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Jack's Ward, a fiction by Horatio Alger |
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Chapter 18. How Ida Fared |
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_ CHAPTER XVIII. HOW IDA FARED We left Ida confined in a dark closet, with Peg standing guard over her. After an hour she was released. "Well," said the nurse, grimly, "how do you feel now?" "I want to go home," sobbed the child. "You are at home," said the woman. "Shall I never see father, and mother, and Jack again?" "That depends on how you behave yourself." "Oh, if you will only let me go," pleaded Ida, gathering hope from this remark, "I'll do anything you say." "Do you mean this, or do you only say it for the sake of getting away?" "I mean just what I say. Dear, good Mrs. Hardwick, tell me what to do, and I will obey you cheerfully." "Very well," said Peg, "only you needn't try to come it over me by calling me dear, good Mrs. Hardwick. In the first place, you don't care a cent about me; in the second place, I am not good; and finally, my name isn't Mrs. Hardwick, except in New York." "What is it, then?" asked Ida. "It's just Peg, no more and no less. You may call me Aunt Peg." "I would rather call you Mrs. Hardwick." "Then you'll have a good many years to call me so. You'd better do as I tell you, if you want any favors. Now what do you say?" "Yes, Aunt Peg," said Ida, with a strong effort to conceal her repugnance. "That's well. Now you're not to tell anybody that you came from New York. That is very important; and you're to pay your board by doing whatever I tell you." "If it isn't wicked." "Do you suppose I would ask you to do anything wicked?" demanded Peg, frowning. "You said you wasn't good," mildly suggested Ida. "I'm good enough to take care of you. Well, what do you say to that? Answer me?" "Yes." "There's another thing. You ain't to try to run away." Ida hung down her head. "Ha!" exclaimed Peg. "So you've been thinking of it, have you?" "Yes," answered Ida, boldly, after a moment's hesitation. "I did think I should if I got a good chance." "Humph!" said the woman, "I see we must understand one another. Unless you promise this, back you go into the dark closet, and I shall keep you there." Ida shuddered at this fearful threat--terrible to a child of but eight years. "Do you promise?" "Yes," said Ida, faintly. "For fear you might be tempted to break your promise, I have something to show you." Mrs. Hardwick went to the closet, and took down a large pistol. "There," she said, "do you see that?" "Yes, Aunt Peg." "Do you know what it is for?" "To shoot people with," answered the child. "Yes," said the nurse; "I see you understand. Well, now, do you know what I would do if you should tell anybody where you came from, or attempt to run away? Can you guess, now?" "Would you shoot me?" asked Ida, terror-stricken. "Yes, I would," said Peg, with fierce emphasis. "That's just what I'd do. And what's more even if you got away, and got back to your family in New York, I would follow you, and shoot you dead in the street." "You wouldn't be so wicked!" exclaimed Ida. "Wouldn't I, though?" repeated Peg, significantly. "If you don't believe I would, just try it. Do you think you would like to try it?" she asked, fiercely. "No," answered Ida, with a shudder. "Well, that's the most sensible thing you've said yet. Now that you are a little more reasonable, I'll tell you what I am going to do with you." Ida looked eagerly up into her face. "I am going to keep you with me for a year. I want the services of a little girl for that time. If you serve me faithfully, I will then send you back to New York." "Will you?" asked Ida, hopefully. "Yes, but you must mind and do what I tell you." "Oh, yes," said Ida, joyfully. This was so much better than she had been led to fear, that the prospect of returning home at all, even though she had to wait a year, encouraged her. "What do you want me to do?" she asked. "You may take the broom and sweep the room." "Yes, Aunt Peg." "And then you may wash the dishes." "Yes, Aunt Peg." "And after that, I will find something else for you to do." Mrs. Hardwick threw herself into a rocking-chair, and watched with grim satisfaction the little handmaiden, as she moved quickly about. "I took the right course with her," she said to herself. "She won't any more dare to run away than to chop her hands off. She thinks I'll shoot her." And the unprincipled woman chuckled to herself. Ida heard her indistinctly, and asked, timidly: "Did you speak, Aunt Peg?" "No, I didn't; just attend to your work and don't mind me. Did your mother make you work?" "No; I went to school." "Time you learned. I'll make a smart woman of you." The next morning Ida was asked if she would like to go out into the street. "I am going to let you do a little shopping. There are various things we want. Go and get your hat." "It's in the closet," said Ida. "Oh, yes, I put it there. That was before I could trust you." She went to the closet and returned with the child's hat and shawl. As soon as the two were ready they emerged into the street. "This is a little better than being shut up in the closet, isn't it?" asked her companion. "Oh, yes, ever so much." "You see you'll have a very good time of it, if you do as I bid you. I don't want to do you any harm." So they walked along together until Peg, suddenly pausing, laid her hands on Ida's arm, and pointing to a shop near by, said to her: "Do you see that shop?" "Yes," said Ida. "I want you to go in and ask for a couple of rolls. They come to three cents apiece. Here's some money to pay for them. It is a new dollar. You will give this to the man that stands behind the counter, and he will give you back ninety-four cents. Do you understand?" "Yes," said Ida, nodding her head. "I think I do." "And if the man asks if you have anything smaller, you will say no." "Yes, Aunt Peg." "I will stay just outside. I want you to go in alone, so you will learn to manage without me." Ida entered the shop. The baker, a pleasant-looking man, stood behind the counter. "Well, my dear, what is it?" he asked. "I should like a couple of rolls." "For your mother, I suppose?" said the baker. "No," answered Ida, "for the woman I board with." "Ha! a dollar bill, and a new one, too," said the baker, as Ida tendered it in payment. "I shall have to save that for my little girl." Ida left the shop with the two rolls and the silver change. "Did he say anything about the money?" asked Peg. "He said he should save it for his little girl." "Good!" said the woman. "You've done well." _ |
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