You're listening to S.
D.
Hudson Magic What Katie Did by Susan Coolidge This story follows the adventures of a twelve-year-old American girl,
Katie Carr,
And her family who live in the fictional lakeside Ohio town of Burnett in the 1860s.
Chapter 7 continued.
Next morning the children got up very early.
They were so glad it was a vacation.
If it hadn't been,
They would have been forced to go to school without seeing cousin Helen,
For she didn't wake up until late.
They grew so impatient of the delay and went upstairs so often to listen at the door and see if she were moving,
That Aunt Izzy finally had to order them off.
Katie rebelled against this order a good deal,
But she consoled herself by going into the garden,
Picking the prettiest flowers she could find,
To give to cousin Helen the moment she should see her.
When Aunt Izzy let her go up,
Cousin Helen was lying on the sofa,
All dressed for the day in a fresh blue muslin with blue ribbons and culling bronze slippers with rosettes on the toes.
The sofa had been wheeled round with its back to the light.
There was a cushion with a pretty fluted cover that Katie had never seen before,
And several other things were scattered about,
Which gave the room quite a different air.
All the house was neat,
But somehow Aunt Izzy's rooms were never pretty.
Children's eyes are quick to perceive such things,
And Katie saw at once that the blue room had never looked like this.
Cousin Helen was quite white and tired,
But her eyes and smile were as bright as ever.
She was delighted with the flowers,
Which Katie presented rather shyly.
Oh,
How lovely,
She said.
I must put them in water right away.
Katie dear,
Don't you want to bring that little vase on the bureau and set it on this chair beside me?
And please pour a little water into it first.
What a beauty,
Cried Katie as she lifted the graceful white cup swung on a gilt stand.
Is it yours,
Cousin Helen?
Yes,
It's my pet vase.
It stands on a little table beside me at home,
Said cousin Helen,
And I fancied the water cure would seem more home-like if I had it with me there,
So I brought it along.
But why do you look so puzzled,
Katie?
Does it seem queer that a vase should travel about in a trunk?
No,
Said Katie slowly.
I was only thinking,
Is it worldly to have pretty things when you're sick?
Cousin Helen laughed heartily.
What put that idea into your head,
She asked.
Ceci said so when I told her about your beautiful nightgown.
Cousin Helen laughed again.
Well,
She said,
I'll tell you what I think,
Katie.
Pretty things are no more worldly than ugly ones,
Except when they spoil us by making us vain or careless of the comfort of other people.
And sickness is such a disagreeable thing in itself,
That unless sick people take great pains they soon grow to be the eyesores to themselves and everybody about them.
I don't think it's possible to be an invalid and be too particular.
And when one has backache and headache and all-over ache,
She added smiling,
There isn't much danger of growing vain because of a ruffle more or less on one's nightgown or a bit of bright ribbon.
Then she began to arrange the flowers,
Touching each separate one gently as if she loved it.
What a queer noise,
She exclaimed,
Suddenly stopping.
It was queer,
A sort of snuffling and snorting sound as if a walrus or a seahorse was promenading up and down the hall.
Katie opened the door.
Behold,
There were John and Dory,
Very red in the face from flattening their noses against the keyhole in a vain attempt to see if cousin Helen was up and ready to receive company.
Oh,
Let them come in,
Cried cousin Helen from her sofa.
So they came in,
Followed before long by Clover and Elsie.
Such a merry morning they had.
Cousin Helen proved to possess a perfect genius for storytelling and for suggesting games which could be played about her sofa and did not make more noise than she could bear.
Aunt Izzy,
Dropping in about 11 o'clock,
Found them having such a good time that almost before she knew it she was drawn into the game too.
Nobody had ever heard of such a thing before.
There sat Aunt Izzy on the floor with three long lamp lighters stuck in her hair,
Playing I'm a genteel lady,
Always genteel,
In the jolliest manner possible.
