Bessie in the City

Mr. Bradford was certainly not disposed to be severe with his boy, but he talked to him a little on the evils resulting from his hasty temper, and readiness to give a blow when a word would answer.

"I am not inclined to punish or reprove you under the circumstances, my son," he said, "but you have made some discomfort for your mother and me, as well as for yourself, by your hasty conduct. It is not pleasant to feel that a son of ours has so conducted himself to the child of our friends, however great the provocation; and you have forgotten the laws of hospitality in attacking one who is a guest beneath your father's roof."

"I'll go and shake hands with him this minute," said Fred. "I did forget who and what he was, that's true, though I'll own I have been afraid I should serve him out ever since he has been in the house."

And Fred went directly to find George and make peace with him. George was unwilling to shake hands, and Mrs. Moore did not look very kindly at Fred, but Mr. Moore insisted that his son should make friends and receive Fred's apology. Neither Harry nor Fred told Mr. and Mrs. Moore of George's misconduct towards Charlie, and he was not honorable enough to tell himself, leaving his parents to suppose it was only Fred's quarrelsome temper that had been to blame.

After this, George kept himself rather apart from the other boys, spending most of his time with Maggie and Bessie, who did not like him much, they could scarcely tell why, but who were very polite to him. Flossy did not like him either, but he showed it very plainly, barking at him whenever he saw him, and if George came near to him scrambling into the children's arms or running under Mrs. Bradford's skirt, where he would keep up a low snarling or woof, wooffing, which was very unmannerly.

Just about this time Mrs. Bradford found that one of Maggie's second teeth was making its appearance behind the first tooth, which was not yet loosened to give place to it. She was afraid that the new tooth would come crooked, and so spoil the looks of Maggie's mouth, and she said she thought she must take her to the dentist and have the old one drawn.

Now Maggie had a great horror of the dentist. Unfortunately, she had once been taken there by grandmamma when Aunt Annie was to have a tooth drawn. Maggie had happened to be in the carriage, and without thinking much about it, Mrs. Stanton had allowed her to go in with them. The tooth was a hard one to draw, and poor Aunt Annie fainted and was very sick, while no one thought of the little frightened child who stood trembling in a corner of the room, thinking that the dentist had killed her dear aunt. Afterwards Aunt Annie took cold in her face, and suffered very much because she foolishly went out too soon; but Maggie thought it all the fault of the poor dentist. After that, whenever her dolls were ill, it was always because they had been to the dentist. They had smallpox, scarlet fever, measles, and broken legs and arms, and were even deaf, dumb, and blind all through the fault of the dentist. Mrs. Bradford was very sorry for this, as she feared it would make trouble with Maggie when her teeth should need any attention; and so it proved, for when she told her she thought she must take her to Dr. Blake, Maggie turned very white.

"It will not be much, dearest," said her mother. "It is a little first tooth, and the pain will be over in a moment."

"Mamma," said Maggie. "I would rather have my mouth ever so ugly than have it out."

"Perhaps you do not care now, Maggie, but when you are a young lady, you will not thank your mother for allowing your teeth to grow crooked in order that she might spare you a moment's pain now."

Maggie said no more, but for the rest of the day she looked so troubled, and she and Bessie had such anxious whisperings, and there was so much feeling and touching of the tooth that was to be lost, that Mrs. Bradford told her husband that she should take her to Dr. Blake the first thing in the morning, that she might have no more time to think about it.

"Maggie," said Mr. Bradford, calling her to him just as he was going down town the next morning, – "Maggie, do you want to earn a dollar?"

"Oh, yes, papa!" and Mr. Bradford smiled as he saw the troubled face light up for a moment.

"You and Bessie are going to be great money-makers," he said. "You must not grow too fond of it, or learn to love it for its own sake. If, when I come home this afternoon, you have a little white tooth to show me, I shall pay you a dollar for it."

"And can I do what I like with it, papa?"

"Yes, whatever you please. You may spend it for Christmas presents or for something for yourself, – just which you choose."

But Maggie did not mean to do either. She thanked and kissed her father, and was off to tell her mother and Bessie.

