She had watched Molly 's efforts with lazy interest , and when the girl gave up meddling with her affairs , as she called the housekeeping , Miss Bat ceased to oppose her , and let her scrub Boo , mend clothes , and brush her hair as much as she liked . So Molly had worked along without any help from her , running in to Mrs. Pecq for advice , to Merry for comfort , or Mrs. Minot for the higher kind of help one often needs so much . Now Miss Bat found that she was getting the credit and the praise belonging to other people , and it stirred her up to try and deserve a part at least . `` Molly do n't want any help about her work or the boy : it 's too late for that ; but if this house do n't get a spring cleaning that will make it shine , my name ai n't Bathsheba Dawes , '' said the old lady , as she put away her bonnet that night , and laid energetic plans for a grand revolution , inspired thereto not only by shame , but by the hint that `` Mr. Bemis was a lavish man , '' as no one knew better than she . Molly 's amazement next day at seeing carpets fly out of window , ancient cobwebs come down , and long-undisturbed closets routed out to the great dismay of moths and mice , has been already confided to the cats , and as she sat there watching them lap and gnaw , she said to herself , -- `` I do n't understand it , but as she never says much to me about my affairs , I wo n't take any notice till she gets through , then I 'll admire everything all I can . It is so pleasant to be praised after you 've been trying hard . '' She might well say that , for she got very little herself , and her trials had been many , her efforts not always successful , and her reward seemed a long way off . Poor Boo could have sympathized with her , for he had suffered much persecution from his small schoolmates when he appeared with large gray patches on the little brown trousers , where he had worn them out coasting down those too fascinating steps . As he could not see the patches himself , he fancied them invisible , and came home much afflicted by the jeers of his friends . Then Molly tried to make him a new pair out of a sack of her own ; but she cut both sides for the same leg , so one was wrong side out . Fondly hoping no one would observe it , she sewed bright buttons wherever they could be put , and sent confiding Boo away in a pair of blue trousers , which were absurdly hunchy behind and buttony before . He came home heart-broken and muddy , having been accidentally tipped into a mud-puddle by two bad boys who felt that such tailoring was an insult to mankind . That roused Molly 's spirit , and she begged her father to take the boy and have him properly fitted out , as he was old enough now to be well-dressed , and she would n't have him tormented . His attention being called to the trousers , Mr. Bemis had a good laugh over them , and then got Boo a suit which caused him to be the admired of all observers , and to feel as proud as a little peacock . Cheered by this success , Molly undertook a set of small shirts , and stitched away bravely , though her own summer clothes were in a sad state , and for the first time in her life she cared about what she should wear . `` I must ask Merry , and may be father will let me go with her and her mother when they do their shopping , instead of leaving it to Miss Bat , who dresses me like an old woman . Merry knows what is pretty and becoming : I do n't , '' thought Molly , meditating in the bushel basket , with her eyes on her snuff-colored gown and the dark purple bow at the end of the long braid Muffet had been playing with . Molly was beginning to see that even so small a matter as the choice of colors made a difference in one 's appearance , and to wonder why Merry always took such pains to have a blue tie for the gray dress , a rosy one for the brown , and gloves that matched her bonnet ribbons . Merry never wore a locket outside her sack , a gay bow in her hair and soiled cuffs , a smart hat and the braid worn off her skirts . She was exquisitely neat and simple , yet always looked well-dressed and pretty ; for her love of beauty taught her what all girls should learn as soon as they begin to care for appearances -- that neatness and simplicity are their best ornaments , that good habits are better than fine clothes , and the most elegant manners are the kindest .
All these thoughts were dancing through Molly 's head , and when she left her cats , after a general romp in which even decorous Granny allowed her family to play leap-frog over her respectable back , she had made up her mind not to have yellow ribbons on her summer hat if she got a pink muslin as she had planned , but to finish off XXXXX 's last shirt before she went shopping with Merry .
Bat Boo Dawes Molly Muffet Pecq braid buttony first night