Laddie: A True Blue Story

ly Marri

and palaces tho

mble there's no

skies seems to

the world, is ne'er

bbed and new carpet put down. Mother had some window blinds that Winfield had brought her from New York in the spring, and she had laid them away; no one knew why, then. We all knew now. When mother was ready to put them up, father had a busy day and couldn't help her, and she was really provoked. She almost cried about it, when Leon rode in bringing the mail, a

way the roll ran, it went inside. Mother said they were rolled that way to protect the roses, and that didn't prove anything. Laddie said he would jump on a horse and ride round the section, and see how Hannah Dover had hers, and exactly opposite would be right. Everyone laughed, but no one thought he meant it. Mother

t right, mother!" he

her held one, and it looked

ross the house are going to look? Nine big pink roses, with the sun shinin

glaze. That is so the sun shining through glass won't fade it. The flowe

le sash in the daytime no one can see them,"

t the curtains back enough to let the roses s

, climbing on the barrel to ta

think, girls?

Hill," said Shelley. "Hurry, father! Take them

d he was so flustered he forgot about being on the barrel, so he stepped back the same as on the fl

rs go inside, fix one befo

n. There was a little patch in the middle about four inches square, and around it a wide ruffle of dainty lace. It was made to carry in a hand covered with white lace mitts, when you were wearing a wedding gown of silver silk, lined with white. Of course it wouldn

he roses were inside; he was so sure he was right. After she had talked a few minutes she noticed the blinds going up. La

Dovers'. I rode past on the way to Groveville this mornin

spring, but I thought the hot summer sun would fade them, so I saved them u

saw from the highway." She meant road; there were many things she sai

said

woman has gone and put hers up wrong side out. The effect of all those big pink roses on her white house front is

d rode away. Mother

d!" she cried piously, as she dropped into the big rocking chai

ed, snowy, and touched the floor. The big rocker, the straight-backed chairs, and the sofa were beautiful red mahogany wood, and the seats shining haircloth. If no one happened to be looking, you could sit on a sofa arm, stick your feet out and shoot off like riding down a haystack; the landing was much better. On the sofa you bounced two feet high the first time; one, the second; and a little way the th

e in it, that George Washington Mitchell gave to Shelley. Of course a dove's nest was never deep, and round, and green, and the bird didn't have red eyes and a black bill. I thought whoever could blow glass as beautifully as that, might just as easy have

it whenever she pleased; likewise he held her hand. Shelley said that was disgusting, and you wouldn't catch her. Leon said he bet a dollar he would; and I said if he knew he'd get beaten as I did, I bet two dollars he wouldn't tell what he saw. The mantel was white, with vases of the lovely grasses that grew beside the stream at the foo

closets below. The mantel set between these, and mother always used the biggest, most gorgeous bouquets there, because she had so much room. The hearth was a slab of stone that came far into the room. We could sit on it and crack nuts, roast apples, chestnuts, and warm our cider, then sweep all the muss we made into the fire. The wall paper was white and pale pink in stripes, and on the pink

le yellow coat and let it dry. Then he added wood brown, and while it was wet, with a coarse toothed comb, a rag, and his fingers, he imitated the grain, the even wood, and knotholes of dressed lumber, until many a time I found myself staring steadily at a knot to see if a worm wouldn't really come working out. You have to see a thing like that to understand how wonderful it is. You couldn't see why they washed the bedding, and took the feathers from the pillows and steamed them in mosquito netting bags and dried them in the shade, when Sally's was to be a morning w

every plank was fast, so none of them would rattle when important guests drove across. She said she just simply wouldn't have them in such a condition that Judge Pettis couldn't hear himself think when he crossed; for you could tell from his looks that it was very important that none of the things he thought should be lost. There wasn't a single spot about the place inside or out that wasn't gone over; and to lots of it you never would have known anything had been done if you hadn't seen, because the place was always in proper shape anyway; but father said mother acted just like

were going to invite. Just when we had planned to ask every one, have the wedding in the church, and the breakfast at the house, and all drive in a joy

