What Katy Did Part 11: Bedtime Story

Hello, beloveds.

This is my reading of part eleven of What Katy Did, by Susan Coolidge. I loved reading this, so I hope you enjoy listening, dear ones.

This is a delightful story following the adventures of a twelve-year-old girl, Katy Carr, and her family who live in the fictional lakeside Ohio town of Burnet in the 1860s. Katy is a tall, untidy tomboy, forever getting into scrapes but wishing to be beautiful and beloved. Our story follows the adventures of Katy as she learns some very important life lessons.

Have a beautiful day.

Transcript

Hello,

Dear ones,

And welcome to today's reading.

What Katie Did Chapter Eleven It was a long time before the children ceased to talk and laugh over that jolly evening.

Dory declared he wished there could be a Valentine's Day every week.

Don't you think St.

Valentine would be tired of writing verses?

Asked Katie.

But she,

Too,

Had enjoyed the frolic,

And the bright recollection helped her along through the rest of the long,

Cold winter.

Spring opened late that year,

But the summer,

When it came,

Was a warm one.

Katie felt the heat very much.

She could not change her seat and follow the breeze about,

From window to window,

As other people could.

The long,

Burning days left her weak and parched.

She hung her head and seemed to wilt like the flowers in the garden beds.

Indeed,

She was worse off than they,

For every evening,

Alexander gave them a watering with a hose,

While nobody was able to bring a watering pot and pour out what she needed,

A shower of cold,

Fresh air.

It wasn't easy to be good-humoured under these circumstances,

And one could hardly have blamed Katie if she had sometimes forgotten her resolutions and been cross and fretful.

But she didn't,

Not very often.

Now and then bad days came,

When she was discouraged and forlorn.

But Katie's long year of schooling had taught her self-control,

And,

As a general thing,

Her discomforts were born patiently.

She could not help growing pale and thin,

However,

And Papa saw with concern that as the summer went on,

She became too languid to read or study or sew,

And just sat,

Hour after hour,

With folded hands,

Gazing wistfully out of the window.

He tried the experiment of taking her to drive,

But the motion of the carriage and the being lifted in and out brought on so much pain that Katie begged that he would not ask her again to go.

So there was nothing to be done but wait for cooler weather.

The summer dragged on,

And all who loved Katie rejoiced when it was over.

When September came,

With cool mornings and nights and fresh breezes,

Smelling of pine woods and hilltops,

All things seemed to revive,

And Katie with them.

She began to crochet and to read.

After a while she collected her books again and tried to study as Cousin Helen had advised,

But so many idle weeks made it seem harder work than ever.

One day she asked Papa to let her take French lessons.

You see,

I'm forgetting all I knew,

She said,

And Clover is going to begin this term,

And I don't like that she should get so far ahead of me.

Don't you think Mr.

Burger would be willing to come here,

Papa?

He does go to houses sometimes.

I think he would if we asked him,

Said Dr.

Carr,

Pleased to see Katie waking up with something like life again.

So the arrangement was made.

Mr.

Burger came twice every week and sat beside the big chair,

Correcting Katie's exercises and practicing her in the verbs and pronunciation.

He was a lively little old Frenchman and knew how to make lesson time pleasant.

This second winter was harder than the first.

It is often so with sick people.

There is a sort of excitement in being ill,

Which helps along just at the beginning,

But as months go on and everything grows an old story and one day follows another day,

All just alike and all tiresome,

Courage is apt to flag and spirit to grow dull.

Spring seems a long,

Long way off,

Whenever Katie thought about it.

Oh,

I wish something would happen,

She often said to herself,

And something was about to happen,

But she little guessed what it was going to be.

Katie,

Said Clover,

Coming in one day in November,

Do you know where the campfire is?

Aunt Izzy has got such a headache.

No,

I don't.

Oh,

Wait,

Clover,

It seems to me that Debbie came for it the other day.

Perhaps if you look in her room you'll find it.

How very strange,

She said,

When Clover was gone.

I never knew Aunt Izzy to have a headache before.

How is Aunt Izzy?

She asked when Papa came in at noon.

I don't know.

She has some fever and a bad pain in her head.

I've told her she had better lie still and not try to get up this evening.

Old Mary will come in to undress you,

Katie.

You won't mind,

Will you,

Dear?

No,

Said Katie,

But she did mind.

Aunt Izzy had grown used to her and her ways.

Nobody else suited her so well.

It seems so strange to have to explain just how every little thing is to be done,

She remarked to Clover,

Rather petulantly.

It seemed stranger yet when the next day,

And the next,

And the next after that,

And still no Aunt Izzy came near her.

Blessings brighten as they take their flight.

Katie began to appreciate for the first time how much she had learned to rely on her aunt.

She missed her dreadfully.

When is Aunt Izzy going to get well?

She asked her father.

I want her so much.

We all want her,

Said Dr.

Carr,

Who looked very disturbed.

Is she very sick,

Papa,

Asked Katie,

Struck by the expression on his face.

