Grandma 's last and largest braided rug lay on the hearth , and her brass candlesticks adorned the bureau , over the mirror of which was festooned a white muslin skirt , tied up with Merry 's red sash . This piece of elegance gave the last touch to her room , she thought , and she was very proud of it , setting forth all her small store of trinkets in a large shell , with an empty scent bottle , and a clean tidy over the pincushion . On the walls she hung three old-fashioned pictures , which she ventured to borrow from the garret till better could be found . One a mourning piece , with a very tall lady weeping on an urn in a grove of willows , and two small boys in knee breeches and funny little square tails to their coats , looking like cherubs in large frills . The other was as good as a bonfire , being an eruption of Vesuvius , and very lurid indeed , for the Bay of Naples was boiling like a pot , the red sky raining rocks , and a few distracted people lying flat upon the shore . The third was a really pretty scene of children dancing round a May-pole , for though nearly a hundred years old , the little maids smiled and the boys pranced as gayly as if the flowers they carried were still alive and sweet . `` Now I 'll call them all to see , and say that it is pretty . Then I 'll enjoy it , and come here when things look dismal and bare everywhere else , '' said Merry , when at last it was done . She had worked all the afternoon , and only finished at supper time , so the candles had to be lighted that the toilette might look its best , and impress the beholders with an idea of true elegance . Unfortunately , the fire smoked a little , and a window was set ajar to clear the room ; an evil-disposed gust blew in , wafting the thin drapery within reach of the light , and when Merry threw open the door proudly thinking to display her success , she was horrified to find the room in a blaze , and half her labor all in vain . The conflagration was over in a minute , however , for the boys tore down the muslin and stamped out the fire with much laughter , while Mrs. Grant bewailed the damage to her carpet , and poor Merry took refuge in her father 's arms , refusing to be comforted in spite of his kind commendation of `` Grandma 's fixins . '' The third little missionary had the hardest time of all , and her first efforts were not much more satisfactory nor successful than the others . Her father was away from morning till night , and then had his paper to read , books to keep , or `` a man to see down town , '' so that , after a hasty word at tea , he saw no more of the children till another evening , as they were seldom up at his early breakfast . 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 XXXXX '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 .
Dawes Molly beholders burn evening fixins minute night old toilette