Somebodys Little Girl | Page 2

to that big house, and they took up that little tiny girl that breathed so
softly and so quickly--just so!
And they read on her little white night-gown the words written with the
linen thread: ``Bessie Bell.''
And they said: ``Let us take this little girl with us.''
They put a big soft white blanket around the little girl and walked out

of the big house with her, someone carrying her in strong arms.
And the big white cat got down off the big white bed and rubbed
himself against the bedpost, and went round and round the bed-post,
and rubbed himself round and round the bed-post.
And the tiny little girl never saw the big house, or the big soft white cat
any more.
And now when it happened that she remembered something, great
grown people said: ``No, no, Bessie Bell, there is nothing in the world
like that.''
So she just wondered and remembered, and almost forgot what it was
that she did remember.
* * * * * *

Sister Mary Felice had all the little tiny girls playing in the sand: that
was the place that was meant for the little girls to play in.
All the little girls had on blue checked aprons. All the aprons had straps
and buttons behind.
For just one hour every day all the little tiny girls played in the sand,
and while they played Sister Mary Felice sat on a willow- wrought
bench and watched them play.
Then when that hour was exactly passed Sister Angela always came
with a basket of netted canes, an Indian basket, on her arm. In the
Indian basket were little cakes--such nice little cakes--always they had
caraway seeds in them.
One day Sister Mary Felice said: ``Sister Angela, did Sister Ignatius put
too many caraway seeds in the cakes this time?''
Sister Angela said: ``I think not, Sister Mary Felice. Will you try one?''

Sister Mary Felice said: ``I thank you, Sister Angela.''
Then Sister Mary Felice took one to try.
Then always Sister Angela, with the Indian basket on her arm, took all
the little girls to the long back gallery that was latticed in.
On a low shelf close against the lattice sat a row of white basins.
Then all the little tiny girls washed their little tiny hands in the white
basins. And while they washed their little tiny hands by twos and by
threes together, two little girls washing their hands in one basin
together, three little girls washing their hands together, they all
oftentimes laughed together and said:
``Wash together! And be friends forever! Wash together! And be
friends forever!''
Then Sister Angela held a long pink checked towel in her hands while
the little tiny girls came as their tiny hands were washed and wiped
them on the pink checked towel.
Then if two little girls took hold of the pink checked towel at once they
both laughed and sang:
``Don't wipe together, Or we'll fight Before night.''
And the other little girls that were still washing their hands in the white
basins on the low shelf by the back-gallery lattice sang over and over
again:
``Wash together! We'll wash together! And we'll be happy forever!''
When all the pink clean tiny hands were wiped dry, or as nearly dry as
little girls do wipe tiny pink hands, on the pink checked towel held for
them by Sister Angela, then Sister Angela hung the pink checked towel
on the lowest limb of the arbor-vita tree. Then the little girls all ran to
sit down in a row on the lowest step of the back gallery, with their little
feet on the gravel below. Sister Angela walked the length of the row,

and gave to each little girl in the row a sweet tiny cake, or maybe Sister
Angela walked twice down the row and gave to each little girl two
cakes, or sometimes maybe she walked three times down the row, and
then each little girl had three cakes; but no one little girl ever had more
than every other little girl.
Always Sister Angela sat a little way off from the row of the little girls.
She always sat on a bench under the great magnoliatree and watched
the tiny girls as they ate their tiny cakes.
And always the pink checked towel waved itself ever so softly to and
fro on the lowest limb of the arbor-vitae-tree, for that was the way that
pink checked towels did to help to dry themselves after helping to dry
so many little pink fingers. Often, so often, little brown sparrows came
hopping to the gravel to pick up any tiny crumbs of cake that the little
girls dropped, but you may be sure that they did not drop so very