Pretty sick,

I'm afraid,

He replied.

I'm going to get a regular nurse to take care of her.

Aunt Izzy's attack proved to be typhoid fever.

The doctor said that the house must be kept quiet,

So John and Dory and Phil were sent over to Mrs.

Hall's to stay.

Elsie and Clover were to have gone too,

But they begged so hard and made so many promises of good behavior that finally Papa permitted them to remain.

The dear little things stole about the house on tiptoe as quietly as mice,

Whispering to each other and waiting on Katie,

Who would have been lonely enough without them,

For everybody else was absorbed in Aunt Izzy.

It was a confused,

Melancholy time.

The three girls didn't know much about sickness,

But Papa's grave face weighed upon their spirits and they missed the children very much.

Oh dear,

Sighed Elsie,

How I wish Aunt Izzy would hurry up and get well.

We'll be so good to her when she does,

Won't we,

Said Clover.

I never mean to leave my rubbers in the hat stand anymore because she don't like to have me,

And I shall pick up the croquet balls and put them in the box every night.

Yes,

Added Elsie,

So will I when she gets well.

It never occurred to either of them that perhaps Aunt Izzy might not get well.

Little people are apt to feel as if grown folks are so strong and so big that nothing can possibly happen to them.

Katie was more anxious.

Still,

She did not fairly realise the danger,

So it came like a sudden and violent shock to her when,

One morning on waking up,

She found old Mary crying quietly beside the bed,

With her apron at her hands.

Aunt Izzy had died in the night.

All their kind,

Penitent thoughts of her,

Their resolutions to please,

Their plans for obeying her wishes and saving her trouble,

Were too late.

For the first time,

The three girls,

Sobbing in each other's arms,

Realised just what a good friend Aunt Izzy had been to them.

Her worrying ways were all forgotten now.

They could only remember the many kind things she had done for them since they were little children.

How they wished they had never teased her,

Never said sharp words about her to each other.

But it was no use to wish.

What shall we do without Aunt Izzy?

Thought Katie,

As she cried herself to sleep that night.

And the question came into her mind again and again,

After the funeral was over and the little ones had come back from Mrs Hall's and things began to go on in their usual manner.

For several days she saw almost nothing of her father.

Clover reported that he looked very tired and scarcely said a word.

Did Papa eat any dinner?

Asked Katie,

One afternoon.

Not much.

He said he wasn't hungry and Mrs Jackson's boy came in for him before we were through.

Oh dear,

Sighed Katie.

I do hope he isn't going to be sick.

Oh how it rains!

Clovey overshoed run down and get out his slippers and put them by the fire to warm.

Oh,

And asked Debbie to make some cream toast for tea.

Papa likes cream toast.

After tea,

Dr Carr came upstairs to sit a while in Katie's room.

He often did so,

But this was the first time since Aunt Izzy's death.

Katie studied his face anxiously.

It seemed to her that it had grown older of late and there was a sad look upon it which made her heart ache.

She longed to do something for him,

But all she could do was to poke the fire bright and then to possess herself of his hand and stroke it gently with both hers.

It wasn't much,

To be sure,

But I think Papa liked it.

What have you been about all day?

He asked.

Oh nothing much,

Said Katie.

I studied my French lesson this morning and after school Elsie and John brought in their patchwork and we had a bee.

That's all.

I've been thinking how we are going to manage about the housekeeping,

Said Dr Carr.

Of course,

We shall have to get somebody to come and take charge,

But it isn't easy to find just the right person.

Mrs Hall knows of a woman who might do it,

But she is out west and it will be a week or two before we can hear from her.

Do you think you can get on as you are for a few days,

Katie?

Oh Papa,

Cried Katie in dismay,

Must we have anybody?

Why,

How do you suppose we are going to arrange it?

Clover is much too young for a housekeeper and besides she is at school all day.

I don't know,

I hadn't thought about it,

Said Katie in a perplexed tone,

But she did think about it.

All that evening and the first thing when she awoke in the morning.

Papa,

She said,

The next time she got him to herself.

I've been thinking over what you were saying last night,

About getting somebody to keep the house and I wish you wouldn't.

I wish you would let me try.

Really and truly I think I could manage.

But how,

Asked Dr Carr.

Much surprised.

I really don't see Katie.

If you were well and strong perhaps,

But even then you would be pretty young for such a charge,

Katie.

I shall be 14 in two weeks,

Said Katie,

Drawing herself up in her chair as straight as she could.

And if I were well,

Papa,

I should be going to school,

You know,

And then of course I couldn't.

No,

I'll tell you my plan.

I've been thinking about it all day.

Debbie and Bridget have been with us so long that they know all Aunt Izzy's ways and they're such good women that all they want is to just be told a little now and then that they're good.

Now why couldn't they come up to me when anything is wanted,

Just as well as to have me go down to them.

Clover and old Mary will keep watch and see if anything is wrong.

