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Page 30
Away went the children full of anxiety to clothe their beggar, and so
well did they plead his cause with the good neighbors, that Ben hardly
knew himself when he emerged from the back bedroom half an hour later,
clothed in Billy Barton's faded flannel suit, with an unbleached cotton
shirt out of the Dorcas basket, and a pair of Milly Cutter's old shoes
on his feet.
Sancho also had been put in better trim, for, after his master had
refreshed himself with a warm bath, he gave his dog a good scrub, while
Mrs. Moss set a stitch here and there in the new old clothes, and
Sancho re-appeared, looking more like the china poodle than ever, being
as white as snow, his curls well brushed up, and his tassely tail
waving proudly over his back.
Feeling eminently respectable and comfortable, the wanderers humbly
presented themselves, and were greeted with smiles of approval from the
little girls and a hospitable welcome from "Ma," who set them near the
stove to dry, as both were decidedly damp after their ablutions.
"I declare I shouldn't have known you!" exclaimed the good woman,
surveying the boy with great satisfaction; for, though still very thin
and tired, the lad had a tidy look that pleased her, and a lively way
of moving about in his clothes, like an eel in a skin rather too big
for him. The merry black eyes seemed to see everything, the voice had
an honest sound, and the sun-burnt face looked several years younger
since the unnatural despondency had gone out of it.
"It's very nice, and me and Sanch are lots obliged, ma'am," murmured
Ben, getting red and bashful under the three pairs of friendly eyes
fixed upon him.
Bab and Betty were doing up the tea-things with unusual dispatch, so
that they might entertain their guest, and just as Ben spoke Bab
dropped a cup. To her great surprise no smash followed, for, bending
quickly, the boy caught it as it fell, and presented it to her on the
back of his hand with a little bow.
"Gracious! how could you do it?" asked Bab, looking as if she thought
there was magic about it.
"That's nothing; look here," and taking two plates Ben sent them
spinning up into the air, catching and throwing so rapidly that Bab and
Betty stood with their mouths open, as if to swallow the plates should
they fall, while Mrs. Moss, with her dish-cloth suspended, watched the
antics of her crockery with a housewife's anxiety.
"That does beat all!" was the only exclamation she had time to make,
for, as if desirous of showing his gratitude in the only way he could,
Ben took several clothes-pins from a basket near by, sent several
saucers twirling up, caught them on the pins, balanced the pins on
chin, nose, forehead, and went walking about with a new and peculiar
sort of toad-stool ornamenting his countenance.
[Illustration: "BEN PRESENTED IT TO HER ON THE BACK OF HIS HAND."]
The children were immensely tickled, and Mrs. Moss was so amused she
would have lent her best soup-tureen if he had expressed a wish for it.
But Ben was too tired to show all his accomplishments at once, and he
soon stopped, looking as if he almost regretted having betrayed that he
possessed any.
"I guess you've been in the juggling business," said Mrs. Moss, with a
wise nod, for she saw the same look on his face as when he said his
name was Ben Brown,--the look of one who was not telling the whole
truth.
"Yes, 'm. I used to help Senior Pedro, the Wizard of the World, and I
learned some of his tricks," stammered Ben, trying to seem innocent.
"Now, look here, boy, you'd better tell me the whole story, and tell it
true, or I shall have to send you up to Judge Allen. I wouldn't like to
do that, for he is a harsh sort of a man; so, if you haven't done
anything bad, you needn't be afraid to speak out, and I'll do what I
can for you," said Mrs. Moss, rather sternly, as she went and sat down
in her rocking-chair, as if about to open the court.
"I _haven't_ done anything bad, and I _aint_ afraid, only I don't want
to go back; and if I tell, may be you'll let 'em know where I be," said
Ben, much distressed between his longing to confide in his new friend
and his fear of his old enemies.
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