Frances Hodgson Burnett - A Litte Princess

8/10/2019 Frances Hodgson Burnett - A Litte Princess

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A Litte Princess

by Frances Hodgson Burnett



Summary: Sara Crewe, a pupil at Miss Minchin's London school, is left in poerty whenher father dies, but is later rescued by a mysterious benefactor!

C"#$%#$S&! Sara

! ( French Lesson

)! %rmengarde

*! Lottie+! Becy

-! $he .iamond Mines

/! $he .iamond Mines (gain

0! 1n the (ttic2! Melchisedec

&3! $he 1ndian 4entleman&&! 5am .ass

&! $he "ther Side of the 6all

&)! "ne of the 7opulace&*! 6hat Melchisedec Heard and Saw

&+! $he Magic

&-! $he 8isitor

&/! 91t 1s the Child9&0! 91 $ried #ot to Be9

&2! (nne



( Little 7rincess&Sara

"nce on a dar winter's day, when the yellow fog hung so thic and heay in the streets of

London that the lamps were lighted and the shop windows blaed with gas as they do atnight, an odd;looing little girl sat in a cab with her father and was drien rather slowly

through the big thoroughfares!

She sat with her feet tuced under her, and leaned against her father, who held her in his

arm, as she stared out of the window at the passing people with a <ueer old;fashionedthoughtfulness in her big eyes!

She was such a little girl that one did not e=pect to see such a loo on her small face! 1twould hae been an old loo for a child of twele, and Sara Crewe was only seen! $he

fact was, howeer, that she was always dreaming and thining odd things and could not

herself remember any time when she had not been thining things about grown;up peopleand the world they belonged to!

She felt as if she had lied a long, long time!

(t this moment she was remembering the oyage she had >ust made from Bombay with her

father, Captain Crewe! She was thining of the big ship, of the Lascars passing silently toand fro on it, of the children playing about on the hot dec, and of some young officers'

wies who used to try to mae her tal to them and laugh at the things she said!

7rincipally, she was thining of what a <ueer thing it was that at one time one was in 1ndiain the blaing sun, and then in the middle of the ocean, and then driing in a strange

ehicle through strange streets where the day was as dar as the night!

She found this so puling that she moed closer to her father!97apa,9 she said in a low, mysterious little oice which was almost a whisper, 9papa!9

96hat is it, darling?9 Captain Crewe answered, holding her closer and looing down into

her face! 96hat is Sara thining of?9

91s this the place?9 Sara whispered, cuddling still closer to him!91s it, papa?9

9@es, little Sara, it is! 6e hae reached it at last!9 (nd though she was only seen years

old, she new that he felt sad when he said it!1t seemed to her many years since he had begun to prepare her mind for 9the place,9 as she

always called it! Her mother had died when she was born, so she had neer nown or

missed her!Her young, handsome, rich, petting father seemed to be the only relation she had in the

world! $hey had always played together and been fond of each other! She only new he

was rich because she had heard people say so when they thought she was not listening, and

she had also heard them say that when she grew up she would be rich, too! She did not



now all that being rich meant! She had always lied in a beautiful bungalow, and had

been used to seeing many serants who made salaams to her and called her 9Missee

Sahib,9 and gae her her own way in eerything! She had had toys and pets and an ayahwho worshipped her, and she had gradually learned that people who were rich had these

things! $hat, howeer, was all she new about it!

.uring her short life only one thing had troubled her, and that thing was 9the place9 shewas to be taen to some day! $he climate of 1ndia was ery bad for children, and as soon

as possible they were sent away from it;;generally to %ngland and to school!

She had seen other children go away, and had heard their fathers and mothers tal aboutthe letters they receied from them!

She had nown that she would be obliged to go also, and though sometimes her father's

stories of the oyage and the new country had attracted her, she had been troubled by the

thought that he could not stay with her!9Couldn't you go to that place with me, papa?9 she had ased when she was fie years old!

9Couldn't you go to school, too? 1 would help you with your lessons!9

9But you will not hae to stay for a ery long time, little Sara,9 he had always said! 9@ou

will go to a nice house where there will be a lot of little girls, and you will play together,and 1 will send you plenty of boos, and you will grow so fast that it will seem scarcely a

year before you are big enough and cleer enough to come bac and tae care of papa!9She had lied to thin of that! $o eep the house for her fatherA to ride with him, and sit at

the head of his table when he had dinner partiesA to tal to him and read his boos;;that

would be what she would lie most in the world, and if one must go away to 9the place9 in%ngland to attain it, she must mae up her mind to go!

She did not care ery much for other little girls, but if she had plenty of boos she could

console herself! She lied boos more than anything else, and was, in fact, always

inenting stories of beautiful things and telling them to herself! Sometimes she had toldthem to her father, and he had lied them as much as she did!

96ell, papa,9 she said softly, 9if we are here 1 suppose we must be resigned!9

He laughed at her old;fashioned speech and issed her! He was really not at all resignedhimself, though he new he must eep that a secret!

His <uaint little Sara had been a great companion to him, and he felt he should be a lonely

fellow when, on his return to 1ndia, he went into his bungalow nowing he need not e=pectto see the small figure in its white froc come forward to meet him! So he held her ery

closely in his arms as the cab rolled into the big, dull s<uare in which stood the house

which was their destination!

1t was a big, dull, bric house, e=actly lie all the others in its row, but that on the frontdoor there shone a brass plate on which was engraed in blac letters:

M1SS M1#CH1#,Select Seminary for @oung Ladies!

9Here we are, Sara,9 said Captain Crewe, maing his oice sound as cheerful as possible!$hen he lifted her out of the cab and they mounted the steps and rang the bell! Sara often

thought afterward that the house was somehow e=actly lie Miss Minchin!



