The Garies and Their Friends | Page 9

affectionate disposition, and
was generally at peace with all the world, his sister Caddy excepted.
Caroline had recovered her breath, and her mind being soothed by the
judgment that had been pronounced on Master Charlie, she began to
bustle about to prepare tea.
The shining copper tea-kettle was brought from the stove where it had
been seething and singing for the last half-hour; then the tea-pot of
china received its customary quantity of tea, which was set upon the
stove to brew, and carefully placed behind the stove pipe that no
accidental touch of the elbow might bring it to destruction. Plates,
knives, and teacups came rattling forth from the closet; the butter was
brought from the place where it had been placed to keep it cool, and a
corn-cake was soon smoking on the table, and sending up its seducing
odour into the room over-head to which Charlie had been recently
banished, causing to that unfortunate young gentleman great physical
discomfort.
"Now, mother," said the bustling Caddy, "it's all ready. Come now and
sit down whilst the cake is hot--do put up the sewing, Esther, and
come!"
Neither Esther nor her mother needed much pressing, and they were
accordingly soon seated round the table on which their repast was
spread.
"Put away a slice of this cake for father," said Mrs. Ellis, "for he won't
be home until late; he is obliged to attend a vestry meeting to-night."
Mrs. Ellis sat for some time sipping the fragrant and refreshing tea.
When the contents of two or three cups one after another had
disappeared, and sundry slices of corn-bread had been deposited where
much corn-bread had been deposited before, she began to think about
Charlie, and to imagine that perhaps she had been rather hasty in
sending him to bed without his supper.
"What had Charlie to-day in his dinner-basket to take to school with
him?" she inquired of Caddy.
"Why, mother, I put in enough for a wolf; three or four slices of bread,
with as many more of corn-beef, some cheese, one of those little pies,

and all that bread-pudding which was left at dinner yesterday--he must
have had enough."
"But, mother, you know he always gives away the best part of his
dinner," interposed Esther. "He supplies two or three boys with food.
There is that dirty Kinch that he is so fond of, who never takes any
dinner with him, and depends entirely upon Charlie. He must be hungry;
do let him come down and get his tea, mother?"
Notwithstanding the observations of Caroline that Esther was just
persuading her mother to spoil the boy, that he would be worse than
ever, and many other similar predictions. Esther and the tea combined
won a signal triumph, and Charlie was called down from the room
above, where he had been exchanging telegraphic communications with
the before-mentioned Kinch, in hopes of receiving a commutation of
sentence.
Charlie was soon seated at the table with an ample allowance of
corn-bread and tea, and he looked so demure, and conducted himself in
such an exemplary manner, that one would have scarcely thought him
given to marbles and dirty company. Having eaten to his satisfaction he
quite ingratiated himself with Caddy by picking up all the crumbs he
had spilled during tea, and throwing them upon the dust-heap. This last
act was quite a stroke of policy, as even Caddy began to regard him as
capable of reformation.
The tea-things washed up and cleared away, the females busied
themselves with their sewing, and Charlie immersed himself in his
lessons for the morrow with a hearty goodwill and perseverance as if he
had abjured marbles for ever.
The hearty supper and persevering attention to study soon began to
produce their customary effect upon Charlie. He could not get on with
his lessons. Many of the state capitals positively refused to be found,
and he was beginning to entertain the sage notion that probably some of
the legislatures had come to the conclusion to dispense with them
altogether, or had had them placed in such obscure places that they
could not be found. The variously coloured states began to form a vast
kaleidoscope, in which the lakes and rivers had been entirely
swallowed up. Ranges of mountains disappeared, and gulfs and bays
and islands were entirely lost. In fact, he was sleepy, and had already
had two or three narrow escapes from butting over the candles; finally

he fell from his chair, crushing Caddy's newly-trimmed bonnet, to the
intense grief and indignation of that young lady, who inflicted
summary vengeance upon him before he was sufficiently awake to be
aware of what had happened.
The work being finished, Mrs. Ellis and Caddy prepared to take it home
to Mrs. Thomas, leaving Esther at home to