第23章

“I——er——willspeakwithher——alone。“ Theroundeyesagainsawthecompletecollapseofauthority，asthetwowomenshrankbackfromthevoice，andsaidhurriedly，—— “Certainly，ColonelStarbottle；perhapsitwouldbebetter，“andingloriouslyquittedtheroom。 Butthecolonel’striumphlefthimhelpless。Hewasalonewithasimplechild，anunprecedented，unheard-ofsituation，whichlefthimembarrassedand——speechless。Evenhisvanitywasconsciousthathisoratoricalperiods，hismethods，hisveryattitude，werepowerlesshere。Theperspirationstoodoutonhisforehead；helookedathervaguely，andessayedafeeblesmile。Thechildsawhisembarrassment，evenasshehadseenandunderstoodhistriumph，andthesmallwomanwithinherexulted。Sheputherlittlehandsonherwaist，andwiththefingersturneddownwardsandoutwardspressedthemdownherhipstoherbendedkneesuntiltheyhadforcedherskirtsintoanegregiousfullnessbeforeandbehind，asifsheweremakingacurtsy，andthenjumpedupandlaughed。 “Youdidit！Hooray！“ “Didwhat？“saidthecolonel，pleasedyetmystified。 “Frightened’em！——thetwooldcats！Frightened’emoutentheirslippers！Oh，jiminy！Never，never，NEVERbeforewastheysoskeert！Neversinceschoolkeptdidtheyhavetocrawllikethat！ TheywasskeertenoughFIRSTwhenyoucome，butjustnow！——Lordy！ Theywasn’ta-goin’toletyouseeme——buttheyhadto！hadto！HAD TO！“andsheemphasizedeachrepetitionwithaskip。 “Ibelieve——er，“saidthecolonelblandly，“thatI——er——intimatedwithsomefirmness“—— “That’sit——justit！“interruptedthechilddelightedly。“You—— you——overdid’em“ “What？“ “OVERDID’EM！Don’tyouknow？They’realwayssohighandmighty！ Kinder’Don’ttechme。Mymother’sanangel；myfather’saking’—— allthatsortofthing。TheydidTHIS“——shedrewherselfupinapresumableimitationofthetwowomen’smajesticentrance——“andthen，“shecontinued，“you——YOUjestdidthis“——heresheliftedherchin，andpuffingouthersmallchest，strodetowardsthecolonelinevidentsimulationofhisgrandestmanner。 Ashort，deepchuckleescapedhim——althoughthenextmomenthisfacebecameseriousagain。ButPansyinthemeantimehadtakenpossessionofhiscoatsleeveandwasrubbinghercheekagainstitlikeayoungcolt。Atwhichthecolonelsuccumbedfeeblyandsatdownonthesofa，thechildstandingbesidehim，leaningoverandtransferringherlittlehandstothelapelsofhisfrockcoat，whichsheessayedtobuttonoverhischestasshelookedintohismurkyeyes。 “Theothergirlssaid，“shebegan，tuggingatthebutton，“thatyouwasa’cirkiss’“——anothertug——“’aniggerminstrel’“——andathirdtug——“’aagentwithsamples’——butthatshowedalltheyknew！“ “Ah，“saidthecolonelwithexaggeratedblandness，“and——er——whatdidYOU——er——say？“ Thechildsmiled。“IsaidyouwasaStuffedDonkey——butthatwasBEFOREIknewyou。Iwasalittleskeerttoo；butNOW“——shesucceededinbuttoningthecoatandmakingthecolonelquiteapoplectic，——“NOWIain’tfrightenedonebit——no，notoneTINYbit！ But，“sheadded，afterapause，unbuttoningthecoatagainandsmoothingdownthelapelsbetweenherfingers，“you’retokeeponfrighteningtheoldcats——mind！NevermindabouttheGIRLS。I’lltellthem。“ Thecolonelwouldhavegivenworldstoheabletostruggleupintoanuprightpositionwithsuitableoralexpression。Notthathisvanitywasatallwoundedbytheseirresponsibleepithets，whichonlyexcitedanamusedwonder，buthewasconsciousofanembarrassedpleasureinthechild’scaressingfamiliarity，andherperfecttrustfulnessinhimtouchedhisextravagantchivalry。Heoughttoprotecther，andyetcorrecther。Intheconsciousnessofthesedutieshelaidhiswhitehanduponherhead。Alas！sheliftedherarmandinstantlytransferredhishandandpartofhisarmaroundherneckandshoulders，andcomfortablysnuggledagainsthim。Thecolonelgasped。Nevertheless，somethingmustbesaid，andhebegan，albeitsomewhatcrippledindelivery:—— “The——er——useofelegantandpreciselanguageby——er——youngladiescannotbetoosedulouslycultivated“—— Butherethechildlaughed，andsnugglingstillcloser，gurgled: “That’sright！Giveittoherwhenshecomesdown！That’sthestyle！“andthecolonelstopped，discomfited。Nevertheless，therewasacertainwholesomeglowinthecontactofthisnestlinglittlefigure。 Presentlyheresumedtentativery:“Ihave——er——broughtyouafewdainties。“ “Yes，“saidPansy，“Isee；butthey’refromthewrongshop，youdearoldsilly！