"There's a whole another dollar for Mary's sack," she said, "now she'll have it all the sooner." And she kept up her courage very well till they drove up to the dentist's stoop. Then Mrs. Bradford felt the little hand she held squeezing her own very tightly, and Maggie looked up in her face with a quivering lip. "I have to think very much about Mary's sack not to cry, mamma," she said.

"You are my own dear, courageous little girl," said Mrs. Bradford, "and it will soon be over now." She was very sorry for Maggie, for she knew this was a hard trial for her, and wished very much that she could bear it in her place; but since this was not possible, all she could do was to help her to bear it bravely.

Dr. Blake was at home and disengaged, and he was so kind and gentle that Maggie was quite ashamed of feeling afraid of him.

"You don't say this little maid has any need of me?" he said.

Mrs. Bradford told what was the trouble, and took off Maggie's hat; the dentist lifted her into the chair, and told her to open her mouth. She gave a long sigh and obeyed, holding on tightly to her mother's hand. Dr. Blake looked into her mouth for a moment, and then patting her on the head, said to Mrs. Bradford, —

"It's all right enough, madam; the first tooth will be loose in a few days, when you may pull it with a thread, and the second will come quite straight. No need for any pulling of mine."

As soon as Maggie understood the tooth was not to come out, she looked very much delighted, then grave again. "If it is not too much trouble, sir," she said, "will you please to take it out."

"Why, you surely don't want to have it drawn for the fun of it!" said the dentist.

"No, sir; but for another reason." Maggie was too shy to tell what that reason was.

Since there was nothing to be done with the tooth, Mrs. Bradford put on Maggie's hat and the doctor lifted her down from the great chair.

"Mamma," she said, as they left the house, "I shall never make my dolls sick again because they went to the dentist. Why, I think he is just as nice as other gentlemen, and I felt real sorry I was so afraid of him."

While Mrs. Bradford and Maggie were gone, Bessie stood by the parlor window looking very melancholy and watching for their return. She was very much troubled about her sister, and would not play with George or listen to the story which Jane offered to tell her, or do anything but think of Maggie. Presently she saw Mr. Hall coming down the street. He stopped at the stoop, looked up and nodded, and then came up the steps. Bessie slipped down from her chair and running to the front-door, called to Patrick, who was in the hall, to open it for her. She seized her kind old friend by the hand, and said, "Mr. Hall, we have a dreadful misfortune."

Mr. Hall was quite alarmed when he saw her sad little face, but when he had asked what the misfortune was, and heard that Maggie had gone to have a tooth drawn, he was very much relieved and rather amused. He took Bessie on his knee, and after she had told him how well Maggie had behaved, talked to her for a few moments, and then, saying that it was about time for her mother and Maggie to be back, left a message for her father, and went away.

Pretty soon mamma and Maggie came in, the latter, to her sister's surprise and delight, looking very bright; and lo! there was the tooth still in her head.

"But oh, our dollar! Bessie," said Maggie. "I am so sorry!"

"Never mind," said Bessie. "Maybe we can earn it some other way. I'm so glad you didn't be hurt, Maggie, dear."

"Where is that tooth I am to pay for?" said Mr. Bradford, when he came home that afternoon.

Maggie came to him, and opening her mouth, showed her pretty rice-grain still in its place.

"Halloa!" said papa. "Did your courage give out?"

"Dr. Blake wouldn't take it out, papa; not even when I begged him. And now you wont have to pay the dollar."

"I don't know about that," said papa. "I bought the tooth, and I did not say where I should keep it. It is not quite convenient for me to take care of it just at present; perhaps you would not object to giving it lodging in its present place for a while. But it belongs to me, remember; here is the price, and you are to take care that it does not bite threads or crack nuts, or do anything else which might damage it. It is mine, now, bought and paid for;" and as papa spoke, he handed Maggie a dollar-bill. "You quite deserve it, my little girl. It was no fault of yours that you did not keep your share of the bargain, and since you did all you could, I shall keep mine."

After Maggie had hugged and kissed her father till he was half stifled, – Bessie, too, doing her share at that business, – they ran for the money-box to put away the new note. She and Bessie were trying to count over their treasure when George came by.

"Whew!" he said. "Where did you get all that? Is it yours? What are you going to do with it?"

