My Young Days | Page 5

HOME, AND WHAT IT WAS LIKE.
Now, do you know, I feel rather ashamed of myself that I have not all
this while told you in the least who I was, or where I came from. I
began in the middle by saying, "I want to go home," but never told you
in the least where my home was, nor what it was.
Well, to tell you the truth, I did not know much about my family
history in those early days. I knew that my name was Mary Emily
Marshall, commonly called Sissy, and I knew that my papa was "the
gentleman that makes all the sick people well,"--"or tries to," Jane
would add. I never did. Of course, if my papa tried to do anything he
did it. That was my doctrine. We lived quite down in the country
among the poor people, and we were not rich ourselves. Mamma had
been born in this beautiful park, and I know now, though I did not then,
that it was a great trouble at the Park when she married the country
doctor, who loved the poor people so much that he would not leave
them to grow rich and honoured as a London physician. But there was
no grandpapa left now to be angry; and grandmamma, though we had
never seen her, we had always loved for the beautiful presents she sent
us.
There were only three of us at this time--my little self; Bobbie, a boy of
four years old, boasting of the fattest, rosiest cheeks in the world; and
wee Willie, the white-faced, fretful baby of six months. Oh, how well I
remember the old house, with its great lamp hanging out over the

lonely road, and shining among the trees, to show the villagers the way
up to their good, kind friend the doctor. Many were the blessings we
little ones used to get as we passed down the village street, and we
owed them all to our father's goodness.
Happy times we had of it, Bobbie and I, in that old house at the top of
the hill. I don't think any little brothers and sisters were ever quite such
good friends. There were three years between us, but I was little and he
was big, so nobody guessed it, and we played together, and never
thought which was the elder. The great treat of the day was the game
with papa in the evening, but that couldn't be counted upon. Very often
he would have to leave the dinner-table suddenly, and when we heard
his peculiar slam of the hall-door before the bell rang to summon us
down, we knew that we had lost our game, and we comforted ourselves
by telling each other that papa had gone to see some little sick child
like baby Willie, and to make him quite well; and then we would make
up our minds to a good quiet game by ourselves.
[Illustration: PAPA AND MAMMA.]
We used to take turns, he playing at doll with me one time, and I
playing at horses with him next time. How well I remember my hairless,
eyeless doll, and all the pleasure she gave us! And good-natured old
nurse was quite willing, whenever Willie was a little better than usual,
to work wonders with dolly's toilet. One week she would be a fine,
grand lady, to whom Bobby would act footman and I lady's-maid. Next
week, she was a soldier fighting grand battles, and lying dead on the
battle-field at last, with a patch of red paint on the forehead, and we
two singing dirges and songs of victory; and then, all of a sudden, the
soldier was turned into a baby, with long white clothes and the prettiest
of caps.
The day that grandmamma's letter came, asking for "one of the dear
children to stay with her," dolly was just learning to walk. We were
having our firelight play before tea. I had tied up my curls to look like a
grown woman's hair, and I had papa's umbrella to keep the rain off
dolly in her first walk. Bobbie had papa's hat and stick, and he held
Rosalinda's other hand. I was just telling him not to walk so fast,

because his long strides would tire our little girl, when I heard papa's
voice calling me.
In a minute more I was standing between his knees, and mamma was
watching my face as I tried to take in the idea of this first visit.
"Jane shall go with you, my darling--you will not be all alone," said
mamma; "indeed, you shall not go at all if you had rather not, but
grandmamma wants to have you."
And then papa added a great deal about seeing the place where mamma
lived