Understood Betsy

by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

  CHAPTER IX

  THE NEW CLOTHES FAIL

  All the little girls went early to school the next day, eager for thefirst glimpse of 'Lias in his new clothes. They now quite enjoyed themystery about who had made them, and were full of agreeable excitementas the little figure was seen approaching down the road. He wore thegray trousers and the little blue shirt; the trousers were a little toolong, the shirt a perfect fit. The girls gazed at him with pride as hecame on the playground, walking briskly along in the new shoes, whichwere just the right size. He had been wearing all winter a pair ofcast-off women's shoes. From a distance he looked like another child.But as he came closer ... oh! his face! his hair! his hands! hisfinger-nails! The little fellow had evidently tried to live up to hisbeautiful new raiment, for his hair had been roughly put back from hisface, and around his mouth and nose was a small area of almost cleanskin, where he had made an attempt at washing his face. But he had madepractically no impression on the layers of encrusted dirt, and thelittle girls looked at him ruefully. Mr. Pond would certainly never takea fancy to such a dreadfully grimy child! His new, clean clothes madehim look all the worse, as though dirty on purpose!

  The little girls retired to their rock-pile and talked over their bitterdisappointment, Ralph and the other boys absorbed in a game of marblesnear them. 'Lias had gone proudly into the schoolroom to show himself toMiss Benton.

  It was the day before Decoration Day and a good deal of time was takenup with practising on the recitations they were going to give at theDecoration Day exercises in the village. Several of the children fromeach school in the township were to speak pieces in the Town Hall. Betsywas to recite BARBARA FRIETCHIE, her first love in that school, but shedroned it over with none of her usual pleasure, her eyes on little'Lias's smiling face, so unconscious of its dinginess.

  At noon time the boys disappeared down toward the swimming-hole. Theyoften took a swim at noon and nobody thought anything about it on thatday. The little girls ate their lunch on their rock, mourning over thefailure of their plans, and scheming ways to meet the new obstacle.Stashie suggested, "Couldn't your Aunt Abigail invite him up to yourhouse for supper and then give him a bath afterward?" But Betsy,although she had never heard of treating a supper-guest in this way, wassure that it was not possible. She shook her head sadly, her eyes on thefar-off gleam of white where the boys jumped up and down in theirswimming-hole. That was not a good name for it, because there was onlyone part of it deep enough to swim in. Mostly it was a shallow bay in anarm of the river, where the water was only up to a little boy's kneesand where there was almost no current. The sun beating down on it madeit quite warm, and even the first-graders' mothers allowed them to goin. They only jumped up and down and squealed and splashed each other,but they enjoyed that quite as much as Frank and Harry, the twoseventh-graders, enjoyed their swooping dives from the spring-board overthe pool. They were late in getting back from the river that day andMiss Benton had to ring her bell hard in that direction before they cametrooping up and clattered into the schoolroom, where the girls alreadysat, their eyes lowered virtuously to their books, with a prim air ofself-righteousness. THEY were never late!

  Betsy was reciting her arithmetic. She was getting on famously withthat. Weeks ago, as soon as Miss Benton had seen the confusion of thelittle girl's mind, the two had settled down to a serious struggle withthat subject. Miss Benton had had Betsy recite all by herself, so shewouldn't be flurried by the others; and to begin with had gone back,back, back to bedrock, to things Betsy absolutely knew, to the 2x2's andthe 3x3's. And then, very cautiously, a step at a time, they hadadvanced, stopping short whenever Betsy felt a beginning of thatbewildered "guessing" impulse which made her answer wildly at random.

  After a while, in the dark night which arithmetic had always been toher, Betsy began to make out a few definite outlines, which were alwaysthere, facts which she knew to be so without guessing from theexpression of her teacher's face. From that moment her progress had beenrapid, one sure fact hooking itself on to another, and another one on tothat. She attacked a page of problems now with a zest andself-confidence which made her arithmetic lessons among the mostinteresting hours at school. On that day she was standing up at theboard, a piece of chalk in her hand, chewing her tongue and thinkinghard how to find out the amount of wall-paper needed for a room 12 feetsquare with two doors and two windows in it, when her eye fell on little'Lias, bent over his reading book. She forgot her arithmetic, she forgotwhere she was. She stared and stared, till Ellen, catching the directionof her eyes, looked and stared too. Little 'Lias was CLEAN,preternaturally, almost wetly clean. His face was clean and shining, hisears shone pink and fair, his hands were absolutely spotless, even hishay-colored hair was clean and, still damp, brushed flatly back till itshone in the sun. Betsy blinked her eyes a great many times, thinkingshe must be dreaming, but every time she opened them there was 'Lias,looking white and polished like a new willow whistle.