The children were so enchanted at the spectacle they could hardly attend to the game and were always forgetting how many horns they had.
Clover privately thought cousin Helen must be a witch and Papa,
When he came home at noon,
Said almost the same thing.
What have you been doing to them Helen?
He inquired as he opened the door and saw the merry circle on the carpet.
Aunt Izzy's hair was half pulled down and Philly was rolling over and over in convulsions of laughter.
But cousin Helen said she hadn't done anything and pretty soon Papa was on the floor too,
Playing away as fast as the rest.
I must put a stop to this,
He cried when everybody was tired of laughing and everybody's head was stuck as full of paper quills as a porcupine's back.
Cousin Helen will be worn out.
Now run away all of you and don't come back near the store again until the clock strikes four.
Do you hear chicks?
Run away,
Go on,
Shoo,
Shoo.
The children scuttled away like a brood of fowls,
All but Katie.
Papa I'll be so quiet,
She pleaded.
Might I just stay until the dinner bell rings?
Do let her,
Said cousin Helen.
So Papa said yes.
Katie sat on the floor holding cousin Helen's hand and listening to her talk with Papa.
It interested her,
Though it was about things and people she did not know.
How is Alex?
Asked Dr.
Carr at length.
Quite well now,
Replied cousin Helen with one of her brightest looks.
He was run down and tired in the spring and we were a little anxious about him.
But Emma persuaded him to take a fortnight's vacation and he came back alright.
Do you see them often?
Almost every day and little Helen comes every day,
You know,
For her lessons.
Is she as pretty as she used to be?
Oh yes,
Prettier I think.
She is a lovely little creature.
Having so much time with her is one of my greatest treats.
Alex tries to think she looks a little like I used to,
But that is compliment indeed.
I dare not appropriate it.
Dr.
Carr stooped and kissed cousin Helen as if he could not help it.
My dear child,
He said.
That was all,
But something in the tone made Katie curious.
Papa,
She said after dinner.
Who is Alex that you and cousin Helen were talking about?
Why,
Katie,
What makes you want to know?
I can't exactly tell.
Only cousin Helen looks so.
.
.
And you kissed her and I thought perhaps it was something interesting.
So it is,
Said Dr.
Carr drawing her onto his knee.
I don't mind to tell you about it,
Katie,
Because you're old enough to see how beautiful it is and wise enough,
I hope,
Not to chatter or ask questions.
Alex is the name of somebody who long ago,
Cousin Helen,
When she was well and strong,
Loved and expected to marry.
Oh,
Why didn't she then?
Cried Katie.
She met with a dreadful accident,
Continued Dr.
Carr.
For a long time they thought she would die.
Then she grew slowly better and the doctors told her she might live a good many years,
But that she would have to lie on her sofa always and be helpless and a cripple.
Alex felt dreadfully when he heard this.
He wanted to marry cousin Helen just the same and be her nurse and take care of her,
But she would not consent.
She broke the engagement and told him someday she hoped he would love somebody else well enough to get married to her.
So after a good many years he did and now he and his wife live next door to cousin Helen and are her dearest friends.
Their little girl is named Helen.
All their plans are talked over with her and there's nobody in the world they think so much of.
But doesn't it make cousin Helen feel bad when she sees them walking about and enjoying themselves and she can't move?
Asked Katie.
No,
Said Dr.
Carr,
It doesn't because cousin Helen is half an angel already and loves other people better than herself.
I'm very glad she could come here for once.
She's an example to us all Katie and I couldn't ask anything better than to have my little girls take after her.
It must be awful to be sick.
Silly loquaced Katie after Papa was gone.
Why if I had to stay in bed a whole week I should die.
I know I should.
Poor Katie.
It seemed to her as it does to almost all young people.
There is nothing in the world so easy as to die the moment things go wrong.
This conversation with Papa made cousin Helen doubly interesting in Katie's eyes.
It was just like something in a book.
To be in the same house with the heroine of a love story so sad and sweet.
