He thought they were well taken care of , for Miss Bathsheba Dawes was an energetic , middle-aged spinster when she came into the family , and had been there fifteen years , so he did not observe , what a woman would have seen at once , that Miss Bat was getting old and careless , and everything about the house was at sixes and sevens . She took good care of him , and thought she had done her duty if she got three comfortable meals , nursed the children when they were ill , and saw that the house did not burn up . So Maria Louisa and Napoleon Bonaparte got on as they could , without the tender cares of a mother . Molly had been a happy-go-lucky child , contented with her pets , her freedom , and little Boo to love ; but now she was just beginning to see that they were not like other children , and to feel ashamed of it . `` Papa is busy , but Miss Bat ought to see to us ; she is paid for it , and goodness knows she has an easy time now , for if I ask her to do anything , she groans over her bones , and tells me young folks should wait on themselves . I take all the care of Boo off her hands , but I ca n't wash my own things , and he has n't a decent trouser to his blessed little legs . I 'd tell papa , but it would n't do any good ; he 'd only say , ` Yes , child , yes , I 'll attend to it , ' and never do a thing . '' This used to be Molly 's lament , when some especially trying event occurred , and if the girls were not there to condole with her , she would retire to the shed-chamber , call her nine cats about her , and , sitting in the old bushel basket , pull her hair about her ears , and scold all alone . The cats learned to understand this habit , and nobly did their best to dispel the gloom which now and then obscured the sunshine of their little mistress . Some of them would creep into her lap and purr till the comfortable sound soothed her irritation ; the sedate elders sat at her feet blinking with such wise and sympathetic faces , that she felt as if half a dozen Solomons were giving her the sagest advice ; while the kittens frisked about , cutting up their drollest capers till she laughed in spite of herself . When the laugh came , the worst of the fit was over , and she soon cheered up , dismissing the consolers with a pat all round , a feast of good things from Miss Bat 's larder , and the usual speech : -- `` Well , dears , it 's of no use to worry . I guess we shall get along somehow , if we do n't fret . '' With which wise resolution , Molly would leave her retreat and freshen up her spirits by a row on the river or a romp with Boo , which always finished the case . Now , however , she was bound to try the new plan and do something toward reforming not only the boy 's condition , but the disorder and discomfort of home . `` I 'll play it is Siam , and this the house of a native , and I 'm come to show the folks how to live nicely . Miss Bat wo n't know what to make of it , and I ca n't tell her , so I shall get some fun out of it , any way , '' thought Molly , as she surveyed the dining-room the day her mission began . The prospect was not cheering ; and , if the natives of Siam live in such confusion , it is high time they were attended to . The breakfast-table still stood as it was left , with slops of coffee on the cloth ; bits of bread , egg-shells , and potato-skins lay about , and one lonely sausage was cast away in the middle of a large platter . The furniture was dusty , stove untidy , and the carpet looked as if crumbs had been scattered to chickens who declined their breakfast . Boo was sitting on the sofa , with his arm through a hole in the cover , hunting for some lost treasure put away there for safe keeping , like a little magpie as he was .
XXXXX fancied she washed and dressed him well enough ; but to-day she seemed to see more clearly , and sighed as she thought of the hard job in store for her if she gave him the thorough washing he needed , and combed out that curly mop of hair .
Bat Bonaparte Louisa Molly Siam Solomons egg-shells left potato-skins shed-chamber