LITTLE WOMEN CHAPTER 14

"What in the world are you doing here?" she asked, regarding
her disheveled sister with well-bred surprise.

"Stop jabbering, girls, and I'll tell you everything,"
said Jo, wondering if Miss Burney felt any grander over her
Evilina than she did over her `Rival Painters'.

"You can teach me, and then when we play HAMLET, you can be
Laertes, and we'll make a fine thing of the fencing scene."

"Can't a fellow take a little innocent amusement now and then
without losing his respectability?" asked Laurie, looking nettled.

You are up to some mischief, Jo,"
said Laurie, looking mystified.

"Won't Laurie laugh?" cried
the family, all in one breath as they clustered about Jo, for
these foolish, affectionate people mad a jubilee of every little
household joy.

"Well, I've left two stories with a newspaperman, and he's to
give his answer next week," whispered Jo, in her confidant's ear.

"I'll be a double distilled saint."

And Beth
ran to hug her sister and exult over this splendid success.

This maneuver she repeated several
times, to the great amusement of a black-eyed young gentleman
lounging in the window of a building opposite.

The reader suddenly sat up, cast away the paper, displaying
a flushed countenance, and with a funny mixture of solemnity and
excitement replied in a loud voice, "Your sister."

In ten minutes Jo came running downstairs with a very red
face and the general appearance of a person who had just passed
through a trying ordeal of some sort.

Much obliged."

The girls listened with interest, for the tale was romantic,
and somewhat pathetic, as most of the characters died in the end.

Play fair, Teddy, or I'll never believe
you again," she said, trying to extinguish the brilliant hopes that
blazed up at a word of encouragement.

"Laurie burst out with a hearty boy's laugh, which made
several passers-by smile in spite of themselves.

"Won't Laurie laugh?" cried
the family, all in one breath as they clustered about Jo, for
these foolish, affectionate people mad a jubilee of every little
household joy.

"It's very trying, but we never can make her commy la fo,"
added Amy, who sat making some new frills for herself, with her
curls tied up in a very becoming way., two agreeable things that
made her feel unusually elegant and ladylike.

There was a dentist's sign, among others, which adorned the
entrance, and after staring a moment at the pair of artificial
jaws which slowly opened and shut to draw attention to a fine
set of teeth, the young gentleman put on his coat, took his hat,
and went down to post himself in the opposite doorway, saying
with a smile and a shiver, "It's like her to come alone, but if
she has a bad time she'll need someone to help her home."

There was a dentist's sign, among others, which adorned the
entrance, and after staring a moment at the pair of artificial
jaws which slowly opened and shut to draw attention to a fine
set of teeth, the young gentleman put on his coat, took his hat,
and went down to post himself in the opposite doorway, saying
with a smile and a shiver, "It's like her to come alone, but if
she has a bad time she'll need someone to help her home."

She rushed to the door when the postman
rang, was rude to Mr. Brooke whenever they met, would sit looking
at Meg with a woe-begone face, occasionally jumping up to shake
and then kiss her in a very mysterious manner.

Quite absorbed in her work, Jo scribbled away till the last page
was filled, when she signed her name with a flourish and threw
down her pen, exclaiming...

"Who wrote it?" asked Beth, who had caught a glimpse of Jo's
face.

"No, she can't bear fashionable young men, and she'd shut us
all up in bandboxes rather than have us associate with them."

Quite absorbed in her work, Jo scribbled away till the last page
was filled, when she signed her name with a flourish and threw
down her pen, exclaiming...

The reader suddenly sat up, cast away the paper, displaying
a flushed countenance, and with a funny mixture of solemnity and
excitement replied in a loud voice, "Your sister."

Jo's breath gave out here, and wrapping her head in the
paper, she bedewed her little story with a few natural tears,
for to be independent and earn the praise of those she loved
were the dearest wishes of her heart, and this seemed to be the
first step toward that happy end.

If anyone had been watching her, he would have thought her
movements decidedly peculiar, for on alighting, she went off at a
great pace till she reached a certain number in a certain busy
street.

In a few minutes Jo bounced in, laid herself on the sofa,
and affected to read.

So I let him have the two
stories, and today this was sent to me, and Laurie caught me
with it and insisted on seeing it, so I let him.