Part 14 (1/2)
”Are they to keep your hands white?” asked Maud, who spent a good deal of time in caring for her own. ”I wear old kid gloves at night after cold-creaming mine.”
”I wear these for five minutes night and morning, for a good rub, after dipping them in cold water. Thanks to these rough friends, I seldom feel the cold, get a good color, and keep well,” answered Miss Orne, polis.h.i.+ng up her smooth cheek till it looked like a rosy apple.
”I'd like the color, but not the crash. Must it be so rough, and with _cold_ water?” asked Maud, who often privately rubbed her pale face with a bit of red flannel, rouge being forbidden except for theatricals.
”Best so; but there are other ways to get a color. Run up and down the avenue three or four times a day, eat no pastry, and go to bed early,”
said Miss Orne, whose sharp eye had spied out the little weaknesses of the girls, and whose kind heart longed to help them at once.
”It makes my back ache to run, and Madame says we are too old now.”
”Never too old to care for one's health, my dear. Better run now than lie on a sofa by and by, with a back that never stops aching.”
”Do you cure your headaches in that way?” asked Nelly, rubbing her forehead wearily.
”I never have them;” and Miss Orne's bright eyes were full of pity for all pain.
”What do you do to help it?” cried Nelly, who firmly believed that it was inevitable.
”I give my brain plenty of rest, air, and good food. I never know I have any nerves, except in the enjoyment they give me, for I have learned how to use them. I was not brought up to believe that I was born an invalid, and was taught to understand the beautiful machinery G.o.d gave me, and to keep it religiously in order.”
Miss Orne spoke so seriously that there was a brief pause in which the girls were wis.h.i.+ng that some one had taught them this lesson and made them as strong and lovely as their new teacher.
”If crash mittens would make my jersey set like yours I'd have a pair at once,” said Cordy, sadly eyeing the b.u.t.tons on her own, which seemed in danger of flying off if their plump wearer moved too quickly.
”Brisk runs are what you want, and less confectionery, sleep, and lounging in easy chairs;” began Miss Orne, all ready to prescribe for these poor girls, the most important part of whose education had been so neglected.
”Why, how did you know?” said Cordy, blus.h.i.+ng, as she bounced out of her luxurious seat and whisked into her pocket the paper of chocolate creams she was seldom without.
Her round eyes and artless surprise set the others to laughing, and gave Sally courage to ask what she wanted, then and there.
”Miss Orne, I wish you would show us how to be strong and hearty, for I do think girls are a feeble set now-a-days. We certainly need stirring up, and I hope you will kindly do it. Please begin with me, then the others will see that I mean what I say.”
Miss Orne looked up at the tall, overgrown girl who stood before her, with broad forehead, near-sighted eyes, and narrow chest of a student; not at all what a girl of seventeen should be, physically, though a clear mind and a brave spirit shone in her clever face and sounded in her resolute voice.
”I shall very gladly do what I can for you, my dear. It is very simple, and I am sure that a few months of my sort of training will help you much; for you are just the kind of girl who should have a strong body, to keep pace with a very active brain,” answered Miss Orne, taking Sally's thin, inky fingers in her own, with a friendly pressure that showed her good will.
”Madame says violent exercise is not good for girls, so we gave up gymnastics long ago,” said Maud, in her languid voice, wis.h.i.+ng that Sally would not suggest disagreeable things.
”One does not need clubs, dumb bells, and bars for my style of exercise.
Let me show you;” and rising, Miss Orne went through a series of energetic but graceful evolutions, which put every muscle in play without great exertion.
”That looks easy enough,” began Nelly.
”Try it,” answered Miss Orne, with a sparkle of fun in her blue eyes.
They did try,--to the great astonishment of the solemn portraits on the wall, unused to seeing such antics in that dignified apartment. But some of the girls were out of breath in five minutes; others could not lift their arms over their heads; Maud and Nelly broke several bones in their corsets, trying to stoop; and Kitty tumbled down, in her efforts to touch her toes without bending her knees. Sally got on the best of all, being long of limb, easy in her clothes, and full of enthusiasm.
”Pretty well for beginners,” said Miss Orne, as they paused at last, flushed and merry. ”Do that regularly every day, and you will soon gain a few inches across the chest and fill out the new jerseys with firm, elastic figures.”