"AH, good evening, Mr. Pelby! Good evening, Mr. Manly! I am glad tosee you! Mrs. Little and I were just saying that we wished somefriends would step in."
"Well, how do you do this evening, Mrs. Little?" said Mr. Pelby,after they were all seated. "You look remarkably well. And how isyour little family?"
"We are all bright and hearty," Mrs. Little replied, smiling."Little Tommy has just gone off to bed. If you had come in a fewminutes sooner, you would have seen the dear little fellow. He's aslively and playful as a cricket."
"How old is he now?" asked Mr. Manly.
"He will be two years and six months old the twenty-third of nextmonth."
"Just the age of my Edward. How much I should like to see him!"
"I don't think he has gone to sleep yet," said the fond mother of anonly child, rising and going off to her chamber.
"You bachelors don't sympathize much with us fathers of families,"said Mr. Little, laughing, to Mr. Pelby.
"How should we?"
"True enough! But then you can envy us; and no doubt do."
"It's well enough for you to think so, Little. But, after all, Iexpect we are the better off."
"Don't flatter yourself in any such way, Mr. Pelby. I've been"--
"Here's the darling!" exclaimed Mrs. Little, bounding gayly in theroom at the moment, with Tommy, who was laughing and tossing hisarms about in delight at being taken up from his bed, into which hehad gone reluctantly.
"Come to pa, Tommy," said Mr. Little, reaching out his hands. "Nowain't that a fine little fellow?" he continued, looking from face toface of his two friends, and showing off Tommy to the best possibleadvantage that his night-gown would permit. And he was a sweetchild; with rosy cheeks, bright blue eyes, and clustering goldenringlets.
"Indeed he is a lovely child," Mr. Manly said earnestly.
"A very fine child," Mr. Pelby remarked, mechanically.
"We'll match him with the town!" broke in Mrs. Little, unable tokeep down the upswelling, delighted affection of her heart.
By this time, Tommy's bewildered senses were restored, and he beganto look about him with lively interest. His keen eyes soon detectedMr. Pelby's bright gold chain and swivel, and well knowing that itbetokened a watch, he slid quickly down from his father's lap, andstood beside the knee of the nice bachelor visitor.
"He's not afraid of strangers," said Mrs. Little, her eyes sparklingwith pleasure, as they followed every movement of her child.
"Tee watch," said Tommy.
"It'll bite" said Mr. Pelby.
"Tee watch!" reiterated the child, grasping the chain.
With not the best grace in the world, Mr. Pelby drew out hisbeautiful gold lever, and submitted it to the rude grasp, as hethought, of Tommy.
"Oh, ma! ma! Tee watch! tee watch!" cried the child, almost wildwith delight--at the same time advancing towards her as far as thechain would permit, and then tugging at it as hard as he could, tothe no small discomfort of the visitor, who, seeing no movement ofrelief on the part of either parent, was forced to slip the chainover his head, and trust Tommy to carry his favourite time-keeper tohis mother.
"Tommy'll be a watch-maker, I expect. Nothing pleases him so much asa watch," remarked the father.
Mr. Pelby did not reply. He dared not, for he felt that, were he totrust himself to speak, he should betray feelings that politenessrequired him to conceal.
"There!" suddenly exclaimed the mother, catching eagerly at thewatch, which Tommy had dropped, and recovering it just in time tosave it from injury.
"Gim me! gim me! gim me!" cried Tommy, seizing her hands, andendeavouring to get possession again of the valuable timepiece,which had escaped so narrowly.
"There, now," said Mrs. Little, yielding to the child's eagerimportunity, and permitting him again to take possession of thewatch. "But you must hold it tighter."
Mr. Pelby was on nettles; but he dared not interfere.
"Open it," said Tommy, endeavouring to loose the hinge of the casewith his tiny thumb-nail.
"Oh, no; you mustn't open it, Tommy."
"Open it!" resumed Tommy, in a higher and more positive tone.
"I can't open it," said the mother, pretending to make an earnesteffort to loose the case.
"O-pen--it!" screamed the child, in a loud angry tone.
"Here, take it to Mr. Pelby, he will open it for you." And the watchwas again intrusted to Tommy's care, who bore it, and, as fortunewould have it, safely too, to its owner.
