Bessie at the Sea-Side

by Joanna H. Mathews

  V.

  _TOM'S SUNDAY-SCHOOL._

  "There's Tom," said Maggie, on the next Sunday afternoon, as she lookedout of the window; "he is talking to Mr. Jones, and now they are goingto the barn. I wonder if he is going to swing on Sunday."

  "Why, Maggie," said Bessie; "Tom wouldn't do such a thing."

  "I thought maybe he forgot," said Maggie. "I forgot it was Sunday thismorning, and I was just going to ask Mr. Jones to swing me. I wonderwhat they are doing. I can see in the door of the barn and they arebusy with the hay. Come and look, Bessie."

  Tom and Mr. Jones seemed to be very busy in the barn for a few minutes,but the little girls could not make out what they were doing. At lastTom came out and walked over to the house. Maggie and Bessie ran tomeet him.

  "Here you are," he said, "the very little people I wanted to see. I amgoing to have a Sunday-school class in the barn. Mr. Jones has given meleave, for I could find no place over at the hotel. We have been makingseats in the hay. Will you come?"

  "Oh, yes, indeed we will," said Maggie, clapping her hands.

  Bessie shook her head sorrowfully. "Tom," she said, "mamma wont let mego to Sunday-school; she says I am too little."

  "I think she will let you go to mine," said Tom; "we'll go and ask her."

  They all went in together to the room where papa and mamma sat reading."Mrs. Bradford," said Tom, when he had shaken hands with her, "I amgoing to hold a little Sunday-school class over in the barn; will youlet Maggie and Bessie come?"

  "Certainly," said Mrs. Bradford. "Who are you to have, Tom?"

  "Only Lily, ma'am, and Mamie Stone, and a few more of the little onesfrom the hotel; they were running about and making a great noise in thehall and parlors, and I thought I could keep them quiet for a whileif Mr. Jones would let me bring them over to his barn, and have aSunday-school there. Walter is coming to help me."

  "A good plan, too," said Mr. Bradford; "you are a kind boy to think ofit, Tom."

  "May I come?" asked Harry.

  "And I, too?" said Fred.

  "I don't know about you, Fred," said Tom; "I should like to have Harry,for neither Walter nor I can sing, and we want some one to set thetunes for the little ones. But I am afraid you will make mischief."

  "Indeed I won't, Tom. Let me come and I will be as quiet as a mouse,and give you leave to turn me out if I do the first thing."

  "Well, then, you may come, but I shall hold you to your word and sendyou away if you make the least disturbance. I don't mean this forplay."

  "Honor bright," said Fred.

  They all went out and met Walter who was coming up the path with atroop of little ones after him. There were Lily and Eddie Norris,Gracie Howard, Mamie Stone, Julia and Charlie Bolton, and half a dozenmore beside.

  Tom marched them into the barn, where he and Mr. Jones had arranged theschool-room.

  And a fine school-room the children thought it; better than thosein the city to which some of them went every Sunday. There were twolong piles of hay with boards laid on top of them,--one covered witha buffalo robe, the other with a couple of sheep skins, making niceseats. In front of these was Tom's place,--an empty barrel turnedupside-down for his desk, and Fred's velocipede for his seat. Thechildren did not in the least care that hay was strewn all over thefloor, or that the old horse who was in the other part of the barn,would now and then put his nose through the little opening above hismanger, and look in at them as if he wondered what they were about.

  "Oh, isn't this splendid?" said Maggie. "It is better than our Infantschool-room, in Dr. Hill's church."

  "So it is," said Lily. "I wish we always went to Sunday-school here,and had Tom for our teacher."

  Some of the little ones wanted to play, and began to throw hay at eachother; but Tom put a stop to this; he had not brought them there toromp, he said, and those who wanted to be noisy must go away. Then hetold them all to take their seats.

  Maggie had already taken hers on the end of one of the hay benches,with Bessie next to her, and Lily on the other side of Bessie. GracieHoward sat down by Lily, and Mamie Stone was going to take her placenext, when Gracie said, "You sha'n't sit by me, Mamie."

  "Nor by me," said Lily.

  "Nor me, nor me," said two or three of the others.

  Now Mamie saw how she had made the other children dislike her by herill-humor and unkindness, and she did not find it at all pleasant tostand there and have them all saying they would not sit by her.

  "I want to go home," she said, while her face grew very red, and shelooked as if she were going to cry.

  "Who is going to be kind, and sit by Mamie," asked Tom.

  "I should think none of them who know how she can pinch," said Fred.

  "Oh, we are going to forget all that," said Tom. "Come, children, makeroom for Mamie."

  "This bench is full," said Lily, "she can't come here."

  Mamie began to cry. "There is plenty of room on the other bench," saidTom; "sit there, Mamie."

  "I don't want to," answered Mamie; "there's nothing but boys there, andI want to go home."

  "Why," said Tom, "what a bad thing that would be, to begin ourSunday-school by having one of our little scholars go home becausenone of the rest will sit by her. That will never do."

  All this time Maggie had sat quite still, looking at Mamie. She wasthinking of what Tom had said to her, and of being Jesus' little lamb.Here was a chance to show Mamie that she was ready to be friends withher, but it was hard work. She did not at all like to go away from herlittle sister whom she loved so much, to sit by Mamie whom she did notlove at all, and who had been so unkind to Bessie. She rose up slowlyfrom her seat, with cheeks as red as Mamie's and said,--

  "Tom, I'll go on the other seat and sit by Mamie."

  "And just get pinched for it," said Lily: "stay with us, Maggie."

  Mamie took her hand down from her face and looked at Maggie with greatsurprise.

  "She wants some one to sit with her," said Maggie, "and I had bettergo."

