`` Do shake hands now , '' cried Jack , offering a smooth paw . `` Here are two nice new ones to remember us by , '' said Dick and Dolly , presenting fresh whistles , quite unconscious that seven old ones had been privately deposited in the kitchen-stove . `` My little precious ! I shall work you a book-mark right away , and you must keep it always , '' said Nan , with a warm embrace . But of all the farewells , poor Billy 's was the most pathetic , for the thought that she was really going became so unbearable that he cast himself down before her , hugging her little blue boots and blubbering despairingly , `` Do n't go away ! oh , do n't ! '' Goldilocks was so touched by this burst of feeling , that she leaned over and lifting the poor lad 's head , said , in her soft , little voice , `` Do n't cry , poor Billy ! I will tiss you and tum adain soon . '' This promise consoled Billy , and he fell back beaming with pride at the unusual honor conferred upon him . `` Me too ! me too ! '' clamored Dick and Dolly , feeling that their devotion deserved some return . The others looked as if they would like to join in the cry ; and something in the kind , merry faces about her moved the Princess to stretch out her arms and say , with reckless condescension , `` I will tiss evvybody ! '' Like a swarm of bees about a very sweet flower , the affectionate lads surrounded their pretty playmate , and kissed her till she looked like a little rose , not roughly , but so enthusiastically that nothing but the crown of her hat was visible for a moment . Then her father rescued her , and she drove away still smiling and waving her hands , while the boys sat on the fence screaming like a flock of guinea-fowls , `` Come back ! come back ! '' till she was out of sight . They all missed her , and each dimly felt that he was better for having known a creature so lovely , delicate , and sweet ; for little Bess appealed to the chivalrous instinct in them as something to love , admire , and protect with a tender sort of reverence . Many a man remembers some pretty child who has made a place in his heart and kept her memory alive by the simple magic of her innocence ; these little men were just learning to feel this power , and to love it for its gentle influence , not ashamed to let the small hand lead them , nor to own their loyalty to womankind , even in the bud . CHAPTER XIV .
DAMON AND PYTHIAS Mrs. Bhaer was XXXXX ; peace was only a temporary lull , a storm was brewing , and two days after Bess left , a moral earthquake shook Plumfield to its centre .
Bess Dolly Goldilocks Princess farewells guinea-fowls kitchen-stove right whistles womankind