Dotty Dimple At Home

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  JOHNNY'S REVENGE. Page 163.]

  Title Page]

  _DOTTY DIMPLE STORIES._

  DOTTY DIMPLE AT HOME.

  BY SOPHIE MAY,

  AUTHOR OF "LITTLE PRUDY STORIES."

  Illustrated.

  BOSTON: LEE AND SHEPARD. 1870.

  Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by

  LEE AND SHEPARD,

  In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

  ELECTROTYPED AT THE BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, NO. 19 SPRING LANE.

  _TO_

  _FLORENCE BICKNELL._

  DOTTY DIMPLE STORIES.

  To be completed in six vols. Handsomely Illustrated.Each vol., 75 cts.

  1. _DOTTY DIMPLE AT HER GRANDMOTHER'S._ 2. _DOTTY DIMPLE AT HOME._ 3. _DOTTY DIMPLE OUT WEST._ 4. _DOTTY DIMPLE AT PLAY._ 5. _DOTTY DIMPLE AT SCHOOL._ 6. _DOTTY DIMPLE'S FLYAWAY._

  BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

  LITTLE PRUDY STORIES.

  Now complete. Six vols. 24mo. Handsomely Illustrated.In a neat box. Per vol., 75 cts. Comprising

  _LITTLE PRUDY._ _LITTLE PRUDY'S SISTER SUSIE._ _LITTLE PRUDY'S CAPTAIN HORACE._ _LITTLE PRUDY'S COUSIN GRACE._ _LITTLE PRUDY'S STORY BOOK._ _LITTLE PRUDY'S DOTTY DIMPLE._

  CONTENTS.

  CHAPTER PAGE

  I. THE LION AND THE LAMB. 7

  II. A SAD STORY. 25

  III. FIRE. 40

  IV. PLAYING HINDOO. 54

  V. RUNNING WILD. 68

  VI. HOW IT ENDED. 82

  VII. TELLING OF IT. 98

  VIII. MAMMA AND "LITTLE ME." 112

  IX. THE NEW HOME. 125

  X. A SURPRISE. 140

  XI. JOHNNY'S REVENGE. 155

  DOTTY DIMPLE AT HOME.

  CHAPTER I.

  THE LION AND THE LAMB.

  Dotty Dimple, after a night of pleasant sleep, greeted herself in themorning with a groan. It was as if she had said,--

  "O, dear! _you_ here again, Dotty? Why didn't you sleep longer?"

  Prudy noticed the cloud on her sister's face in a moment; she saw shehad "waked up wrong."

  Now I have never told you how peculiarly trying it was to live withDotty Dimple. She seemed to have, at the same time, the nature of a lionand a lamb. When the lion raged, then her eyes blazed, and she lookedas if she belonged in a menagerie; but when nothing occurred to rouseher wild temper, she was as gentle and tender as a little lamb friskingby its mother's side on a summer's day.

  Indeed, if I were to describe the loveliness of her manners, and thesweetness of her face, I ought to dip my pen in liquid sunshine;whereas, the blackest of ink would not be at all too dark to draw herpicture when she was out of temper.

  In her earliest childhood it had been worse than it was now. Then shehad not tried in the least to control herself, and the lion had had hisown way. After one of her wild outbursts, she would follow her motherabout the house, saying, in a soft, pleading voice,--

  "Say, mamma, is I your little comfort?"

  Before answering Dotty, the poor mother had to call to mind all the goodthings the child had ever said or done, and fancy how dreadful it wouldbe to lose her. Then she would reply,--

  "Yes, Dotty, you are mamma's dear little girl; but mamma doesn't likeyour naughty, naughty ways."

  This failed to satisfy Miss Dimple. She would cry out again, inheart-broken tones,--

  "Is I your little comfort, mamma? _Is_ I?"

  So, sooner or later, Mrs. Parlin was obliged, for the sake of peace, tokiss the child, and answer, "Yes." Then, perhaps, for twenty-four hoursthe lion would be curled up, asleep, and out of sight in his den, andthe lamb would be playfully frisking about the house, a pet foreverybody.

  But often and often, when Susy and Prudy came in from school or play,they found their baby sister in disgrace, perched upon the wood-box inthe kitchen, with feet and hands firmly tied. There she would sit,throwing out the loudest noise possible from her little throat. It wasthe young lion again, roaring in his cage.

  Prudy, though her heart swelled with pity, dared not say,--

  "Don't scream so, little sister! Please don't pound so with your feet!"

