Five Little Peppers and How They Grew - Margaret Sidney (chromebook ebook reader .txt) 📗
- Author: Margaret Sidney
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“Well, go on, children,” she said; “you may do it; I don't see but what you can get 'em there well enough; but I'm sure I don't know what you can make.”
“Can't we,” said Polly—and she knelt down by her mother's side and put her face in between the sewing in Mrs. Pepper's lap, and the eyes bent kindly down on her—“make some little cakes, real cakes I mean? now don't say no, mammy!” she said, alarmed, for she saw a “no” slowly coming in the eyes above her, as Mrs. Pepper began to shake her head.
“But we haven't any white flour, Polly,” began her mother. “I know,” said Polly; “but we'll make 'em of brown, it'll do, if you'll give us some raisins—you know there's some in the bowl, mammy.”
“I was saving them for a nest egg,” said Mrs. Pepper; meaning at some future time to indulge in another plum-pudding that the children so loved.
“Well, do give 'em to us,” cried Polly; “do, ma!”
“I want 'em for a plum-pudding sometime,” said Mrs. Pepper.
“Ow!—” and Joel with a howl sprung up from the floor where he had been trying to make a cart for “Baby” out of an old box, and joined Mrs. Pepper and Polly. “No, don't give 'em away, ma!” he screamed; “let's have our plum-pudding—now, Polly Pepper, you're a-goin' to bake up all our raisins in nasty little cakes—and—”
“Joey!” commanded Mrs. Pepper, “hush! what word did you say!”
“Well,” blubbered Joel, wiping his tears away with his grimy little hand, “Polly's—a-goin'—to give—”
“I should rather you'd never have a plum-pudding than to say such words,” said Mrs. Pepper, sternly, taking up her work again. “And besides, do you think what Jasper has done for you?” and her face grew very white around the lips.
“Well, he can have plum-puddings,” said Joel, whimpering, “forever an' ever, if he wants them—and—and—”
“Well, Joey,” said Polly, “there, don't feel bad,” and she put her arms around him, and tried to wipe away the tears that still rolled down his cheeks. “We won't give 'em if you don't want us to; but Jasper's sick, and there isn't anything for him to do, and—” here she whispered slyly up into his ear, “don't you remember how you liked folks to send you things when you had the measles?”
“Yes, I know,” said Joel, beginning to smile through his tears; “wasn't it fun, Polly?”
“I guess 'twas,” laughed Polly back again, pleased at the return of sunshine. “Well, Jasper'll be just as pleased as you were, 'cause we love him and want to do somethin' for him, he was so good to Phronsie.”
“I will, Polly, I will,” cried Joel, completely won over; “do let's make 'em for him; and put 'em in thick; oh! thick as you can;” and determined to do nothing by halves, Joel ran generously for the precious howl of raisins, and after setting it on the table, began to help Polly in all needful preparations.
Mrs. Pepper smiled away to herself to see happiness restored to the little group. And soon a pleasant hum and bustle went on around the baking table, the centre of attraction.
“Now,” said Phronsie, coming up to the table and standing on tip-toe to see Polly measure out the flour, “I'm a-goin' to bake something for my sick man, I am.”
“Oh, no, Phronsie, you can't,” began Polly.
“Hey?” asked Joel, with a daub of flour on the tip of his chubby nose, gained by too much peering into Polly's flour-bag. “What did she say, Polly?” watching her shake the clouds of flour in the sieve.
“She said she was goin' to bake something for Jasper,” said Polly. “There,” as she whisked in the flour, “now that's done.”
“No, I didn't say Jasper,” said Phronsie; “I didn't say Jasper,” she repeated, emphatically.
“Why, what did you say, Pet?” asked Polly, astonished, while little Davie repeated, “What did you say, Phronsie?”
“I said my sick man,” said Phronsie, shaking her yellow head; “poor sick man.”
“Who does she mean?” said Polly in despair, stopping a moment her violent stirring that threatened to overturn the whole cake-bowl.
