On the stairs he met his sister Kitty looking as cross as himself . ` What 's the matter with you ? ' he asked , pausing a minute , for misery loves company . ` Mamma will make me dress up in a stiff clean frock , and have my hair curled over again just because some one may come . I want to play in the garden , and I ca n't all fussed up this way . I do hate company and clothes and manners , do n't you ? ' answered Kitty , with a spiteful pull at her sash . ' I hate being ordered round everlastingly , and badgered from morning till night . I 'd just like to be let alone , ' and Harry went on his way to captivity with a grim shake of the head and a very strong desire to run away from home altogether . ` So would I , mamma is so fussy . I never have any peace of my life , ' sighed Kitty , feeling that her lot was a hard one . The martyr in brown linen went up , and the other martyr in white cambric went down , both looking as they felt , rebellious and unhappy . Yet a stranger seeing them and their home would have thought they had everything heart could desire . All the comforts that money could buy , and all the beauty that taste could give seemed gathered round them . Papa and mamma loved the two little people dearly , and no real care or sorrow came to trouble the lives that would have been all sunshine but for one thing . With the best intentions in the world , Mr. and Mrs. Fairbairn were spoiling their children by constant fault-finding , too many rules and too little sympathy with the active young souls and bodies under their care . As Harry said , they were ordered about , corrected and fussed over from morning till night , and were getting so tired of it that the most desperate ideas began to enter their heads . Now , in the house was a quiet old maiden aunt , who saw the mischief brewing , and tried to cure it by suggesting more liberty and less ` nagging , ' as the boys call it . But Mr. and Mrs. F. always silenced her by saying , -- ` My dear Betsey , you never had a family , so how can you know anything about the proper management of children ? ' They quite forgot that sister Betsey had brought up a flock of motherless brothers and sisters , and done it wisely and well , though she never got any thanks or praise for it , and never expected any for doing her duty faithfully .
If it had not been for aunty , XXXXX and Kitty would have long ago carried out their favorite plan , and have run away together , like Roland and Maybird .
Betsey Fairbairn Harry Kitty cambric duty minute night sympathy way