You wouldn't mind if things were a little crooked just at first,

Would you?

Because you know I should be learning all the time.

Oh,

Do let me try,

Papa.

It will be real nice to have something to think about as I sit up here alone.

So much better than having a stranger in the house who doesn't know the children or anything.

I'm sure it will make me happier.

Oh,

Please say yes,

Papa.

Please do.

It's too much for you.

A great deal too much,

Katie.

But it was not easy to resist Katie's pleas and after a while it ended with,

Well,

Darling,

You may try,

Though I am doubtful as to the result of the experiment.

I will tell Mrs.

Hall to put off writing to Wisconsin for a month and we will see.

Poor child,

Anything to take her thoughts off herself,

He muttered as he walked downstairs.

She'll be glad enough to give the thing up by the end of a month.

But Papa was mistaken.

At the end of a month,

Katie was eager to go on.

So he said,

Very well,

She might try it until spring.

It was not such hard work as it sounds.

Katie had plenty of quiet thinking time for one thing.

The children were at school all day and few visitors came to interrupt her so she could plan out her hours and keep to the plans.

Aunt Izzy's regular,

Punctual ways were so well understood by the servants that the house seemed almost to keep itself.

As Katie had said,

All Debbie and Bridget needed was a little telling now and then.

As soon as breakfast was over and the dishes were washed and put away,

Debbie would tie on a clean apron and come upstairs for orders.

At first,

Katie thought this great fun,

But after ordering dinner a good many times,

It began to grow tiresome.

She never saw the dishes after they were cooked and being inexperienced,

It seemed impossible to think of things enough to make a variety.

Let me see,

There is roast beef,

Leg of mutton,

Boiled chicken,

She would say,

Counting on her fingers.

Roast beef,

Leg of mutton,

Boiled chicken.

Debbie,

You might roast the chicken.

Dear,

I wish somebody would invent a new animal.

Katie would send for every recipe book in the hour till her appetite was as completely gone as if she'd swallowed twenty dinners.

Poor Debbie learned to dread these books.

She would stand by the door with her pleasant red face drawn up into a pucker while Katie read aloud some impossible-sounding rule.

This looks as if it were delicious,

Debbie.

I wish you'd try it.

Take a gallon of oysters,

A pint of beef stock,

Sixteen soda crackers,

The juice of two lemons,

Four cloves,

A glass of white wine,

A sprig of thyme,

A sprig of bay,

A sliced shallot.

Please,

Miss Katie,

What's them?

Oh,

Don't you know,

Debbie,

It must be something quite common,

For it's in almost all of the recipes.

No,

Miss Katie,

I never heard tell of it before.

Miss Carr never gave me no shell out at all.

Dear me,

How provoking,

Katie would cry,

Slapping over the leaves of her book.

Then we must try something else.

Poor Debbie,

If she hadn't loved Katie so dearly,

I think her patience might have given way.

But she bore her trials meekly,

Except for an occasional grumble when alone with Bridget.

Dr Carr had to eat a great many strange things in those days,

But he didn't mind,

And as for the children,

They enjoyed it.

Dinner time became quite exciting,

When nobody could tell exactly what any dish on the table was made of.

Dory,

Who was a sort of Dr Livingstone,

Where strange articles of food were concerned,

Usually made the first experiment,

And if he said that it was good,

The rest followed suit.

After a while,

Katie grew wiser.

She ceased teasing Debbie to try new things,

And the Carr family went back to plain roast and boiled,

Much to the advantage of all concerned.

But then another series of experiments began.

Katie got hold of a bug upon the stomach,

And was seized with a rage for wholesome food.

She entreated Clover and the other children to give up sugar and butter and gravy and pudding sauce and buckwheat cakes and pies and almost everything else that they liked.

Boiled rice seemed to her the most sensible dessert,

And she kept the family on it until finally John and Dory started a rebellion,

And Dr Carr was forced to interfere.

My dear,

You're overdoing it,

He said,

As Katie opened her book and prepared to explain her views.

I am glad to have the children eat simple food,

But really,

Katie,

Boiled rice five times in a week is too much.

Katie sighed,

But submitted.

Later,

As the spring came on,

She had a fit of over-anxiousness,

And was always sending Clover down to ask Debbie if her bread was not burning,

Or if she was sure that the pickles were not fermenting in the jars.

She also fidgeted the children about,

Wearing India rubbers and keeping on their coats,

And behaved altogether as if the cares of the world were on her shoulders.

But all these were but the natural mistakes of a beginner.

Katie was too much in earnest not to improve.

Month by month,

She learned how to manage a little better,

And a little better still.

Matters went on more smoothly.

Her cares ceased to fret her.

Dr Carr,

Watching the increasing brightness of her face and manner,

Felt that the experiment was a success.

Nothing more was said about somebody else,

And Katie,

Sitting upstairs in her big chair,

Held the threads of the house firmly in her hands.

Reviews

Thank you, just like a child I do enjoy the story and your wonderful reading .🦮💝