Mary: A Nursery Story for Very Little Children Page 15

one of the young men in the shop wasreaching something out of the window and saw her. He called to thedraper--Mr Mitcham--and Mr Mitcham, who was a kind man and had littlegirls of his own, hurried after Mary and soon caught her up, for she wasgetting very tired now. Her legs were shaking sadly, and her breathseemed to choke her, and her heart,--oh, how her poor heart wasthumping--it seemed to come right up into her ears.

  "Are you looking for your mamma, my dear?" said Mr Mitcham. He wasrather out of breath himself though he had only run a short way, for hewas a fat little man, and he seldom took more exercise than walkingabout his shop.

  "Zes, zes!" cried Mary, who went back to her baby talk when she wasunhappy or frightened. "Her is goned away, and the naughty boy pulledme off my chair, and--oh, oh, where is my mamma goned?"

  Mr Mitcham, could not make out what was the matter, but, luckily, justat that moment her mamma came round the corner of the street. She hadfound her bag at the saddler's, but she had had to wait a few minutesfor it, as he had locked it up in a drawer while he went to the inn,where the carriage was, to ask if Mrs Bertram was still in the town.

  Mamma looked quite startled when she saw poor Mary all in tears, butMary soon got happy again when she felt her own dear mamma's handclasping hers firmly. And then, when mamma had thanked the draper, sheturned back to the confectioner's again, to get the cakes to take homeand to pay for them. Mary did not much want to go; she was afraid ofseeing the rude boy and his mother again. But mamma told her she musttry not to be so easily frightened.

  "For, you see, dear, when you ran away in that wild way, I might nothave been able to find you for some time, and think how unhappy it wouldhave made me."

  Mary squeezed mamma's hand very tight. She was beginning to see she hadbeen rather silly.

  "I won't do like that again," she said. "When I'm a big girl I won't befrightened. But, please, mamma, let me _always_ stay 'aside you when wego to shops."

  When they got to the confectioner's, they found the young woman therevery sorry about Mary having run away, as she felt she should have takenbetter care of her. The stout lady and her children were still there,and the lady was looking very ashamed, for the confectioner had beentelling her that Mary was little Miss Bertram of the Priory--the Priorywas the name of Mary's home--and that Mrs Bertram would be very vexed.So the rude boy's mother came up with a very red face, and told Mary'smamma if they had only known who the young lady was, they would neverhave made so free as to disturb her. Mary's mamma listened gravely, andthen she said, "I think you should teach your son to be gentle andpolite to everybody, especially little girls, _whoever they are_. Ofcourse I know he did not mean to hurt her, but she is accustomed to herbrothers behaving very nicely to her at home."

  Then she turned away rather coldly, and the children and their motherlooked very red and ashamed, and just then the victoria came up to thedoor, with the two pretty bay horses, all so smart and nice. And mammatook Mary's hand to lead her away. But Mary pulled it out of hers for amoment and ran back to the boy.

  "Please, don't be sorry any more," she said. "I were a silly littlegirl, but I don't mind now," and she held out her hand. The boy took itand mumbled something about "beg your pardon." And then Mary got upinto the carriage beside mamma.

  "I am glad you did that, Mary dear," she said; "I hope it will make theboy remember."

  "And I _were_ a silly little girl," said Mary, as she nestled up to hermamma.

  They did not talk very much going home. Mary was rather tired, and Ithink she must have had a little nap on the way; for she looked allright again, and her eyes were scarcely at all red when they drove up tothe door of Mary's own dear house. There were Leigh and Artie waitingfor them; they had heard the carriage coming and they ran up to the doorto be there to help their mamma and Mary out, and to tell them how gladthey were to see them again.

  "Tea's all ready waiting," said Leigh; "and, oh, mamma--we werewondering--nurse has put out a 'nextra cup just in case. _Would_ youcome up and have tea with us? Then we could hear all about all you'vebeen buying and everything, for Mary mightn't remember so well."