“I guess she means Prince,” said Joel. “Can't I stir, Polly?”
“Oh, no,” said Polly; “only one person must stir cake.”
“Why?” asked Joel; “why, Polly?”
“Oh, I don't know,” said Polly, “cause 'tis so; never mind now, Joel. Do you mean Prince, Phronsie?”
“No, I don't mean Princey,” said the child decisively; “I mean my sick man.”
“It's Jasper's father, I guess she means,” said Mrs. Pepper over in the corner; “but what in the world!”
“Yes, yes,” cried Phronsie, perfectly delighted at being at last understood, and hopping on one toe; “my sick man.”
“I shall give up!” said Polly, tumbling over in a chair, with the cake spoon in her hand, from which a small sticky lump fell on her apron, which Joel immediately pounced upon and devoured. “What do you want to bake, Phronsie?” she gasped, holding the spoon sticking up straight, and staring at the child.
“A gingerbread boy,” said the child, promptly; “he'd like that best; poor, sick man!” and she commenced to climb up to active preparations.
A LETTER TO JASPER
“Mamsie, what shall we do?” implored Polly of her mother.
“I don't know,” said her mother; “however did that get into her head, do you suppose?”
“I am sure I can't tell,” said Polly, jumping up and beginning to stir briskly to make up for lost time. “P'r'aps she heard us talking about Jasper's having to take care of his sick father, and how hard it must be to be sick away from home.”
“Yes,” said Phronsie, “but he'll be glad to see my gingerbread boy, I guess; poor, sick man.”
“Oh, Phronsie,” cried Polly, in great distress, “you aren't ever going to make a 'gingerbread boy' to-day! see, we'll put in a cunning little cake for Mr. King—full of raisins, Phronsie; won't that be lovely!” and Polly began to fill a little scalloped tin with some of the cake mixture.
“N-no,” said the child, eying it suspiciously; “that isn't like a 'gingerbread boy,' Polly; he'll like that best.”
“Mamsie,” said Polly, “we can't let her make a dreadful, horrid 'gingerbread boy' to send Mr. King! he never'll let Jasper come here again.”
“Oh, let her,” cried Joel; “she can bake it, and Dave an' I'll eat it,” and he picked up a raisin that had fallen under the table and began crunching it with great gusto.
“That wouldn't be fair,” said Polly, gloomily. “Do get her off from it, mammy.”
“Phronsie,” said Mrs. Pepper, going up back of the child, who sat patiently in her high chair waiting for Polly to let her begin, “hadn't you rather wait and give your 'gingerbread boy' to Jasper for his father, when he comes?”
“Oh, no, no,” cried Phronsie, twisting in her chair in great apprehension, “I want to send it now, I do.”
“Well, Polly,” said her mother, laughing, “after all it's best, I think, to let her; it can't do any harm anyway—and instead of Mr. King's not letting Jasper come, if he's a sensible man that won't make any difference; and if he isn't, why, then there'd be sure to something come up sometime to make trouble.”
“Well,” said Polly, “I suppose she's got to; and perhaps,” as a consoling idea struck her, “perhaps she'll want to eat it up herself when it's done. Here, Phronsie,” giving her a handful of the cake mixture, which she stiffened with flour to the right thickness, “there, you can call that a 'gingerbread boy;' see, won't it make a beautiful one!”
“You needn't think,” said Mrs. Pepper, seeing Phronsie's delighted face, and laughing as she went back to her work, “but what that gingerbread boy'll go?”
When the little cakes were done, eight of them, and set upon the table for exhibition, they one and all protested that they never saw so fine a lot. Polly was delighted with the praise they received, and her mother's commendation that she was “growing a better cook every day.” “How glad Jasper'll be, won't he, mamsie?” said she.
The children walked around and around the table, admiring and pointing out the chief points of attraction, as they appeared before their discriminating eyes.
