Mr. Fairchild. "Our dear Emily has been sparedto us."

  When the cart came up to Mrs. Goodriche's garden-gate, the good oldlady came to receive Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild, and to kiss Emily; andSukey peeped out of the kitchen-window, not less pleased than hermistress to see Emily in good health.

  Whilst Sukey was getting the dinner, Emily and her brother andsister went to play in the garden. Henry showed Emily some rabbitswhich Mrs. Goodriche had, and some young ducks which had been hatched afew days before, with many other pretty things. When dinner was ready,Mrs. Fairchild called the children in, and they all sat down, full ofjoy, to eat roast fowl and some boiled bacon, with a nice cold currantand raspberry pie.

  "_Emily and her brother and sister went to play in thegarden._"--Page 68.]

  After dinner Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild and Mrs. Goodriche, with thechildren, walked as far as the wood where Emily had seen the doves, togather strawberries, which they mixed with some cream and sugar atnight for their supper.

  The next morning, after breakfast, Mr. Fairchild went out to take awalk. Then Mrs. Goodriche called the three children to her, and said:

  "Now, my dear children, I will tell you a story. Come, sit round meupon these little stools, and hearken."

  The children were very much pleased when they heard Mrs. Goodriche sayshe would tell them a story, for Mrs. Goodriche could tell a great manypretty stories.

  The Old Story of Mrs. Howard

  "About fifty years ago," said Mrs. Goodriche, "a little old lady, namedMrs. Howard, lived in this house with her maid Betty. She had an oldhorse called Crop, which grazed in that meadow, and carried Betty tomarket once a week. Mrs. Howard was one of the kindest and mostgood-natured old ladies in England. Three or four times every yearBetty had orders, when she went to market, to bring all manner ofplaythings and little books from the toy-shop. These playthings andpretty little books Mrs. Howard used to keep by her till she saw anychildren whom she thought worthy of them. But she never gave anyplaythings to children who did not obey their parents, or who were rudeor ill-mannered, for she would say, 'It is a great sin in the eyes ofGod for children to be rude and unmannerly.' All the children in theneighbourhood used from time to time to visit Mrs. Howard; and thosewho wished to be obliging never came away without some pretty playthingor book.

  "At that time there were in this country two families of the name ofCartwright and Bennet; the former much beloved by the neighbours onaccount of their good qualities; the latter as much disliked for theirbad ones.

  "Mr. Bennet was a rich farmer, and lived in a good old house, witheverything handsome and plentiful about him; but nobody cared to gonear him or to visit his wife, because their manners were so rough anddisobliging; and their two children, Master Jacky and Miss Polly, werebrought up only to please themselves and to care for nobody else. But,on the contrary, Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright made their house so agreeableby their civil and courteous manners that high and low, rich and poor,loved to go there; and Master Billy and Miss Patty Cartwright werespoken well of throughout the whole neighbourhood for their pretty andmodest behaviour.

  "It happened once upon a time that Betty went to town at the end of theMidsummer Fair, and brought some of the prettiest toys and books whichhad been seen in this country for a long time; amongst these was ajointed doll with flaxen hair, and a history of the Bible full ofcoloured pictures, exceedingly pretty. Soon after Betty brought thesethings home, Mrs. Howard said to her: 'Betty, you must make a cake andput some plums in it, and a large apple-pie, and some custards andcheesecakes; and we will invite Master and Miss Cartwright, and MasterBennet and his sister Miss Polly, and some other children, to spend aday with us; and before they go home, we will give those who havebehaved well during the day some of those pretty toys which you broughtfrom the Midsummer Fair.'

  "Accordingly, Betty made the cake, and the cheesecakes, and custards,and the large apple-pie; and Mrs. Howard sent to invite Master and MissCartwright, and Master Bennet and his sister, to spend the next daywith her.

  "In those days little misses did not wear muslin or linen frocks,which, when they are dirtied, may easily be washed and made cleanagain; but they wore stuff, silk, and satin slips, with lace or gauzeruffles, and bibs, and aprons, and little round caps with artificialflowers. Children were then taught to be very careful never to dirtytheir best clothes, and to fold them up very smooth when they pulledthem off.