They’refromTomkins’s，andwegirlsjustabominatehisthings。YououghterhavegonetoEmmons’s。Nevermind。I’llshowyouwhenwegoout。We’regoingout，aren’twe？“ shesaidsuddenly，liftingherheadanxiously。“Youknowit’sallowed，andit’sRIGHTS’toparentsandguardians’！“ “Certainly，certainly，“saidthecolonel。Heknewhewouldfeelalittlelessconstrainedintheopenair。 “Thenwe’llgonow，“saidPansy，jumpingup。“I’lljustrunupstairsandputonmythings。I’llsayit’s’orders’fromyou。 AndI’llwearmynewfrock——it’slonger。“(Thecolonelwasslightlyrelievedatthis；ithadseemedtohim，asaguardian，thattherewasperhapsanabnormaldisplayofPansy’sblackstockings。)“Youwait；Iwon’tbelong。“ Shedartedtothedoor，butreachingit，suddenlystopped，returnedtothesofa，wherethecolonelstillsat，imprintedaswiftkissonhismottledcheek，andfled，leavinghiminvestedwithamingledflavoroffreshlyironedmuslin，wintergreenlozenges，andrecentbreadandbutter。Hesatstillforsometime，staringoutofthewindow。Itwasveryquietintheroom；abumblebeeblunderedfromthejasmineoutsideintotheopenwindow，andsnoredloudlyatthepanes。Butthecolonelheededitnot，andremainedabstractedandsilentuntilthedooropenedtoMissTishandPansy——inherbestfrockandsash，atwhichthecolonelstartedandbecameerectagainandcourtly。 “Iamabouttotakemywardout，“hesaiddeliberately，“to——er—— tastetheairintheAlameda，and——er——viewtheshops。Wemay——er—— also——indulgein——er——slightsuitablerefreshment；——er——seedcake—— or——breadandbutter——and——adishoftea。“ MissTish，nowthoroughlysubdued，wasdelightedtograntMissStannardthehalfholidaypermittedonsuchoccasions。Shebeggedthecoloneltosuithisownpleasure，andintrusted“thedearchild“toherguardian“withthegreatestconfidence。“ Thecolonelmadealowbow，andPansy，demurelyslippingherhandintohis，passedwithhimintothehall；therewasaslightrustleofvanishingskirts，andPansypressedhishandsignificantly。 Whentheywerewelloutside，shesaid，inalowervoice:—— “Don’tlookupuntilwe’reunderthegymnasiumwindows。“Thecolonel，mystifiedbutobedient，struttedon。“Now！“saidPansy。 Helookedup，beheldthewindowsaglowwithbrightyoungfaces，andbewilderingwithmanyhandkerchiefsandclappinghands，stopped，andthentakingoffhishat，acknowledgedthesalutewithasweepingbow。Pansywasdelighted。“Iknewthey’dbethere；I’dalreadyfixed’em。They’rejustdyin’toknowyou。“ Thecolonelfeltacertainglowofpleasure，“I——er——hadalreadyintimateda——er——willingnessto——er——inspecttheclasses；but——I—— er——understoodthattherules“—— “They’resickoldrules，“interruptedthechild。“TishandPrinkwellaretherules！YousayjustrightoutthatyouWILL！ Justoverdoher！“ Thecolonelhadavaguesensethatheoughttocorrectboththespiritandlanguageofthisinsurrectionaryspeech，butPansypulledhimalong，andthenswepthimquiteawaywithatorrentofprattleoftheschool，ofherfriends，oftheteachers，ofherlifeanditsinfinitelysmallmiseriesandpleasures。Pansywasvoluble；neverbeforehadthecolonelfoundhimselfrelegatedtotheplaceofapassivelistener。Nevertheless，helikedit，andastheypassedon，undertheshadeoftheAlameda，withPansyalternatelyswingingfromhishandandskippingbesidehim，therewasavaguesmileofsatisfactiononhisface。Passers-byturnedtolookafterthestrangelyassortedpair，orsmiled，acceptingthem，asthecolonelfancied，asfatheranddaughter。Anoddfeeling，halfofpainandhalfofpleasure，grippedattheheartoftheemptyandchildlessman。 Andnow，astheyapproachedthemorecrowdedthoroughfares，theinstinctofchivalrousprotectionwaskeeninhisbreast。Hepilotedherskillfully；hejauntilysuitedhisowntoherskippingstep；heliftedherwithscrupulouspolitenessoverobstacles； struttingbesideheroncrowdedpavements，hemadewayforherwithhisswingingstick。Allthewhile，too，hehadtakennoteoftheeasycarriageofherheadandshoulders，andmostofallofhersmall，slimfeetandhands，that，tohisfastidioustaste，betokenedherrace。“Ged，sir，“hemutteredtohimself，“she’s’BlueGrass’stock，allthrough。“Toadmirationsucceededpride，withaslighttouchofownership。Whentheywentintoashop，which，thankstotheingenuousPansy，theydidprettyoften，hewouldintroduceherwithawaveofthehandandtheremark，“Iam