Big and Little Sisters | Page 9

nicer than my floor and stairs," Cordelia said. "But just like I have bragged some, too," she added. "My tongue has talked so much because my father is an agency policeman and my little sister has nice things. And I bragged about my white memory and my store shoes. But I was only talking to myself about the ugly issue shoes, and Hannah Straight Tree went and told it."
She turned the leaves and found another text: "'_A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger_.' I did not speak soft when I told Hannah Straight Tree she was very dumb in school, and I was glad Dolly could not motion in a single song, or even have an ugly green dress, and I was not sorry that her big and little sister could not come to school. And Dolly and Lucinda have not said mean things to me, so why should I be cross at them? But Hannah would not find the dustpan and take up her dirt, and that was very mean. Now here is one that I have learned. I can say it without looking at the book."
Cordelia Running Bird shut her eyes and carefully re-peated: "'_Pride goeth before de-struction, and a haught-y spirit before a fall_.' Haughty means to feel stuck-up. The pail fell downstairs and made me talk Dakota, so I had to come to bed, because I was stuck-up and made Hannah Straight Tree cross. Just like they all would not be hating me if I had not been haught-y. But the dormitory girls were very mean to walk whole-feet on my wet floor. If they had walked heel or tiptoe I should not have scolded to myself about the ugly issue shoes, and called them shovel-feeted, and wished they had to lie in bed. But I did not wish them to be cripples--only have a good long rest till I was through scrubbing. But Hannah was mean to go and tell. I can find no verse that will excuse her and the dormitory girls."
Here Cordelia Running Bird fell to pitying herself anew.
"I shall now read Annie's best verse, but it will be very hard to mind those words that Jesus spoke."

Cordelia Running Bird wound the ribbon round the little Bible, tying it with care, and laid the book close by her on the bed; then she ate her dinner with a hearty relish. She had hardly finished when the door from the front hall was opened, and the young white mother, rosy from her sleigh-ride, looked into the dormitory. She saw the little Bible lying near Cordelia, glanced inquiringly at the dark-faced girl, and then smiled and nodded, to receive a cheerful smile in answer.
"Jump up quickly, dear, and dress," she said. "Some little girls are going up the river to the store, and one of the girls is Cordelia Running Bird."
Cordelia started out of bed in joyful haste.
"Are you ready to give back the Bible?" asked the white mother, coming to the bed.
"Yes, ma'am," replied Cordelia Running Bird, handing her the little book. "Thank you very much. It made me think of Annie, so I read it, and it told me I must love my enemies, so just like I shall do it now."
"I am very glad the cross thoughts have left you," was the answer. "Now put on your plaid dress and be ready in ten minutes."
Cordelia flew to get the plaid dress from the closet, and was ready and downstairs in a twinkling. The little girls selected for the drive were in the playroom putting on their hoods and coats in great delight. Cordelia hurriedly put on her own, and, opening her cupboard, she unlocked a doll trunk, taking out a tiny purse for coins, whose portly sides bespoke some wealth within. She looked an instant at the blue dress and the silk for feather-stitching, finding to her great relief that they had not been touched. She locked them in the doll trunk, put the little key into the purse, and whisked away.
"The store is much nicer than the post office," was her joyous reflection, as she slipped the purse into her pocket on her way outdoors. "Very long have I been saving this last part of all the money that I earned tending baby; now I have a chance to spend it with my own eyes."
Down the steep hill went the bob-sled to the great Missouri River, where it took the straight, smooth road on the snow-laden ice. The sewing teacher drove the horses, giving them free rein. The school-teacher sat beside her on the seat, and Cordelia and the girls were snuggled down in hay upon the bottom of the sled, with comforters for lap-robes.
The little log store was but two miles distant, and the party