polly—the pew and the pulpit—the fate of the flat iron

by the time that my father came to fetch us away, i was wonderfully improved in health and strength. i even wanted to go back outside the coach; but this was not allowed.

i did not forget the little lady in the white beaver, even after my return to dacrefield. i was fond of drawing, and i made what seemed to me a rather striking portrait of her (at least as to colouring), and wore it tied by a bit of string round my neck. it is unromantic to have to confess that it fell at last into the washhand basin, and was reduced to pulp.

i brought my farthing flat-iron home with me, and it was for long a favourite plaything. i used to sprinkle corners of my pocket-handkerchief with water, as i had seen nurse bundle "damp fine things" before ironing them. but after all, "play" of this kind is dull work played alone. i was very glad when polly came.

it was a few weeks after our return that my father proposed to ask cousin polly to pay us a visit. i think my aunt had said something in a letter about her not being well, and the visit was supposed to be for the benefit of her health.[94]

she was not ill for long at dacrefield. my "lessons" were of a very slight description as yet, and we spent most of our time out of doors. the fun of showing polly about the farm and grounds was quite as satisfactory as any that my dream of the flaxen-haired sister had promised. i was quite prepared to yield to cousin polly in all things as before; but she, no doubt in deference to my position as host, met me halfway with unusual affability and graciousness. country life exactly suited her. i think she was profoundly happy exploring the garden, making friends with the cows and horses, feeding the rabbits and chickens, and "playing at haunted castles" in the barn.

her vigour and daring when we climbed trees together were the objects of my constant admiration. tree-climbing was polly's favourite amusement, and the various fancies she "pretended" in connection with it, did credit to her imaginative powers. sometimes she "pretended" to be jack in the beanstalk; sometimes she pretended to be at the mast-head of a ship at sea; sometimes to be in an upper story of a fairy-house; sometimes to be escaping from a bear; sometimes (with recollections of london) to be the bear himself on a pole, or a monkey in the zoological gardens; or to be on the top of the monument or of st. paul's. our most common game, however, was the time-honoured drama of "houses." each branch constituted a story, and we used to emulate each other in our exploits of high climbing, with a formula that ran thus:—

"now i'm in the area" (the lowest branch). "now i'm on the dining-room floor" (the next), and so on, ending with, "and now i'm the very poor person in the garret."[95]

there were two trees which stood near each other, of about equal difficulty.

we used each to climb one, and as we started together, the one who first became the "very poor person in the garret" was held to be the winner of the game.

polly and regie in the "pulpit" and the "pew".

polly and regie in the "pulpit" and the "pew".

we were not allowed to climb trees on sunday, which was a severe exercise of polly's principles. one sunday afternoon, however, much to my amazement, she led me away down the shrubbery, saying,

"my dear regie! i've found two trees which i'm sure we may climb on sundays." much puzzled, i nevertheless yielded to her, being quite accustomed to trust all her proceedings.

i was not enlightened by the appearance of the trees, which were very much like others as to their ladder-like peculiarities. they were old portugal laurels which had been cut in a good deal at various times. they looked very easy to climb, and did not seem to boast many "stories." i did not see anything about them adapted for sunday amusement in particular.

but polly soon explained herself.

"look here, regie," said she; "this tree has got three beautiful branches, one for the clerk, one for the reading-desk, and one for the pulpit. i'm going to get into the top one and preach you a sermon; and you're to sit in that other tree—it makes a capital pew. i'm sure it's quite a sunday game," added polly, mounting to the pulpit with her accustomed energy.

i seated myself in the other tree; and polly, after consuming some time in "settling herself," appeared to be ready; but she still hesitated, and finally burst out laughing.[96]

"i beg your pardon," she added, rubbing her hands over her laughing mouth, and composing herself. "now i'm going to begin." but she still giggled, which led me to say—

"never mind the text, as you're laughing. begin at once without."

"very well," said polly.

there was another break down, and then she seemed fairly grave.

"my dear brethren," she began.

"there's only one of us," i ventured to observe.

"now, regie, you mustn't speak. the congregation never speaks to the clergyman when he's preaching."

"it's such a small congregation," i pleaded.

"well, then, i won't preach at all, if you go on like that," said polly.

but, as i saw that she was getting cross, and as i had no intention of offending her, i apologized, and begged her to proceed with her sermon. so she began again accordingly—

"my dear brethren."

but here she paused; and after a few moments of expectation on my part, and silence on polly's, she said—

"is your pew comfortable, regie dear?"

"very," said i. "how do you like the pulpit?"

"very much indeed," said polly; "but i don't think i can preach without a cushion. suppose we talk."

thus the sermon was abandoned; and as polly refused to let me try my luck in the pulpit, she remained at a considerably higher level than i was. at last i became impatient of this fact, and began to climb higher.

[97]

"stop!" cried polly; "you mustn't leave your pew."

"i'm going into the gallery," a happy thought enabled me to say.

polly made no answer. she seemed to be meditating some step; and presently i saw her scramble down to the ground in her own rapid fashion.

"regie dear, will you promise not to get into my pulpit till i come back?" she begged.

i gave the promise; and, without answering my questions as to what she was going to do, she sped off towards the house. in about five minutes she returned with something held in the skirt of her frock, which seemed greatly to incommode her in climbing. at last she reached the pulpit, but she did not stay there. up and on she went, much hindered by her burden.

