"Now,that ship,setting out for some far-away place,is more to my mind.I weary for home now and then,and mean to see it again some day";and Mrs.Pecq looked longingly at the English ship,though it was evidently outward bound.Then,as if reproaching herself for discontent,she added:"It looks like those I used to see going off to India with a load of missionaries.I came near going myself once,with a lady bound for Siam;but I went to Canada with her sister,and here I am.""I'd like to be a missionary and go where folks throw their babies to the crocodiles.I'd watch and fish them out,and have a school,and bring them up,and convert all the people till they knew better,"said warm-hearted Molly Loo,who befriended every abused animal and forlorn child she met.
"We needn't go to Africa to be missionaries;they have 'em nearer home and need 'em,too.In all the big cities there are a many,and they have their hands full with the poor,the wicked,and the helpless.One can find that sort of work anywhere,if one has a mind,"said Mrs.Pecq.
"I wish we had some to do here.I'd so like to go round with baskets of tea and rice,and give out tracts and talk to people.
Wouldn't you,girls?"asked Molly,much taken with the new idea.
"It would be rather nice to have a society all to ourselves,and have meetings and resolutions and things,"answered Merry,who was fond of little ceremonies,and always went to the sewing circle with her mother.
"We wouldn't let the boys come in.We d have it a secret society,as they'd o their temperance lodge,and we d have badges and pass-words and grips.It would be fun if we can only get some heathen to work at!"cried Jill,ready for fresh enterprises of every sort.
"I can tell you someone to begin on right away,"said her mother,nodding at her."As wild a little savage as I'd wish to see.Take her in hand,and make a pretty-mannered lady of her.Begin at home,my lass,and you'll find missionary work enough for a while.""Now,Mammy,you mean me!Well,I will begin;and I'll be so good,folks won't know me.Being sick makes naughty children behave in story-books,I'll see if live ones can t";and Jill put on such a sanctified face that the girls laughed and asked for their missions also,thinking they would be the same.
"You,Merry,might do a deal at home helping mother,and setting the big brothers a good example.One little girl in a house can do pretty much as she will,especially if she has a mind to make plain things nice and comfortable,and not long for castles before she knows how to do her own tasks well,"was the first unexpected reply.
Merry colored,but took the reproof sweetly,resolving to do what she could,and surprised to find how many ways seemed open to her after a few minutes thought.
"Where shall I begin?I'm not afraid of a dozen crocodiles after Miss Bat";and Molly Loo looked about her with a fierce air,having had practice in battles with the old lady who kept her father's house.
"Well,dear,you haven't far to look for as nice a little heathen as you d wish";and Mrs.Pecq glanced at Boo,who sat on the floor staring hard at them,attracted by the dread word "crocodile."He had a cold and no handkerchief,his little hands were red with chilblains,his clothes shabby,he had untidy darns in the knees of his stockings,and a head of tight curls that evidently had not been combed for some time.
"Yes,I know he is,and I try to keep him decent,but I forget,and he hates to be fixed,and Miss Bat doesn't care,and father laughs when I talk about it."Poor Molly Loo looked much ashamed as she made excuses,trying at the same time to mend matters by seizing Boo and dusting him all over with her handkerchief,giving a pull at his hair as if ringing bells,and then dumping him down again with the despairing exclamation:"Yes,we re a pair of heathens,and there's no one to save us if I don't."That was true enough;for Molly's father was a busy man,careless of everything but his mills,Miss Bat was old and lazy,and felt as if she might take life easy after serving the motherless children for many years as well as she knew how.Molly was beginning to see how much amiss things were at home,and old enough to feel mortified,though,as yet,she had done nothing to mend the matter except be kind to the little boy.