Before the housewives could rest, several people called,and there was a scramble to get ready to see them.Then tea must be got, errands done,and one or two necessary bits of sewing neglected until the last minute.As twilight fell, dewy and still,one by one they gathered on the porch where the June roses were budding beautifully, and each groaned or sighed as she sat down, as if tired or troubled.
“What a dreadful day this has been!” began Jo, usually the first to speak.
“It has seemed shorter than usual, but so uncomfortable, ” said Meg.
“Not a bit like home,” added Amy.
“It can’t seem so without Marmee and little Pip,” sighed Beth, glancing with full eyes at the empty cage above her head.
“Here’s Mother, dear,and you shall have another bird tomorrow, if you want it.”
As she spoke, Mrs. March came and took her place among them,looking as if her holiday had not been much pleasanter than theirs.
“Are you satisfied with your experiment, girls,or do you want another week of it?” she asked, as Beth nestled up to her and the rest turned toward her with brightening faces, as flowers turn toward the sun.
“I don’t!” cried Jo decidedly.
“Nor I,” echoed the others.
“You think then, that it is better to have a few duties and live a little for others, do you?”
“Lounging and larking doesn’t pay,” observed Jo,shaking her head. “I’m tired of it and mean to go to work at something right off.”
“Suppose you learn plain cooking.That’s a useful accomplishment,which no woman should be without,” said Mrs. March,laughing inaudibly at the recollection of Jo’s dinner party,for she had met Miss Crocker and heard her account of it.
“Mother, did you go away and let everything be,just to see how we’d get on?” cried Meg, who had had suspicions all day.
“Yes, I wanted you to see how the comfort of all depends on each doing her share faithfully. While Hannah and I did your work, you got on pretty well, though I don’t think you were very happy or amiable. So I thought, as a little lesson, I would show you what happens when everyone thinks only of herself. Don’t you feel that it is pleasanter to help one another, to have daily duties which make leisure sweet when it comes, and to bear and forbear, that home may be comfortable and lovely to us all?”
“We do, Mother, we do!” cried the girls.
“Then let me advise you to take up your little burdens again,for though they seem heavy sometimes,they are good for us,and lighten as we learn to carry them.Work is wholesome, and there is plenty for everyone.It keeps us from ennui and mischief,is good for health and spirits,and gives us a sense of power and independence better than money or fashion. ”
“We’ll work like bees, and love it too, see if we don’t,” said Jo. “I’ll learn plain cooking for my holiday task,and the next dinner party I have shall be a success.”
“I’ll make the set of shirts for father,instead of letting you do it, Marmee. I can and I will,though I’m not fond of sewing.That will be better than fussing over my own things,which are plenty nice enough as they are.” said Meg.
“I’ll do my lessons every day,and not spend so much time with my music and dolls.I am a stupid thing, and ought to be studying,not playing,” was Beth’s resolution,while Amy followed their example by heroically declaring,“I shall learn to make buttonholes,and attend to my parts of speech.”
“Very good!Then I am quite satisfied with the experiment,and fancy that we shall not have to repeat it,only don’t go to the other extreme and delve like slaves.Have regular hours for work and play,make each day both useful and pleasant,and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well.Then youth will be delightful,old age will bring few regrets,and life become a beautiful success,in spite of poverty.”
“We’ll remember, Mother!” and they did.
CHAPTER TWELVE CAMP LAURENCE
Beth was postmistress, for, being most at home,she could attend to it regularly,and dearly liked the daily task of unlocking the little door and distributing the mail. One July day she came in with her hands full, and went about the house leaving letters and parcels like the penny post.
“Here’s your posy, Mother!Laurie never forgets that,” she said,putting the fresh nosegay in the vase that stood in ‘Marmee’s corner’,and was kept supplied by the affectionate boy.
“Miss Meg March, one letter and a glove,” continued Beth, delivering the articles to her sister,who sat near her mother, stitching wristbands.
“Why, I left a pair over there, and here is only one,” said Meg, looking at the gray cotton glove.“Didn’t you drop the other in the garden?”
“No, I’m sure I didn’t,for there was only one in the office.”
“I hate to have odd gloves!Never mind, the other may be found.My letter is only a translation of the German song I wanted.I think Mr. Brooke did it,for this isn’t Laurie’s writing.”
Mrs. March glanced at Meg,who was looking very pretty in her gingham morning gown,with the little curls blowing about her forehead,and very womanly, as she sat sewing at her little worktable,full of tidy white rolls,so unconscious of the thought in her mother’s mind as she sewed and sang,while her fingers flew and her thoughts were busied with girlish fancies as innocent and fresh as the pansies in her belt, that Mrs. March smiled and was satisfied.
“Two letters for Doctor Jo, a book, and a funny old hat,which covered the whole post office and stuck outside,” said Beth, laughing as she went into the study where Jo sat writing.
“What a sly fellow Laurie is!I said I wished bigger hats were the fashion,because I burn my face every hot day. He said,‘Why mind the fashion?Wear a big hat, and be comfortable!’ I said I would if I had one, and he has sent me this,to try me. I’ll wear it for fun,and show him I don’t care for the fashion.” And hanging the antique broad-brim on a bust of Plato,Jo read her letters.
One from her mother made her cheeks glow and her eyes fill,for it said to her...
My Dear:
I write a little word to tell you with how much satisfaction I watch your efforts to control your temper. You say nothing about your trials, failures, or successes, and think, perhaps, that no one sees them but the Friend whose help you daily ask, if I may trust the well-worn cover of your guidebook. I, too, have seen them all, and heartily believe in the sincerity of your resolution, since it begins to bear fruit. Go on, dear, patiently and bravely, and always believe that no one sympathizes more tenderly with you than your loving...
Mother
“That does me good!That’s worth millions of money and pecks of praise. Oh, Marmee, I do try!I will keep on trying, and not get tired,since I have you to help me.”
Laying her head on her arms,Jo wet her little romance with a few happy tears,for she had thought that no one saw and appreciated her efforts to be good,and this assurance was doubly precious,doubly encouraging,because unexpected and from the person whose commendation she most valued.Feeling stronger than ever to meet and subdue her Apollyon,she pinned the note inside her frock,as a shield and a reminder, lest she be taken unaware,and proceeded to open her other letter,quite ready for either good or bad news. In a big,dashing hand, Laurie wrote...
Dear Jo, What ho!
Some English girls and boys are coming to see me tomorrow and I want to have a jolly time. If it’s fine, I’m going to pitch my tent in Longmeadow, and row up the whole crew to lunch and croquet—have a fire, make messes, gypsy fashion, and all sorts of larks. They are nice people, and like such things. Brooke will go to keep us boys steady, and Kate Vaughn will play propriety for the girls. I want you all to come, can’t let Beth off at any price, and nobody shall worry her. Don’t bother about rations, I’ll see to that and everything else, only do come, there’s a good fellow!
In a tearing hurry, Yours ever, Laurie.