Me an' Teddy

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II How I Come To Be Me

The very firstest thing Nurse Bell wanted me to tell her, so ’s she could write it, was when I got to be me, an’ come here to be with mamma an’ papa an’ Teddy.

Ain’t it funny.? I don’t know a bit, where I was, nor who I was, nor how I come to be me, an’ to be here! The very firstest thing I knowed, me an’ Teddy was mamma’s babies, an’ had been ever so long!

Say, I don’t b’lieve anybody knows. I ast mamma one day, an’ what do you think she said.? She didn’t say a word for ever so long; she just hugged me up close, an’ kissed me, an’ looked so sweet an’ rosy! Bymeby she said, “Sue, you an’ Teddy was God’s gift to me an’ papa. Don’t you think he was very good to us.?”

“Ye-e-es, I gue-e-ess so,” says I.

“Ain’t you quite sure. Sue.?” says she.

“Well,” says I, “I would ’a’ bin, but Teddy went and took my Black-eyed Susie doll, an’ set her straddle of the cat, an’ tied her feet so ’s she couldn’t fall, an’ the cat runned away an’ broke Susie’s head right off — he did so! an’ I think he’d ’ave bin gooder to you and papa if he’d ’a’ give you a nother little girl baby an’ kept Teddy!”

I guess I won’t tell what mamma said next. She’d feel so sorry she said it when she’d see it in the book. Most always she says nice things to me, but — well, I don’t care, Teddy was real naughty to my dollie! I wonder what mamma ’d say ’bout any one that ’d done such a thing to one of her twins!

Oh, I can tell now, the very firstest folks I ever seen, an’ what they was doin’ to me. It was c-e-ver so long ago, when me an’ Teddy was little.

I was layin’ in the cradle; an’ there was a nother me there, too; an’ I was lookin’ at him, an’ he was lookin’ at me. Course, I didn’t know it was Teddy then, but it was; an’ after that we just kept right on seein’ one a nother; an’ we begun to play, an bymeby we talked.

But that ain’t what I was goin’ to tell. That time when I seen Teddy first, he did look so funny. You know Uncle Ben’s head is all bare an’ shiny— well, Teddy’s head was just like that, an’ mine wasn’t, but I didn’t think ’bout it then, for I couldn’t talk, an’ I hadn’t never seen Uncle Ben.

An’ it was that day that Teddy done sumfin to me that made me cry. I guess he was cross cause I had lots of nice hair, an’ he hadn’t any, for he just took hold of mine an’ pulled an’ pulled, an’ I cried an’ cried.

Bymeby mamma she come in an’ took Teddy’s hand away. Then she fixed us up all nice in the cradle, an’ kissed us, and went away.

How did I know it was mamma.^

’Cause it was! Course, I couldn’t talk then; but I just feeled that she was my mamma. An’ I kept right on seein’ her, an’ talked to her the firstest cne. Yes! I knowed my mamma a long, long time afore I could talk a bit; ’cause she had such sweet mamma eyes an’ mamma kisses.

One day when she was goin’ away, mamma stood in the door an’ looked at us, an’ she seemed, oh, so sorry ’bout sumfin. Then she went out. I guess it was the sorry in her eyes that made me always think of that time.

Then you come. Nurse Bell, an’ that was the firstest time I seen you. You hadn’t bin with us always, like mamma. Now, nurse, you shouldn’t say that you’d bin with us most two years! If you was, where’d you stay so ’s I couldn’t see you.?

Any way, you come m just after mamma went out, an’ you had sumfin in each hand, an’ you put one of ’emi down by me an’ tother one by Teddy. They was bottles with milk in ’em, an’ a long string to drink with.

Course, we couldn’t talk then, an’ didn’t know an’ couldn’t say what a meaa thing you was doin’ to us. Nurse Bell. But we was offle hungry, an’ you took mamma away, an’ put them nasty things by us, an’ put the ends of the strings in our mouths, an’ coaxed us to take our dinner that way!

You needn’t write it, nurse, if you don’t want to — I wouldn’t, if I was you — for it was as mean as mean, so there, now!

I cried, an’ cried, for mamma. An’ Teddy, he cried too, for a while, an’ then he got oh, so cross, an’ throwed the bottle an’ it failed on the floor an’ broke all to smash, an’ spilt the milk.

