`` Have you anything decent , Jo ? '' `` Scarlet and gray boating suit , good enough for me . I shall row and tramp about , so I do n't want any starch to think of . You 'll come , Betty ? '' `` If you wo n't let any boys talk to me . '' `` Not a boy ! '' `` I like to please Laurie , and I 'm not afraid of Mr. Brooke , he is so kind . But I do n't want to play , or sing , or say anything . I 'll work hard and not trouble anyone , and you 'll take care of me , Jo , so I 'll go . '' `` That 's my good girl . You do try to fight off your shyness , and I love you for it . Fighting faults is n't easy , as I know , and a cheery word kind of gives a lift . Thank you , Mother , '' And Jo gave the thin cheek a grateful kiss , more precious to Mrs. March than if it had given back the rosy roundness of her youth . `` I had a box of chocolate drops , and the picture I wanted to copy , '' said Amy , showing her mail . `` And I got a note from Mr. Laurence , asking me to come over and play to him tonight , before the lamps are lighted , and I shall go , '' added Beth , whose friendship with the old gentleman prospered finely . `` Now let 's fly round , and do double duty today , so that we can play tomorrow with free minds , '' said Jo , preparing to replace her pen with a broom . When the sun peeped into the girls ' room early next morning to promise them a fine day , he saw a comical sight . Each had made such preparation for the fete as seemed necessary and proper . Meg had an extra row of little curlpapers across her forehead , Jo had copiously anointed her afflicted face with cold cream , Beth had taken Joanna to bed with her to atone for the approaching separation , and Amy had capped the climax by putting a clothespin on her nose to uplift the offending feature . It was one of the kind artists use to hold the paper on their drawing boards , therefore quite appropriate and effective for the purpose it was now being put .
This funny spectacle appeared to amuse the sun , for he burst out with such radiance that XXXXX woke up and roused her sisters by a hearty laugh at Amy 's ornament .
Beth Betty Jo Joanna Laurie Meg clothespin curlpapers day shyness