Of course, Mr. Pelby could do no better, and so he displayed thejewels and internal arrangement of his skeleton lever to the curiousgaze of the child. At first, Tommy was well pleased to look alone:but soon the ends of his fingers itched to touch, and touch he did,quite promptly; and, of course, Mr. Pelby very naturally drew backthe hand that held the watch; and just as naturally did Tommysuddenly extend his and grasp the receding prize. With somedifficulty, Mr. Pelby succeeded in disengaging the fingers of thechild, and then hastily closing the watch, he slipped it into hispocket.
"There, it's gone!" said he.
"Tee de watch!" replied Tommy.
"It's gone clear off."
"Tee de watch!" said Tommy more emphatically.
"Here, come see mine," said the father.
"No," replied the child, angrily.
Mr. Pelby, to quiet Tommy, now took him upon his lap, and called hisattention to a large cameo breast-pin. This pleased him at once, andhe amused himself with pulling at it, and sadly rumpling thevisitor's snow-white bosom. Next he began to dive into his pockets,revealing pen-knife, tooth-pick, etc. etc. This was worse than tolet him have the watch; and so, as a lesser evil, the gold lever wasagain drawn from its hiding-place. The little fellow was once morewild with delight.
But Pelby was so evidently annoyed, that Mr. Little could not helpobserving it; and he at length said to his wife--
"Hadn't you better take Tommy up-stairs, my dear? He is tootroublesome."
Mr. Pelby had it on his tongue's end to say, "Oh, no, he don'ttrouble me at all!" But he was afraid--not to tell a falsehood--butthat the child would be suffered to remain; so he said nothing.
"Come, Tommy," said Mrs. Little, holding out her hands.
"No!" replied the child emphatically.
"Come."
"No!" still louder and more emphatic.
"Yes, come, dear."
"No, I won't!"
"Yes, but you must!" Mrs. Little said, taking hold of him.
At this, Tommy clung around the neck of Mr. Pelby, struggling andkicking with all his might against the effort of his mother todisengage him; who finally succeeded, and bore him, screaming at thetop of his voice, from the room.
"If that were my child," said Mr. Pelby, after they had left thehouse, "I'd half kill him but what I'd make a better boy of him! Inever saw such an ill-behaved, graceless little rascal in my life!"
"Children are children, Mr. Pelby," quietly remarked his auditor,Mr. Manly, who had half a dozen "little responsibilities" himself.
"Hard bargains at the best, I know. But then I have seengood-behaved children; and, if parents would only take proper painswith them, all might be trained to good behaviour and obedience. IfI had a child, it would act different, I know, from what that onedid this evening."
"Old bachelors' children, you know," Mr. Manly said, with a smile.
"O yes, I know. But silly adages don't excuse neglectful parents,"replied Mr. Pelby, a little touched at the allusion.
"That is true, Mr. Pelby. But what I meant you to understand by theremark was, that those who have no children of their own are toooften wanting in a due consideration and forbearance towards thoseof other people. I have quite a house full and I know that I takegreat pains with them, and that the true management of them costs memuch serious consideration; and yet I have known some of mine to actmuch worse than Tommy Little did this evening."
"Well, all I have to say in the matter, friend Manly, is this:--If Ihad a child that acted as rudely as that young one did to-night, Iwould, teach him a lesson that he would not forget for the nexttwelve months."
"You don't know what you would do, if you had a child, Pelby. Anactive, restless child requires patience and continued forbearance;and, if it should be your lot to have such a one, I am sure yournatural affection and good sense would combine to prevent yourplaying the unreasonable tyrant over it."
"Perhaps it would. But I am sure I should not think my naturalaffection and good sense pledged to let my child do as he pleased,and annoy every one that came to the house."
"You were exceedingly annoyed, then, to-night?"
"Annoyed! Why, I could hardly sit in my chair towards the last. Andwhen the young imp came pawing me and climbing over me, I couldhardly help tossing him off of my lap upon the floor."
"You did not seem so much worried. I really thought you were pleasedwith the little fellow."
"Now, that is too bad, Manly! I'd as lief had a monkey screwing andtwisting about in my lap. It was as much as I could do to be civilto either his father or mother for suffering their brat to tease meas he did. First, I must be kissed by his bread and butter mouth;and then he made me suffer a kind of martyrdom in fear of my elegantlever. A watch is not the thing for a child to play with, and I amastonished at Little for suffering his young one to annoy a visitorin that way."
