Chapter 11

PLANS.

"Suppose we ask the boys to help us," said Bess, threading her needle, and carefully making a nice little knot.

"Oh, no!" objected Elsie, "let's do it all by ourselves."

"If the boys can help us to do something better than we can do without them, I think we ought to have them," said Dora wisely.

"It will be more fun too," said Louise, whose motto was "The more, the merrier."

"We haven't much time either," Bess continued; "but Aunt Zelie will help us, and you too, won't you, Miss Brown?"

"I'll be glad to do anything I can," replied that lady, looking up from the feather-stitching she was showing Constance.

Christmas was coming. The fact could no longer be overlooked, and as usual everybody was feeling surprised at its nearness.

It was not a bit too near, the children thought, though even they had a great deal to do, and found the days all too short.

Miss Brown was full of suggestions for Christmas gifts, and most patient with awkward fingers, and the M.Ks. were very happy over the things she was helping them to make. Now, on top of all this they had found something else to talk about and work for.

One day when Bess and Louise were in the corner confectionery, the wife of the proprietor, as she handed them their package, held out a small bundle of edging, asking them to take it home and show it to their aunt. It was made, she said, by a young Italian girl who, though a cripple, was trying to support herself and some younger brothers and sisters.

As the trimming was pretty and strong, Mrs. Howard bought some for the children's aprons, and finding the girl worthy, gave her other work, which was carried back and forth by a little sister.

Louise saw this child waiting in the hall one Saturday morning, and went down to talk to her. Tina was pretty, with great black eyes and short dark curls, but Louise found her rather silent, for she was in fact rather awed by her surroundings. The wide hall with its polished floor and soft rugs seemed very grand to her unaccustomed eyes.

"I wish I could sew and embroider like your sister, then I could make some money," said Louise.

Tina wondered why she wanted money, but only answered, "So do I."

"Bess and I have never enough money for Christmas. Is that what you want it for?"

"No; I would give it to my father."

"Why, he wouldn't want it, would he? Hasn't he any money?"

Tina shook her head, and after some questioning she explained that her father was a member of a small string band. He played the harp, she said, and sometimes earned a good deal, but he had been sick, so he lent his harp to a man who promised to keep his place for him and pay him something besides. "But he was a bad man!" she exclaimed vehemently, "for he broke the harp, and then ran away and would not pay to have it mended; and now my father does not want to get well, he is sick with sorrow."

"But can't he get it mended himself, or find the bad man and make him pay for it?"

"It would cost a great deal of money,--fifteen dollars the music man told my sister,--and the man who broke it has gone away to the South."

"I am so sorry," was all Louise could say, for their talk was interrupted; but she ran upstairs immediately to tell Bess.

"Don't you wish we could have it mended for him?" she asked.

"Yes, indeed, but we haven't any money to spare from our Christmas things, and if we used it every bit it would not be enough."

"We might get somebody to help us; still that wouldn't be as nice as doing it ourselves."

"Perhaps we could have a fair, like the one Aunt Zelie had when she was a little girl. Let's ask her," proposed Bess, jumping up.

But their aunt thought it too great an undertaking. "I was several years older than you are," she said, "and we worked for six months to get ready. However," she added, seeing the disappointed faces, "you might do something else, tableaux or charades."

This idea pleased them, and they decided to talk it over at the club that afternoon.

There was no difficulty in interesting the M.Ks. They were all enthusiasm.

"We may not make enough," said Louise, "but that ought not to keep us from trying to help."

"If we could only give them the money for a Christmas gift," said Dora.

"I don't see how you could manage that, but a New Year's gift would be almost as good, would it not?" asked Miss Brown.

"There is Ikey now! I'll call to him to find the other boys and bring them over." Dora rapped on the window-pane with her knitting needle as she spoke.

Ikey, who had just vaulted over a hitching-post on his way down the street, came to a sudden halt.

"Find Carl and Aleck, and bring them here, that's a good boy; we want to consult you about something," she called.

He obeyed with soldierly promptness and was across the street in a second. A few minutes later Louise announced, "Here they come, and Aunt Zelie with them."

"I am one of the boys now, you know," said Mrs. Howard as she entered. "How cosey you look! I believe I should like to join your club too."

"Oh, do! Please do, Mrs. Howard!" came in a chorus from the M.Ks. as she sat down in the midst of them.

"We'll talk about that another time; at present we have something else to discuss. Sit down, boys, and listen while the girls tell you what they want. I already know about it."

