What Katy Did | Page 4

time just like crying. Poor little Elsie! In
almost every big family, there is one of these unmated, left-out children.
Katy, who had the finest plans in the world for being "heroic," and of
use, never saw, as she drifted on her heedless way, that here, in this
lonely little sister, was the very chance she wanted for being a comfort
to somebody who needed comfort very much. She never saw it, and
Elsie's heavy heart went uncheered.

Dorry and Joanna sat on the two ends of the ridge-pole. Dorry was six
years old; a pale, pudgy boy, with rather a solemn face, and smears of
molasses on the sleeve of his jacket. Joanna, whom the children called
"John," and "Johnnie," was a square, splendid child, a year younger
than Dorry; she had big brave eyes, and a wide rosy mouth, which
always looked ready to laugh. These two were great friends, though
Dorry seemed like a girl who had got into boy's clothes by mistake, and
Johnnie like a boy who, in a fit of fun, had borrowed his sister's frock.
And now, as they all sat there chattering and giggling, the window
above opened, a glad shriek was heard, and Katy's head appeared. In
her hand she held a heap of stockings, which she waved triumphantly.
"Hurray!" she cried, "all done, and Aunt Izzie says we may go. Are you
tired out waiting? I couldn't help it, the holes were so big, and took so
long. Hurry up, Clover, and get the things! Cecy and I will be down in
a minute."
The children jumped up gladly, and slid down the roof. Clover fetched
a couple of baskets from the wood-shed. Elsie ran for her kitten. Dorry
and John loaded themselves with two great fagots of green boughs. Just
as they were ready, the side-door banged, and Katy and Cecy Hall
came into the yard.
I must tell you about Cecy. She was a great friend of the children's, and
lived in a house next door. The yards of the houses were only separated
by a green hedge, with no gate, so that Cecy spent two-thirds of her
time at Dr. Carr's, and was exactly like one of the family. She was a
neat, dapper, pink-and-white-girl, modest and prim in manner, with
light shiny hair, which always kept smooth, and slim hands, which
never looked dirty. How different from my poor Katy! Katy's hair was
forever in a snarl; her gowns were always catching on nails and tearing
"themselves"; and, in spite of her age and size, she was as heedless and
innocent as a child of six. Katy was the longest girl that was ever seen.
What she did to make herself grow so, nobody could tell; but there she
was--up above Papa's ear, and half a head taller than poor Aunt Izzie.
Whenever she stopped to think about her height she became very
awkward, and felt as if she were all legs and elbows, and angles and

joints. Happily, her head was so full of other things, of plans and
schemes, and fancies of all sorts, that she didn't often take time to
remember how tall she was. She was a dear, loving child, for all her
careless habits, and made bushels of good resolutions every week of
her life, only unluckily she never kept any of them. She had fits of
responsibility about the other children, and longed to set them a good
example, but when the chance came, she generally forgot to do so.
Katy's days flew like the wind; for when she wasn't studying lessons, or
sewing and darning with Aunt Izzie, which she hated extremely, there
were always so many delightful schemes rioting in her brains, that all
she wished for was ten pairs of hands to carry them out. These same
active brains got her into perpetual scrapes. She was fond of building
castles in the air, and dreaming of the time when something she had
done would make her famous, so that everybody would hear of her, and
want to know her. I don't think she had made up her mind what this
wonderful thing was to be; but while thinking about it she often forgot
to learn a lesson, or to lace her boots, and then she had a bad mark, or a
scolding from Aunt Izzie. At such times she consoled herself with
planning how, by and by, she would be beautiful and beloved, and
amiable as an angel. A great deal was to happen to Katy before that
time came. Her eyes, which were black, were to turn blue; her nose was
to lengthen and straighten, and her mouth, quite too large at present to
suit the part of a heroine, was to be made over into a sort