1t was respectable and well furnished, but eerything in it was uglyA and the ery armchairs

seemed to hae hard bones in them! 1n the hall eerything was hard and polished;;een the

red chees of the moon face on the tall cloc in the corner had a seere arnished loo!$he drawing room into which they were ushered was coered by a carpet with a s<uare

pattern upon it, the chairs were s<uare, and a heay marble timepiece stood upon the heay

marble mantel!(s she sat down in one of the stiff mahogany chairs, Sara cast one of her <uic loos about

her!

91 don't lie it, papa,9 she said! 9But then 1 dare say soldiers;; een brae ones;;don't reallyL1% going into battle!

Captain Crewe laughed outright at this! He was young and full of fun, and he neer tired of

hearing Sara's <ueer speeches!

9"h, little Sara,9 he said! 96hat shall 1 do when 1 hae no one to say solemn things to me? #o one else is as solemn as you are!9

9But why do solemn things mae you laugh so?9 in<uired Sara!

9Because you are such fun when you say them,9 he answered, laughing still more! (nd

then suddenly he swept her into his arms and issed her ery hard, stopping laughing all atonce and looing almost as if tears had come into his eyes!

1t was >ust then that Miss Minchin entered the room! She was ery lie her house, Sara felt:tall and dull, and respectable and ugly!

She had large, cold, fishy eyes, and a large, cold, fishy smile!

1t spread itself into a ery large smile when she saw Sara and Captain Crewe! She hadheard a great many desirable things of the young soldier from the lady who had

recommended her school to him!

(mong other things, she had heard that he was a rich father who was willing to spend a

great deal of money on his little daughter!91t will be a great priilege to hae charge of such a beautiful and promising child, Captain

Crewe,9 she said, taing Sara's hand and stroing it! 9Lady Meredith has told me of her

unusual cleerness! ( cleer child is a great treasure in an establishment lie mine!9Sara stood <uietly, with her eyes fi=ed upon Miss Minchin's face! She was thining

something odd, as usual!

96hy does she say 1 am a beautiful child?9 she was thining!91 am not beautiful at all! Colonel 4range's little girl, 1sobel, is beautiful! She has dimples

and rose;colored chees, and long hair the color of gold! 1 hae short blac hair and green

eyesA besides which, 1 am a thin child and not fair in the least! 1 am one of the ugliest

children 1 eer saw! She is beginning by telling a story!9She was mistaen, howeer, in thining she was an ugly child!

She was not in the least lie 1sobel 4range, who had been the beauty of the regiment, but

she had an odd charm of her own! She was a slim, supple creature, rather tall for her age,and had an intense, attractie little face! Her hair was heay and <uite blac and only

curled at the tipsA her eyes were greenish gray, it is true, but they were big, wonderful eyes

with long, blac lashes, and though she herself did not lie the color of them, many other people did!

Still she was ery firm in her belief that she was an ugly little girl, and she was not at all

elated by Miss Minchin's flattery!



91 should be telling a story if 1 said she was beautiful,9 she thoughtA 9and 1 should now 1

was telling a story! 1 beliee 1 am as ugly as she is;;in my way! 6hat did she say that for?9

(fter she had nown Miss Minchin longer she learned why she had said it! She discoeredthat she said the same thing to each papa and mamma who brought a child to her school!

Sara stood near her father and listened while he and Miss Minchin taled! She had been

brought to the seminary because Lady Meredith's two little girls had been educated there,and Captain Crewe had a great respect for Lady Meredith's e=perience!

Sara was to be what was nown as 9a parlor boarder,9 and she was to en>oy een greater

priileges than parlor boarders usually did! She was to hae a pretty bedroom and sittingroom of her ownA she was to hae a pony and a carriage, and a maid to tae the place of the

ayah who had been her nurse in 1ndia!

91 am not in the least an=ious about her education,9 Captain Crewe said, with his gay

laugh, as he held Sara's hand and patted it!9$he difficulty will be to eep her from learning too fast and too much! She is always

sitting with her little nose burrowing into boos! She doesn't read them, Miss MinchinA she

gobbles them up as if she were a little wolf instead of a little girl! She is always staring

for new boos to gobble, and she wants grown;up boos;;great, big, fat ones;;French and4erman as well as %nglish;;history and biography and poets, and all sorts of things! .rag

her away from her boos when she reads too much! Mae her ride her pony in the 5ow orgo out and buy a new doll! She ought to play more with dolls!9

97apa,9 said Sara, 9you see, if 1 went out and bought a new doll eery few days 1 should

hae more than 1 could be fond of! .olls ought to be intimate friends! %mily is going to bemy intimate friend!9

Captain Crewe looed at Miss Minchin and Miss Minchin looed at Captain Crewe!

96ho is %mily?9 she in<uired!

9$ell her, Sara,9 Captain Crewe said, smiling!Sara's green;gray eyes looed ery solemn and <uite soft as she answered!

9She is a doll 1 haen't got yet,9 she said! 9She is a doll papa is going to buy for me! 6e are

going out together to find her! 1 hae called her %mily! She is going to be my friend when papa is gone! 1 want her to tal to about him!9

Miss Minchin's large, fishy smile became ery flattering indeed!

96hat an original childD9 she said! 96hat a darling little creatureD99@es,9 said Captain Crewe, drawing Sara close! 9She is a darling little creature! $ae great

care of her for me, Miss Minchin!9

Sara stayed with her father at his hotel for seeral daysA in fact, she remained with him

until he sailed away again to 1ndia! $hey went out and isited many big shops together, and bought a great many things!

