"Please don't ever let him know! I wasn't born good,
and I hate bad smells, and dirty things, and ugly clothes, and not
enough to eat, but until I am big enough to go to work please,
_please_ help me to keep Father from knowing! Please help me!"
With a twisting movement the child curled herself into a little ball,
and for a moment tempestuous sobbing broke the stillness of the room,
notwithstanding the knuckles of two little red hands which were
pressed to the large sweet mouth. Presently she lifted the hem of her
skirt and wiped her eyes, then she got up.
"I wish I could cry as much as I want to. I never have had a place
convenient to do it all by myself, and there's never time, but it gets
the choked things out and makes you feel much better. I don't often
want to, just sometimes, like before Christmas when you're crazy to do
a lot of things you can't do--and some people make you so mad! If I'd
been born different and not minding ugly things and loving pretty
ones, I wouldn't have hated that hat so. That's gone, anyhow. I've
been wanting to see how high I could kick it ever since Miss Cattie
sent it to me, and now I've done it.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25