  "When Mrs. Bennet received Mrs. Howard's invitation for her children,she called them to her, and said:

  "'My dears, you are to go to-morrow to see Mrs. Howard; and I have beentold that she has by her some very pretty toys, which she means to giveaway to those children who please her best. You have seen the giltcoach-and-four which she gave last year to Miss Cartwright, and thelittle watch which Master Cartwright received from her last Christmas;and why should not you also have some of these fine toys? Only try toplease the old lady to-morrow, and I dare say she will give you some;for I am sure you are quite as good as Master and Miss Cartwright,though you are not quite so sly.'

  "'Oh!' said Master Bennet, 'I should like to get the toys, if it wasonly to triumph over Master Cartwright. But what must we do to pleaseMrs. Howard?'

  "'Why,' said Mrs. Bennet, 'when your best things are put on to-morrow,you must take care not to rumple or soil them before you appear in Mrs.Howard's presence; and when you come into her parlour you must stop atthe door, and bow low and curtsey; and when you are desired to sitdown, you must sit still till dinner is brought in; and when dinner isready, you must stand up and say grace before you eat; and you musttake whatever is offered you, without saying, "I will have this," and"I will have that," as you do at home.'

  "Mrs. Ben
net gave her children a great many other rules for theirbehaviour in Mrs. Howard's presence, which I have not time to repeatnow," said Mrs. Goodriche; "all of which Master Jacky and Miss Pollypromised to remember, for they were very desirous to get theplaythings.

  "And now I will tell you what Mrs. Cartwright said to her children whenshe got Mrs. Howard's invitation. She called them to her, and said:

  "'Here, Billy--here, Patty, is a note from Mrs. Howard to invite you tospend the day with her to-morrow; and I am glad of it, because I knowyou love to go to Mrs. Howard's, she is so good to all children, andhas been particularly kind to you. I hear she has some prettyplaythings by her now to give away; but don't you be greedy of them, mydears. You have a variety of playthings, you know--more than mostchildren have, and it does not become anyone to be covetous. Andremember, my dear children, to behave civilly and politely toeverybody.'

  "And now I will tell you how these children behaved. About eleveno'clock Mrs. Cartwright had her two children dressed in their best, andsent them with the maid-servant to Mrs. Howard's. As they were walkingquietly over a corn-field, through which they must needs pass, theysaw Master and Miss Bennet with their servant sitting on a stile atthe farther end of the field.

  "'Oh!' said Miss Patty, 'there are Master and Miss Bennet--on the way,I suppose, to Mrs. Howard's. I am sorry we have met with them; I amafraid they will get us into some mischief.'

  "'Why should you say so?' said Master Cartwright. 'Let us speak ofthings as we may find them.'

  "When Master and Miss Cartwright came near the stile, Master Bennetcalled to them:

  "'What a long time you have been coming over the field! We have beenwaiting for you this half-hour,' said he. 'Come, now, let us joincompany. I suppose that you are going, as we are, to Mrs. Howard's.'

  "Master Cartwright answered civilly, and all the children, with the twoservants, got over the stile and went down a pretty lane which wasbeyond.

  "The children walked on quietly till they came to a duck-pond, partlyovergrown with weeds, which was at the farther end of the lane. Whenthey came near to this, Master Bennet whispered to his sister:

  "'I'll see now if I can't spoil Miss Patty's smart silk slip.'

  "_I'll see now if I can't spoil Miss Patty's smart silkslip._"--Page 77.]

  "'Do, Jack,' answered Miss Polly.

  "Master Bennet then, winking at his sister, went up to the pond, andpulling up some of the weeds, which were all wet and muddy, he threwthem at Miss Cartwright's slip, saying, at the same time:

  "'There, Miss, there is a present for you.'

  "But, as it happened, Miss Cartwright saw the weeds coming, and caughtthem in her hand, and threw them from her. Upon this Master Bennet wasgoing to pluck more weeds, but Mr. Cartwright's maid-servant held hishands, whilst little Billy and his sister ran forwards to Mrs.Howard's house, which was just in sight, as fast as their feet wouldcarry them.

  "'There, now,' said Miss Polly, 'those spiteful children have gone totell Mrs. Howard what you have done, brother, and we shall not get anytoys. You are always in mischief, that you are.'

