What Katy Did At School | Page 9

I was
here last. And this other great creature can't be Elsie? That mite of a
baby! Impossible! I cannot realize it. I really cannot realize it in the
least."
"Won't you come to the fire, Mrs. Page?" said Katy, rather timidly.
"Don't call me Mrs. Page, my dear. Call me Cousin Olivia." Then the
new-comer rustled into the parlor, where Johnnie and Phil were waiting
to be introduced; and again she remarked that she "couldn't realize it." I
don't know why Mrs. Page's not realizing it should have made Katy
uncomfortable; but it did.
Supper went off well. The guests ate and praised; and Dr. Carr looked
pleased, and said: "We think Katy an excellent housekeeper for her
age;" at which Katy blushed and was delighted, till she caught Mrs.
Page's eyes fixed upon her, with a look of scrutiny and amusement,
whereupon she felt awkward and ill at ease. It was so all the evening.
Mamma's cousin was entertaining and bright, and told lively stories;
but the children felt that she was watching them, and passing judgment
on their ways. Children are very quick to suspect when older people
hold within themselves these little private courts of inquiry, and they
always resent it.
Next morning Mrs. Page sat by while Katy washed the breakfast things,
fed the birds, and did various odd jobs about the room and house. "My

dear," she said at last, "what a solemn girl you are! I should think from
your face that you were at least five and thirty. Don't you ever laugh or
frolic, like other girls your age? Why, my Lilly, who is four months
older than you, is a perfect child still; impulsive as a baby, bubbling
over with fun from morning till night."
"I've been shut up a good deal," said Katy, trying to defend herself;
"but I didn't know I was solemn."
"My dear, that's the very thing I complain of: you don't know it! You
are altogether ahead of your age. It's very bad for you, in my opinion.
All this housekeeping and care, for young girls like you and Clover, is
wrong and unnatural. I don't like it; indeed I don't."
"Oh! housekeeping doesn't hurt me a bit," protested Katy, trying to
smile. "We have lovely times; indeed we do, Cousin Olivia."
Cousin Olivia only pursed up her mouth, and repeated: "It's wrong, my
dear. It's unnatural. It's not the thing for you. Depend upon it, it's not
the thing."
This was unpleasant; but what was worse had Katy known it, Mrs. Page
attacked Dr. Carr upon the subject. He was quite troubled to learn that
she considered Katy grave and careworn, and unlike what girls of her
age should be. Katy caught him looking at her with a puzzled
expression.
"What is it, dear papa? Do you want anything?"
"No, child, nothing. What are you doing there? Mending the parlor
curtain, eh? Can't old Mary attend to that, and give you a chance to
frisk about with the other girls?"
"Papa! As if I wanted to frisk! I declare you're as bad as Cousin Olivia.
She's always telling me that I ought to bubble over with mirth. I don't
wish to bubble. I don't know how."
"I'm afraid you don't," said Dr. Carr, with an odd sigh, which set Katy

to wondering. What should papa sigh for? Had she done any thing
wrong? She began to rack her brains and memory as to whether it could
be this or that; or, if not, what could it be? Such needless
self-examination does no good. Katy looked more "solemn" than ever
after it.
Altogether, Mrs. Page was not a favorite in the family. She had every
intention of being kind to her cousin's children, "so dreadfully in want
of a mother, poor things!" but she could not hide the fact that their
ways puzzled and did not please her; and the children detected this, as
children always will. She and Mr. Page were very polite. They praised
the housekeeping, and the excellent order or every thing, and said there
never were better children in the world than John and Dorry and Phil.
But, through all, Katy perceived the hidden disapproval; and she
couldn't help feeling glad when the visit ended, and they went away.
With their departure, matters went back to their old train, and Katy
forgot her disagreeable feelings. Papa seemed a little grave and
preoccupied; but the doctors often are when they have bad cases to
think of, and nobody noticed it particularly, or remarked that several
letters came from Mrs. Page, and nothing was heard of their contents,
except that "Cousin Olivia sent her love." So it was a shock, when one
day papa called Katy into the study to tell of a new plan. She