KIKERI


But I am sorry to say that my poor, thoughtless Katy _did_ forget,
and did get into another scrape, and that no later than the very
next Monday.

Monday was apt to be rather a stormy day at the Carrs'. There was the
big wash to be done, and Aunt Izzie always seemed a little harder to
please, and the servants a good deal crosser than on common days. But I
think it was also, in part, the fault of the children, who, after the
quiet of Sunday, were specially frisky and uproarious, and readier than
usual for all sorts of mischief.

To Clover and Elsie, Sunday seemed to begin at Saturday's bed-time, when
their hair was wet, and screwed up in papers, that it might curl next
day. Elsie's waved naturally, so Aunt Izzie didn't think it necessary to
pin her papers very tight; but Clover's thick, straight locks required
to be pinched hard before they would give even the least twirl, and to
her, Saturday night was one of misery. She would lie tossing, and
turning, and trying first one side of her head and then the other; but
whichever way she placed herself, the hard knobs and the pins stuck out
and hurt her; so when at last she fell asleep, it was face down, with
her small nose buried in the pillow, which was not comfortable, and gave
her bad dreams. In consequence of these sufferings Clover hated curls,
and when she "made up" stories for the younger children, they always
commenced: "The hair of the beautiful princess was as straight as a
yard-stick, and she never did it up in papers--never!"