Wild Kitty | Page 3

in any character."
"Well, Bessie, will you come or will you not?" interrupted Gwin.
"Yes, I'll come. I'll manage it somehow," said Bessie. I can't resist the temptation."
"And you too, Alice?" said Gwin, turning to Alice Denvers, who was watching Bessie with envious eyes.
"I don't suppose mother will let me. I am ever so vexed," said Alice.
"But why not, dear; you have nothing special to do to-day?"
"Well, I had a bad mark for unpunctuality, and--"
"What does that signify?"
"But listen; I have gone down several places in class. Father and mother are so particular; they seem to think my whole future life depends upon my position in school. Of course I know we are not very rich, like you--" Here she flushed and hesitated.
Gwin Harley flushed also.
"When you talk like that," she said, "I feel quite ashamed of being well off. I often long to be poor like--like dear little Elma here." As she spoke she patted her somewhat squat little companion on her arm. "But never mind, girls; I am not one of those who intend to throw away all my money; that is one reason why I want to have a good talk this afternoon. You must come, Alice; you simply must."
"But there is another reason," said Alice. "Kitty Malone is coming to-day."
"Kitty Malone! Who in the name of fortune is she?"
"Oh, a wild Irish girl."
"Truly wild, I should think, with that name. 'Kitty Malone, ohone!' I seem to hear the refrain somewhere now. Isn't there a song called 'Kitty Malone'?"
"There is a song called 'The Widow Malone,'" said Bessie; "don't you know it? You read all about it in 'Harry Lorrequer.'"
"But who is Kitty Malone, Alice?"
"I say a wild Irish girl."
"And what has she got to do with you?"
"She is coming to board with us. She is going to join the school, and mother is to have the charge of her. A precious bore I shall find it."
"When did you say she was coming?" asked Gwin eagerly.
"I expect she is at home by now; she was to arrive this morning."
"Delightful!" said Gwin, clapping her hands, "she shall come too. I want beyond anything to become acquainted with a real aborigine, and of course any girl called Kitty Malone hailing from the sister-isle must belong to that species. Bring the wild Irish girl with you by all means, Alice; and now, as you have no manner of excuse, I'll say ta-ta for the present." She kissed her pretty hand lightly to the two girls, and went on her way, once more accompanied by her faithful satellite, Elma.
"Isn't she fascinating?" said Alice; "aren't you quite in love with her, Bessie?"
"Dear me, no," answered Bessie Challoner. "I never fall in love in that sort of headlong fashion; but all the same," she added, "I admire Gwin very much, only I do wish she would not take up with Elma."
"So do I," said Alice.
"It was very kind of her to ask us," continued Bessie, "and I for one shall be delighted to go. I have not the least doubt that in a big house of that sort they have 'Household Encyclop?dia,' and I want to look up the article on magnetic iron ore."
"Oh, what in the world for?" cried Alice.
"I am interested in magnets, and--but there, Alice why should I worry you with the sort of things that delight me. I am going, and that is all right. You will be sure to come too; won't you Alice?"
"Yes, I must manage it somehow; and as Gwin has asked Kitty Malone it won't make it quite so difficult. I know mother would not let me leave Kitty this afternoon, for it is, from the money point of view, a great thing for us her coming. Her people are quite well off, although they are Irish. They live in an old castle on the coast of Donegal, and Kitty has never been out of the country in which she was born. They are paying mother very well to receive her, and mother is ever so pleased. Of course it's horrid for me for she will be my companion morning, noon, and night; we are even to sleep in the same room. It was that that made me late for school this morning, and got me that horrid, horrid mark for unpunctuality."
"But why? I don't understand," said Bessie.
"Well, you see, I put it off until the last minute. I know it was all my fault; but I would not empty the cupboard in the corner of the room, although mother told me to do so at intervals for the past week. Well, mother came in this morning and found it choke full--you know the sort of thing, full to bursting, so that the door wouldn't shut--and she said that I should empty it before I went to