FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77  
78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   >>   >|  
ath, while he, speechless with astonishment at this lengthy confession, stared at her with uncomprehending eyes. Was this Tabitha? What could have happened to bring about this state of affairs? "Teacher and Mrs. Vane say it is wicked to get mad and we always ought to beg folks'--" she could not say 'forgiveness' to him--"folks' pardon when we say or do things we ought not to. I ought not to have toted that melon off. What are you going to do about it?" She was trembling from head to foot with excitement and nervous dread, and it seemed to her that he had never looked so formidable before; but though her heart quaked, she courageously stood her ground, and waited for him to name her sentence. "You better eat your dinner and help your aunt clear away the dishes and do up the other work instead of gadding all over the neighborhood," he said gruffly to hide his feelings, and taking his hat, he passed out of the door, leaving a surprised but much relieved little girl to enjoy a huge slice of watermelon which she found on her plate. CHAPTER IX A BRAVE LITTLE CATT Miss Brooks was going away. This was her last week of school and next September when the children gathered again in the familiar old building, there would be a new teacher in her stead. The children were disconsolate, for in the three years that she had instructed them in the mysterious ways of knowledge, they had come to love her very dearly and to consider her one of their possessions. So it was a great shock to learn of her intentions, and particularly was this true with Tabitha whose grief at the impending loss was too deep for words. She could only stare and stare at the beloved face as the days slipped by lessening the teacher's stay with them, until Miss Brooks was so haunted by those pathetically appealing black eyes that she could scarcely sleep and began to wonder why it was that she should feel so much like a criminal every time she looked at the child. At last a happy thought occurred to her. She interviewed Mr. Carson, Dr. Vane and other prominent men of the town, with the result that the last Monday of the term she faced the scholars with a happy smile on her lips and hope in her heart, as she announced, "Children, I have some good news to tell you--" "You're not going away after all!" breathed Tabitha ecstatically, but the next instant her face fell, for the teacher gently shook her head to signify that this guess was wrong.
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77  
78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

teacher

 

Tabitha

 

Brooks

 
children
 
looked
 

slipped

 
impending
 

beloved

 

mysterious

 

knowledge


instructed
 

disconsolate

 

intentions

 

dearly

 

lessening

 
possessions
 

criminal

 

announced

 

Children

 
scholars

result

 
Monday
 

gently

 

signify

 

instant

 

breathed

 

ecstatically

 
prominent
 

scarcely

 

appealing


haunted

 

pathetically

 

interviewed

 

occurred

 

Carson

 

thought

 

excitement

 

nervous

 

trembling

 

formidable


waited

 

sentence

 

ground

 

quaked

 

courageously

 

things

 
uncomprehending
 

stared

 

happened

 

confession