$hey bought, indeed, a great many more things than Sara neededA but Captain Crewe was a

rash, innocent young man and wanted his little girl to hae eerything she admired andeerything he admired himself, so between them they collected a wardrobe much too grand

for a child of seen! $here were elet dresses trimmed with costly furs, and lace dresses,

and embroidered ones, and hats with great, soft ostrich feathers, and ermine coats andmuffs, and bo=es of tiny gloes and handerchiefs and sil stocings in such abundant

supplies that the polite young women behind the counters whispered to each other that the

odd little girl with the big, solemn eyes must be at least some foreign princess;;perhaps the

little daughter of an 1ndian ra>ah!



(nd at last they found %mily, but they went to a number of toy shops and looed at a great

many dolls before they discoered her!

91 want her to loo as if she wasn't a doll really,9 Sara said! 91 want her to loo as if sheL1S$%#S when 1 tal to her! $he trouble with dolls, papa9;;and she put her head on one

side and reflected as she said it;;9the trouble with dolls is that they neer seem to

H%(5E!9 So they looed at big ones and little ones;; at dolls with blac eyes and dollswith blue;;at dolls with brown curls and dolls with golden braids, dolls dressed and dolls

undressed!

9@ou see,9 Sara said when they were e=amining one who had no clothes! 91f, when 1 findher, she has no frocs, we can tae her to a dressmaer and hae her things made to fit!

$hey will fit better if they are tried on!9

(fter a number of disappointments they decided to wal and loo in at the shop windows

and let the cab follow them! $hey had passed two or three places without een going in,when, as they were approaching a shop which was really not a ery large one, Sara

suddenly started and clutched her father's arm!

9"h, papaD9 she cried! 9$here is %milyD9

( flush had risen to her face and there was an e=pression in her green;gray eyes as if shehad >ust recognied someone she was intimate with and fond of!

9She is actually waiting there for usD9 she said! 9Let us go in to her!99.ear me,9 said Captain Crewe, 91 feel as if we ought to hae someone to introduce us!9

9@ou must introduce me and 1 will introduce you,9 said Sara!

9But 1 new her the minute 1 saw her;;so perhaps she new me, too!97erhaps she had nown her! She had certainly a ery intelligent e=pression in her eyes

when Sara too her in her arms!

She was a large doll, but not too large to carry about easilyA she had naturally curling

golden;brown hair, which hung lie a mantle about her, and her eyes were a deep, clear,gray;blue, with soft, thic eyelashes which were real eyelashes and not mere painted lines!

9"f course,9 said Sara, looing into her face as she held her on her nee, 9of course papa,

this is %mily!9So %mily was bought and actually taen to a children's outfitter's shop and measured for a

wardrobe as grand as Sara's own!

She had lace frocs, too, and elet and muslin ones, and hats and coats and beautiful lace;trimmed underclothes, and gloes and handerchiefs and furs!

91 should lie her always to loo as if she was a child with a good mother,9 said Sara! 91'm

her mother, though 1 am going to mae a companion of her!9

Captain Crewe would really hae en>oyed the shopping tremendously, but that a sadthought ept tugging at his heart! $his all meant that he was going to be separated from his

beloed, <uaint little comrade!

He got out of his bed in the middle of that night and went and stood looing down at Sara,who lay asleep with %mily in her arms!

Her blac hair was spread out on the pillow and %mily's golden;brown hair mingled with

it, both of them had lace;ruffled nightgowns, and both had long eyelashes which lay andcurled up on their chees!

%mily looed so lie a real child that Captain Crewe felt glad she was there! He drew a big

sigh and pulled his mustache with a boyish e=pression!



9Heigh;ho, little SaraD9 he said to himself 91 don't beliee you now how much your daddy

will miss you!9

$he ne=t day he too her to Miss Minchin's and left her there!He was to sail away the ne=t morning! He e=plained to Miss Minchin that his solicitors,

Messrs! Barrow Sipworth, had charge of his affairs in %ngland and would gie her any

adice she wanted, and that they would pay the bills she sent in for Sara's e=penses!He would write to Sara twice a wee, and she was to be gien eery pleasure she ased for!

9She is a sensible little thing, and she neer wants anything it isn't safe to gie her,9 he

said!$hen he went with Sara into her little sitting room and they bade each other good;by! Sara

sat on his nee and held the lapels of his coat in her small hands, and looed long and hard

at his face!

9(re you learning me by heart, little Sara?9 he said, stroing her hair!9#o,9 she answered! 91 now you by heart! @ou are inside my heart!9

(nd they put their arms round each other and issed as if they would neer let each other

go!

6hen the cab droe away from the door, Sara was sitting on the floor of her sitting room,with her hands under her chin and her eyes following it until it had turned the corner of the

s<uare!%mily was sitting by her, and she looed after it, too! 6hen Miss Minchin sent her sister,

Miss (melia, to see what the child was doing, she found she could not open the door!

91 hae loced it,9 said a <ueer, polite little oice from inside!91 want to be <uite by myself, if you please!9

Miss (melia was fat and dumpy, and stood ery much in awe of her sister! She was really

the better;natured person of the two, but she neer disobeyed Miss Minchin! She went

downstairs again, looing almost alarmed!91 neer saw such a funny, old;fashioned child, sister,9 she said! 9She has loced herself in,

and she is not maing the least particle of noise!9

91t is much better than if she iced and screamed, as some of them do,9 Miss Minchinanswered! 91 e=pected that a child as much spoiled as she is would set the whole house in

an uproar! 1f eer a child was gien her own way in eerything, she is!9

91'e been opening her truns and putting her things away,9 said Miss (melia! 91 neer sawanything lie them;;sable and ermine on her coats, and real 8alenciennes lace on her

underclothing! @ou hae seen some of her clothes! 6hat ." you thin of them?9

91 thin they are perfectly ridiculous,9 replied Miss Minchin, sharplyA 9but they will loo

ery well at the head of the line when we tae the schoolchildren to church on Sunday! Shehas been proided for as if she were a little princess!9

(nd upstairs in the loced room Sara and %mily sat on the floor and stared at the corner

round which the cab had disappeared, while Captain Crewe looed bacward, waing andissing his hand as if he could not bear to stop!