  For when the lion fits were on, it was always safest to let the unhappychild alone. Prudy, who had no more temper than a humming-bird, andSusy, who was only moderately fretful once in a while, were made veryunhappy by Dotty's dreadful behavior. At such times as I describe, theyeven looked guilty, and cast down their eyes, for they could not helpfeeling their sister's conduct as a family disgrace. They never spoke toany one about it, and bore all her freaks with wonderful patience. Whenthe little one plucked at their hair or ears, they said, pitifully,--

  "It's worse for her than it is for us. It makes her throat _so_ sore toscream so."

  They were especially careful never to provoke her to wrath. Perhaps, forthe sake of peace, they yielded to her too much. If there was anythingDotty dearly loved, it was her own way; and the thing she most heartilydespised was "giving up."

  At the time of which we now write she was no longer a mere baby, and her"reasons," as Prudy had said, were "beginning to grow." She was neverplaced on the wood-box now, with hands and feet tied; and as forpulling hair, she was ashamed of the practice.

  On this particular morning she had "waked up wrong." You all know whatthat means. Perhaps her dream stopped in the most interesting place, orperhaps some of the wonderful machinery of her body was out of order,and caused a twitching of the delicate nerves which lie under the skin.At any rate, when the cloudy sun peeped through the white curtains ofDotty's pleasant chamber, he found that little lady out of sorts.

  "There, now, how long have you been awake, Prudy? Why didn't you speak?"

  "O, it isn't anywhere near breakfast time, Dotty; Norah hasn't groundthe coffee yet."

  "Then I should think she might! She knows I'm hungry, and that makes herbe as slow as a board nail!--I'll tell you what I wish, Prudy. I wishthe whole world was a 'normous cling-stone peach, so I could keep eatingfor always, and never come to the stone."

  "I don't know," replied Prudy, pleasantly. "I believe I'd rather have ita Bartlett pear--dead ripe."

  "H'm! You may have your old _Bartnot_ pears, Prudy Parlin; nobody wants'em but just you! The next sweet, juicy peach that comes into this houseI'll eat it myself, 'cause you don't like peaches; you just said youdidn't!"

  Prudy was considerate enough to make no reply. By living with Dotty, shehad learned many lessons in "holding her peace."

  "Perhaps we'd better get up," suggested she, rubbing her eyes.

  Whereupon Dotty pursed her little red lips.

  "Let's play keep house," answered she, for the sake of beingcross-grained.

  "Well, I don't care much," said Prudy, anxious to keep the peace.

  They proceeded to make a tent of the upper sheet, and converse upon thetrials of this troublesome life, as Mr. and Mrs. Carter, the two headsof a family.

  "There's our Sammy," said Prudy, dolefully, "our poor Sammy. I don'tsee, Mrs. Carter, what we shall do with that boy. Within a day or two hehas taken to stealing acorns!"

  "Acorns!" responded Dotty, in a tragic tone. "O, Mr. Carter, I _sejest_the best thing we can do is to stand him up in the sink, and pump wateron him!"

  "I never thought of that, my dear wife! You are prob'blycor
rect!--prob'bly correct.--But what course _shall_ we pursue with MaryAnn, and Julia Ann, and Anna Maria? They all bite their fingernails--bite 'em down to the double-quick."

  "I would sejest, sejest--why don't you give those children some_proxitude_ of iron, my dear--through a knitting-needle? Hark!"continued she, as Prudy scratched the top of the tent with herforefinger. "There's a mouse in this house, Mr. Carter: you must set atrap as quick as you can spring!"

  "Very correct," replied the obedient husband, "very correct, Mrs.Carter. I'll call Jerusha to toast some cheese. Je-ru-_shay_!"

  "What do you mean by Jerusha, Mr. Carter? We haven't any in the house."

  "O, she is our chambermaid, my dear."

  "But I won't '_low_ her to be Jerusher, Mr. Carter!"

  "But, my dear wife, Jerusha is a proper name; it belongs to her."

  "No, it isn't a proper name either; it's a very _improper_ name, PrudyParlin; and if you call her Jerusher so, I'll get us both _dis-vosed_!"

  Prudy saw it was useless to continue the game: Dotty was not in a moodto be satisfied. The two children arose and dressed themselves, Prudytaking peculiar care not to finish her own toilet first.

  "I'm going to tell you something," said Dotty, grimly, "but you mustn'ttell mamma. I've made up my mind to be naughty!"

  "To be naughty?"

  "Yes, that's what I said--naughty! I'm tired all out o' bein' good!First thing I thought was, I'd be bad all day. I want to fret, and I'mgoing to fret!"

  "O, Do-otty! Dotty Di-imple!"

  "You needn't say anything, Prudy Parlin. You can talk as grand as awhale. But if I want to go and be naughty, _you_ can't help yourself!"

  Prudy's face took on a look of real distress. What this little queermixture of a girl might do, if she really chose to be naughty, it wasnot pleasant to fancy.