"Blame them as much as you please, but don't feel unkindly towardsthe child," said Manly. "He knows no better. Your watch delightedhim, and of course he wanted it, and any attempt to deprive him ofit was very naturally resisted. His parents are fond of him--andwell they may be--and pet him a great deal; thus he has learned toexpect every visitor to notice him, and also expects to notice andmake free with every visitor. This is all very natural."
"Natural enough, and so is it to steal; but that don't make itright. Children should be taught, from the first, to be reserved inthe presence of strangers, and never to come near them unlessinvited. If I had one, I'll be bound he wouldn't disgrace me asLittle's child did him to-night."
"We'll see, one of these days, perhaps," was Manly's quiet remark;and the friends parted company.
Ten years often make a great difference in a man's condition,habits, and feelings. Ten years passed away, and Mr. Pelby was ahusband, and the father of three interesting children,--indulged, ofcourse, and "pretty considerably" spoiled, yet interesting withal,and, in the eyes of their father, not to be compared for beauty,good manners, etc. with any other children inhabiting the same city.William, the oldest boy, had not quite completed his sixth year.Emma, a rosy-cheeked, chubby little thing, when asked her age, couldsay--
"Four years old last June."
And Henry was just the age that Tommy Little was when he so terriblyannoyed Mr. Pelby. Now, as to Henry's accomplishments, they weremany and various. He could be a good boy when he felt in a pleasanthumour, and could storm, and fret, and pout in a way so wellunderstood by all parents, that it would be a work of supererogationto describe it here. But strange mutation of disposition!--Mr. Pelbycould bear these fits of perverseness with a philosophy that wouldhave astonished even himself, could he have for a moment realizedhis former state of mind. When Henry became ill-tempered from anycause, he had, from loving him, learned that to get into anill-humour also would be only adding fuel to flame; and so, on suchoccasions, he sought affectionately to calm and soothe his ruffledfeelings. If Henry, or Emma, or William, from any exuberance ofhappy feelings, were noisy or boisterous, he did not think it rightto check them suddenly, because he was a little annoyed. He tried,rather, to feel glad with them--to partake of their joy. In short,Mr. Pelby had grown into a domestic philosopher. A wife and two orthree children do wonders sometimes!
Now it so happened about this time, that Mr. and Mrs. Manly and Mr.and Mrs. Little were spending an evening with Mr. and Mrs. Pelby.William and Emma had their suppers prepared for them in the kitchen,and then, as usual, were put to bed; but "dear little Henry" was sointeresting to his parents, and they naturally thought must be sointeresting to their company, that he was allowed to sit up and cometo the tea-table. As Mrs. Pelby had no dining-room, the back parlourwas used for this purpose, and so all the progressive arrangementsof the tea-table were visible.
"Oh, dinne weddy! dinne weddy!" cried little Henry, sliding downfrom the lap of Mrs. Little--whose collar he had been rumpling sothat it was hardly fit to be seen--as soon as he saw the cloth laid;and, running for a chair, he was soon perched up in it, callinglustily for "meat."
"Oh, no, no, Henry! dinner not ready yet!" said Mrs. Pelby, startingforward, and endeavouring to remove the child from his seat; butHenry screamed and resisted.
"Oh, let him sit, mother!" interfered Mr. Pelby. "The little deardon't understand waiting as we do."
"Yes, but, father, it is time that he had learned. Tea isn't nearready yet; and if he is allowed to sit here, he will pull and haulevery thing about," responded Mrs. Pelby.
"Oh, never mind, mother! Give him some meat, and he'll be quietenough. I never like to see little folks made to wait for grownpeople; they cannot understand nor appreciate the reason of it."
And so little Henry was permitted to remain at the table, pickingfirst at one thing and then at another, much to the discomfort andmortification of his mother, who could not see in this indulgenceany thing very interesting. Mrs. Little was relieved, although hercollar was disfigured for the evening past hope.
After a while tea was announced, and the company sat down.
"Me toffee! me toffee!" cried Henry, stretching out his handsimpatiently. "Me toffee, ma! me toffee, ma!" as soon as Mrs. Pelbywas seated before the tea-tray, and had commenced supplying the cupswith cream and sugar.
"Yes--yes--Henry shall have coffee. H-u-s-h--there--be quiet--that'sa good boy," she said, soothingly. But--
"Me toffee, ma! me toffee, ma! me toffee, ma!" was continued withouta moment's cessation. "Ma! ma! ma! me toffee! me toffee!"
"Yes, yes, yes! you shall have coffee in a moment; only be patient,child!" Mrs. Pelby now said, evidently worried; for Henry was cryingat the top of his voice, and impatiently shaking his hands andvibrating his whole body.