( French Lesson

6hen Sara entered the schoolroom the ne=t morning eerybody looed at her with wide,

interested eyes! By that time eery pupil;; from Lainia Herbert, who was nearly thirteenand felt <uite grown up, to Lottie Legh, who was only >ust four and the baby of the

school;; had heard a great deal about her! $hey new ery certainly that she was Miss

Minchin's show pupil and was considered a credit to the establishment! "ne or two of themhad een caught a glimpse of her French maid, Mariette, who had arried the eening

before!

Lainia had managed to pass Sara's room when the door was open, and had seen Mariette

opening a bo= which had arried late from some shop!91t was full of petticoats with lace frills on them;;frills and frills,9 she whispered to her

friend Gessie as she bent oer her geography! 91 saw her shaing them out! 1 heard Miss

Minchin say to Miss (melia that her clothes were so grand that they were ridiculous for a

child! My mamma says that children should be dressed simply! She has got one of those petticoats on now! 1 saw it when she sat down!9

9She has sil stocings onD9 whispered Gessie, bending oer her geography also! 9(nd whatlittle feetD 1 neer saw such little feet!9

9"h,9 sniffed Lainia, spitefully, 9that is the way her slippers are made! My mamma says

that een big feet can be made to loo small if you hae a cleer shoemaer! 1 don't thinshe is pretty at all! Her eyes are such a <ueer color!9

9She isn't pretty as other pretty people are,9 said Gessie, stealing a glance across the roomA

9but she maes you want to loo at her again! She has tremendously long eyelashes, but

her eyes are almost green!9Sara was sitting <uietly in her seat, waiting to be told what to do!

She had been placed near Miss Minchin's des! She was not abashed at all by the many

pairs of eyes watching her! She was interested and looed bac <uietly at the children wholooed at her!

She wondered what they were thining of, and if they lied Miss Minchin, and if they

cared for their lessons, and if any of them had a papa at all lie her own! She had had along tal with %mily about her papa that morning!

9He is on the sea now, %mily,9 she had said! 96e must be ery great friends to each other

and tell each other things! %mily, loo at me! @ou hae the nicest eyes 1 eer saw;;but 1

wish you could spea!9She was a child full of imaginings and whimsical thoughts, and one of her fancies was that

there would be a great deal of comfort in een pretending that %mily was alie and really

heard and understood! (fter Mariette had dressed her in her dar;blue schoolroom frocand tied her hair with a dar;blue ribbon, she went to %mily, who sat in a chair of her own,

and gae her a boo!

9@ou can read that while 1 am downstairs,9 she saidA and, seeing Mariette looing at hercuriously, she spoe to her with a serious little face!

96hat 1 beliee about dolls,9 she said, 9is that they can do things they will not let us now

about! 7erhaps, really, %mily can read and tal and wal, but she will only do it when

people are out of the room! $hat is her secret! @ou see, if people new that dolls could do



things, they would mae them wor! So, perhaps, they hae promised each other to eep it

a secret! 1f you stay in the room, %mily will >ust sit there and stareA but if you go out, she

will begin to read, perhaps, or go and loo out of the window! $hen if she heard either ofus coming, she would >ust run bac and >ump into her chair and pretend she had been there

all the time!9

9Comme elle est droleD9 Mariette said to herself, and when she went downstairs she toldthe head housemaid about it! But she had already begun to lie this odd little girl who had

such an intelligent small face and such perfect manners! She had taen care of children

before who were not so polite! Sara was a ery fine little person, and had a gentle,appreciatie way of saying, 91f you please, Mariette,9 9$han you, Mariette,9 which was

ery charming! Mariette told the head housemaid that she thaned her as if she was

thaning a lady!

9%lle a l'air d'une princesse, cette petite,9 she said!1ndeed, she was ery much pleased with her new little mistress and lied her place greatly!

(fter Sara had sat in her seat in the schoolroom for a few minutes, being looed at by the

pupils, Miss Minchin rapped in a dignified manner upon her des!

9@oung ladies,9 she said, 91 wish to introduce you to your new companion!9 (ll the littlegirls rose in their places, and Sara rose also! 91 shall e=pect you all to be ery agreeable to

Miss CreweA she has >ust come to us from a great distance;;in fact, from 1ndia! (s soon aslessons are oer you must mae each other's ac<uaintance!9

$he pupils bowed ceremoniously, and Sara made a little curtsy, and then they sat down and

looed at each other again!9Sara,9 said Miss Minchin in her schoolroom manner, 9come here to me!9

She had taen a boo from the des and was turning oer its leaes!

Sara went to her politely!

9(s your papa has engaged a French maid for you,9 she began, 91 conclude that he wishesyou to mae a special study of the French language!9

Sara felt a little awward!

91 thin he engaged her,9 she said, 9because he;;he thought 1 would lie her, MissMinchin!9

91 am afraid,9 said Miss Minchin, with a slightly sour smile, 9that you hae been a ery

spoiled little girl and always imagine that things are done because you lie them! Myimpression is that your papa wished you to learn French!9

1f Sara had been older or less punctilious about being <uite polite to people, she could hae

e=plained herself in a ery few words!