"polly! polly!" i cried. "you mustn't go higher than the pulpit. you know it isn't fair. the pulpit is the top one, and you must stay there. the clergyman never goes into the gallery."

"i'm not going into the gallery," she gasped; and on she went to the topmost of the large branches. there she paused, and from her lap she drew forth the dinner-bell.

"i'm in the belfry," she shouted in tones of triumph, "and i'm going to ring the bell for service."

which she accordingly did, with such a hearty goodwill that nurse bundle and several others of the household came out to see what was the matter. my father laughed loudly, but mrs. bundle was seriously displeased.

"master reginald would never have thought of no such thing on a sunday afternoon but for you,[98] miss polly," she said, with a partiality for her "own boy" which offended my sense of justice.

"i climbed a tree too, nurse," i said, emphatically.

"and it was only a sunday kind of climbing," polly pleaded. but nurse bundle refused to see the force of polly's idea; we were ignominiously dismissed to the nursery, and thenceforward were obliged, as before, to confine our tree-climbing exploits to the six working days of the week.

and these portugal laurels bore the names of the pulpit and the pew ever afterwards.

i showed my flat iron to polly, and she was so much pleased with it that i greatly regretted that i had only brought away this one from oakford. i should have given it to her, but for its connection with the little white-beavered lady.

we both played with it; and at a suggestion of polly's, we gave quite a new character to our "wash" (or rather "ironing," for we omitted the earlier processes of the laundry). we used to cut small models of clothes out of white paper, and then iron them with the farthing iron. how nobly that domestic implement did its duty till the luckless day when polly became uneasy because we did not "put it down to the fire to get hot!"

"nurse doesn't like us to play with fire," i conscientiously reminded her.

"it's not playing with fire; it's only putting the iron on the hob," said polly.

and to this unworthy evasion i yielded, and—my arm being longer than polly's—put the flat iron on the top bar of the nursery grate with my own hand. whilst the iron was heating we went back to our scissors and paper.[99]

"you cut out a few more white petticoats, regie dear," said polly, "and i will make an iron-holder;" with which she calmly cut several inches off the end of her sash, and began to fold it for the purpose.

aunt maria's nursery discipline was firm, but her own nature was independent, almost to aggressiveness; and polly inherited enough of the latter to more than counteract the repression of the former. thus all cousin polly's proceedings were very direct, and, if necessary, daring. when she cut her sash, i exclaimed—"my dear polly!" just as uncle ascott was wont at times to cry—"my dear maria!"

"i'd nothing else to make it of," said polly, calmly. "it's better than cutting up my pocket-handkerchief, for it only shortens it a little, and mamma often cuts the ends a little when our sashes ravel. how many petticoats have you done, dear?"

"four," said i.

"well, we've three skirts. those long strips will do for uncle reginald's neckties. you can cut that last sheet into two pieces, and we'll pretend they're tablecloths. and then i think you'd better fetch the iron. here's the holder."

"oh! polly dear! it is such fun!" i cried; but as i drew near to the fireplace the words died away on my lips. my flat iron was gone.

at first i thought it had fallen on to the hearth; but looking nearer i saw a blob or button of lead upon the bar of the grate. there was no resisting the conviction which forced itself upon me: my flat iron was melted.

polly was much distressed. doubly so because she had been the cause of the misfortune. as we[100] were examining the shapeless lump of metal, she said, "it's like a little lump of silver that miss blomfield has hanging to her watch chain;" which determined me to have a hole made through the remains of my flat iron, and do the same.

"papa has promised me a watch next birthday," i added.

polly and i were very happy and merry together; but her visit came to an end at last. aunt maria came to fetch her. she had brought her down when she came, but had only stayed one night. on this occasion she stayed from saturday to monday. aunt maria never allowed any of the girls to travel alone, and they were never allowed to visit without her at any but relations' houses. one consequence of which was, that when they grew up, and were large young women with large noses, they were the most helpless creatures at a railway-station that i ever beheld.

whilst aunt maria was with us, she "spoke seriously," as it is called, to my father about my education. i think she was shocked to discover how thoroughly polly and i had been "running wild" during polly's visit. whether my father had given any rash assent to proposals for our studying together, which aunt maria may have made at her last visit, or not, i do not know. anyway, my aunt seemed to be shocked, and enlarged to my father on the waste of time involved in allowing me to run wild so long. my father was apt to "take things easy," and i fancy he made some vague promises as to my education, which satisfied my aunt for the time. polly and i parted with much grief on both sides. aunt maria took her back to her lessons, and i was left to my loneliness.[101]

i felt polly's loss very much, especially as my father happened to be a good deal engaged just then, and nurse bundle busy superintending some new arrangements in our nursery premises. i think she missed polly herself; we had not been so quiet for some weeks. we almost felt it dull.

"of course a country place is very quiet," mrs. bundle said one evening to the housekeeper, with whom we were having tea for a change. "anybody feels it that has ever lived in a town, where people is always dropping in."

"what's 'dropping in,' nurse?" i asked.

"well, my dear, just calling in at anybody's house, and sitting down in a friendly way, to exchange the weather and pass time like."

"that must be very nice," i said.

"like as if we was in oakford," mrs. bundle continued, "and i could drop in, as it might be this afternoon, and take a seat in my sister's and ask after their good healths."

"i wish we could," said i.

the idea fermented in my brain, as ideas were wont to do, in the large share of solitary hours that fell to my lot. the result of it was the following adventure.