ked, standing in the doorway,

ut in little curls around her face from riding,

the church, so every one can be comfortably se

ead, wax, and paper, where you get the shape, but the colour never is right. These of Sally's were much too bright, but they were better than the ones made at our house. Hers were of cloth and bought at a store. You couldn't tell why, but Sally jerked her roses; I wished she wouldn't, beca

and her mouth fell open, like she always told us

et; her eyes began to shine and her lips to quiver

said father. "Suppose you cease such reckless talk,

care with all my might! The church is all right, of course; but I want to be married in my very own home! Every one can think whatever they pl

ld mother from her at arm's length, and she turned and looked behind her through the sitting-room and parlour, and then at us, and she talk

, why it's a big mistake. Seems as if a girl is expected to marry and go to a home of her own; it's drummed into her and things fixed for her from the day of her birth; and of course I do like Peter, but no home

hild, you shall!

opping with them, or being criticised and clawed over by some women simply because they'll be angry if they don't get the ch

clear understanding of how you feel, now. Don't excite yourself! Your wedding shan't be used to pay of

make out a list of those she really wanted to invite. First she put down all of our family, even many away in Ohio, and all of Peter's, and then his friends

d outshine you at your ow

n curls far daintier and prettier than red cheeks and black eyes and curls. If she really is better looking than I am, it isn't her fault; God made her that way, and He wouldn't like us

own the Princess' name in bi

n, nursed us when we were sick, helped with threshing, company, and parties, and she's just splendid anyway; we better ask all the Hoods"; so she wrote them down. "And it will be lonely for Widow Willis and the girls to see every one else here-we must have them; and of course Deams-Amanda is always su

or inviting them, and pretty soon father settled back in his chair and never took his eyes from Sally's shining head as she bent over the slate, an

g to see how things are done when they are right; and I don't care what any one says, I LIKE Mrs. Freshett. I'll ask her to help work, and that will keep her from tal

omas, who was so lazy he wouldn't work enough to keep his wife and children dressed so they ever could go anywhere, but he always went, even with r

f the sluggard; I

e too soon, I mu

garden, I saw

e thistle, grow b

hang on him are

wastes, till he s

brass breastpin, when she had no shoes. He got the children an organ, when they were hungry; and himself a plug hat. Mandy and the children cried because he forgot candy and oranges until the last cent was gone. Father said the only time Isaac ever worked since he knew him was when he saw how the hat looked with his rags. He actually helped the men fell the trees until he got enough to

d stuffing himself on my wedding day; but if you're not in bed, when it's

our family and Peter's, and only a few very close friends, but it was enough to fill the room. She said when she and Peter came downstairs every one could see how they looked when they crossed the sitting-room, and for all the difference the door would make, it could be left open then; she would be walled in by

r the longest and the hardest, and neither of them said a word. After a while they cried and laughed, and cried some more, and it was about as sensible as what a flock of geese say whe

and mother kept putting in

away. Elizabeth and Lucy came home, and every one began to work. Father and mother went to the village in the carriage and brought home the bed full of things to eat, and all we had was added, and mother beg

me besides ribs and neck," said Leon. "How

razy to try the

There sat father bound he wouldn't give him mother's piece, so he pretended he couldn't find it, and forked all over the platter and then gave him the ribs and the thigh. Gee, how mother scolded him after the prea

y as they a

time we are going to have livers, and breast, and

to know ho

to take you in on this," said Leon. "You keep your eyes on me. When the wedding gets going good, you

ht," I p

up in my new clothes, and made to sit on a chair, and never move for fear I would soil my dress, for no one had time to do me over, and there was only one dress an

ter's, and the others had to wait. You couldn't have laid the flat of your hand on that table anywhere, it was so covered with things to eat. Miss Amelia, in a dress none of us ever had seen before

d other things, and made a wash boiler of coffee. Everything was ready by the time it should have been. I had watched them until I was tired, when Sally came through the room where I was, and she

other punched full of holes and embroidered in flowers and vines, and Shell

den was driving. He stopped at the gate, got out and opened a door, and the Princess' father stepped down, tall and straight, all in shiny black. He turned around and held out his hand, bowing double, and the Princess laid