But, as it was, she felt a flush rising on her chees! Miss Minchin was a ery seere andimposing person, and she seemed so absolutely sure that Sara new nothing whateer of

French that she felt as if it would be almost rude to correct her! $he truth was that Sara

could not remember the time when she had not seemed to now French! Her father hadoften spoen it to her when she had been a baby! Her mother had been a French woman,

and Captain Crewe had loed her language, so it happened that Sara had always heard and

been familiar with it!91;;1 hae neer really learned French, but;;but;;9 she began, trying shyly to mae herself

clear!



"ne of Miss Minchin's chief secret annoyances was that she did not spea French herself,

and was desirous of concealing the irritating fact! She, therefore, had no intention of

discussing the matter and laying herself open to innocent <uestioning by a new little pupil!9$hat is enough,9 she said with polite tartness! 91f you hae not learned, you must begin at

once! $he French master, Monsieur .ufarge, will be here in a few minutes! $ae this boo

and loo at it until he arries!9Sara's chees felt warm! She went bac to her seat and opened the boo!

She looed at the first page with a grae face! She new it would be rude to smile, and she

was ery determined not to be rude!But it was ery odd to find herself e=pected to study a page which told her that 9le pere9

meant 9the father,9 and 9la mere9 meant 9the mother!9

Miss Minchin glanced toward her scrutiniingly!

9@ou loo rather cross, Sara,9 she said! 91 am sorry you do not lie the idea of learningFrench!9

91 am ery fond of it,9 answered Sara, thining she would try againA 9but;;9

9@ou must not say but' when you are told to do things,9 said Miss Minchin! 9Loo at your

boo again!9(nd Sara did so, and did not smile, een when she found that 9le fils9 meant 9the son,9 and

9le frere9 meant 9the brother!996hen Monsieur .ufarge comes,9 she thought, 91 can mae him understand!9

Monsieur .ufarge arried ery shortly afterward! He was a ery nice, intelligent, middle;

aged Frenchman, and he looed interested when his eyes fell upon Sara trying politely toseem absorbed in her little boo of phrases!

91s this a new pupil for me, madame?9 he said to Miss Minchin!

91 hope that is my good fortune!9

9Her papa;;Captain Crewe;;is ery an=ious that she should begin the language! But 1 amafraid she has a childish pre>udice against it! She does not seem to wish to learn,9 said Miss

Minchin!

91 am sorry of that, mademoiselle,9 he said indly to Sara!97erhaps, when we begin to study together, 1 may show you that it is a charming tongue!9

Little Sara rose in her seat! She was beginning to feel rather desperate, as if she were

almost in disgrace! She looed up into Monsieur .ufarge's face with her big, green;grayeyes, and they were <uite innocently appealing! She new that he would understand as

soon as she spoe! She began to e=plain <uite simply in pretty and fluent French! Madame

had not understood! She had not learned French e=actly;;not out of boos;;but her papa

and other people had always spoen it to her, and she had read it and written it as she hadread and written %nglish! Her papa loed it, and she loed it because he did! Her dear

mamma, who had died when she was born, had been French! She would be glad to learn

anything monsieur would teach her, but what she had tried to e=plain to madame was thatshe already new the words in this boo;; and she held out the little boo of phrases!

6hen she began to spea Miss Minchin started <uite iolently and sat staring at her oer

her eyeglasses, almost indignantly, until she had finished! Monsieur .ufarge began tosmile, and his smile was one of great pleasure! $o hear this pretty childish oice speaing

his own language so simply and charmingly made him feel almost as if he were in his

natie land;;which in dar, foggy days in London sometimes seemed worlds away! 6hen

she had finished, he too the phrase boo from her, with a loo almost affectionate!



But he spoe to Miss Minchin! 9(h, madame,9 he said, 9there is not much 1 can teach her!

She has not L%(5#%. FrenchA she is French! Her accent is e=<uisite!9

9@ou ought to hae told me,9 e=claimed Miss Minchin, much mortified, turning to Sara!91;;1 tried,9 said Sara! 91;;1 suppose 1 did not begin right!9

Miss Minchin new she had tried, and that it had not been her fault that she was not

allowed to e=plain! (nd when she saw that the pupils had been listening and that Lainiaand Gessie were giggling behind their French grammars, she felt infuriated!

9Silence, young ladiesD9 she said seerely, rapping upon the des! 9Silence at onceD9

(nd she began from that minute to feel rather a grudge against her show pupil!



)

%rmengarde

"n that first morning, when Sara sat at Miss Minchin's side, aware that the whole

schoolroom was deoting itself to obsering her, she had noticed ery soon one little girl,

about her own age, who looed at her ery hard with a pair of light, rather dull, blue eyes!She was a fat child who did not loo as if she were in the least cleer, but she had a good;

naturedly pouting mouth!

Her fla=en hair was braided in a tight pigtail, tied with a ribbon, and she had pulled this

pigtail around her nec, and was biting the end of the ribbon, resting her elbows on thedes, as she stared wonderingly at the new pupil! 6hen Monsieur .ufarge began to spea

to Sara, she looed a little frightenedA and when Sara stepped forward and, looing at him

with the innocent, appealing eyes, answered him, without any warning, in French, the fat

little girl gae a startled >ump, and grew <uite red in her awed amaement!Haing wept hopeless tears for wees in her efforts to remember that 9la mere9 meant 9the

mother,9 and 9le pere,9 9the father,9;; when one spoe sensible %nglish;;it was almost toomuch for her suddenly to find herself listening to a child her own age who seemed not only

<uite familiar with these words, but apparently new any number of others, and could mi=

them up with erbs as if they were mere trifles!She stared so hard and bit the ribbon on her pigtail so fast that she attracted the attention of

Miss Minchin, who, feeling e=tremely cross at the moment, immediately pounced upon

her!