Teddy’s bin like that, always. I can’t make him stop gettin’ cross so easy; it makes me ’fraid he’ll do sumfin offle, when he gets bigger.

Well, you brought a nother bottle for Teddy, an’ watched so ’s he wouldn’t break it. An’ mamma she come an’ hushed us an’ cried over us; and bymeby we drinked the milk; but, oh my! it wasn’t nice like our other dinner.

Teddy got used to it right off, an’ I did, too, after a while; but we never, never got over thinkin’ how mean you was— just that one time, you know.

What makes you cry, nurse.!* Well, if you’re real sorry, an’ won’t neyer do it again. Til play you didn’t do it a tall; an’ I’ll make Teddy play you didn’t, too.

Ill

AUNT BEN’S BABY

One day Uncle Ben an’ A’nt Ben come to our house, an’ brought their baby. Oh, it was the weentie, teentiest little thing, not a bit bigger ’n my Black-eyed Susie doll was afore Teddy went an’ made the cat break her head off.

I thought it luas a doll; an’ ast A’nt Ben to let me have it to play with. What you s’pose she said.^ W’y she looked all scairt, an’ she said, “W’y, you offle child! This ain’t a rag doll for little girls to play with, it’s a baby— mamma’s boo’ful itsy baby!” — an’ she hugged it up ’s if it was sum fin offle nice.

I tell you, I was cross as cross, an’ so was Teddy, when she said that humbly little mite of a thing was mamma' s baby. If I’d ’a’ knowed her long name I’d ’a’ called her that — sure’s you live — but I didn’t know it; so I said:

“Ain’t you a wicked thing to tell such a story! Mamma ain’t got any babies but just me an’ Teddy — an’ she ain’t goin’ to have, ever — is she, Teddy.?”

A’nt Ben an’ mamma begun to laugh; but Teddy he just yelled an’ said, “No, she ain’t!” an’ he runned up to A’nt Ben’s lap an’ pinched the little thing on one of its legs.

Say, it was a truly baby — made of meat! for when Teddy pinched it, it cried an’ cried.

Yes; I was sorry, then, that Teddy done so; he does do things that make me sorry every little while. An’ I guess Teddy was sorry, too — he looked like he was when mamma brought him back out of the bedroom.

Course, I know now that A’nt Ben meant that she was that baby’s mamma, but me an’ Teddy was little then, an’ we thought she meant that it was oiir mamma’s baby.

When A’nt Ben was goin’ home, mamma brought her one of Teddy’s long baby dresses, an’ said she might have it for her baby to wear. Then Teddy was badder’n ever. You should ’ave heard him! He just howled an’ said, “No! no! she shan’t have it! It’s mine!” An’ he tried to snatch it an’ run away.

Mamma talked real nice to him — just like I do when he’s naughty. “Now, Teddy,” says she, “you can’t wear this dress any more, an’ you ought to be glad to give it to your cousin.”

“But I want to keep it! I won’t give it to anybody!” says Teddy; an’ he cried louder’n ever.

I tell you, mamma was pritty near cross, then, .for she called him by his long name, Theodore Frederick Worthington! That made Teddy hush up, some; an’ mamma got smily again, an’ she ast him, “What do you want to do with it.? It’s too little for you to wear.”

“W’3%” says he, “ain’t I goin’ to have a wife when I get married — sometime.? ’ ’

Then mamma laughed right out loud, an’ said, “Yes, I hope so; but it’ll be too little for her.”

“Yes,” says he, “but won’t she want to put it on her baby.?”

I don’t know one bit what made A’nt Ben an’ mamma laugh so — but they did, till they had to set down an’ laugh, an’ A’nt Ben nearly dropped her bab}^

Bymeby mamma said, “See here, Teddy, I’ve got a new suit for you — pants and coat, just like a man’s. Now if you’ll be good, an’ give the dress to the baby. I’ll put them on you tomorrow, an’ you’ll be my own little man.”

Teddy was that glad that he took the dress an’ runned up to A’nt Ben an’ give it to her his own self. I didn’t say one word ’bout it; but I tell you I felt bad; ’cause it seemed as if me an’ Teddy ’d have to quit bein’ twins if he put on boy’s clothes an’ I didn’t

IV Teddy Sees An Angel

It was Sunday when Teddy wore his boy’s clothes the hrstest time. My, wasn’t he proud, though.? He capered, an’ frisked an’ jumped like Ponto does when he gets us out in the back field.