  The two went down stairs together. As they entered the cheerfuldining-room, the joyous sun burst into a round smile, as if he hadthrown off his yesterday's vapors, and never meant to be low-spiritedagain. But Dotty looked foggier than ever.

  It was a delightful room. The wallpaper was the color of rich cream;the pictures were beautiful; the table, with its snowy cloth and whitedishes, was pleasant to the eye; still, it was not so much the objectsto be seen as it was the "air" of the room which made it seem sodelightful. You knew at once, as you looked at the people who gatheredaround the table that morning, that they all loved one another; andfamily love makes any house seem like home.

  Grandma Read was there in her plain Quaker cap, with the nicely-starchedkerchief crossed upon her bosom; Mr. Parlin in his drab dressing-gown,lined with crimson; Mrs. Parlin in a print wrapper, with a linen collarat the throat, her hair as smooth as satin; the three little girls allneatly dressed, and all happy but Dotty. Susy's mocking-bird hung in acage by one of the windows, and "brother Zip" was lounging in anarm-chair, catching flies.

  After everybody was comfortably seated, and had said "Good morning,"then a "silent blessing," according to the custom of the Friends, wasasked upon the food. All sat with folded hands, and eyes reverentlyfixed upon their plates. Dotty knew very well they were asking to bemade thankful for the excellent breakfast before them. She repeated toherself several times the sentence she had been taught; for, in spite ofher intention to be naughty, she dared not omit it. When Mr. Parlinbegan to pass the butter, she was still looking at her plate, andstartled the whole family by saying aloud, "Amen!"

  Grandma looked at the little girl with surprise and disapproval. Dottyblushed painfully. She had not meant to be irreverent. Next moment shethought,--

  "Now they all s'pose I did that _to purpose_! I don't care if they do!I'll act worse'n that! I wonder what my father'd say if I should jumpright up and down, and scream?"

  It certainly was not safe to try the experiment. Dotty contented herselfby scowling at her dry toast.

  But after her father had gone away to his business, and her mother hadbegun to make preserves in the kitchen, she went down cellar, into thewash-room, and began to tease Norah. Norah, who was fond of the child,and in general very good-natured, was not in a mood this morning to betrifled with.

  "Indeed, Miss Flippet," said she, indignantly, "I shall put up with nomore of your pranks! It's not your sister Prudy who would go to hidin'my soap, and me in a hurry!"

  "She likes Prudy best. I always knew she did, and everybody else,"thought Dotty, wrathfully,--"everybody else but me!"

  And the temper which had been smouldering all the morning blazed uphotly.

  "Call me Miss Flippet again, if you dare!" cried she, with battle-firesin her eyes. "What you s'pose the mayor'll do to you, miss? He'll putyou in the lockup--yes, he will!"

  At this foolish speech Norah's mouth assumed a mocking smile, whichadded live coals to Dotty's wrath.

  "You mizzable Cath'lic girl! You--you--you--"

  Words were choked in the smoke and flame of her anger. I mean to saythat dreadful "lion," which had not come out in his full strength foryears, suddenly sprang up, and shook his mane. Dotty could not speak.She lost her reason. Her head was on fire. Her hands and feet began tofly out. She danced up and down. Her terrific screams brought her motherdown in haste, to see what was the matter. Dotty's face was crimson; hereyes shining fiercely; her voice hoarse from screaming.

  "Indeed, ma'am," said Norah, really alarmed, "I've no means of knowingwhat's put her in such a way, ma'am."

  "She called me everything!" cried Dotty, getting her voice again. "I wasMiss Flippet! I was all the wicked girls in this town!"

  Norah looked a little mortified. She knew her mistress was very"particular," and did not allow any one in her house to "call names."But just now Mrs. Parlin had no time to give Norah a mild reproof, herwhole attention being devoted to the half-insane Dotty, whose mostunusual exhibition of temper filled her with dreadful apprehensions.

  "Alas," thought the good mother, "is this child going to live over againthose dreadful days of her babyhood? The Lord give me wisdom to knowwhat to do with her!"

  Mrs. Parlin soon succeeded in quieting the turbulent Dotty; and deepsilence fell upon the wash-room.

  "My dear little girl," said she, very gently, "I desire you to spend therest of the morning alone. You need not talk or play with either of yoursisters. You may _think_. When the bell rings you may come to dinner;and after dinner I would like to see you in the nursery."

  In half an hour Dotty had such a look of heartache in her face thatPrudy longed to comfort her, only speech was forbidden. The littlecreature was out in the front yard, poking dirt with a stick, andsecretly wondering if she could make a hole deep enough to lie down inand die.