“I should choose that one,” said Joel, pointing at one which was particularly plummy, with a raisin standing up on one end with a festive air, as if to say, “there's lots of us inside, you better believe!”
“I wouldn't,” said Davie, “I'd have that—that's cracked so pretty.”
“So 'tis,” said Mrs. Pepper; “they're all as light as a feather, Polly.”
“But my 'gingerbread boy,” cried Phronsie, running eagerly along with a particularly ugly looking specimen of a cake figure in her hand, “is the be-yew-tifullest, isn't it, Polly?”
“Oh, dear,” groaned Polly, “it looks just awfully, don't it, Ben!”
“Hoh, hoh!” laughed Joel in derision; “his leg is crooked, see Phronsie—you better let Davie an' me have it.”
“No, no,” screamed the child in terror; “that's my sick man's 'gingerbread boy,' it is!”
“Joe, put it down,” said Ben. “Yes, Phronsie, you shall have it; there, it's all safe;” and he put it carefully into Phronsie's apron, when she breathed easier.
“And he hasn't but one eye,” still laughed Joel, while little Davie giggled too.
“He did have two,” said Polly, “but she punched the other in with her thumb; don't, boys,” she said, aside, “you'll make her feel bad; do stop laughing. Now, how'll we send the things?”
“Put 'em in a basket,” said Ben; “that's nicest.”
“But we haven't got any basket,” said Polly, “except the potato basket, and they'd be lost in that.”
“Can't we take your work-basket, mamsie?” asked Ben; “they'd look so nice in that.”
“Oh,” said Mrs. Pepper, “that wouldn't do; I couldn't spare it, and besides, it's all broken at the side, Ben; that don't look nice.”
“Oh, dear,” said Polly, sitting down on one of the hard wooden chairs to think, “I do wish we had things nice to send to sick people.” And her forehead puckered up in a little hard knot.
“We'll have to do 'em up in a paper, Polly,” said Ben; “there isn't any other way; they'll look nice in anything, 'cause they are nice,” he added, comfortingly.
“If we only had some flowers,” said Polly, “that would set 'em off.”
“You're always a-thinkin' of flowers, Polly,” said Ben. “I guess the cakes'll have to go without 'em.”
“I suppose they will,” said Polly, stifling a little sigh. “Where's the paper?”
“I've got a nice piece up-stairs,” said Ben, “just right; I'll get it.”
“Put my 'gingerbread boy' on top,” cried Phronsie, handing him up.
So Polly packed the little cakes neatly in two rows, and laid the 'gingerbread boy' in a fascinating attitude across the top.
“He looks as if he'd been struck by lightning!” said Ben, viewing him critically as he came in the door with the paper.
“Be still,” said Polly, trying not to laugh; “that's because he baked so funny; it made his feet stick out.”
“Children,” said Mrs. Pepper, “how'll Jasper know where the cakes come from?”
“Why, he'll know it's us,” said Polly, “of course; 'cause it'll make him think of the baking we're going to have when he gets well.”
“Well, but you don't say so,” said Mrs. Pepper, smiling; “tisn't polite to send it this way.”
“Whatever'll we do, mammy!” said all four children in dismay, while Phronsie simply stared. “Can't we send 'em at all?”
“Why yes,” said their mother; “I hope so, I'm sure, after you've got 'em baked; but you might answer Jasper's letter I should think, and tell him about 'em, and the 'gingerbread boy'.”
“Oh dear,” said Polly, ready to fly, “I couldn't mamsie; I never wrote a letter.”
“Well, you never had one before, did you?” said her mother, composedly biting her thread. “Never say you can't, Polly, 'cause you don't know what you can do till you've tried.”
“You write, Ben,” said Polly, imploringly.
“No,” said Ben, “I think the nicest way is for all to say somethin', then 'twon't be hard for any of us.”
“Where's the paper,” queried Polly, “coming from, I wonder!”
“Joel,” said Mrs. Pepper, “run to the bureau
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