A Sweet Little Maid Part 18

"Oh, well, Bubbles can attend to it," decided Dimple. "I'm tired of seeing dishes and dabs. What shall we do next, Florence?"

"We haven't cleared up the porch yet. Mr. Star is out there and all the pieces."

"Sure enough. Well, we'll get those put away, and then we can dress. I wonder what became of the crazy man."

"Why do you remind me of him?" said Florence, plaintively. "I had almost forgotten, and now I shall dream of him."

"I don't believe he was crazy," said Dimple. "I suppose he had something to sell. I thought so at the time, but I began, to get scared and couldn't stop. Roll up Mr. Star, Florence, we may want him again. There!

I have the bag and all the rest of the things. You bring Mr. Star and the dolls."

Just here came a "Hallo!" from around the corner of the house. The children gave a suppressed scream which changed into a hearty laugh when Rock appeared; and with words tumbling over each other they began to give a breathless recital of the day's experiences which amused Rock vastly.

"But how did you happen to be here?" the girls remembered at last to ask. "We thought you had gone to the city."

"No, I didn't go after all. Mr. Brisk was going off in the country, and mamma gave me my choice of places, so I thought I'd not enjoy going shopping very much, and I decided to go with Mr. Brisk. We got back about half an hour ago, and I came over to see if you wouldn't go back to the house with me. I want to show you something I found."

"What is it?"

"Wait till you see."

"I'm afraid we oughtn't to leave the house," said Dimple.

"Can't you lock it up? We won't be gone long, and I'll come back and stay with you till your mother comes. Then I can walk home with my mother, for she'll stop here first."

"That will be very nice, but I don't believe we dare lock it up."

"Let Bubbles stay."

But Bubbles' eyes nearly popped out of her head at this suggestion; and, finally, after many plans Rock went over to the house of the man whom Mr. Dallas employed to take care of the garden and stable, and he promised to stay on the place to give Bubbles countenance, till the others should return.

"I've got a job over there, anyhow," he said, "though I mostly leaves about this time, but I can do what I have to do as well now as in the morning." Therefore the children felt perfectly safe in leaving Bubbles.

Rock led the way to Mr. Brisk's workhouse. "What I've to show you is in here," he said. The girls followed him somewhat timidly, but were rea.s.sured when Rock drew out a box of shavings where, cuddled up, they saw a cat and three little bits of kittens.

"Oh! how cunning," cried Dimple, getting down on her knees. "You little tootsy-wootsy, deary things. Aren't they soft? Oh! if we might have them. There are three, just one a piece. Rock, don't you believe we might have them?"

"We'll go and ask," said Rock, and they ran pell-mell into the house.

"What is the matter?" said Mr. Brisk, starting up lest something were wrong.

"We are only going to ask Mrs. Brisk if we may have the kittens," they cried, breathlessly.

Mrs. Brisk was standing in the hall, and heard their story.

"Well! Well! Well!" she said. "If old Topple hasn't another lot of kittens. Have them? To be sure you may, and welcome, when they are big enough to take from their mother."

The girls clapped their hands delightedly and went back to the little blind things, who, with their tight shut eyes, were mewing and nosing against each other.

"Now let's choose," said Rock, after they had taken them out on the gra.s.s where it was lighter. "Two black, and one black and white. If you girls like the black ones best I'll take the other, or if either of you like that best, I'll take one of the black ones."

So, after much talking, Dimple chose a black one, and Florence the black and white, while Rock expressed himself delighted with the other black one as really what he liked the best.

"I shall name mine Jet," said he.

"And mine I'll name Onyx, and call it Nyxy for short," said Dimple.

"And mine shall be Marble," said Florence.

So that question being decided they left them, "like birds in their nest," said Dimple, and started for home, for it was growing late.

"We couldn't carry the kittens home to-night, anyhow," said Florence; "but I do hope we can see them often, and that I can take mine home."

She did take it home, and it grew to be a big cat; though before she went, the children often laughed to see Rock coming in with the three little things in a basket, bringing them over for a visit. He did this several times, taking them back to their mother, until one day they came to stay.

Although time dragged, eight o'clock did come at last, and the hour brought Mrs. Dallas.

"And you are really glad to have me back again," she said, with an arm around each little girl, "though you were so glad to have me go. And how did the pie turn out?"

"It wasn't good," admitted Dimple, candidly; "so we gave it to an organ-grinder."

"What charitable, generous children, to be sure," laughed Mrs. Dallas.

"By the way, Dimple, I forgot to tell you that possibly the paperhanger might be here; he was to come one day this week to paper the upper hall."

Dimple looked at Florence and Florence looked at Dimple. "We thought he was a crazy man," presently said the latter, in a shamefaced way.

"Crazy! Why, what do you mean?"

"He came to the side door," explained Dimple. "Those were rolls of paper on his back, Florence, and we got frightened and wouldn't let him in."

"You silly little geese! I see I must not leave you again."

"But everything else was all right," Florence informed her, "only I burned my hand a little. I had almost forgotten it, Dimple."

"Then you don't want me to go away, altogether," said Mrs. Dallas.

"No indeed," said they both, in the most emphatic manner.

"You dearest, loveliest," continued Dimple; "it is too delicious to see you again."

"And I didn't dream about the crazy man after all," said Florence, the next morning.

CHAPTER VIII

Adrift