ach ear with a bunch of little pink roses. She was lovely, but she didn't "outdress or outshine" Sally one bit, and she never even glanced at the mirror to see how she looked; she began helping wit

the middle of the room trembling a little. Outside you could hear carriage wheels rolling, the beat of horses' hoofs, and voices crying greetings. "There was a sound of revelry," by day. Mother came in hurriedly. She wore her new brown silk, with a lace collar pinned at the throat with the pin that had a brown goldstone setting in it, and her precious ring was on her finger. She was dainty and pretty enough to have been a bride herself. She turned Sally ar

like it didn't make the least difference whether she had on calico or a wedding dress, and he just sta

: "Why Sally, I ha

laughed, and the P

sten to his voice, it was like the sweetest music. He married those two people right there in the bedroom, all but about three words at the end. I heard and saw every bit of it. Then Sally said it was time for me to

I said, but I didn't look at h

catchy sort of laugh and said:

nt me, to begin wit

and, and it wasn't you I didn't want; it was just no baby at all. I wouldn't have wanted a boy, or any other girl a bit more. I foolishly thought we had children enough in this h

coming in my throat. "I was only fooling to pay you up. I meant all the time to kis

You could see the yard full through the windows. Just as I was thinking I'd go back to the boys' room, and from there into the garret, and down the back stairway,

ll away, and she held tight. It was only a minute until the door opened, people crowded back, and the Pre

ecause tears are salty, and they would turn her new brown silk front yellow. The minute my hand was free, I slipped between th

e the window, and drop into mother's room from the sill. From there I reached the back dining-room door easy enough, went around to the kitchen, and called Leon softly. He open

case to me. He went over and knelt before the oven, while I followed and held open the case. Leon rolled his eyes to the ceiling and said so exact

ghtened up and answered as well as I could: "I'

I thought that was all I could manage before they would spoil,

s"-"Poco was very good, but I have not had enough yet," so he piled in pieces until I ran away with the pillow-case; then he slid in a whole plateful of bread, another of cake, and put the plates in a tub of dishes under the table. Then we took some of everything that wasn't too runny. Just then the silence broke in the front part of the house, and we scooted from the back door, closing it behind us, ran to the wood house and climbed the ladder to the loft over the front part. T

dn't want to feed that to another man when mo

breast. It was sort of dry a

ck beats that all to pie

ss the people who 'wish to choose bre

t before, but of course

ton," said Leon, holdi

nd ate the little crusty places, and all the cake we could swallow; then Leon fixed up

hat wouldn't be safe. Then he cleaned my face, and I told him when he got his right, and we slipped from the back door, crossed the Lawton blackberry patch, and went to the house from the orchard. Leon took an apple and broke it in two, and we went in eatin

te," said father; "they were calling y

e's table would have been the biggest thing that ever happened to me. At last, when I could speak, I asked who had taken our places, and bless your heart if it wasn't that mealy-faced little sister of Peter's, and one of the aunts from

your horses. Wh

good horse and sa

ink it would

o, and just as the carriage was at the gate for father and mother, and Sally and Peter, and every one else was untying their horses to ride in the procession to th

e Flos, was leading the Princess' horse Maud, and carrying a big bun

hat have you done?"

e grain sacks. But the Princess was pale and trembling. She stepped so close she touched him, and he immediatel

she said, just as father does whe

he front door,

ed it?" cried

r fa

fath

n boys, and I came for Miss Pryor's mount and habit. All the young people who are on horseback are going to ride an escort to the village, around my sister'

d h

r him give the order to some one to get your riding habit quickly, and then he blew

e do o

n I said, 'Thank you, and good morning,' and was turning away. He asked: 'Did Miss P

that far. But since she will have her horse and habit, why not allow my fat

m your FATHER,"

that my father had visitors from Ohio, and couldn't leave them. We will get all the fun from the day that we can; b