Bess then told the story of the broken harp, and explained how anxious they were to earn money enough to have it mended.

"We intend to give an entertainment, and we want you to help," said Dora.

"What are you going to have?" Carl asked cautiously.

"We want you to help us to decide."

"We can help in one way, can't we?" Ikey exclaimed ecstatically, whereupon the other boys looked daggers at him, for the basket-making was kept a profound secret.

"I didn't tell anything, did I?" he inquired in an aggrieved tone.

"What does he mean, Aunt Zelie?" asked Louise.

"It is something we are not ready to tell just yet, but I have a plan to propose. I shall need all of you to help carry it out, and if you are willing to do a little work I am sure we can have a charming entertainment."

Profound interest reigned in Miss Brown's sitting-room for the next half hour, as Aunt Zelie unfolded her plan and explained what she wanted of each one. "And in the meantime you must not breathe a word about what we are to have, but excite every body's curiosity as much as possible," she said in conclusion.

"Won't it be lovely!" cried Elsie, clapping her hands.

"A great deal better than a fair, and more fun," said Louise.

In the pretty room which belonged to Bess and Louise sat a busy group one afternoon. Its owners were occupied with a tall scrap basket that was intended for Uncle William and Aunt Marcia. Aunt Zelie had donated the ribbons to trim it, and they were anxious to have it as handsome as possible. Helen and Carl were there too, the one making a bonnet for her doll, the other pasting in his scrap-book, sitting on the floor with a newspaper spread out before him. Dora had received a warm welcome when she came in with her work, as she often did. They all agreed in thinking that she could not come too often, and to Dora life in that house was a sort of enchantment. It seemed brighter, roomier, pleasanter there than anywhere else.

Her young friends did not dream of the cares already resting on her shoulders: the effort to cheer her mother, who was fast becoming an invalid, the life in the large boarding-house that neither of them liked.

"Do you think it will be pretty?" Bess asked, holding her basket at arm's length to see the effect of the golden-brown ribbon she was weaving in and out through the straw.

"It is a beauty," answered Dora admiringly.

"Yes, it _is_ pretty, really," said Louise, whose fingers were trying to fashion what she called a stylish bow.

"Girls are funny, always sticking bows on things," observed Carl.

"If it is funny to like to make things look pretty, I am glad I am funny," said Dora severely.

"Dear me! Of course, I was not objecting in the least," replied the young gentleman, who rather enjoyed being taken to task by Dora.

"I am sorry to break up this pleasant party, but I am afraid I must," Aunt Zelie said, coming in.

"Why, Auntie?" asked Louise, looking up with three little wrinkles between her eyes, for the stylish bow would not be quite as she wanted it.

"Because I am in danger of losing my roses," answered her aunt, pinching Bess's cheek. "Yesterday they had no fresh air worth mentioning."

"Oh, please don't make us go!" cried Bess in a tone that was almost a wail. "We have so much to do!"

"I must finish my bow," Louise said positively.

"I shall not _make_ you, but Joanna is going to Aunt Marcia's with a note, and I want you to go too because you need the air. I am sure Dora will take the walk with you, and on the way back suppose you stop and ask Mrs. Warner to let her stay to dinner. So fly now and get ready." She spoke so energetically that Dora began at once to roll up her work, and Bess dropped her scissors with a sigh of relief, but Louise held on to her bow desperately.

"I _will_ finish it," she said to herself.

"Louise," her aunt said gently, "the reason you cannot make the bow to please you is because you are tired. Now, which will you do, put it away till to-morrow--when I am sure you will not have any trouble with it--and go to walk with the others, or stay here and grow more and more tired and cross, till you are not fit to come to dinner with the rest of us?"

She had a struggle with herself before she answered in a choked voice, "I guess I'll go, but I did want to finish it."

"Of course, but you will be glad by and by that you chose to do what was right, instead of what you wanted to do," and Aunt Zelie sent her off with a kiss.

The walk to Aunt Marcia's was not such a hardship after all, and when they reached home there was at least an hour for studying lessons before dinner, and that was followed by a grand frolic with Carie, lasting till it was time for Dora to go.

"I am sorry I was cross this afternoon," Louise said when she came for her good-night kiss.

"It was because you were tired, dear, I know. You and Bess must take care not to be too much occupied with Christmas. It will not do to neglect every-day duties even for that," replied her aunt.