9Miss St! GohnD9 she e=claimed seerely! 96hat do you mean by such conduct? 5emoeyour elbowsD $ae your ribbon out of your mouthD Sit up at onceD9

Ipon which Miss St! Gohn gae another >ump, and when Lainia and Gessie tittered she

became redder than eer;;so red, indeed, that she almost looed as if tears were cominginto her poor, dull, childish eyesA and Sara saw her and was so sorry for her that she began

rather to lie her and want to be her friend! 1t was a way of hers always to want to spring

into any fray in which someone was made uncomfortable or unhappy!91f Sara had been a boy and lied a few centuries ago,9 her father used to say, 9she would

hae gone about the country with her sword drawn, rescuing and defending eeryone in

distress! She always wants to fight when she sees people in trouble!9

So she too rather a fancy to fat, slow, little Miss St! Gohn, and ept glancing toward herthrough the morning! She saw that lessons were no easy matter to her, and that there was

no danger of her eer being spoiled by being treated as a show pupil!

Her French lesson was a pathetic thing! Her pronunciation made een Monsieur .ufargesmile in spite of himself, and Lainia and Gessie and the more fortunate girls either giggled

or looed at her in wondering disdain! But Sara did not laugh! She tried to loo as if she

did not hear when Miss St! Gohn called 9le bon pain,9 9lee bong pang!9 She had a fine, hotlittle temper of her own, and it made her feel rather saage when she heard the titters and

saw the poor, stupid, distressed child's face!

91t isn't funny, really,9 she said between her teeth, as she bent oer her boo! 9$hey ought

not to laugh!9



6hen lessons were oer and the pupils gathered together in groups to tal, Sara looed for

Miss St! Gohn, and finding her bundled rather disconsolately in a window;seat, she waled

oer to her and spoe!She only said the ind of thing little girls always say to each other by way of beginning an

ac<uaintance, but there was something friendly about Sara, and people always felt it!

96hat is your name?9 she said!$o e=plain Miss St! Gohn's amaement one must recall that a new pupil is, for a short time,

a somewhat uncertain thingA and of this new pupil the entire school had taled the night

before until it fell asleep <uite e=hausted by e=citement and contradictory stories!( new pupil with a carriage and a pony and a maid, and a oyage from 1ndia to discuss,

was not an ordinary ac<uaintance!

9My name's %rmengarde St! Gohn,9 she answered!

9Mine is Sara Crewe,9 said Sara! 9@ours is ery pretty! 1t sounds lie a story boo!99.o you lie it?9 fluttered %rmengarde! 91;;1 lie yours!9

Miss St! Gohn's chief trouble in life was that she had a cleer father! Sometimes this

seemed to her a dreadful calamity! 1f you hae a father who nows eerything, who speas

seen or eight languages, and has thousands of olumes which he has apparently learned by heart, he fre<uently e=pects you to be familiar with the contents of your lesson boos at

leastA and it is not improbable that he will feel you ought to be able to remember a fewincidents of history and to write a French e=ercise! %rmengarde was a seere trial to Mr!

St! Gohn! He could not understand how a child of his could be a notably and unmistaably

dull creature who neer shone in anything!94ood heaensD9 he had said more than once, as he stared at her, 9there are times when 1

thin she is as stupid as her (unt %liaD9

1f her (unt %lia had been slow to learn and <uic to forget a thing entirely when she had

learned it, %rmengarde was striingly lie her! She was the monumental dunce of theschool, and it could not be denied!

9She must be M(.% to learn,9 her father said to Miss Minchin!

Conse<uently %rmengarde spent the greater part of her life in disgrace or in tears! Shelearned things and forgot themA or, if she remembered them, she did not understand them!

So it was natural that, haing made Sara's ac<uaintance, she should sit and stare at her with

profound admiration!9@ou can spea French, can't you?9 she said respectfully!

Sara got on to the window;seat, which was a big, deep one, and, tucing up her feet, sat

with her hands clasped round her nees!

91 can spea it because 1 hae heard it all my life,9 she answered!9@ou could spea it if you had always heard it!9

9"h, no, 1 couldn't,9 said %rmengarde! 91 #%8%5 could spea itD9

96hy?9 in<uired Sara, curiously!%rmengarde shoo her head so that the pigtail wobbled!

9@ou heard me >ust now,9 she said! 91'm always lie that! 1 can't S(@ the words! $hey're so

<ueer!9She paused a moment, and then added with a touch of awe in her oice, 9@ou are clever ,

aren't you?9



Sara looed out of the window into the dingy s<uare, where the sparrows were hopping

and twittering on the wet, iron railings and the sooty branches of the trees! She reflected a

few moments!She had heard it said ery often that she was 9cleer,9 and she wondered if she was;;and 1F

she was, how it had happened!

91 don't now,9 she said! 91 can't tell!9 $hen, seeing a mournful loo on the round, chubbyface, she gae a little laugh and changed the sub>ect!

96ould you lie to see %mily?9 she in<uired!

96ho is %mily?9 %rmengarde ased, >ust as Miss Minchin had done!9Come up to my room and see,9 said Sara, holding out her hand!

$hey >umped down from the window;seat together, and went upstairs!

91s it true,9 %rmengarde whispered, as they went through the hall;; 9is it true that you hae

a playroom all to yourself?99@es,9 Sara answered! 97apa ased Miss Minchin to let me hae one, because;;well, it was

because when 1 play 1 mae up stories and tell them to myself, and 1 don't lie people to

hear me! 1t spoils it if 1 thin people listen!9

$hey had reached the passage leading to Sara's room by this time, and %rmengarde stoppedshort, staring, and <uite losing her breath!

