Chapter Ten

If it had not been for the party, now so near at hand, Nelly would not, perhaps, have felt such immediate anxiety to replace the shoes. But, of course, when she came to dress, their loss would be discovered; and it was thus imperatively necessary that new ones should take their place before the arrival of the eventful evening.

Sometimes she thought she would not go; certainly she did not anticipate much pleasure; but when she considered how some of the girls had sneered, and insinuated that she had no invitation, and how coolly and capriciously they treated her, she felt determined to go at all risks; to look her prettiest and brightest, and make herself the life of the company, so as to show triumphantly what a great mistake Fanny Archer would have made, if she had indeed ventured to leave her out in the cold. Besides, all this disagreeable trouble would be over when once the new shoes were bought, and the possibility of the discovery of her misconduct done away with; and then it would be a very nice thing to be intimate with Fanny Archer, and who had a nice home and very indulgent parents.

Nelly's mother, too, had taken it for granted that she would go, of course, when the written invitation had been sent in due form.

"I am very glad indeed," she said, "that you have got an opportunity of spending a pleasant evening, Nelly, though I don't think parties generally agree very well with a little girl's studies; but it has been very dull at home, I know, in all this long sickness of mine, and you have not been in your usual spirits since you were sick; I am sure it will do you good to go and have a nice time, and everything is all ready since your own party, so that there will be no trouble about your toilet whatever. I am very glad."

Every day, either on her way to or from school, Nelly stopped to inquire; but a good-natured shake of the head was the only reply to her anxious question; and so the time slipped by, feverishly enough to her, with her long waiting and watching; and now the very day of the party had arrived.

Those of the girls who were among the invited guests, were in a flutter of happy anticipation. Fanny Archer herself looked proudly conscious of being the heroine of the day; many and mysterious were the consultations which were held at recess and noon-time, and unusually eager dismissed, and the girls gathered in the wardrobe.

Nelly shared the general excitement; but, alas! hers was not the excitement of pleasure, but of anxiety. Before she went home those shoes must be obtained; but how, and by what means?

Once more she bent her steps to the little shop where she had left the worsted shawl. The old lady, who sat, as usual, knitting behind the counter, looked up in expectation of a customer, and seeing it was only Nelly, said, rather impatiently, before Nelly could ask her oft-repeated question, --

"No, it isn't sold yet, and I don't much believe it ever will be. At any rate, you needn't come again asking about it; it makes to much trouble. If I sell it, I'll look out for you on your way to school and tell you; but you mustn't bother me any more about it."

Poor Nelly! How mortified she felt! She would have liked to give an indignant answer, but she did not dare to, lest she should lose her only chance of disposing of her unfortunate piece of handiwork; and she could only leave the shop in silence and in shame, wishing, O, how earnestly! that she had never been foolish enough to bring all this trouble upon herself. Now because she had done wrong; not because she had sinned against God, against her parents, and her own conscience, in her repeated deceptions; but only because it subjected her to annoyance, and disappointment, and fear of exposure. If she had felt one throb of real sorrow for her fault, and all the wicked falsehoods into which it had led her, she would have gone to her mother, and to her God, made full and free confession, and received full and free forgiveness. But, unhappily, Nelly's sorrow was not of that godly sort which worketh repentance; and she greatly preferred trying to hide her wrong-doing, to the humiliation of the acknowledging it, even though that brought pardon and peace.

"I don't care," she said to herself, defiantly, and setting her teeth hard together, as she came out of the little old lady's shop; "everybody and everything is in a league to worry me, just as though I had committed the greatest crime in the world in wearing my own things when I chose to. I'll do it again if I like. I'm not a baby any more -- I'm twelve years old. And I shall go now directly to Mr. Butler's and buy another pair of boots, and have them charged to father. I'll pay for them myself if I can, and if I can't he'll have to, and that's all there is about it."

In this desperate mood, she turned her steps in the direction of the shoe store, at which her mother was in the habit of dealing, and where the bronze boots, which were the unconscious cause of all her troubles, had been purchased.

She went in with a bold and confident air, and, as a clerk approached her, said, in a careless and natural tone, --

"My mother wishes me to be fitted to a pair of kid boots -- bronze, with buttons -- like those she bought for me here two or three months ago. Mrs. Morgan, you remember."

"Yes, I remember," said the clerk, politely; "so your ma liked those boots, did she miss? Prime article they are, and you're just in time, I do believe, to get the last pair. Let's see: thirteens -- weren't they?"

He was opening and shutting one box after another, and Nelly sat waiting, and trembling with a nervous fear, lest, perhaps, even the last pair might be gone, or lest possibly some one whom she knew might come into the shop.

"Please make haste; I'm in a hurry," she said, impatiently; and the clerk rattled the lids of boxes, and looked anxious, and presently began, "I'm very sorry, miss, but I really am afraid--" and Nelly's heart sank like lead. This was a trial she had not expected, and it seemed too much.

The next moment, however, the young man's face brightened. "O, here they are! I thought we had one pair left;" and Nelly's heart jumped up again so suddenly as almost to choke her.