"We are going to do a purpose with it?" said Bessie, for neither of the children cared to tell George what that purpose was.

"Oh, to buy goodies and toys is your purpose, I suppose!"

"No," said Bessie. "It is not a foolish purpose like that;" and she said no more.

They let George help them count the money, however, for they could not do it correctly themselves, then put it all back in mamma's drawer. George had followed them, and saw where they placed it.

That evening a parcel was left at the door directed to Maggie, and when it was opened, there were two new books. In one was written, "For a brave little girl who has lost a tooth, from Grandpapa Hall;" in the other, "For the sister of the brave girl."

"Will you lend me one of your new books?" asked George, as Maggie and Bessie were saying "good-night."

"We can't," said Maggie. "We must not keep them, you know, 'cause I did not have my tooth out, and Grandpapa Hall meant it for that. We are going to give them back."

"Pshaw," said George; "he'll never know I should not think of such a thing as giving them up."

"I don't believe you would," Fred whispered to Harry.

"Why, that would be doing a story," said Bessie, and she drew away from George with a shocked look. "Why, George, I'm afraid your mother don't bring you up in the way you should go."

Fred and Harry laughed, but George was angry, and would not shake hands with Bessie, when, a moment later, she bade him good-night.

But Grandpapa Hall would not take back the books; he said, as papa had done, that they were meant for the brave girl who was willing to have her tooth drawn.

XIII.

THE BANK-NOTES

FROM the time that George had seen the children's money, he did not cease to think of it, and soon he began to wish for it.

"'Tis a shame," he said to himself; "those two little snips having such a lot of money, and here I have next to none. Father is so awful stingy about giving me money."

This was not true, for Mr. Moore would give his son money for any needful purpose; but as George was apt to waste his allowance, he gave him but a small one. George had been envious when he heard how much more Mr. Bradford gave his sons, and now when he saw what the little girls had earned, he kept saying to himself that he wished he had half or even a quarter of what was in that box. The wish grew stronger and stronger; then came the thought how easily he might get at it some time when there was no one in Mrs. Bradford's room. Then he began prying and watching and looking at the drawer where the money lay, thinking how fine it would be if he could only wish the bank-notes out of it into his own pocket. Conscience whispered loudly, struggling with the evil spirit which was gaining such a hold upon him, but all in vain, he would not listen; and her voice grew fainter and fainter.

At last he resolved that he would have some of that money, come what might, although he had in the mean while found out from the boys with what purpose the dear little girls were saving it. And "chance" (as he called it) threw a fine opportunity in his way.

"This bill is bad," said Mrs. Moore to her husband, one morning when George was in the room. "It was among those you gave me yesterday, and was refused in a store where I offered it."

Mr. Moore took it from her. "A counterfeit certainly," he said; "it is unmistakably bad. I wonder I should have been so careless as to take it." Then twisting it up, he tossed it among a heap of waste paper that lay in a little basket, for Mr. Moore was rather a careless man. That note should have been destroyed at once when he knew it was bad.

A terrible thought came into George's mind, and he did not shut it out. He lingered a moment behind his parents, and snatching the false note, thrust it far down in his pocket; then he followed to the breakfast-room. But he could eat nothing; the food lay untouched upon his plate. A guilty, almost sick feeling took from him all appetite, made him hate the sight of those happy faces about the table, and think that every look which was turned upon him was full of anger and scorn. Once when Harry accidentally touched him, he clapped his hand over his pocket with a sudden fear that he was about to drag forth the note and expose him; and when tender-hearted little Bessie came to him, saying that, since he had eaten no breakfast, he should have half of her orange, he pushed her rudely from him, and would not take the gift she offered so prettily. His father reproved him sharply for his ill-manners, and his mother said she was sure George was not well, something had been wrong with him for two or three days; he must see the doctor.

Yes, something was wrong, very wrong with George, but it was not what his anxious mother thought; it was far worse than any sickness of the body; it was the evil of a bad heart, of a guilty purpose, and no doctor could cure him since he would not go to the great Physician. All the morning he crept about the house, wretched and uneasy, looking miserable enough to give cause for his mother's anxiety. Once or twice his wicked resolution almost gave way, and he half determined to throw away the note and think no more of the money in the box; but again the tempter whispered, drowning the feeble voice of conscience, and giving him many reasons why he should take what he wished for.