The play that afternoon was much interrupted for every few minutes somebody had to run in and see if it wasn't four o'clock.
The instant the hour came all six children galloped upstairs.
I think we'll tell stories this time,
Said cousin Helen.
So they told stories.
Cousin Helen's were the best of all.
There was one of them about a robber which sent delightful chills creeping down their backs.
All but Philly.
He was so excited he grew warlike.
I ain't afraid of robbers,
He declared strutting up and down.
When they come I'll just cut them in two with my sword which Papa gave me.
They did come once.
I did cut them in two.
Three,
Five,
Eleven of them.
You'll see.
But that evening after the younger children were gone to bed and Katie and Clover were sitting in the blue room a lamentable howling was heard from the nursery.
Clover ran to see what was the matter.
Behold there was Phil sitting up in bed and crying for help.
There's robbers under the bed,
He sobbed.
There are so many robbers.
Why no Philly,
Said Clover peeping under the valance to satisfy him.
There isn't anybody there.
Yes there is I tell you,
Declared Phil holding her tight.
I heard one they were chewing my india rubbers.
Poor little fellow,
Said cousin Helen when Clover having pacified Phil came back to report.
It's a warning against robber stories but this one ended so well I didn't think of anybody's being frightened.
It was no use after this for aunt Izzy to make rules about going into the blue room.
She might as well have ordered flies to keep away from a sugar bowl.
By hook or by crook the children would get upstairs.
Whenever aunt Izzy went in she was sure to find them there just as close to cousin Helen as they could get.
And cousin Helen begged her not to interfere.
We've only three or four days to be together,
She said.
Let them come as much as they like.
It won't hurt me a bit.
When the last evening came and they went up after tea to the blue room,
Cousin Helen was opening a box which had just come by express.
It is a goodbye box,
She said.
All of you must sit down in a row and when I hide my hands behind me you must choose in turn which you will take.
So they all chose in turn.
Which hand will you have the right or the left,
Said cousin Helen with the air of a wise fairy.
Then she brought out from behind her pillow something pretty for each one.
First came a vase exactly like her own which Katie admired so much.
Oh how lovely,
How lovely,
Katie cried.
I'll keep it as long as I live and breathe.
Next came a pretty purple pocketbook for Clover.
It was just what she wanted for she'd lost hers.
Then a cunning little locket on a bit of velvet ribbon which cousin Helen tied around Elsie's neck.
There's a piece of my hair in it,
She said.
Why Elsie darling,
What's the matter?
Don't cry so.
Oh you're so beautiful and so sweet,
Sobbed Elsie,
And you're going away.
Dory had a box of dominoes and John a solitaire board.
For Phil there appeared a book,
The History of the Robber Cat.
That will remind you of the night when the thieves came and chewed your India rubbers,
Said cousin Helen with a mischievous smile.
Then they all laughed.
Phil loudest of all.
Nobody was forgotten.
There was a notebook for Papa and a set of ivory tablets for Aunt Izzy.
Even Ceci was remembered.
Her present was the Book of Golden Deeds with all sorts of stories about boys and girls who've done brave and good things.
Ceci was almost too pleased to speak.
Oh thank you cousin Helen,
She said at last,
Even though she wasn't a cousin.
But she and the car children were in the habit of sharing their aunts and uncles as they did their other good things.
Next day came the sad parting.
All the little ones stood at the gate to wave their pocket handkerchiefs as the carriage drove away.
When it was quite out of sight Katie rushed off to weep a little weep,
All by herself.
Papa said he wished we were all like cousin Helen.
She thought as she wiped her eyes.
And I mean to try,
Although I don't suppose if I tried a thousand years I should ever get to be half so good.
I'll study and keep my things in order and I'll be ever so kind to the little ones.
Dear me,
If only Aunt Izzy was cousin Helen,
How easy everything would be.
Never mind,
I'll think about her all the time.
And I'll begin tomorrow.
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