But he ceased not a moment until his mother, before any of thecompany had been served, prepared him a cup of milk and warm water,sweetened. Placing his lips to the edge of the cup, Henry drank thewhole of it off before the table was more than half served.
"Me more toffee, ma!"
Mrs. Pelby paused, and looked him in the face with an expression ofhalf despair and half astonishment.
"Me more toffee, ma!" continued Henry.
"Yes, wait a moment, and I'll give you more," she said.
"More toffee, ma!" in a louder voice.
"Yes, in a moment."
"More toffee, ma!" This time louder and more impatiently.
To keep the peace, a second cup of milk and water had to beprepared, and then Mrs. Pelby finished waiting on her company. Butit soon appeared that the second cup had not really been wanted, fornow that he had it, the child could not swallow more than two orthree draughts. His amusement now consisted in playing in his saucerwith a spoon, which being perceived by his mother, she said to him--
"There now, Henry, you didn't want that, after all. Come, let mepour your tea back into the cup, and set the cup on the waiter, oryou will spill it;" at the same time making a motion to do what shehad proposed. But--
"No! no! no!" cried the child, clinging to the saucer, andattempting to remove it out of his mother's reach. This he did sosuddenly, that the entire contents were thrown into Mrs. Little'slap.
"Bless me, Mrs. Little!" exclaimed Mrs. Pelby, really distressed;"that is too bad! Come, Henry, you must go away from the table;" atthe same time attempting to remove him. But he cried--
"No! no! no!" so loud, that she was constrained to desist.
"There, let him sit; he won't do so any more," said Mr. Pelby. "Thatwas very naughty, Henry. Come, now, if you want your tea, drink it,or let me put it away."
Henry already knew enough of his father to be convinced that when hespoke in a certain low, emphatic tone, he was in earnest; and so hevery quietly put his mouth down to his saucer and pretended todrink, though it would have been as strange as pouring water into afull cup without overflowing it, as for him to have let any more godown his throat, without spilling a portion already there out at thetop.
Tea was at last over, and Mrs. Little, on rising from the table, hadopportunity and leisure to examine her beautiful silk, now worn forthe second time. Fortunately, it was of a colour that tea would notinjure, although it was by no means pleasant to have a whole frontbreadth completely saturated. Mrs. Pelby made many apologies, butMr. Pelby called it a "family accident," and one of a kind thatmarried people were so familiar with, as scarcely to be annoyed bythem.
"Come here, Henry," said he. "Just see what you have done! Now gokiss the lady, and say, 'I'm sorry.'"
The little fellow's eye brightened, and going up to Mrs. Little, hepouted out his cherry lips, and, as she kissed him, he said, with asuddenly-assumed demure, penitent look--"I torry."
"What's Henry sorry for?" asked Mrs. Little, instantly softeningtowards the child, and taking him on her knee.
"I torry," he repeated, but in a much livelier tone, at the sametime that he clambered up and stood in her lap, with his littlehands again crushing her beautiful French collar.
"Come here, Henry," said Mr. Manly, who saw that Mrs. Little wasannoyed at this; but Henry would not move. He had espied a comb inMrs. Little's head, and had just laid violent hands upon it,threatening every moment to flood that lady's neck and shoulderswith her own dishevelled tresses.
"Come and see my watch," said Mr. Manly.
This was enough. Henry slid from Mrs. Little's lap instantly, and inthe next minute was seated on Mr. Manly's knee, examining thatgentleman's time-keeper. Between opening and shutting the watch,holding it first to his own and then to Mr. Manly's ear, Henry spentfull a quarter of an hour. Even that considerate, kind-heartedgentleman's patience began to be impaired, and he could not helpthinking that his friend, Mr. Pelby, ought to be thoughtful enoughto relieve him. Once or twice he made a movement to replace thewatch in his pocket, but this was instantly perceived and aspromptly resisted. The little fellow had an instinctive perceptionthat Mr. Manly did not wish him to have the watch, and for that veryreason retained possession of it long beyond the time that he wouldhave done if it had been fully relinquished to him.
At last he tired of the glittering toy, and returned to annoy Mrs.Little; but she was saved by the appearance of a servant with fruitand cakes.
"Dim me cake! dim me cake!" cried Henry, seizing hold of theservant's clothes, and pulling her so suddenly as almost to causeher to let fall the tray that was in her hands.