Ponto’s our dog, you know. He goes with us, oh, everywheres! An’ he takes care of us so ’s the lions an’ the bears can’t eat us up. Say, we ain’t never seen one, once, when Ponto was with us. He knows just as much as folks; an’ he’s lot’s nicer’n most of ’em.

When Ponto come in that Sunday, an’ seen Teddy in his new clothes, he didn’t know what little boy it was till he’d looked at him a long time Then he barked as though he wanted to say, “W’y it’s Teddy!” An’ he wagged his tail, an’ laughed in his eyes, an’ licked Teddy’s hands an’ face — that’s his way of kissin,’ you know.

Teddy was bad enough afore; but when papa come in an’ said, “W’3% how d’ye do, Mr. Worthington.?” an’ said he was goin’ to be papa’s little man, he was just offle. He give a whoop like Injun Bill in the circus, and runned out into the hall an’ got papa’s cane an’ come back walkin’ like a old, big man.

Then he says, “Paw” (I wish he’d say papa, but he never does — spite of all me an’ mamma can say), “Paw,” says he, “ain’t you sorry for Sue.? She’s nothin’ but a girl, an’ can’t never be a man, an’ wear-men’s pants an’ coats like me ’n you, can she, paw.?”

T^ddy ain’t like that, much, an’ I’m glad he ain’t. I most cried when he talked so. An’ I was just goin’ to tell mamma that she’d haf to make Teddy a girl like me, or make me a boy like Teddy, so’s we could go on bein’ twins like we ust to be. But I didn’t say it; ’cause Teddy got his legs twisted up with papa’s cane, an’ failed down an’ made his nose bleed. Then I had to love him good, so ’s he stop cryin’, for mamma wasn’t there, then.

When we got done eatin’ breakfus’ what you think.? W’y, Teddy had stole away, an’ we couldn’t find him no wheres! He wasn’t in the house, nor in the barn, nor in the yard, nor in the back field— he wasn’t no wheres!

Mamma was scairt; an’ I cried, hard; an’ papa was most crazy. He started folks out all over the village to look for Teddy, an’ he went his own self. Uncle Ben and A’nt Ben come, an’ they said they guessed somebody had stole Teddy. We waited hours an’ hours, but nobody could find him.

Then I went up to Ponto an’ put my arms ’round his neck, an’ cried on his face; an’ I said, “Ponto, Teddy’s lost! Mebbe the bears an’ lions ’ll get him an’ eat him up! Ponto, dear old Ponto, you must go an’ find Teddy, an’ bring him home — quick!’’

What you think.? W’y, Ponto went right out into the village, an’ bymeby he come back a waggin’ his tail an’ laughin’ in his eyes, ’cause he had Teddy a walkin’ by his sid.e!

My! v/asn’t we all glad.? I kissed Teddy first, an’ then I kissed Ponto all over his face; an’ I let him kiss me all he wanted to, — good old Ponto!

Mamma she just laughed an’ cried both to once, an’ most choked Teddy a huggin’ him. Papa looked ’s if he was offle glad, an’ oh, a teenie bit cross, too, ’cause Teddy runned away. I guess he was cross more’n that; for bymeby he called Teddy by part of his long name. “Theodore Frederick,’’ says he, “come here an’ tell papa where you bin, an’ what you bin doin’.’’

Teddy didn’t seem to care one bit for makin’ us all so scairt an’ sorry. He just capered ’round, an’ prouded his new clothes ’s if he hadn’t bin naughty a tall. An’ when papa ast him that, he said:

“W’y, papa, I went out to see all the folks. I walked, an’ I runned, an’ I didn’t tear my new clothes a bit. Bymeby I didn’t know where I was. Then I sot down by the fence an’ cried, ’cause I was ’fraid. Then I got up an’ runned some more.

“Bymeby I seen, oh, such a lot of folks, an’ they was all goin’ into a big, big house. So I went in, too, an’ they was all singin’; but there wasn’t none of ’em had on such nice clothes as me!