9@ou make up storiesD9 she gasped! 9Can you do that;;as well as spea French? Can you?9Sara looed at her in simple surprise!

96hy, anyone can mae up things,9 she said! 9Hae you neer tried?9 She put her hand

warningly on %rmengarde's!9Let us go ery <uietly to the door,9 she whispered, 9and then 1 will open it <uite suddenlyA

perhaps we may catch her!9

She was half laughing, but there was a touch of mysterious hope in her eyes which

fascinated %rmengarde, though she had not the remotest idea what it meant, or whom itwas she wanted to 9catch,9 or why she wanted to catch her! 6hatsoeer she meant,

%rmengarde was sure it was something delightfully e=citing! So, <uite thrilled with

e=pectation, she followed her on tiptoe along the passage!$hey made not the least noise until they reached the door!

$hen Sara suddenly turned the handle, and threw it wide open! 1ts opening reealed the

room <uite neat and <uiet, a fire gently burning in the grate, and a wonderful doll sitting ina chair by it, apparently reading a boo!

9"h, she got bac to her seat before we could see herD9 Sara e=plained! 9"f course they

always do! $hey are as <uic as lightning!9

%rmengarde looed from her to the doll and bac again! 9Can she;;wal?9 she ased breathlessly!

9@es,9 answered Sara! 9(t least 1 beliee she can! (t least 1 75%$%#. 1 beliee she can!

(nd that maes it seem as if it were true! Hae you neer pretended things?99#o,9 said %rmengarde! 9#eer! 1;;tell me about it!9

She was so bewitched by this odd, new companion that she actually stared at Sara instead

of at %mily;;notwithstanding that %mily was the most attractie doll person she had eerseen!

9Let us sit down,9 said Sara, 9and 1 will tell you! 1t's so easy that when you begin you can't

stop! @ou >ust go on and on doing it always! (nd it's beautiful! %mily, you must listen!



$his is %rmengarde St! Gohn, %mily! %rmengarde, this is %mily! 6ould you lie to hold

her?9

9"h, may 1?9 said %rmengarde! 9May 1, really? She is beautifulD9(nd %mily was put into her arms!

#eer in her dull, short life had Miss St! Gohn dreamed of such an hour as the one she spent

with the <ueer new pupil before they heard the lunch;bell ring and were obliged to godownstairs!

Sara sat upon the hearth;rug and told her strange things! She sat rather huddled up, and her

green eyes shone and her chees flushed! She told stories of the oyage, and stories of1ndiaA but what fascinated %rmengarde the most was her fancy about the dolls who waled

and taled, and who could do anything they chose when the human beings were out of the

room, but who must eep their powers a secret and so flew bac to their places 9lie

lightning9 when people returned to the room!96% couldn't do it,9 said Sara, seriously! 9@ou see, it's a ind of magic!9

"nce, when she was relating the story of the search for %mily, %rmengarde saw her face

suddenly change! ( cloud seemed to pass oer it and put out the light in her shining eyes!

She drew her breath in so sharply that it made a funny, sad little sound, and then she shuther lips and held them tightly closed, as if she was determined either to do or #"$ to do

something!%rmengarde had an idea that if she had been lie any other little girl, she might hae

suddenly burst out sobbing and crying!

But she did not!9Hae you a;;a pain?9 %rmengarde entured!

9@es,9 Sara answered, after a moment's silence! 9But it is not in my body!9 $hen she added

something in a low oice which she tried to eep <uite steady, and it was this: 9.o you

loe your father more than anything else in all the whole world?9%rmengarde's mouth fell open a little! She new that it would be far from behaing lie a

respectable child at a select seminary to say that it had neer occurred to you that you

C"IL. loe your father, that you would do anything desperate to aoid being left alonein his society for ten minutes! She was, indeed, greatly embarrassed!

91;;1 scarcely eer see him,9 she stammered! 9He is always in the library;;reading things!9

91 loe mine more than all the world ten times oer,9 Sara said! 9$hat is what my pain is!He has gone away!9

She put her head <uietly down on her little, huddled;up nees, and sat ery still for a few

minutes!

9She's going to cry out loud,9 thought %rmengarde, fearfully!But she did not! Her short, blac locs tumbled about her ears, and she sat still! $hen she

spoe without lifting her head!

91 promised him 1 would bear it,9 she said! 9(nd 1 will! @ou hae to bear things! $hinwhat soldiers bearD 7apa is a soldier! 1f there was a war he would hae to bear marching

and thirstiness and, perhaps, deep wounds! (nd he would neer say a word;;not one

word!9%rmengarde could only gae at her, but she felt that she was beginning to adore her! She

was so wonderful and different from anyone else! 7resently, she lifted her face and shoo

bac her blac locs, with a <ueer little smile!



91f 1 go on taling and taling,9 she said, 9and telling you things about pretending, 1 shall

bear it better! @ou don't forget, but you bear it better!9

%rmengarde did not now why a lump came into her throat and her eyes felt as if tearswere in them!

JLainia and Gessie are Kbest friends, she said rather husily!

91 wish we could be best friends!' 6ould you hae me for yours? @ou're cleer, and 1'mthe stupidest child in the school, but 1;; oh, 1 do so lie youD9

91'm glad of that,9 said Sara! 91t maes you thanful when you are lied! @es! 6e will be

friends! (nd 1'll tell you what9;; a sudden gleam lighting her face;;91 can help you withyour French lessons!9



*Lottie

1f Sara had been a different ind of child, the life she led at Miss Minchin's SelectSeminary for the ne=t few years would not hae been at all good for her! She was treated

more as if she were a distinguished guest at the establishment than as if she were a mere

little girl!