  "'I am sure you told me to throw the weeds,' answered Master Bennet.

  "'I am sure I did not,' said Miss Polly.

  "'But you knew that I was going to do it,' said he.

  "'But I did not,' said she.

  "'But you did, for I told you,' said he.

  "In this manner this brother and sister went on scolding each othertill they came to Mrs. Howard's gate. There Miss Polly smoothed herapron, and Master Jacky combed his hair with his pocket-comb, and theywalked hand-in-hand into Mrs. Howard's parlour as if nothing hadhappened. They made a low bow and curtsey at the door, as their mammahad bidden them; and Mrs. Howard received them very kindly, for Masterand Miss Cartwright had not mentioned a word of their ill-behaviour onthe road.

  "Besides Master and Miss Cartwright, there were several other childrensitting in Mrs. Howard's parlour, waiting till dinner should be set onthe table. My mother was there," said Mrs. Goodriche--"she was then avery little girl--and your grandmother and great-uncle, both youngones; with many others now dead and gone. In one corner of the parlourwas a cupboard with glass doors, where Mrs. Howard had placed such ofthose pretty toys (as I before spoke of) which she meant to give awayin the afternoon. The prettiest of these was the jointed doll, neatlydressed in a green satin slip, and gauze apron and bib.

  "By the time Master and Miss Bennet had made their bow and curtsey,and were seated, Betty came in with the dinner, and Mrs. Howard calledthe children to table. Master and Miss Bennet, seeing the beautifultoys before them through the glass doors of the cupboard, did notforget to behave themselves well at table; they said grace and ate suchthings as were offered them; and Mrs. Howard, who noticed their goodbehaviour, began to hope that Farmer Bennet's children were becomingbetter.

  "After the children had got their dinner, it being a very pleasantafternoon, Mrs. Howard gave them leave to play in the garden, and inthe little croft, where she kept her old horse Crop.

  "'But take care, my dears,' she said to the little girls, 'not to soilyour slips or tear your aprons.'

  "The children were much pleased with this permission to play; and afterthey were gone out, Mrs. Howard put on her hood and cloak, and said toBetty:

  "'I shall drink tea, Betty, in my bower at the end of the grass walk;do you bring my little tea-table there, and the strawberries and cream,and the cake which you made yesterday; and when we have finished ourtea, bring those toys which are in the glass cupboard to divide amongstthe children.'

  "'And I think, madam,' said Betty, 'that Master and Miss Bennet willgain some of them to-day, for I thought they behaved very well atdinner.'

  "'Indeed, Betty,' said Mrs. Howard, 'I must say I never saw them behaveso mannerly as they did at dinner, and if they do but keep it up tillnight, I shall not send them home without some pretty present, I assureyou.'

  "When Mrs. Howard had given her orders to Betty, she took hergold-headed stick in her hand, and went down the grass walk to herbower. It was a pretty bower, as I have heard my mother say, formed ofhoneysuckles and other creeping shrubs nailed over a framework of lathin the old-fashioned way. It stood just at the end of that long greenwalk, and at the corner of the field; so that anyone sitting in thebower might see through the lattice-work and foliage of thehoneysuckles into the field, and hear all that was said. There goodMrs. Howard sat knitting (for she prepared stockings for most of thepoor children in the neighbourhood), whilst her little visitors playedin the garden and in the field, and Betty came to and fro with thetea-table and tea-things.

  "Whilst the children were all engaged with their sports in the croft, apoor old man, who had been gathering sticks, came by that way, bendingunder the weight of the load. When he appeared, the children ceasedfrom their play, and stood looking at him.

  "'Poor man!' said Miss Patty Cartwright, 'those sticks are too heavyfor you to carry. Have you far to go?'

  "'No, my pretty miss,' said the old man; 'only a very little way.'

  "'I cannot help to carry your sticks,' said Master Cartwright, 'becauseI have my best coat on. I could take off that, to be sure, but then myother things would be spoiled; but I have got a penny here, if youplease to accept it.' So saying, he forced the penny into the poorman's hand.

  "In the meantime, Master Bennet went behind the old man, and giving thesticks a sly pull, the string that tied them together broke, and theyall came tumbling on the ground. The children screamed, but nobody washurt.