“An’ say, I seen a angel in there; an’ he hadn’t a thing on him but a long white nighty! Then I was scairt; an’ I runned out, an’ there was Ponto by the door, an’ we come home.’’

Then they all laughed at Teddy; but I didn’t know if it was

TEDDY SEES AN ANGEL

’cause he was ’fraid of a angel, or ’cause he was so proud of wearin’ boy’s clothes.

A’nt Ben spoke up an’, says she, “For the land sake! The child has bin to church an’ seen a minister the first time in his life! an’ he had to go all alone.”

Then she looked hard at papa; I guess she felt pritty cross ’bout sumfin, for she said, “Abraham Worthington, have you never had them lovely twins of yourn christened.?” Papa said he hadn’t; an’ he looked ’s if he was sorry he hadn’t.

So, they made it up that the next Sunday A’nt Ben an’ Uncle Ben would take their little baby, an’ papa an’ mamma would take me an’ Teddy, an’ go to church an’ have us all christened.

V

TEDDY REBELS

I’m so sorry to have to tell what Teddy done when he went tc church to be christened; but I’ve got to do it. It ain’t one of the things I said I w^ouldn’t tell if he’d be a better boy an’ keep his hands clean.

Mamma fixed us up real nice. If I didn’t have on boy’s clothes, like Teddy, I had a new white dress that was just lovely, with pink bows on it, an’ white stockin’s, an’ slippers that shined, oh, ever so bright.

When we got there, there was such a lot of people! An’ sure ’nough there was a angel, just as Teddy said! An’ he had on a long white nighty that come clear down to his feet; an’ he had whiskers on his face, but his head was all bare an’ shiny, like Teddy’s was when he was little.

An’ say, Ponto, don’t you b’lieve, wanted to go into church just like he was folks! I guess he was ’fraid Teddy ’d get lost some more; but papa sent him home.

When he got ready to christen us, the angel made Uncle an’ A’nt Ben, an’ papa an’ mamma, stand up in a row. A’nt Ben held her baby, an’ mamma held me, an’ papa held Teddy.

The angel readed in a book; an’ he talked to us; an’ he talked to all the folks; an’ he talked to some one we couldn’t see, an’ he couldn’t see neither, ’cause he shut his eyes, but he talked to him real nice ; an’ some of the folks that was there said amen, but none of ’em said a women.

Then, all to once, that angel went an’ got cross! He just took A’nt Ben’s baby right out of her mamma’s arms, an’ looked straight at her, an’ what you think.? W’y, he called her by her long name! “Caroline Margaret,” says he, ’s if she ’d bin real naughty; an’ he throwed some water on her head — he did so! What you think of that for a angel.?

Course, the baby cried. An’ I most cried my own self when he took me an’ looked hard at me an’ said, 'Susan Amelia,” an’ throwed water on me — an’ I’d bin as good all the time!

I guess Teddy had got real scairt bearin’ him call A’nt Ben’s baby an’ me by our long names; for when the angel reached out for him he just throwed his arms round papa’s neck an’ screamed. “No! No! He shan’t! Don’t let him wash me, papa!”

Say, I never knowed, afore that time, that papa had a angel for a brother, but he had. When Teddy just wouldn’t let him christen him the angel said. Never mind, brother\ I’ll come tomorrow an’ make friends with the boy at home; then he’ll let me christen him all right.”

I don’t know one bit why the angel was nicer in our house than he was in church, but he was — ever so much. I guess it must a bin ’cause he didn’t have on his long white nighty; w’y, he had men’s clothes on, an’ me an’ Teddy found out that he was just a man, like papa, an’ not a angel a tall!

Teddy wouldn’t go up to him for a long time; but I did, an’ he talked to me real nice ’bout my Black-eyed Susie doll, an’ Ponto, an’, oh, lots of things. Bymeby he ast me, “What made your little brother cry in church.?”

So, I up an’ told him. Says I, “It was ’cause you called A’nt Ben’s baby an’ me by our long names, like mamma does when she’s real cross; an’ Teddy got ’fraid you was cross, too, for you looked ’s if you was; so he cried, an’ I most cried my own self.”

