The Twin Cousins | Page 8

so she went.
"Homesick?" Why, she shouldn't be homesick! The truth was, she didn't know what the word meant.
When they reached Hilltop, Milly was gone. Aunt Charlotte was looking for Uncle Ben, but when he alighted from the carriage there was a glimmer of blue and gold, and Flaxie Frizzle appeared, borne aloft in his arms. Aunt Charlotte ran to the door very much surprised.
"Why, you darling," said she, greeting her with kisses, "we didn't expect you just now."
"I know it," returned the little guest triumphantly; "we wanted to surprise you. I knew Milly wasn't here, but I thought I'd come to see the rest of the folks."
Johnny and Freddy smiled at this very pleasantly; and little Ken, the very small baby, cooed and sucked his thumb.
"I don't care a speck if Milly is gone. I've brought a new dolly to show you," cried Flaxie, whirling Aunt Charlotte's head around as if it had been a revolving globe, and kissing her under the left ear.
"And oh, Uncle Ben and I had such a nice time on the cars! We had bread with egg between, and bread with chicken between, and candy and pinnuts. 'Twas splendid!"
"Well, we'll have nice times here," returned Aunt Charlotte; but her tone was doubtful. She knew how suddenly Flaxie sometimes changed from one mood to another; and what could she do with such a wayward little guest, when Milly was gone?
"I like Hilltop so much," went on Flaxie, pouring out compliments. "Uncle Ben's so nice, you know; and Johnny, and Freddy, and the baby."
Freddy threw back his shoulders. He liked to be called "nice;" but Johnny was older, and only laughed.
"And I can go to the stores if it does rain and go up in the alleviator, for I brought my little umbrella."
"You don't need an umbrella in an elevator. And we don't have elevators," said Johnny.
Everybody was smiling, for it was plain that Flaxie's head was a little turned. She was thinking of New York city, and had forgotten that Hilltop was only a small village.
She had been here two or three times before, and knew her way all over the house: it was a double-house, with another family in the other part. She remembered Aunt Charlotte's pictures, and vases, and ship-thermometer, and the tidy with a donkey on it drinking from a trough. She had spoiled two of the albums when she was a little girl, and broken ever so much china; so you see she had reason to feel quite at home at Aunt Charlotte's. Ah, but she had never been there before without her mother!
The afternoon did seem rather long, but Aunt Charlotte told funny stories, and after a great while the boys came home from school, and there was a jolly game of romps. Flaxie thought she was very happy.
"We are doing better with her than I expected," said Aunt Charlotte to her husband next morning, when the bright face beamed on them at breakfast. "I'm so glad you brought her, for I do miss my little Milly."
Flaxie, too, missed Milly, but was resolved to be a little woman, and said to Christie Gretchen privately, "We won't cry." After breakfast she spent two hours in the kitchen with patient Nancy, spatting out little ginger cakes, and picking dirt from the cracks of the floor with a pin. Then she danced off to the sitting-room to play with the baby, telling him "if he'd be goody, he'd grow up a doctor, like my papa." She had promised the same thing to every boy baby at Laurel Grove, for doctors were the best people in the world, she thought, and best of all was Dr. Papa.
She was as happy as ever, and singing merrily in the front yard, when the boys came home at noon. The moment she saw them she felt perfectly forlorn, and it suddenly seemed to her as if she couldn't live any longer without Milly. That wasn't the worst of it; she knew she couldn't live any longer without her mother.
It was a terrible feeling that swept all at once over little Flaxie. I wonder if you ever had it? If not, you can't understand it: it was homesickness. There is no ache or pain like it in the whole world, and it seemed to tingle all through Flaxie, from her head to her feet. She ran into the sitting-room, ready to scream. "Oh, auntie, I feel so bad; I feel bad all over!"
Mrs. Allen did not know what she meant.
"Not all over," said she, looking up pleasantly. "Isn't there a good spot somewhere, dear? Perhaps there's a wee spot on your little finger that's almost good."
But Flaxie could not smile.
"It's right in here, in my heart, that I feel the worst," moaned she; "'cause I can't see my mamma,