  "'Oh, my sticks!' said the poor man; 'the string is broke! What shall Ido to gather them together again? I have been all day making thislittle faggot.'

  "'We will help you,' said Master Cartwright; 'we can gather yoursticks together without fear of hurting our clothes.'

  "So all the little ones set to work (excepting Master and Miss Bennet,who stood by laughing), and in a little while they made up the poorman's bundle of sticks again, and such as had a penny in their pocketsgave it him. Miss Patty C
artwright had not a penny, but she had asilver sixpence, which she gave to the old man, and ran before him toopen the gate (which led out of the field), wishing him good-night, andcurtseying to him as civilly as if he had been the first lord of theland.

  "Now the children never suspected that Mrs. Howard had heard and seenall this, or else Master and Miss Bennet, I am sure, would not havebehaved as they did. They thought Mrs. Howard was in the parlour, wherethey had left her.

  "By this time everything was ready for tea, and the cake set upon thetable, with the strawberries and cream.

  "'And now, Betty,' said Mrs. Howard, 'you may call the children; and besure, when tea is over, to bring the toys.'

  "Master and Miss Bennet looked as demure when they came in to tea asthey had done at dinner, and a stranger would have thought them aswell-behaved children as Master and Miss Cartwright; but children whobehave well in the sight of their parents, or in company, and rudely orimpertinently in private, or among servants or their playfellows,cannot be called well-bred.

  "After the young people had had their tea and cake, and strawberriesand cream, Betty came with the playthings, and placed them on the tablebefore Mrs. Howard. You would, perhaps, like to know what theseplaythings were:--First of all was the jointed doll, dressed, as Ibefore said, in a green satin slip, and a gauze bib and apron, andround cap, according to the fashion of those days; then there was theHistory of the Bible, with coloured pictures; then came a little chestof drawers, for dolls' clothes; a doll's wicker cradle; a bat and ball;a red morocco pocket-book; a needle-book; and the History of KingPepin, bound and gilt. These beautiful books and toys were placed onthe table before Mrs. Howard, and the little ones waited in silence tosee what she would do with them. Mrs. Howard looked first at theplaythings, and then at the children, and thus she spoke:

  "'My dear children, I sent for these pretty toys from the fair, inorder to encourage you to be good: there is nothing that gives megreater pleasure than to see children polite and mannerly, endeavouringto please everybody, "in honour preferring one another," as God hathcommanded us to do. Pride and ill manners, my dear children, are greatfaults; but humility, and a wish to please everyone rather thanourselves, make us resemble the blessed Lord Jesus Christ, who did notdespise the poorest among men. Many persons are polite andgood-mannered when in company with their betters, because, if they werenot so, people would have nothing to say to them: but reallywell-behaved persons are courteous and civil, not only when they areamong their betters, but when they are with servants, or with poorpeople.'

  "Then Mrs. Howard took the jointed doll, and the History of the Bible,and gave the one to Miss Patty Cartwright, and the other to MasterBilly, saying:

  "'I give you these, my children, because I observed your good manners,not only to me, but to the poor old man who passed through the croftwith his bundle of sticks. To you, Master Bennet, and to you, MissPolly, I shall not give anything; because you showed, by yourbehaviour to the old man, that your good manners were all an outsidegarb, which you put on and off like your Sunday clothes.'

  "Then Mrs. Howard gave the rest of the toys among the lesser children,commending them for helping the old man to gather his sticks together;and thus she dismissed them to their own houses, all of them, exceptMaster Jacky and Miss Polly, jumping and skipping for joy."

  When Mrs. Goodriche had finished her story, Lucy said:

  "What a pretty story that is! I think Master and Miss Cartwrightdeserved those pretty toys--they were nice children: but I did not knowthat having rude manners was so very great a fault."

  "If you will think a minute, my dear," said Mrs. Goodriche, "you willfind that rude manners must be one sign of badness of heart: a personwho has always a lowly opinion of himself, and proper love for hisneighbour, will never be guilty of rudeness; it is only when we thinkourselves better than others, or of more consequence than they are,that we venture to be rude. I have heard you say how rude Miss AugustaNoble was the last time you were at her house. Now, why was she rude,but because she thought herself better than her company? This is pride,and a great sin it is."