  "I don't think I'd forget," said Mary; "on'y we _have_ had lotses of'ventures. Doesn't it seem a long, long time since we started off afterdinner? I _would_ like mamma to have tea with us!"

  Mamma could not resist all these coaxings, and I think she was verypleased to accept the nursery invitation, for it seemed to her a longtime since she had seen dear Baby Dolly. So she told Leigh to run upand tell nurse she was coming, and then, when all the parcels werebrought into the hall, she chose out some which she sent upstairs; butthe parcel of cakes for tea she gave to Artie to carry up.

  That was a very happy tea-party. There was so much to tell, and so muchto ask about. Mary chattered so fast that mamma had to remind her thather tea would be getting quite cold and everybody would have finishedbefore her if she did not take care. But Mary said she was not veryhungry because of the afternoon luncheon she had had at theconfectioner's; and that reminded her of what had happened there, andshe told Leigh and Artie and nurse and Dolly--though I am not sure ifDolly _quite_ understood--the story of the rude boy and how frightenedshe had been.

  "Horrid cad," said Leigh; "I'd like to knock him down."

  "He were much bigger than you, Leigh," said Mary.

  "What does that matter?" said Leigh. "I'd knock any fellow down who wasrude to my sister."

  Mary thought it was very brave of Leigh to talk like that. She wonderedif he would be vexed if he heard she had forgiven the boy afterwards.

  "I think he was sorry," said mamma. "He had no idea Mary would haveminded so much, you see."

  "I cried," said Mary,--she felt rather proud of herself now for havinghad such an adventure,--"I cried lotses."

  "I hope he didn't see you crying," said Leigh. "He would think you ababy and not a lady if he saw you crying."

  "I leaved off crying when mamma came," said Mary; "but my eyes wasreddy."

  "You shouldn't have cried," said Artie. "You should have looked at himgrand--like this."

  And Artie reared up his head as high as he could get it out of hisbrown-holland blouse, and stared round at Dolly, who was cooing andlaughing at him over nurse's shoulder, with such a very severe face,that the poor baby, not knowing what she had done to vex him, drew downthe corners of her mouth and opened her blue eyes very wide and thenburst into a pitiful cry. Artie changed all at once.

  "Darling baby, kiss Artie," he said. "Sweet baby Artie wasn't angrywith you."

  But nurse told him he should not frighten Miss Baby. She was such anoticing little lady already.

  "And I forgaved the boy," said Mary. "I shaked hands with him."

  Nobody could quite see what this had to do with Artie and baby, but Maryseemed to know what she meant. Perhaps she thought that if she had"looked grand" at the boy, he would have set off crying like poor Dolly.

  Then when tea was over and grace had been said--it was Artie's turn tosay grace, and he was always very slow at his tea, so they had some timeto wait--mamma undid the parcels that she had sent up to the nursery.The children all came round to see the things, and Mary was very pleasedto be able to explain about them.

  "I helped mamma to choose, didn't I, mamma dear?" she kept saying.

  She was most proud of all, I think, about Baby Dolly's ribbons. Andnurse thought them very pretty indeed, and so I suppose did baby, forshe caught hold of them when Mary held them out and tried to stuff themall into her mouth. That is a baby's way of showing it thinks thingsare pretty; it fancies they must be good to eat.

  "And my reins, mamma?" said Leigh at last; "when are you coming to myreins?"

  He had been rather patient, considering he was a boy, for boys do notcare about ribbons and sashes and those sorts of things, though he wasvery pleased with his own boots. So mamma looked out the parcel of hisreins before she undid the tapes and cottons and buttons she had got fornurse.

  "They are really very good reins," she
said. "I told you we got them atthe saddler's. They are much better and stronger than those you buy ata toy-shop."

  Leigh turned them over in his hands and pulled them and tugged them in avery knowing way.

  "Yes," he said, "they're not bad--not bad at all. In fact they arebeauties. And what did they cost?"

  "They cost rather dear," she said,--"dearer than you expected. But ifyou pay me two shillings, I will give you a present of the rest."

  "Whew!" said Leigh, "more than two shillings. But