CHAPTER IX.
SOME LEAVES FROM A DIARY.
Generally keeping a diary is very much a matter of sentiment, but with Katie Ashley it was done only in fulfillment of a promise, and not at all from any desire to record either feelings or events. Mrs. Ashley had several daughters, all well educated, but all singularly averse to writing letters. They were dutiful enough in other ways, but it was very uncomfortable for their mother when she was separated from them to have no communication except through an occasional telegraphic dispatch. It was too late to make a reform with grown-up children, but Mrs. Ashley determined that Katie, her youngest child, should become so familiar with her pen that she would be free from the family failing; so she exacted the promise when she sent her to boarding-school that made daily entries in her elegantly bound diary the condition of receiving a larger allowance of pocket-money than had ever been given to her sisters.
The record was to be kept entirely private—sacred, Katie called it—and no one at home was ever to ask to see it or even to allude to it. But in the vacations, when Katie used to go off on little trips with her mother, she used to get very confidential at bed-time, and her talks about school usually ended in her getting the book out of her trunk, and the tiny silver key off her watch-chain, and unlocking the miniature padlock which secured the covers, and reading page after page aloud to her very appreciative hearer. Sometimes the details were very scant, sometimes they were quite full and interesting. It all depended on the writer’s mood at the time of writing. A few specimens will show the curious variations in this respect:
“September 18.
“Arrived here at school.
“September 19.
“Five new girls. One is a beauty, prettier than Lily; her name is Edna Tryon. Seems to feel pretty aristocratic—turns her nose up at almost every thing.
“September 20.
“I forgot to put down that one of the new girls looks like a chambermaid, and a very poor class of one, too. She don’t compare to our maids. Mrs. Abbott wants us to be good to her. There’s a long story about it, very interesting. Mem.—Tell mamma about it when I get home.
“September 21.
“The girls are horrid to Mary Ann Stubbs.
“September 22.
“Little Elfie is an angel. We all love her to death. I took a walk with her and her black mammy to-day.
“September 23.
“There’s a funny thing I never thought to put down before. When we got back to school we found the high iron front gate taken down and heavy wooden doors with a big bolt put in its place. Mrs. Abbott hasn’t told us why it was done, and Miss Blake only said that Mr. Bellamy had it done. It’s horrid; we are entirely shut in. The board fence has spikes on it, so we couldn’t climb up and look over if we wanted to. We used to be very fond of looking out of the iron gate. Edna says she thinks there is some mystery somewhere. She wont tell what she means, but she says an old man where they used to live put a high board wall around his place and then got married and made counterfeit money. That’s silly, for Mrs. Abbott hasn’t got any tools and machinery; besides, she would never do any thing wrong.
“September 23.
“Knew all my lessons. Lily missed in political economy.
“September 24.
“I missed in algebra—generally do.
“September 25.
“New French teacher came. Made us all laugh at prayers. When it was her turn to read a verse she read, ‘And He healed de six,’ instead of the sick.
“September 26.
“Mrs. Abbott went to New York to-day. She wont be back till to-morrow night.
“September 27.
“To-day Edna said to Lily and me, ‘Let’s slip out the back gate and go to the village. Miss Blake’s so near-sighted she wont see us.’ Lily was angry, and told Edna she insulted her by asking her to do such a thing when she knew Mrs. Abbott objected. After she had gone down-stairs Edna said, ‘Lily’s a born coward. She’d just love to go out that gate, but she’s so afraid she daresn’t. Now you’ve got more pluck, and I do like to see a girl who isn’t a ’fraid cat.’ After that I was afraid to refuse, so I guess I was a coward myself. We went up to the store, and Edna bought raisins and nuts, and I bought a pine-apple and some packages of lozenges. They don’t keep much of any thing nice at the store.
“September 28.
“Last evening Edna and I gave a party in her room after we went up to bed. We had nuts and raisins, and the pine-apple was cut into slices; but it was sour. Edna ran into the dining-room pantry and grabbed a cupful of salt. She thought it was sugar. Luckily she found it out before she had sprinkled much on the pine-apple. Edna said the party was great fun, but I didn’t have a very nice time. I kept thinking what if Miss Blake should come in and ask where we got the things.
“September 29.
“Some of us were in the front yard at recess and the gate-bell rang. Bertha said, ‘Come in the house, quick, before Johnny comes to answer the bell.’
“I started to go with the others, but Edna held on to me till Johnny came up and opened the gate. We heard him say:
“‘Mrs. Abbott is away, and I don’t think there’s any ribbons or things wanted to-day.’
“‘Good, it’s a peddler,’ said Edna. ‘Let him come in. I want some thread and some shoe-buttons.’
“We could see a man with a covered basket, and he seemed anxious to get in, for he pushed the gate open. I knew Mrs. Abbott wouldn’t like it, as she never would have peddlers about, but you can’t reason with Edna; she just made Johnny let him in. Edward never would have done it, but he has gone home because his mother’s sick, and this boy has taken his place a while.
“I am almost afraid the peddler was a burglar, for he looked around so searchingly and up to every window, and made an excuse to go a little farther in, so he could look into the arbor. I took a good look at him, because I thought if he was a burglar I might have to identify him before a lawyer or something; you never can tell what’s going to happen. He had light, curly hair and a dark, yellow skin, and a queer, hooked nose. He unpacked some ribbons and laces, looking around all the time as if he was hunting for something. I made up my mind that he was somebody that knew the kitchen girls and was trying to get a glimpse of one of them. After a while he held up a pale lavender sash-ribbon with a black edge, and said, ‘This would be beautiful for a young lady in mourning.’
“We were both in blue dresses, as he could see, and I laughed and said, ‘I guess we wont go into mourning for the sake of wearing that.’
“Then he asked in the most anxious way if there wasn’t any one in mourning in the school.
“‘Not one,’ said Edna, ‘except little Elfie, and she’s got more sashes than she can wear.’
“The man looked at her very sharply—I never saw a common person show so much curiosity—and said, ‘Perhaps if you could persuade the young lady in mourning to come and look at my things she would find something she liked. I have beautiful black and silver bracelets.’
“There was something horrid about the man, he seemed so familiar and so eager. I feel sure he is a burglar or something improper, and I think Edna thinks so too, though she wont own it. I was wishing with all my might that we could get rid of him, and then to my delight the dinner-bell rang and Johnny came running back, and sent him out and locked the gate.
“September 30.
“I kept expecting burglars all last night, but they didn’t come.
“October 1.
“I want to tell Mrs. Abbott about the peddler, he acted so queer; but Edna says I’m a fool to bring down a scolding and perhaps a punishment on myself and her too.
“October 2.
“I don’t believe I will keep intimate with Edna, she seems to do so many wrong kind of things. I am going to ask Miss Blake to let me sit on the other side of the study-table, so I won’t be next to her any more.
“October 3.
“Maybe I judged Edna too harshly. She came into my room to-day, and after she’d looked around a minute she exclaimed, in the most earnest way, ‘O, you dear, lovely Katie, if you could only know how I love you and how I admire you!’ Then she told me that from the very first she had thought I was the very nicest, smartest, and prettiest girl in the whole school. It seems silly to write down praises of myself, but it is perfectly sweet to have a girl think so much of you. I have made up my mind it would be unkind to change my seat and leave Edna; so I sha’n’t speak to Miss Blake about it.
“October 4.
“Knew my history, but missed in classic literature. I never do remember whether Juno was a man or a woman.”