Prudence of the Parsonage | Page 6

daughter," said Mrs.
Adams suggestively.
"Yes,--for some ministers' daughters," assented Prudence. "But is sadly
unsuitable for me. You see, father and mother were very enthusiastic
about the first baby who hadn't arrived. They had two names all picked
out months ahead,--Prudence and John Wesley. That's how I happen to
be Prudence. They thought, as you do, that it was an uplifting name for
a parsonage baby.--I was only three years old when Fairy was born, but
already they realized that they had made a great mistake. So they
decided to christen baby number two more appropriately. They chose
Frank and Fairy,--both light-hearted, happy, cheerful names.--It's
Fairy," Prudence smiled reflectively. "But things went badly again.
They were very unlucky with their babies. Fairy is Prudence by nature,
and I am Fairy. She is tall and a little inclined to be fat. She is steady,
and industrious, and reliable, and sensible, and clever. In fact, she is an
all-round solid and worthwhile girl. She can do anything, and do it right,
and is going to be a college professor. It is a sad thing to think of a
college professor being called Fairy all her life, isn't it? Especially
when she is so dignified and grand. But one simply can't tell
beforehand what to expect, can one?
"Father and mother were quite discouraged by that time. They hardly
knew what to do. But anyhow they were sure the next would be a boy.
Every one predicted a boy, and so they chose a good old Methodist
name,--Charles. They hated to give it John Wesley, for they had sort of
dedicated that to me, you know,--only I happened to be Prudence. But
Charles was second-best. And they were very happy about it, and--it
was twin girls! It was quite a blow, I guess. But they rallied swiftly,
and called them Carol and Lark. Such nice musical names! Father and
mother were both good singers, and mother a splendid pianist. And
Fairy and I showed musical symptoms early in life, so they thought

they couldn't be far wrong that time. It was a bitter mistake. It seemed
to turn the twins against music right from the start. Carol can carry a
tune if there's a strong voice beside her, but Lark can hardly tell the
difference between Star Spangled Banner and Rock of Ages.
"The neighbors were kind of amused by then, and mother was very
sensitive about it. So the next time she determined to get ahead of Fate.
'No more nonsense, now,' said mother. 'It's almost certain to be a boy,
and we'll call him William after father,--and Billy for short.' We all
liked the name Billy, mother especially. But she couldn't call father
anything but William,--we being parsonage people, you know. But she
kept looking forward to little Billy,--and then they changed it in a hurry
to Constance. And after that, father and mother gave the whole thing up
as a bad job. There aren't any more of us. Connie settled the baby
business in our family."
Mrs. Adams wiped her eyes, and leaned weakly back in her chair,
gasping for breath. "Well, I swan!" was all she could say at that
moment.
While giving herself time to recover her mental poise she looked
critically at this young daughter of the parsonage. Then her eyes
wandered down to her clothes, and lingered, in silent questioning, on
Prudence's dress. It was a very peculiar color. In fact, it was no color at
all,--no named color. Prudence's eyes had followed Mrs. Adams' glance,
and she spoke frankly.
"I suppose you're wondering if this dress is any color! Well, I think it
really is, but it isn't any of the regular shades. It is my own invention,
but I've never named it. We couldn't think of anything appropriate.
Carol suggested 'Prudence Shade,' but I couldn't bring myself to accept
that. Of course, Mrs. Adams, you understand how parsonage people do
with clothes,--handing them down from generation unto generation.
Well, I didn't mind it at first,--when I was the biggest. But all of a
sudden Fairy grew up and out and around, and one day when I was so
nearly out of clothes I hardly felt that I could attend church any more,
she suggested that I cut an old one of hers down for me! At first I
laughed, and then I was insulted. Fairy is three years younger than I,

and before then she had got my handed-downs. But now the tables were
turned. From that time on, whenever anything happened to Fairy's
clothes so a gore had to be cut out, or the bottom taken off,--they were
cut down for me. I still feel bitter about it. Fairy is dark, and dark blues
are becoming to her. She handed down this dress,--it was dark