"Just your number, and just like the others. Allow me, miss," said the clerk, kneeling down, and beginning to unlace Nelly's high school balmoral; and Nelly watched the process of fitting on the new boot, and looked at her pretty foot, so trim and dainty in its delicate bronze covering, with a flash of the old triumphant vanity in her black eyes.

"How pretty they are! and how nice my foot looks in them!" she thought, exultingly; "no one there tonight will look better than I shall. And I shall surely be able to pay for them; the shawl must be sold; and I'll get mother to let me help her in her sewing after school hours, and earn money that way. O, it will all come out right, I know."

And so still another step was taken in the network of deception, whose meshes were already closing so surely around the reckless girl.

"Those will do very nicely; you may put them up for me," she said, holding out her foot to have the pretty new boot taken off. And then, as the young man was wrapping them up, she added, with a voice which it took a great effort to make steady, --

"My mother had not the money in the house, today, to pay for these; she said you were to charge them; she gets all our shoes here, you know. Mrs. Morgan, 105 John Street."

The clerk hesitated a moment, and looked at Nelly, who met his look with an unflinching gaze of her black eyes.

"Your mother has never had a bill here," he said, deprecatingly, "she always paid for everything on the spot. Excuse me, miss, but I'll just speak to Mr. Butler a minute."

The clerk went down to the other end of the store, and Nelly's heart once more sank in her breast. What if Mr. Butler should suspect something was wrong, and refuse to let her take the shoes? Would her troubles never end?

But Mrs. Morgan's credit at the store was too good for the proprietor to have any doubt about getting his money. In half a minute the clerk returned, with an apologetic smile and bow, and handed the parcel to Nelly.

"It's all right, miss," he said; "much obliged; hope they'll suit as well as the last;" and Nelly snatched the bundle with an eager hand, and hastened out of the store, half fearful, even now, lest something should happen to withdraw the coveted treasures from her possession.

She did not feel quite safe till she had reached home, and made her way unobserved up to the spare room. There, with nervous haste, she unwrapped the boots, and laid them in the drawer, just where the others had been placed by her mother's careful hand, the day after the birthday party. And then, breathing more freely than she had for many days, she shut the drawer, and went down to her mother's room.

Mrs. Morgan was not yet entirely recovered, and the weather was so cold that it was not considered prudent for her to leave her room; so that Nelly was spared the close scrutiny of her motherly eyes during her dressing for the party. She had had a good many misgivings about the spots upon her white frock; but there was no danger now that they would be noticed in the hasty glimpse which she would give to her mother of her toilet after it was all completed. There was nothing, therefore, just now, to trouble her peace of mind, and she so bright and gay, so like her old self, in the hour which she spent with her mother before tea, that Mrs. Morgan was more than ever convinced that a little pleasant excitement would do her good, and pleased that an opportunity had occurred for her having it.

The tea things were left to be cleared up at the later hour, after supper was over; and the good-natured Anne went upstairs to officiate as lady's maid when the time for making the grand toilet arrived. Her undiscriminating eyes took no note of the signs of rough usage upon the dress; and as the rubbed places were all in the back breadth, Mrs. Morgan did not perceive them, either. For Nelly came rustling downstairs, looking so pretty so bright, in her cloud of gauzy drapery, and floating ribbons, with such a flush on her cheek, and such a sparkle in her eye, and stood blushing and bowing, and fluttering her skirts, only thought, with a smile of pleasure, that her little daughter would probably be as pretty and as well dressed as any of her companions; and in the one rapid whirl which Nelly gave "to show herself all round," as said, laughing to hide her anxiety, the faint spots which still remained here and there among the fleecy folds, half hidden by the broad, floating sash, escaped notice entirely; and so the last danger was averted, as Nelly thought, with a thrill of triumph, bending over to kiss her mother good night, and calling Anne to wrap her cloak around her.

The thought of the payment for the shoes Nelly put resolutely out of her mind, and that left nothing to mar the enjoyment of the evening. It was a very pleasant party; for a wonder, there were plenty of boys for the girls, and Fanny Archer, whose mother had taught her to consider the pleasure of her guests before her own, took care that everybody had partners, and that no one was left out of the games.

And such pleasant and merry old-fashioned games they had! -- and such fun over the mottoes, and such enjoyment of all the dainties so abundantly provided! It was really very delightful altogether; and for the time Nelly forgot all her troubles and anxieties, and was as gay as the gayest.

She had always been a leader at school in all sorts of fun and enjoyment so thoroughly this evening, proposed so many nice plays, and did so much to keep up the general merriment, that Fanny Archer quite wondered how she could have thought of not inviting such an agreeable girl, and paid her very especial attention. The guests, of course, followed the lead of their hostess, and everybody wanted to be introduced to "that nice girl in white Swiss, with the dark eyes and hair, and laughing face." All the boys wanted her for a partner, and all the girls said they should call upon her; and altogether Nelly had quite as great a triumph as heart could wish, and glowed inly with gratified vanity and the excitement of success.

But when it was all over, and she had drained the sup of pride and pleasure to the dregs, the sting of the serpent lay in the bottom. As she lay tossing upon her bed that night, too excited to sleep, the thought would come again and again, What a fearful price she had paid for the triumph of the evening! and the bitter question, Was it worth the cost?

To be continued ...

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