Part 6

"The next morning Lucy was very impatient to iron the doll's clothes. Her mother bade her take care not to make her iron too hot lest she should scorch them and told her every time she heated it in the fire to try it on something else before she began ironing. This Lucy did very carefully; but as the iron never scorched the linen on which she tried it, she thought she might go on without further trials. She succeeded very well. The shift and the petticoat were nicely ironed and folded up, and she had half-finished ironing the frock, when her mother called her to help her to lift a heavy basket full of clothes, and as her iron was nearly cool she put it to the fire while she went to help her mother. As soon as she returned, she began ironing again, when, lo and behold! there was a great scorch all up the frock from top to bottom. Poor Lucy knew not what to do: she thought of the young ladies, of their party of friends, and of the nice cake they would have given her if she had done her task well. She was ashamed to go and ask her mother what she should do, because she had neglected to follow her advice. After looking at the long yellow stain in dismay for some time, she at last thought she might perhaps wash it out, and dry it and iron it in time to set all right. So she put it into her own little washing-tub and began rubbing it, in hopes of getting out the stain. But it still remained; so she rubbed harder and harder, till at last she tore a great hole in the muslin. Then she thought all was lost, and in despair she burst into tears. Her mother came to know what was the matter, and began scolding her for being so careless; but when she found how much grieved Lucy was, she tried to make the best of it. She finished getting up the frock herself, and then laying all the doll's clothes nicely in a little basket, she bade Lucy carry them home and confess the truth. Poor Lucy was sadly frightened at the idea of carrying home the frock in this condition, thinking she should be scolded, and that the young ladies would never let her wash their things any more. As for the piece of cake, she gave that up for lost; and as she had eaten cake only two or three times in her life, and thought it very nice, she was very sorry to lose it, but not so sorry as she would have been at any other time, for she was too unhappy to care about eating. Well: she walked towards the young ladies' house with her little basket hanging on her arm, but she went on at a very slow pace; and when she came near the house she sat down on a bank by the road-side to try to gather courage to tell the sad story. She looked anxiously towards the house, when she saw the two little girls popping their heads out at a window which looked down the road. 'Oh!' cried she, 'they are watching for me, but if they see me stopping here they will only think the worse of me for loitering whilst they are so impatient. Then,' added she, 'the sooner it is over the better.' So she got up and walked quickly towards the house. When she arrived she could not say a word, but the impatient little girls snatched the basket and began unfolding the parcel. What was their horror when they saw the beautiful sprigged muslin frock quite spoilt! Susan, who was a quick-tempered child, was very angry, and scolded poor Lucy heartily.

"'What a shame!' said she, 'to tear our best doll's frock all to pieces. You shall have no cake, no, that you shall not;' and, bursting into tears, she ran away to tell her mamma. Anne was much more moderate. She was older than her sister, and of a more gentle disposition; and when she saw the tears running down poor Lucy's cheeks, instead of scolding her, she inquired how it had happened; and finding that it was merely from a little heedlessness, she begged Lucy to dry up her tears, as she was sure she would be more careful another time. Susan then returned into the room with her mamma, and Lucy again was frightened, expecting a severe scolding from the lady. But instead of that, she spoke to her calmly and good-naturedly; and Susan, who had been reprimanded by her mother for her violence, stood silent and abashed. Lucy, quite comforted at being so well treated, dropped a courtesy and was going away, when Susan bid her stay a minute longer, and ran and fetched her the cake. But Lucy did not dare take it. 'No, Miss!' she said, 'I do not deserve it.' 'But,' said the lady, 'if you do not deserve it on account of the washing, Susan owes you some amends for behaving so ill to you when she was in a passion.' Lucy blushed and smiled and took the cake, and went away quite happy; and Anne and Susan's kind mamma soon made them happy too; for she gave them a piece of new muslin, which matched the doll's frock exactly. Nurse had just time to take out the spoilt part and sew in a new breadth; and before their little friends arrived, dolly was in full dress, and very much admired by them all."

THE RETURN TO OLD FRIENDS.

"Well, that is a pretty story," said Willy; "and do you know a great many others?"

"Yes," said the lady; "but I should be out of breath if I told you stories all the way; besides, I want to talk to other people as well as to you."

Willy thought that was but fair; and, after thanking the lady for her kindness, he returned to seat himself by his mamma, who told him they would soon reach Derby. This pleased him highly. "Then," said he, "I shall see my old friend Anna, the landlady's daughter at the inn. Oh! but we shall not see the blind woman and her children."

"Possibly we may," replied his mother, "for to-morrow is Sunday, and that is the day they are most likely to go to see their old mother."

Soon after they reached Derby, Willy renewed acquaintance with Anna and the landlady; and in the evening they went to walk in the Arboretum, and there they met all the family, except the blind woman herself.

"Where is she?" asked Willy's mother. "I hope not ill?"

"Oh dear, no, Ma'am," cried Martha, her eyes sparkling with joy at the good news she had to tell; "well, quite well; and she can see us all now, she is no longer blind."

"Oh, how glad I am," said Willy. "Where is she? How happy she must be, and how I should like to see her now she can see!"

"She is at the hospital," said Martha. "She was couched only about ten days ago, and is not allowed yet to go abroad in the daylight; but if you had but seen her kiss us all round when her eyes first saw, and then kneel down and thank God for restoring her sight, and preserving all her children so that she had the blessing of seeing them again. Well, I really thought we should have cried our eyes out, we were all so happy!"

"Cry for being happy!" said Willy; "why I thought people laughed when they were happy."

"So they do," said Martha; "but when they are very, very glad, they cannot laugh, and then they sometimes cry for joy."

Willy told Betsey and Johnny all about grandmamma's farm and his own little garden; and they, in return, told him all about their mother going to the hospital, and how the surgeons had done something to her eyes which made her see; and what a treat their grandmother was going to give them when mother was well enough to leave the hospital. "It is to be a grand drinking tea in the gardens," said she, "and I don't know how many nice things there will be. She is, I believe, making some of the pies and cakes already."

When they returned to the inn, there was still daylight enough for Willy to go over the landlady's garden with his friend Anna, and she showed him the apricot and peach trees, which were now full of ripe fruit, whilst, at their first visit, Willy had scarcely noticed them, seeing nothing but small green balls growing on their branches.

"I will tell you a secret," said Anna, "if you will keep it. Mamma bade me gather some of these apricots and peaches, and put them in a nice little basket, almost quite new, and cover the fruit over with fresh green leaves, as she means to give it to your mamma when she goes away, to eat while she is on the railroad."

The next morning the landlady came with her bill to be paid, and Willy was very glad when he saw his mamma take two sovereigns out of her purse, and a great many shillings, for he thought, "I hope she will have a good deal instead of a _little over_." Then Anna came with the nice basket of fruit and offered it; and Willy's mamma was much pleased, and thanked her, and gave her a pretty silver pencil-case in return, which delighted Anna.

In a few hours more Willy's travels were ended by his arrival in London; we shall therefore take leave of him, after his pleasant journey and his happy return.

THE END.

LONDON: SPOTTISWOODE and SHAW, New-street Square.