"Being sensible girls, they decided to try her...
"Being sensible girls, they decided to try her advice, and soon were surprised to see how well off they wereOne discovered that money couldn't keep shame and sorrow out of rich people's houses, another that, though she was poor, she was a great deal happier, with her youth, health, and good spirits, than a certain fretful, feeble old lady who couldn't enjoy her comforts, a third that, disagreeable as it was to help get dinner, it was harder still to go begging for it and the fourth, that even carnelian rings were not so valuable as good behaviorSo they agreed to stop complaining, to enjoy the blessings already possessed, and try to deserve them, lest they should be taken away entirely, instead of increased, and I believe they were never disappointed or sorry that they took the old woman's advice
"Now, Marmee, that is very cunning of you to turn our own stories against us, and give us a sermon instead of a romance!" cried Meg
"I like that kind of sermonIt's the sort Father used to tell us," said Beth thoughtfully, putting the needles straight on Jo's cushion
"I don't complain near as much as the others do, and I shall be more careful than ever now, for I've had warning from Susies's downfall," said Amy morally
"We needed that lesson, and we won't forget itIf we do so, you just say to us, as old Chloe did in chanel leather shopping bag UNCLE TOM, `Tink ob yer marcies, chillen! `Tink ob yer marcies!'" added Jo, who could not, for the life of her, help getting a morsel of fun out of the little sermon, though she took it to heart as much as any of them




CHAPTER FOUR

"Oh, dear, how hard it does seem to take up our packs and go on," sighed Meg the morning after the party, for now the holidays were over, the week of merrymaking did not fit her for going on easily with the task she never liked
"I wish it was Christmas or New Year's all the timeWouldn't it be fun?" answered Jo, yawning dismally
"We shouldn't enjoy ourselves half so much as we do nowBut it does seem so nice to have little suppers and bouquets, and go to parties, and drive home, and read and rest, and not workIt's like other people, you know, and I always envy girls who do such things, I'm so fond of luxury," said Meg, trying to decide which of two shabby gowns was the least shabby
"Well, we can't have it, so don't let us grumble but shoulder our bundles and trudge along as cheerfully as Marmee doesI'm sure Aunt March is a regular Old Man of the Sea to me, but I suppose when I've learned to carry her without complaining, she will tumble off, or get so light that I shan't mind her
This idea tickled Jo's fancy and put her in good spirits, but Meg didn't brighten, for chanel cambon large tote bag her burden, consisting of four spoiled children, seemed heavier than everShe had not heart enough even to make herself pretty as usual by putting on a blue neck ribbon and dressing her hair in the most becoming way
"Where's the use of looking nice, when no one sees me but those cross midgets, and no one cares whether I'm pretty or not?" she muttered, shutting her drawer with a jerk"I shall have to toil and moil all my days, with only little bits of fun now and then, and get old and ugly and sour, because I'm poor and can't enjoy my life as other girls doIt's a shame!"
So Meg went down, wearing an injured look, and wasn't at all agreeable at breakfast timeEveryone seemed rather out of sorts and inclined to croak
Beth had a headache and lay on the sofa, trying to comfort herself with the cat and three kittensAmy was fretting because her lessons were not learned, and she couldn't find her rubbersJo would whistle and make a great racket getting readyMarch was very busy trying to finish a letter, which must go at once, and Hannah had the grumps, for being up late didn't suit her
"There never was such a cross family!" cried Jo, losing her temper when she had upset an inkstand, broken both boot lacings, and sat down upon her hat
"You're the crossest person in it!" returned Amy, washing out the sum that was all wrong with rolex datejust the tears that had fallen on her slate
"Beth, if you don't keep these horrid cats down cellar I'll have them drowned," exclaimed Meg angrily as she tried to get rid of the kitten which had scrambled up her back and stuck like a burr just out of reach
Jo laughed, Meg scolded, Beth implored, and Amy wailed because she couldn't remember how much nine times twelve was
"Girls, girls, do be quiet one minute! I must get this off by the early mail, and you drive me distracted with your worry," cried MrsMarch, crossing out the third spoiled sentence in her letter
There was a momentary lull, broken by Hannah, who stalked in, laid two hot turnovers on the table, and stalked out againThese turnovers were an institution, and the girls called them `muffs', for they had no others and found the hot pies very comforting to their hands on cold mornings
Hannah never forgot to make them, no matter how busy or grumpy she might be, for the walk was long and bleakThe poor things got no other lunch and were seldom home before two
"Cuddle your cats and get over your headache, BethyWe are a set of rascals this morning, but we'll come home regular angelsNow then, Meg!" And Jo tramped away, feeling that the pilgrims were not setting out as they ought to do
They always looked back before turning the corner, for their mother was always at the fake hermes handbags window to nod and smile, and wave her hand to themSomehow it seemed as if they couldn't have got through the day without that, for whatever their mood might be, the last glimpse of that motherly face was sure to affect them like sunshine
"If Marmee shook her fist instead of kissing her hand to us, it would serve us right, for more ungrateful wretches than we are were never seen," cried Jo, taking a remorseful satisfaction in the snowy walk and bitter wind"Don't use such dreadful expressions," replied Meg from the depths of the veil in which she had shrouded herself like a nun sick of the world
"I like good strong words that mean something," replied Jo, catching her hat as it took a leap off her head preparatory to flying away altogether
"Call yourself any names you like, but I am neither a rascal nor a wretch and I don't choose to be called so
"You're a blighted being, and decidedly cross today because you can't sit in the lap of luxury all the timePoor dear, just wait till I make my fortune, and you shall revel in carriages and ice cream and high-heeled slippers, and posies, and red-headed boys to dance with
"How ridiculous you are, Jo!" But Meg laughed at the nonsense and felt better in spite of herself
"Lucky for you I am, for if I put on crushed airs and tried to be dismal, as you do, we should be in a nice chanel lookalike bags cheap st