My, you should ’ave seen how red mamma’s face got when I was tellin’ him that! “Susan Amelia!” says she; an’ then she stopped, an’ bited her lips, an’ got redder’n ever. I guess I must ’ave bin naughty ’bout sumfin — but I didn’t mean to. I heard mamma tellin’ papa, bymeby, that she’d never call us by our long names any more; an’ she never did — only sometimes when we’d bin very bad.

Well, the man an’ Teddy got to be real good friends; an’ mamma brought some water in a silver dish, an’ he christened him just like he did A’nt Ben’s baby an’ me. Teddy didn’t cry any, but he kind o’ dodged, an’ went “Ouch!” when the man throwed water on him.

VI The Twin Dolls Are Christened

One day we was all out in the back field — me an’ Teddy an’ Ponto — a havin’ such fun!

We played Ponto was a bear, an’ runned away! an’ he runned after us an’ barked just like a bear, ’s if he was goin’ to eat us right up! Then we played we was lions an’ chased Ponto, an’ he played he was scairt an’ runned away from us. But say, if we’d a bin truly lions do you think Ponto ’d bin ’fraid.^* W’y, he’d a killed a thousan’ million lions in one minute!

All to once Teddy stopped an’ looked hard at me, like A’nt Ben looked at papa that time! an’ says he, “Susan Amelia Worthington, have you ever had them lovely twins of yourn christened.?’’

I most cried when he ast me that. I had only two dollies, then. One was Black-eyed Susie, an’ tother was Blue-eyed Beauty, an’ they was twins like me an’ Teddy ; an’ they’d never bin christened, once.

Then, says Teddy, “Les’ go right in an’ christen them twins. One’s a girl like you — that’s Black-eyed Susie; tother’s a boy like me, an’ we’ll call him Sailor Jack, ’cause I’m goin’ to be a sailor when I’m big enough. An’ say. Sue, you an’ Nurse Bell must make him sailor clothes to be christened in, for he hasn’t a stitch of boy’s clothes to his back.’’

“All right, Teddy says I; “but who’ll christen ’em.?’’

“That’s just like a girl,’’ says Teddy. “Course, I’ll do it. Wasn’t it a man that christened us.? Come right in, an’ we’ll do it now.”

So, we went in, an’ Nurse Bell helped me make some sailor clothes for Blue-eyed Beauty, an’ we put ’em on her. My, she was just the nicest lookin’ boy you ever seen!— only we had to cut her hair short, an’ I didn’t like to, ’cause she had such lovely long curls when she was a girl.

When we got the twins ready, Nurse Bell went away an’ left

US alone. Teddy was for christenin’ ’em just like he was, in his every-day clothes, an’ his hands was most black — they was so dirty. So, I says to him :

“Theodore Frederick, you go an’ wash your hands, an’ then come with me; you’ve got to be fixed some afore you can christen my twins.”

Teddy went an’ washed; an’ then I took him to the bedroom an’ begun to cut the hair off the top of his head. He didn’t want me to do it, but I had to; for how could he christen my twins right if he didn’t look like the man that christened me an’ him an’ A’nt Ben’s baby.?

So, I just went right on an’ cutted all the hair off the top of his head, most down to his ears; an’ I took the hair and stuck it on his chin for whiskers with some molasses. Then I put my long white nighty on him, an’ papa’s old spectacles; an’ say! he looked just like a man, only he wasn’t as big as him.

When I’d got Teddy all fixed up, we took a high chair an’ put it in the middle of the floor for him to stand on, an’ the back of the chair was like what was afore the man when he christened us.

Teddy climbed up on the chair, an’ I put a big bowl of water right by his feet, an’ I give him my Mother Goose picture book to read out of. Then I went after the twins; an’ I brought in the cat an’ Ponto to be folks, an’ we played they said amen when Teddy was a talkin’ with his eyes shut.

Say, you should ’ave seen Teddy, when we all come in together! He just made hisself as tall as ever he could, an’ he tried to look cross, an’ opened Mother Goose an’ played he was readin’ out of it; then he shut it up an’ put it under his arm an’ talked to us a while; then he shut his eyes an’ talked like the man did in the church — he did so!

Bymeby he was ready to call the twins by their long names, an’ throw water on ’em. So, I tried to reach Black-eyed Susie up to him; but he was so high on the chair that I couldn’t. Then Teddy leaned way over, so’s he could reach her; an’ what you think.? W’y, that nasty chair just tipted over, an’ Teddy an’ the bowl of water an’ the chair all failed on me an’ my poor little twins! An’ we all failed down on the floor! It hurted Teddy, oh, so bad ; an’ it hurted me, too ; an’ we was all wetty with the water; but I was real glad that my twins wasn’t killed.

