The Mornin'-Glory Girl

								

Presently, Moses made for the yard and on his way, offered tribute to
Betty by standing on his head on the mat at the door.
“Moses stan’s on his head so’s his brains’ll filter back into place,”
teased Mrs. Wopp.
“Never mind Mosey, yer heart don’t need fixin’ anyhow,” comforted
Betty.
Her breakfast finished, Betty sought the company of Moses, who was in
a small shed adjoining the kitchen. He was piling some fire-wood he
had carried in from the yard.
“Don’t you think the new teacher is jist lovely Moses, with her big
shinin’ blue eyes an’ wavy black hair?” Betty eagerly enquired, “An’
aint her clothes lovely too?”
Moses suspended operations on the woodpile and leaned against it.
“Huh,” he grunted with masculine superiority, “all girls think of is
looks. Some of them sorft lookin’ teachers is the wust when it comes
to lickin’ the kids. You can’t jedge a hoss by his hide.”
“Now, Mosey, you like the new teacher’s well’s I do, else why were you
showin’ off before her, ridin’ Ladybird like mad.”
“Mebbe she’s all right,” admitted the boy.
“I wonder ef she guesses you aint my really truly brother. Ef I only
had your beaut-i-ful red hair an’ white eyebrows, stead of havin’
yaller hair an’ brown eyebrows. I can’t do nothin’ jist now ’bout my
hair, but s’pose I cut off my eyebrows an’ make them look nice an’
white like yours. Mosey,” coaxingly, “you cut them fer me.”
“Naw,” answered the boy, “What’d Mar say? she’d put a tin ear on me.”
“You know she never does nothin’ to us really, Moses, no matter how
she jaws. Come on, you clipped yer pony so lovely an’ evenlike. The
horse-clippers is bangin’ on the wall behind you.”
“I dassent do it, Betty,” replied Moses. “Anyhow this ole pair of
scissors ’d do the job better.”
“Then you don’t love yer li’l sister ef you don’t want her to look
like you.” Betty almost wept.
“Orl right Betty, I’ll do it, but ef it is a poor job don’t blame me,”
returned Moses as he advanced with the scissors.
Betty winced slightly as the chilly weapon touched her face, but
recollecting the importance of the issue at stake she submitted tamely
to be shorn. In a few moments Moses stepped back to contemplate the
result of his drastic work. There was no denying that it had totally
changed his little sister’s appearance. A queer expression on Moses’
face made Betty enquire anxiously, “What is it? Don’t I look orlright
Moses?”
“You look orful, jist like you was growin’ a pair of speckled
toothbrushes. What ’ll Mar say? You carn’t go to school like that.”
“I’ll take all the blame Mosey.”
“Ef you could only see how you look, Betty. You must hev some eyebrows
somehow.”
“Put a li’l shoe-black on then an’ that’ll make me dark again,”