That afternoon he was left alone. His mother and Mrs. Bradford went out, taking Maggie and Bessie with them, leaving him behind at his own request. The boys were at school; his father and Mr. Bradford far away down town; it really seemed as if all had been arranged for him to carry out his purpose.

Rising from the sofa, upon which his mother had left him, he stole softly to the door and peeped out. How still the house was! He went slowly along the hall, watching the turn of the stairs lest a head should suddenly appear above it, reached Mrs. Bradford's door, pushed it open and entered. Now, quick – not a minute to lose. Hark! What is that? Nothing but old nurse crooning softly to her baby in the nursery.

Noiselessly he pulled open the drawer, lifted the box, the secret of which Maggie had showed him, from its corner, took out one of the fresh clean notes, and put in its place the crumpled, worthless bill his father had thrown aside that morning.

Whenever he had felt reproached for the meanness he was guilty of towards the dear little girls who had been so kind to him, he would say to himself that it was not at all likely they would suffer from it; probably the bad note would be paid away with the others; his father had taken it without noticing that it was false, why should not others do so? Even if it should be found out, Mr. Bradford would give his children another in the place of it; he was a rich man, a dollar was nothing to him.

He was about to put the box back, when the thought came to him, why take only one? Forgetting in his guilty haste that the loss of a second would make the change of the first more easily discovered, he touched the spring once more, took out another dollar, and then hastily replaced the box.

The deed once done, half his fears seemed to pass away. How easy it had been! No one had seen him, no one heard him; he was going away with his father and mother in two days, and probably no one would find out – the theft he would not say to himself – he called it the loss.

While Mr. Moore was out, he thought that he had been careless in the matter of the false note, and when he came home, looked for it, that he might destroy it. But it was gone, and his wife could tell him nothing of it. He called George, and asked him if he had seen it. George hesitated, and seemed so confused that his father was sure he had it, and asked how he had dared take it, when he knew it to be bad.

"I only took it to play with," stammered George. "I am always playing store with Maggie and Bessie, and I thought it would be nice for money."

This was true, as Mr. Moore knew, and, more gently, he told his son to give him the note.

"I threw it away," said the wicked boy; "I thought maybe you would not like me to have it, and I put it in the fire."

"All right then," said Mr. Moore, "but why are you so frightened? you have done nothing so very wrong, though it would have been better if you had not touched the note, and I am myself to blame for leaving it where there was any probability that it might be turned to a bad use."

George was only too glad that he had escaped so easily, and had no feelings of sorrow for having deceived his kind, good father.

The rest of that day and the whole of the next passed, and he heard nothing to alarm him. Every one was more kind than usual to him, though he himself was restless and fretful, for all thought he was not well. He kept out of the way of the other children, and spent half his time lounging on the sofa in his mother's room. He would willingly have spent the whole of his time there, but he was tormented with the fear that something might have been discovered, and would go about among the family to make sure that all was safe.

"Mamma," said Maggie, dancing into her mother's room, on the morning of the third day, – "mamma, nurse says this is the tenth of the month."

"Well, Dimple, what of that?"

"Why, mamma, you know that is the day you give us the glove-money, and here are my gloves, – the best ones quite, quite good, and the second-best are very nice, too; Jane mended them yesterday; and here comes Bessie with hers, and they are very nice; and I have had only one pair of boot-laces this month, mamma, and so do you not think we have enough for the log-cabin library, and for Mary's sack, too? We want to buy it and give it to her for Christmas, if you will let Jane make it. I think we shall have enough, mamma; don't you think so?"

Certainly her mother's name of "Dimple" was well suited to Maggie just then; for mouth, cheeks, and chin seemed running over with smiles, while her eyes looked as if they would dance out of her head. Nor was Bessie much less eager, as she stood beside her sister, and the four little hands each held up a pair of gloves.

"We will see," said mamma. "Papa is not quite ready to go down-stairs; we shall have time to count it up. I think you have over five dollars in your box, and these two," – as she spoke, Mrs. Bradford took some money from her purse – "will make over seven. I think we shall manage to buy Mary's sack out of that."