To keep the peace, Henry was helped first of all to a slice ofpound-cake.
"Mo' cake," he said, in a moment or two after, unable to articulatewith any degree of distinctness, for his mouth was so full that eachcheek stood out, and his lips essayed in vain to close over theabundant supply within. Another piece was given, and thisdisappeared as quickly. Then he wanted an apple, and as soon as hegot one, he cried for a second and a third. Then--
But we will not chronicle the sayings and doings of little Henryfurther; more than to say, that he soon, from being allowed to situp beyond the accustomed hour, grew fretful and exceedinglytroublesome, preventing all pleasant intercourse between thevisitors and visited, and that at nine o'clock he was carried offscreaming to his bed.
"If that were my child," said Mr. Little, pausing at his own door,and turning round to Mr. and Mrs. Manly, who had accompanied hiswife thus far on their way home, "I would teach him better manners,or I would half kill him. I never saw such an ill-conditioned littleimp in my life!"
"Children are children, you know," was Mr. Manly's quiet reply.
"Yes, but children may be made to behave, if any pains at all betaken with them. It is really unpardonable for any one to let achild like that worry visitors as he did us this evening."
"Few children of his age, Mr. Little, unless of a remarkably quietand obedient disposition, are much better than Pelby's little boy."
"As to that, Mr. Manly," broke in Mrs. Little, "there's our Tommy, afine boy of twelve, as you know. He never acted like that when hewas a child. I never had a bit of trouble with him when we hadcompany. We could bring him down into the parlour when he was ofHenry Pelby's age, and he would go round and kiss all the ladies sosweetly, and then go off to bed, like a little man, as he was."
"Ah, Mrs. Little, you forget," said Mr. Manly, laughing.
"Oh, no, indeed, Mr. Manly. I don't forget these things. We could doany thing with Tommy at his age, and it was because we managed himrightly. You can do any thing with children you please."
"Indeed, then, Mrs. Little, it is more than I can say," remarkedMrs. Manly. "If my children could be made any thing at all of, theywould have been different from what they are; and yet, I believe,"she added, with a feeling of maternal pride, "they are not the worstchildren I have ever seen."
"Good-nights" were now exchanged, and, after Mr. and Mrs. Manly hadwalked a few steps, the former said,
"Well, this is a curious world that we live in. Ten years ago,Pelby, then a trim bachelor, as nice and particular as any of thetribe, said, in allusion to Tommy Little--'If that were my child, Iwould half kill him but what I'd make a better boy of him!'"
"He did?"
"Yes, those were his very words. We were spending an evening at Mr.and Mrs. Little's, and when Tommy was about two years old or so; andPelby was terribly annoyed by him. He acted pretty much as allchildren do--that is, pretty much as Henry did to-night. But Pelbycouldn't endure it with any kind of patience."
"Ha! ha!" laughed out Mrs. Manly, in spite of herself. "Howcompletely the tables have been turned!"
"Yes, they have been, certainly. But what is a little singular is,that neither of the parties concerned seem to have gained wisdom bytheir experience. Pelby forgets how other people's children onceannoyed him, and Mr. and Mrs. Little seem to be entirely unconsciousthat their paragon was very much like all other little boys when hewas only about two or three years old. For my part, I think weshould be careful not to let our children trespass upon visitors.None can feel the same interest in them that we do, or exercise thesame forbearance towards their faults. Faults they all have, whichneed especial care in their correction; and these should be sufferedto appear as rarely as possible under circumstances which prevent asalutary check being placed upon them. For this reason, you know, wehave made it a matter of concert not to let our children, while, tooyoung to understand something of propriety, be present, but for avery short time, when we had company. The moment they become rude ortoo familiar, they were quietly taken from the room."
"Yes; and knowing as I do," said Mrs. Manly, "how very restless somechildren with active minds are, I am never disposed to look withunfavourable eyes upon any, even when wild, turbulent, and heedless.They act as they feel; and so far as evil affections showthemselves, we know they are inherited, and that it is not in thepower of the child to remove them. We should then be moved, it seemsto me, with a purer affection for them; with something of pity mixedwith our love, and, instead of suffering their wrong actions torepulse us, we should draw towards them with a desire to teach themwhat is wrong, and impart to them some power to overcome evil."
"If all thought as you, Mary," said Mr. Manly, as they gained theirown doors, "we should hear no one railing out against other people'schildren, while he indulged his own. A fault too common with mostparents."
THE END.
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