hose last words into the hitchi

gs on you! You know he

roared. He l

dogs and rubbed their ears so many nights lately, h

way and stared at L

id at last. "Well fo

gathered flowers and lined all the children in rows down each side of the walk. They were loaded with blooms to throw at Sally; but when she came out, in her beautiful gray poplin travelling dress, trimmed in brown ribbon, the same shade a

but still smiling, she turned and took one long look at everything, and then she got in and called for me, right out loud before every one, so I got to hold up my head as high as it would go, and step in too, and ride all the way to Groveville between her and Peter, and instead of holding his hand, she held mine, just gr

ither side, and the next carriage dropped back and let them close in behind, so Sally and Peter were "in the midst thereof." Instead of throwing old shoes, as always had been done, the Princess coaxed them to throw rice and roses, and every other flower pulled from the bouquets at home, and from the gardens we had passed. Every one was out watching us go by, and when William Justus rode beside the fences crying, "Flowers for the bride! Give us flowers for the bride!" some of the women were so excited they pulled things up

ddie had braided their manes and tails, and they waved like silken floss in the sunshine, and the carriage was freshly washed and the patent leather and brass shone, and we rode flower-covered. Ahead, Laddie and the Princess fairly tried themselv

now, With all thy winged speed," and the Princess loved her horse more than that man did his. She said she'd starve before she'd sell it, and if her family were starving, she'd go to work and earn food for them, and keep her horse. Laddie's was a Kentucky thoroughbred he'd saved money for years to buy; and he took a young one and trained it himself, almost like a circus horse. Both of them COULD ride; so that day they did. They ran those horses neck and neck, right up the hill approaching

their foolish nec

couple I ever have seen

you'll strike trouble right ther

so happy I could have screamed to se

le," said father, "God knows it neve

rtal soul if a sufficiently beautiful woman comes a

ugh. You could always tell by the set

made their horses drop on their knees and they waved a salute, and then they were up and away. Of course father and mother saw, so mother bowed, and father waved his whip as we passed. He sat there like he'd turned the same on horseback as Sabethany had in her coffin; but he had to see almost a mile of us driving our best horses and carriages, wearing our wedding garments and fine raiment, and all that "cavalcade," father called it, of young, reckless riders. You'd have thought if there were a hint of a smile in his whole being it would have shown when Sally leaned from the carriag

wasn't a thing those

ribbons all over Sal

stump, You are my darling sugar lump," while they danced. They just smiled all the time no matter what was done to them. Some of it made me angry, but I suppose to be pleasant was the

was gone, and only the relatives from Ohio were left, mother pitched on the bed, gripped her hands and cried as if she'd go to pieces, and father cried too, and all of us, even Mrs. Freshett, who stayed to wash up the dishes. She was so tickled to be there, and see, and help, that mother had hard work to keep her from washing the linen that same night. She did finish the last dish, scrub the kitchen floor, black the stove, and pack a

ike a man quite different from Peter; like Laddie would suit me better. When he rode under the tree, I dropped from a limb into his arms, and went with him to the barn. He asked me what was going on at the house, and I told him about Mrs. Freshett being a rebuke to us; and Laddie said she wa

Leon might be around: "D

said Laddie, l

ll you nam

to the door and said good-bye, and thanked her for the pleasure she had added to the day for us, loudly enough that he could hear; then I went over to him and said: 'Good evening, Mr. Pryor. If my father knew anything about it

e, what d

mpliment compared with what I thought he was going to say that I had to laugh. He tried, but he couldn't keep from smiling himself, and then I said: 'Please think it over, Mr. Pryor, and if you find that M

Ladd

t has been the happiest of my life-one to be remembered always. Of course I won't come here if I am unwelcome, but I am in honour bound to tell you that I intend to meet your daughter elsew

, "now you've gone an

half so bad! He exploded in another growl, and he shook

ll you," I panted

ain you with my walking stick if ever I meet you anywhere with my daught

What! Oh Laddie, say i

"it means, Little Sister, that I shall march to his door and ask him sq

he conquering

!" laugh

ill mot

up her mind yet,"

an--?" I g

girl get far ahead of me. The minute I knew she had

eel about the Princess a

Laddie, "and so does fath

t any one living right with them every day could have told