  "Maggie is doing as she would be done by," said Tom.

  Then Maggie felt glad, for she knew she was doing right. "Come, Mamie,"she said, and she took hold of Mamie's hand, and they sat down togetheron the other bench.

  "You are a good girl, Midget," said Harry, "and it's more than youdeserve, Miss Mamie."

  "I don't care," said Mamie. "I love Maggie, and I don't love any of therest of you, except only Tom."

  Here Tom called his school to order and said there must be no moretalking, for he was going to read, and all must be quiet. He wentbehind his barrel-desk, and opening his Bible, read to them about theSaviour blessing little children. Then they sang, "I want to be anAngel." Harry and Fred, with their beautiful clear voices, started thetune, and all the children joined in, for every one of them knew thepretty hymn.

  Bessie at Sea Side. p. 68]

  Next, Tom read how Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in a roughstable and laid not in a pretty cradle such as their baby brothersand sisters slept in, but in a manger where the wise men of the eastcame and worshipped Him: and how after Joseph and Mary had been told byGod to fly into the land of Egypt with the infant Saviour, the wickedking, Herod, killed all the dear little babies in the land, with thehope that Jesus might be among them. When he came to any thing which hethought the children would not understand, he stopped and explained itto them. "Now we will sing again," he said, when he had done reading,"and the girls shall choose the hymns. Maggie, dear, what shall we singfirst?"

  Maggie knew what she would like, but she was too shy to tell, and shelooked at Tom without speaking. Tom thought he knew, and said, "I'llchoose for you, then. We will sing, 'Jesus, little lamb;' whoever knowsit, hold up their hand."

  Half a dozen little hands went up, but Tom saw that all the childrendid not know it. "What shall we do?" he said. "Maggie would like thatbest, I think; but I suppose all want to sing, and some do not know thewords."

  "Never mind," said Gracie Howard, who was one of those who had not h
eldup her hand, "if Maggie wants it we'll sing it, because she was so goodand went and sat by Mamie. If we don't know the words we can holler outthe tune all the louder."

  Some of the children began to laugh when Gracie said this, but Tomsaid, "I have a better plan than that. I will say the first verse overthree or four times, line by line, and you may repeat it after me; thenwe will sing it, and so go on with the next verse."

  This was done. Tom said the lines slowly and distinctly, and those whodid not know the hymn repeated them. While they were learning the firstverse in this way, Mamie whispered to Maggie, "Maggie, I love you."

  "Do you?" said Maggie, as if she could not quite believe it.

  "Yes, because you are good; don't you love me. Maggie?"

  "Well, no, not much," said Maggie, "but I'll try to."

  "I wish you would," said Mamie; "and I wont snatch your things, norslap you, nor do anything."

  "I'll love you if you do a favor to me," said Maggie.

  "Yes, I will, if it is not to give you my new crying baby."

  "Oh, I don't want your crying baby, nor any of your toys," said Maggie."I only want you to promise that you won't pinch my Bessie again. Why,Mamie, you ought to be more ashamed of yourself than any girl that everlived; her arm is all black and blue yet."

  "I didn't mean to hurt her so much," said Mamie, "and I was sorry whenBessie cried so; but then you slapped me, and Lily slapped me, andJane scolded me, and so I didn't care, but was glad I did it; but I amsorry, now, and I'll never do it again."

  "And I sha'n't slap you, if you do," said Maggie.

  "What will you do, then?"

  "I'll just take Bessie away, and leave you to your own 'flections."

  "I don't know what that means," said Mamie.

  "I don't, either," said Maggie; "but I heard papa say it, so I said it.I like to say words that big people say. Bessie won't say a word ifshe don't know what it means; but I'd just as lief. I guess it meansconscience."

  "Oh, I guess it does, too," said Mamie, "for Walter said he shouldthink I'd have a troubled conscience for hurting Bessie so; but Ididn't. And Tom talked to me too; but I didn't care a bit, till youcame to sit by me, Maggie, and now I am sorry. Did you tell Tom aboutit?"

  "I talked to him about it, but he knew before. Why, everybody knew,Mamie, because your mamma made such an awful fuss about those littleslaps."

  Now Maggie made a mistake in saying this; she did not mean it to vexMamie, but it did.

  "They were not little slaps," she said, "they were hard slaps, and theyhurt; and you sha'n't say my mamma makes an awful fuss."

  Before Maggie had time to answer, Tom called upon the children to sing,and Maggie joined in with her whole heart. The first verse was sungover twice; and by the time this was done, Mamie felt good-naturedagain, for she remembered how Maggie had come to sit with her when noneof the other little girls would do so. She had been quite surprisedwhen Maggie had offered to do it, and had thought that she could nothave been so good.

  "I'll never be cross with Maggie again," she said to herself.

  When Tom began to teach the second verse she whispered, "Maggie, willyou kiss me and make up?"

  "Yes, by and by, when some of the other children are gone," said Maggie.

  "Why won't you do it, now?"

  "I don't like to do it before them; I'm afraid they'll think I wantthem to see."

  When Tom thought the children all knew the hymn pretty well, they sangit over two or three times, and then he told them a story. After theyhad sung once more, he dismissed the school; for he did not want tokeep them too long, lest the little ones should be tired. He invitedall those who liked it, to come again the next Sunday afternoon, forMr. Jones had said that they might have Sunday-school in the barn asoften as they liked. Every one of the children said that they wouldcome. When most of them had left the barn, Maggie said, "Now I willkiss you, Mamie."

  "I want to kiss Bessie, too," said Mamie, as the little girl camerunning up to her sister; "will you kiss me, Bessie?"

  "Oh, yes," said Bessie; and Mamie kissed both of her little playmates,and so there was peace between them once more.