  Somebody poked her hard in the ribs. She started and, turning, sawRalph, who was doing a sum beside her on the board, scowling at herunder his black brows. "Quit gawking at 'Lias," he said under hisbreath. "You make me tired!" Something conscious and shame-faced in hismanner made Betsy understand at once what had happened. Ralph had taken'Lias down to the little boys' wading-place and had washed him all over.She remembered now that they had a piece of yellow soap there.

  Her face broke into a radiant smile and she began to say something toRalph about how nice that was of him, but he frowned again and said,crossly, "Aw, cut it out! Look at what you've done there! If I couldn't9 x 8 and get it right!"

  "How queer boys are!" thought Betsy, erasing her mistake and puttingdown the right answer. But she did not try to speak to Ralph again about'Lias, not even after school, when she saw 'Lias going home with a newcap on his head which she recognized as Ralph's. She just looked atRalph's bare head, and smiled her eyes at him, keeping the rest of herface sober, the way Cousin Ann did. For just a minute Ralph almostsmiled back. At least he looked quite friendly. They stepped alongtoward home together, the first time Ralph had ever condescended to walkbeside a girl.

  "We got a new colt," he said.

  "Have you?" she said. "What color?"

  "Black, with a white star, and they're going to let me ride him whenhe's old enough."

  "My! Won't that be nice!" said Betsy.

  And all the time they were both thinking of little 'Lias with his newclothes and his sweet, thin face shining with cleanliness.

  "Do you like spruce gum?" asked Ralph.

  "Oh, I LOVE gum!" said Betsy.

  "Well, I'll bring you down a chunk tomorrow, if I don't forget it," saidRalph, turning off at the cross-roads.

  They had not mentioned 'Lias at all.

  The next day they were to have school only in the morning. In theafternoon they were to go in a big hay-wagon down to the village to the"exercises." 'Lias came to school in his new blue-serge trousers and hiswhite blouse. The little girls gloated over his appearance, and hungaround him, for who was to "visit school" that morning but Mr. Pondhimself! Cousin Ann had arranged it somehow. It took Cousin Ann to fixthings! During recess, as they were playing still-pond-no-more-moving onthe playground, Mr. Pond and Uncle Henry drew up to the edge of theplayground, stopped their horse, and, talking and laughing together,watched the children at play. Betsy looked hard at the big, burly,kind-faced man with the smiling eyes and the hearty laugh, and decidedthat he would "do" perfectly for 'Lias. But what she decided was to havelittle importance, apparently, for after all he would not get out of thewagon, but said he'd have to drive right on to the village. Just likethat, with no excuse other than a careless glance at his watch. No, heguessed he wouldn't have time, this morning, he said. Betsy cast animploring look up into Uncle Henry's face, but evidently he felt himselfquite helpless, too. Oh, if only Cousin Ann had come! SHE would havemarched him into the schoolhouse double-quick. But Uncle Henry was notCousin Ann, and though Betsy saw him, as they drove away,conscie
ntiously point out little 'Lias, resplendent and shining, Mr.Pond only nodded absently, as though, he were thinking of somethingelse.

  Betsy could have cried with disappointment; but she and the other girls,putting their heads together for comfort, told each other that there wastime enough yet. Mr. Pond would not leave town till tomorrow.Perhaps ... there was still some hope.

  But that afternoon even this last hope was dashed. As they gathered atthe schoolhouse, the girls fresh and crisp in their newly starcheddresses, with red or blue hair-ribbons, the boys very self-conscious intheir dark suits, clean collars, new caps (all but Ralph), and blackedshoes, there was no little 'Lias. They waited and waited, but there wasno sign of him. Finally Uncle Henry, who was to drive the straw-ridedown to town, looked at his watch, gathered up the reins, and said theywould be late if they didn't start right away. Maybe 'Lias had had achance to ride in with somebody else.