She sat down upon a low chair, the children standing on each side, and taking the box from the drawer, emptied it into her lap.

"A pair of bootlaces for Maggie and one for Bessie, that leaves two dollars and fifteen cents for this month. Now here is – Why, what a crumpled note! How came this here?" and Mrs. Bradford took up the bill which George had vainly endeavored to smooth out. "I thought all those notes papa gave you were quite clean and fresh."

"So they were, mamma, nice and new and pretty; and, mamma, I am quite sure I did not muss that up so, and – Why there are only two bills, and we had three! I did not lose any, mamma, – I know I did not," said poor Maggie, all in a flutter, lest her mother should think this was some of her old carelessness.

"Do not be frightened, dear," said Mrs. Bradford; "no one is going to accuse you, or think you have been careless unless there is good reason for it. Henry, will you come here for one moment?"

Mr. Bradford came from his dressing-room, hair-brush in hand.

"Do you know anything of this bill? Have you changed any of the children's money?" asked his wife.

He took the note from her hand.

"This is a counterfeit, and a very poor one too," he said, the moment he looked at it. "Have either of you ever seen it before, children?"

"No, papa," said Maggie. "I know it is not one of our bills. We kept them just as nice as you gave them to us, and one is gone too."

"When did you last have out your money?" asked Mrs. Bradford.

"The day we went to the dentist's, mamma. When papa gave me the dollar that evening, I went for the box and put it in, and George counted the money for us, and there were three bills there, all clean and new."

"And we told Harry how much it was, and he put it in his little book," said Bessie; "he always keeps how much we have in his little book, mamma."

"Some one has meddled with it," said Mr. Bradford. "The notes I gave the children were all new ones on the – Bank."

"Will we never find our own dollars, do you think, papa?" said Maggie, with a very long face.

"Yes, indeed, my darling, – at least, you shall have others in their place. This loss must not fall on you after all your efforts."

"I should have locked up the box," said Mrs. Bradford. "I wish I had taken your advice, Henry."

Mr. Bradford took from his pocket-book two other bank-notes, and gave them to the children.

"I do not wish you to speak of this to any one," he said to them; and they promised to obey.

Then mamma counted up all the money and it came to seven dollars, sixty-nine cents, – five for the library, and the rest for Mary's sack; for Mrs. Bradford said there was quite enough to buy some warm, cheap cloth, and she would let Jane make it at once, that it might be ready. They should go out with her that day and help choose the cloth.

Mr. Bradford carefully put away the counterfeit note, thinking that it might help to find out the guilty person, and when he went down-stairs, called Harry and Fred into the library.

"Harry," he said, "how much money was in the children's box when you counted it for them the other day?"

"Five dollars, sixty-nine cents, papa, – here it is written down;" and Harry, who was very neat and orderly in all his ways, pulled out his memorandum-book and read "M.'s and B.'s box, Dec. 5th, $5.69 cents." This was the sum which should have been in the box, and showed that the money had been taken within the last few days. Mr. Bradford told the boys of the loss, for he wished that they should know of it, but he charged them to be silent. Both he and his wife were very uncomfortable. There were one or two new servants in the house, but they had come with good characters, and there was no reason to think they had taken the money. None of them knew where it was kept, or the secret of the box. Only one besides their own children knew that.

XIV.

DISCOVERY

MR. and Mrs. Moore and their son were to leave early the next morning, and as the day passed on, and George heard nothing of the stolen money, he began to think the loss would not be found out till he had gone; and then, he thought, he should be quite safe. He did not dare to spend it now, lest the Bradford children should wonder where the money came from; but when he went home, he could easily do so without discovery. He had been visiting at his uncle's before he came here, and it would be very easy to say he had given it to him. The last time he had been there, his uncle had given him five dollars; but this time, nothing. There were, or there had been, more than five dollars in that box; why had he not taken it all? It was just as easy to say he had received five dollars as two; and when it was missed, it would be thought some of the servants had taken it, or that it had been lost through some of Maggie's carelessness. He had gone so far in sin now, that he did not hesitate to go deeper and deeper; and determined, if possible, to have the rest of the contents of the box.