Ponto barked, an’ Teddy an’ me cried an’ cried till mamxma come in. She was offle scairt, at first, an’ loved us good, an’ hushed us till we quit cryin’.

Bymeby she looked at my white nighty on Teddy, an’ at the top of his head, an’ at the pieces of the bowl. Then she got, oh, so cross, an’ ast me what us childurn had bin at.

So, I had to tell her. My, but she was cross! She went an’ fixed Teddy where he was hurted, an’ washed off all the nice whiskers I’d put on his chin. Then she took me into the bedroom an’ talked to me ’bout cuttin’ Teddy’s hair off. An’ she done sumfin else that I ain’t goin’ to tell, ’cause it’d make her feel bad when she’d read ’bout it in the book that me an’ Nurse Bell is makin’ — it would so!

VII Playing Pilgrims

Mamma wouldn’t let Teddy go out any more till his hair growed where I cutted it off. So we had to stay in a long while. Nurse Bell was real good to us, then, an’ told us such lovely stories ’bout fairies, an’ brownies, an’ things.

One w'as a long story ’bout pilgrims; an’ what you think.? W’y, me an’ Teddy made it up that we’d be pilgrims like the folks nurse told us ’bout, an’ hnd the lovely place they went to— just as soon as his hair growed out.

So, one day we got ready. We didn’t know where the place was, but Teddy said it must be way over in the back field under a apple tree.

We played that Teddy was the pilgrim an’ I was his wife. He was to go there alone, like the other pilgrim did, an’ wait for me to come with our childurn — my twin dollies, you know. We got papa’s cane for the pilgrim’s staff; an’ cook give us some bread an’ butter an’ cake an' pie in a basket. I made Teddy promise that he wouldn’t eat one bite till I got there.

I’m ’fraid I was naughty, but we just had to have a pack for Teddy to carry on his back, ’r else he wouldn’t be a truly pilgrim, a tall. So, I took a pillow off mamma’s bed — most as big as he was — an’ tied it on his shoulders. Then he went off, an’ I waited by the gate, with the twins an’ Ponto, till he’d get there.

Say, what you s’ pose.? W’y, when Teddy ’d got most there, there was a truly old, big giant, like it was in the story! He was layin’ down under the apple tree; an’ when he seen Teddy he got up, with a big stick in his hand, an’ went up to him, an’ Teddy tried to run away. But the giant catched him, an’ was takin’ the bread an’ butter an’ pie an’ cake out of the basket.

I tell you, I was scairt! An’ I said to Ponto, “That nasty old giant is goin’ to hurt Teddy; Ponto, you must go an’ eat him up — quick!”

Ponto runned, oh, ever so fast! I ^uess if he’d kept still he’d ’ave had that giant for his dinner. But he barked, an’ the giant dropped the basket an’ runned most as fast as Ponto did. He got away, but Ponto catched hold of his pants when he was gettin’ over the fence, an’ come back with a great big piece of ’em in his mouth.

I was that scairt I didn’t know a bit what to do. An’ I says to Teddy, ‘T don’t b’lieve the good place we was lookin’ for is under the apple tree, a tall! I guess it’s right in our mamma’s room; let’s go there this minute!”

But Teddy wasn’t ’fraid — just like a lion an’ a bear. An’ says he, “Don’t you cry, Sis!” That made me so cross I wasn’t scairt anymore; ’cause I don’t like to be called Sis/ But that’s what he said: “Don’t you cry, Sis! Me an’ Ponto’ll take care of you.”

So we went under the apple tree an’ played it was the place, an’ there was angels up in the branches. Bymeby Teddy got tired of his pack, an’ he ast me how nurse said the pilgrim got it off. But I couldn’t think of what she said so I just took it off of Teddy’s back my own self, an’ we put it up by the tree.

Bymeby, when we played a long time, we was hungry, an’ looked in the basket; an’ what you think.? W’y, that big giant had took a lot of our things! There was just one piece of bread an’ butter an’ one piece of cake an’ one piece of pie!