  They all piled in, the horses stepped off, the wheels grated on thestones. And just at that moment a dismal sound of sobbing wails reachedthem from the woodshed back of the schoolhouse. The children tumbled outas fast as they had tumbled in, and ran back, Betsy and Ralph at theirhead. There in the woodshed was little 'Lias, huddled in the cornerbehind some wood, crying and crying and crying, digging his fists intohis eyes, his face all smeared with tears and dirt. And he was dressedagain in his filthy, torn old overalls and ragged shirt. His poor littlebare feet shone with a piteous cleanliness in that dark place.

  "What's the matter? What's the matter?" the children asked him all atonce. He flung himself on Ralph, burying his face in the other boy'scoat, and sobbed out some disjointed story which only Ralph couldhear ... and then as last and final climax of the disaster, who shouldcome looking over the shoulders of the children but Uncle Henry AND Mr.Pond! And 'Lias all ragged and dirty again! Betsy sat down weakly on apile of wood, utterly disheartened. What was the use of anything!

  "What's the matter?" asked the two men together.

  Ralph turned, with an angry toss of his dark head, and told thembitterly, over the heads of the children: "He just had some decentclothes. ... First ones he's EVER had! And he was plotting on going tothe exercises in the Town Hall. And that darned old skunk of astepfather has gone and taken 'em and sold 'em to get whiskey. I'd liketo KILL him!"

  Betsy could have flung her arms around Ralph, he looked so exactly theway she felt. "Yes, he is a darned old skunk!" she said to herself,rejoicing in the bad words she did not know before. It TOOK bad words toqualify what had happened.

  She saw an electric spark pass from Ralph's blazing eyes to Mr. Pond'sbroad face, now grim and fierce. She saw Mr. Pond step forward, brushingthe children out of his way, like a giant among dwarfs. She saw himstoop and pick little 'Lias up in his great, strong arms, and, holdinghim close, stride furiously out of the woodshed, across the playgroundto the buggy which was waiting for him.

  "He'll go to the exercises all right!" he called back over his shoulderin a great roar. "He'll go, if I have to buy out the whole town to gethim an outfit! And that whelp won't get these clothes, either; you hearme say so!"

  He sprang into the buggy and, holding 'Lias on his lap, took up thereins and drove rapidly forward.

  They saw little 'Lias again, entering the Town Hall, holding fast to Mr.Pond's hand. He was magnificent in a whole suit of store clothes, coatand all, and he wore white stockings and neat, low shoes, like a citychild!

  They saw him later, up on the platform, squeaking out his littlepatriotic poem, his eyes, shining like stars, fixed on one broad,smiling face in the audience. When he finished he was overcome withshyness by the applause, and for a moment forgot to turn and leave theplatform. He hung his head, and, looking out from under his eyebrows,gave a quaint, shy little smile at the audience. Betsy saw Mr. Pond'sgreat smile waver and grow dim. His eyes filled so full that he had totake out his handkerchief and blow his nose loudly.

  And they saw little 'Lias once more, for the last time. Mr. Pond's buggydrove rapidly past their slow-moving hay-wagon, Mr. Pond holding thereins masterfully in one hand. Beside him, very close, sat 'Lias withhis lap full of toys, oh, FULL--like Christmas! In that fleeting glimpsethey saw a toy train, a stuffed dog, a candy-box, a pile ofpicture-books, tops, paper-bags, and even the swinging crane of the bigmechanical toy dredge that everybody said the storekeeper could neversell to anybody because it cost so much!

  As they passed swiftly, 'Lias looked out at them and waved his littlehand flutteringly. His other hand was tightly clasped in Mr. Pond's bigone. He was smiling at them all. His eyes looked dazed and radiant. Heturned his head as the buggy flashed by to call out, in a shrill,exulting little shout, "Good-bye! Good-bye! I'm going to live with ..."They could hear no more. He was gone, only his little hand still wavingat them over the back of the buggy seat.

  Betsy drew a long, long breath. She found that Ralph was looking at her.For a moment she couldn't think what made him look so different. Thenshe saw that he was smiling. She had never seen him smile before. Hesmiled at her as though he were sure she would understand, and neversaid a word. Betsy looked forward again and saw the gleaming buggyvanishing over the hill in front of them. She smiled back at Ralphsilently.

  Not a thing had happened the way she had planned; no, not a singlething! But it seemed to her she had never been so happy in her life.