Comfort Pease and Her Gold Ring

Wilkins Freeman Mary E.

Description

In this charming short story geared for younger readers, a young girl named Comfort is very proud of the gold ring that was gifted to her when she was born by her namesake Aunt Comfort. But when young Comfort takes the ring to school to show her friends, things don't turn out exactly how she had planned.

Sujets

• Short story

Informations

• Publié par: The Floating Press
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781776670352
• Langue: English

Extrait

COMFORT PEASE AND HER GOLD RING
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MARY E. WILKINS FREEMAN
 
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Comfort Pease and Her Gold Ring First published in 1895 Epub ISBN 978-1-77667-035-2 Also available: PDF ISBN 978-1-77667-036-9 © 2014 The Floating Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Comfort Peaseand Her Gold Ring
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One of the first things which Comfort remembered being told was thatshe had been named for her Aunt Comfort, who had given her a goldring and a gold dollar for her name. Comfort could not understandwhy. It always seemed to her that her aunt, and not she, had giventhe name, and that she should have given the ring and the dollar; butthat was what her mother had told her. "Your Aunt Comfort gave youthis beautiful gold ring and this gold dollar for your name," saidshe.
The ring and the dollar were kept in Mrs. Pease's little rosewoodwork-box, which she never used for needlework, but as a repositoryfor her treasures. Her best cameo brooch was in there, too, and alock of hair of Comfort's baby brother who died.
One of Comfort's chiefest delights was looking at her gold ring andgold dollar. When she was very good her mother would unlock therosewood box and let her see them. She had never worn the ring—itwas much too large for her. Aunt Comfort and her mother had eachthought that it was foolish to buy a gold ring that she couldoutgrow. "If it was a chameleon ring I wouldn't care," said AuntComfort; "but it does seem a pity when it's a real gold ring." Sothe ring was bought a little too large for Comfort's mother. She wasa very small woman, and Comfort was a large baby, and, moreover,favored her father's family, who were all well grown, and AuntComfort feared she might have larger fingers.
"Why, I've seen girls eight years old with fingers a good deal biggerthan yours, Emily," she said. "Suppose Comfort shouldn't be able toget that ring on her finger after she's eight years old, what a pity'twould be, when it's real gold, too!"
But when Comfort was eight years old she was very small for her age,and she could actually crowd two of her fingers—the little one andthe third—into the ring. She begged her mother to let her wear itso, but she would not. "No," said she, "I sha'n't let you makeyourself a laughing-stock by wearing a ring any such way as that.Besides, you couldn't use your fingers. You've got to wait till yourhand grows to it."
So poor little Comfort waited, but she had a discouraged feelingsometimes that her hand never would grow to it. "Suppose I shouldn'tbe any bigger than you, mother," she said, "couldn't I ever wear thering?"
"Hush! you will be bigger than I am. All your father's folks are, andyou look just like them," said her mother, conclusively, and Comforttried to have faith. The gold dollar also could only impart thesimple delight of possession, for it was not to be spent. "I am goingto give her a gold dollar to keep beside the ring," Aunt Comfort hadsaid.
"What is it for?" Comfort asked sometimes when she gazed at itshining in its pink cotton bed in the top of the work-box.
"It's to keep," answered her mother.
Comfort grew to have a feeling, which she never expressed to anybody,that her gold dollar was somehow like Esau's birthright, andsomething dreadful would happen to her if she parted with it. Shefelt safer, because a "mess of pottage" didn't sound attractive toher, and she did not think she would ever be tempted to spend hergold dollar for that.
Comfort went to school when she was ten years old. She had not begunas early as most of the other girls, because she lived three quartersof a mile from the school-house and had many sore throats. Thedoctors had advised her mother to teach her at home; and she could dothat, because she had been a teacher herself when she was a girl.
Comfort had not been to school one day before everybody in it knewabout her gold ring and her dollar, and it happened in this way: Shesat on the bench between Rosy and Matilda Stebbins, and Rosy had aring on the middle finger of her left hand. Rosy was a fair, prettylittle girl, with long light curls, which all the other girls admiredand begged for the privilege of twisting. Rosy at recess usually hadone or two of her friends standing at her back twisting her softcurls over their fingers.
Rosy wore pretty gowns and aprons, too, and she was always glancingdown to see if her skirt was spread out nicely when she sat on thebench. Her sister Matilda had just as pretty gowns, but she was notpretty herself. However, she was a better scholar, although she was ayear younger. That day she kept glancing across Comfort at hersister, and her black eyes twinkled angrily. Rosy sometimes sat withher left hand pressed affectedly against her pink cheek, with thering-finger bent slightly outward; and then she held up herspelling-book before her with her left hand, and the sameostentatious finger.
Finally Matilda lost her patience, and she whispered across ComfortPease. "You act like a ninny," said she to Rosy, with a fierce puckerof her red lips and a twinkle of her black eyes.
Rosy looked at her, and the pink spread softly all over her face andneck; but she still held her spelling-book high, and the middlefinger with the ring wiggled at the back of it.
"It ain't anything but brass, neither," whispered Matilda.
"It ain't," Rosy whispered back.
"Smell of it."
Rosy crooked her arm around her face and began to cry. However, shecried quite easily, and everybody was accustomed to seeing her fairhead bent over the hollow of her arm several times a day, so shecreated no excitement at all. Even the school-teacher simply glancedat her and said nothing. The school-teacher was an elderly woman whohad taught school ever since she was sixteen. She was called verystrict, and the little girls were all afraid of her. She could ferulea boy just as well as a man could. Her name was Miss Tabitha Hanks.She did not like Rosy Stebbins very well, although she tried to beimpartial. Once at recess she pushed Charlotte Hutchins and SarahAllen, who were twisting Rosy's curls, away, and gathered them all upherself in one hard hand. "I'd cut them all off if I were yourmother," said she, with a sharp little tug; but when Rosy rolled herscared blue eyes up at her, she only laughed grimly and let go.
Now Miss Hanks just looked absently at Rosy weeping in the hollow ofher blue gingham arm, then went over to the blackboard and beganwriting, in fair, large characters, "A rolling stone gathers nomoss," for the scholars to copy in their copy-books. The temptationand the opportunity were too much for Comfort Pease. She nudgedMatilda Stebbins and whispered in her ear, although she knew thatwhispering in school was wrong. "I've got a real gold ring,"whispered Comfort.
Matilda turned astonished eyes upon her. "You ain't."