Читать книгу The Mean-Wells онлайн

36 страница из 44

Loveday, though, preferred to keep it.

“I’ll unpin it,” she said, “but I think I will wear it, ’cause it goes with my parasol, and I am going to take in my parasol for the babies to see. I think they will think it very pretty, don’t you, Priscilla?”

But Priscilla was already inside the building, gazing with fascinated eyes at the rows of mothers and babies. The building, which was the school-house, and stood a little way outside the village, had been cleared of its usual occupants, and on the forms, which had been moved back in two lines along the sides, sat a lot of country women, each one holding a baby. Such jolly babies they were, most of them, great, plump, smiling, healthy, country babies. Some were too young to notice anything, and just lay asleep, or staring contentedly about them, but others sat up and looked at Priscilla and each other and their mothers, and laughed and crowed, and waggled their bald heads about. They were all specklessly, spotlessly clean and kissable in their cotton frocks and big pinafores, and the mothers looked as clean and tidy as the babies, and most of them were just as smiling. When they saw the doctor come in the mothers all stood up and curtseyed, and Dr. Carlyon had a word and a smile for each one.