muttered Jo , slamming the stove door open , and poking vigorously among the cinders . Having rekindled the fire , she thought she would go to market while the water heated . The walk revived her spirits , and flattering herself that she had made good bargains , she trudged home again , after buying a very young lobster , some very old asparagus , and two boxes of acid strawberries . By the time she got cleared up , the dinner arrived and the stove was red-hot . Hannah had left a pan of bread to rise , Meg had worked it up early , set it on the hearth for a second rising , and forgotten it . Meg was entertaining Sallie Gardiner in the parlor , when the door flew open and a floury , crocky , flushed , and disheveled figure appeared , demanding tartly ... `` I say , is n't bread ` riz ' enough when it runs over the pans ? '' Sallie began to laugh , but Meg nodded and lifted her eyebrows as high as they would go , which caused the apparition to vanish and put the sour bread into the oven without further delay . Mrs. March went out , after peeping here and there to see how matters went , also saying a word of comfort to Beth , who sat making a winding sheet , while the dear departed lay in state in the domino box . A straLanguage can not describe nge sense of helplessness fell upon the girls as the gray bonnet vanished round the corner , and despair seized them when a few minutes later Miss Crocker appeared , and said she 'd come to dinner . Now this lady was a thin , yellow spinster , with a sharp nose and inquisitive eyes , who saw everything and gossiped about all she saw . They disliked her , but had been taught to be kind to her , simply because she was old and poor and had few friends . So Meg gave her the easy chair and tried to entertain her , while she asked questions , criticized everything , and told stories of the people whom she knew . Language can not describe the anxieties , experiences , and exertions which Jo underwent that morning , and the dinner she served up became a standing joke . Fearing to ask any more advice , she did her best alone , and discovered that something more than energy and good will is necessary to make a cook . She boiled the asparagus for an hour and was grieved to find the heads cooked off and the stalks harder than ever . The bread burned black ; for the salad dressing so aggravated her that she could not make it fit to eat . The lobster was a scarlet mystery to her , but she hammered and poked till it was unshelled and its meager proportions concealed in a grove of lettuce leaves . The potatoes had to be hurried , not to keep the asparagus waiting , and were not done at the last . The blanc mange was lumpy , and the strawberries not as ripe as they looked , having been skilfully ` deaconed ' . `` Well , they can eat beef and bread and butter , if they are hungry , only it 's mortifying to have to spend your whole morning for nothing , '' thought Jo , as she rang the bell half an hour later than usual , and stood , hot , tired , and dispirited , surveying the feast spread before Laurie , accustomed to all sorts of elegance , and Miss Crocker , whose tattling tongue would report them far and wide .
Poor XXXXX would gladly have gone under the table , as one thing after another was tasted and left , while Amy giggled , Meg looked distressed , Miss Crocker pursed her lips , and Laurie talked and laughed with all his might to give a cheerful tone to the festive scene .
Beth Crocker Hannah Jo domino fire hour lettuce morning stalks