1f she had been a self;opinionated, domineering child, she might hae become disagreeableenough to be unbearable through being so much indulged and flattered! 1f she had been an

indolent child, she would hae learned nothing! 7riately Miss Minchin dislied her, but

she was far too worldly a woman to do or say anything which might mae such a desirable

pupil wish to leae her school!She new <uite well that if Sara wrote to her papa to tell him she was uncomfortable or

unhappy, Captain Crewe would remoe her at once!Miss Minchin's opinion was that if a child were continually praised and neer forbidden to

do what she lied, she would be sure to be fond of the place where she was so treated!

(ccordingly, Sara was praised for her <uicness at her lessons, for her good manners, forher amiability to her fellow pupils, for her generosity if she gae si=pence to a beggar out

of her full little purseA the simplest thing she did was treated as if it were a irtue, and if

she had not had a disposition and a cleer little brain, she might hae been a ery self;

satisfied young person! But the cleer little brain told her a great many sensible and truethings about herself and her circumstances, and now and then she taled these things oer

to %rmengarde as time went on!

9$hings happen to people by accident,9 she used to say! 9( lot of nice accidents haehappened to me! 1t >ust H(77%#%. that 1 always lied lessons and boos, and could

remember things when 1 learned them! 1t >ust happened that 1 was born with a father who

was beautiful and nice and cleer, and could gie me eerything 1 lied! 7erhaps 1 hae notreally a good temper at all, but if you hae eerything you want and eeryone is ind to

you, how can you help but be good;tempered? 1 don't now9;;looing <uite serious;;9how

1 shall eer find out whether 1 am really a nice child or a horrid one! 7erhaps 1'm a

H1.%"IS child, and no one will eer now, >ust because 1 neer hae any trials!99Lainia has no trials,9 said %rmengarde, stolidly, 9and she is horrid enough!9

Sara rubbed the end of her little nose reflectiely, as she thought the matter oer!

96ell,9 she said at last, 9perhaps;;perhaps that is because Lainia is 45"61#4!9$his was the result of a charitable recollection of haing heard Miss (melia say that

Lainia was growing so fast that she belieed it affected her health and temper! Lainia, in

fact, was spiteful! She was inordinately >ealous of Sara! Intil the new pupil's arrial, shehad felt herself the leader in the school! She had led because she was capable of maing

herself e=tremely disagreeable if the others did not follow her! She domineered oer the

little children, and assumed grand airs with those big enough to be her companions! She

was rather pretty, and had been the best;dressed pupil in the procession when the Select



Seminary waled out two by two, until Sara's elet coats and sable muffs appeared,

combined with drooping ostrich feathers, and were led by Miss Minchin at the head of the

line! $his, at the beginning, had been bitter enoughA but as time went on it became apparentthat Sara was a leader, too, and not because she could mae herself disagreeable, but

because she neer did!

9$here's one thing about Sara Crewe,9 Gessie had enraged her 9best friend9 by sayinghonestly, 9she's neer grand' about herself the least bit, and you now she might be,

Laie! 1 beliee 1 couldn't help being;; >ust a little;;if 1 had so many fine things and was

made such a fuss oer! 1t's disgusting, the way Miss Minchin shows her off when parentscome!9

9.ear Sara must come into the drawing room and tal to Mrs! Musgrae about 1ndia,'9

mimiced Lainia, in her most highly flaored imitation of Miss Minchin! 9.ear Sara

must spea French to Lady 7itin! Her accent is so perfect!' She didn't learn her French atthe Seminary, at any rate! (nd there's nothing so cleer in her nowing it! She says herself

she didn't learn it at all! She >ust piced it up, because she always heard her papa spea it!

(nd, as to her papa, there is nothing so grand in being an 1ndian officer!9

96ell,9 said Gessie, slowly, 9he's illed tigers! He illed the one in the sin Sara has in herroom! $hat's why she lies it so! She lies on it and stroes its head, and tals to it as if it

was a cat!99She's always doing something silly,9 snapped Lainia! 9My mamma says that way of hers

of pretending things is silly! She says she will grow up eccentric!9

1t was <uite true that Sara was neer 9grand!9 She was a friendly little soul, and shared her priileges and belongings with a free hand! $he little ones, who were accustomed to being

disdained and ordered out of the way by mature ladies aged ten and twele, were neer

made to cry by this most enied of them all! She was a motherly young person, and when

people fell down and scraped their nees, she ran and helped them up and patted them, orfound in her pocet a bonbon or some other article of a soothing nature!

She neer pushed them out of her way or alluded to their years as a humiliation and a blot

upon their small characters!91f you are four you are four,9 she said seerely to Lainia on an occasion of her haing;;it

must be confessed;;slapped Lottie and called her 9a bratA9 9but you will be fie ne=t year,

and si= the year after that! (nd,9 opening large, conicting eyes, 9it taes si=teen years tomae you twenty!9

9.ear me,9 said Lainia, 9how we can calculateD9 1n fact, it was not to be denied that

si=teen and four made twenty;;and twenty was an age the most daring were scarcely bold

enough to dream of!So the younger children adored Sara! More than once she had been nown to hae a tea

party, made up of these despised ones, in her own room!

(nd %mily had been played with, and %mily's own tea serice used;; the one with cupswhich held <uite a lot of much;sweetened wea tea and had blue flowers on them! #o one

had seen such a ery real doll's tea set before! From that afternoon Sara was regarded as a

goddess and a <ueen by the entire alphabet class!Lottle Legh worshipped her to such an e=tent that if Sara had not been a motherly person,

she would hae found her tiresome!

Lottie had been sent to school by a rather flighty young papa who could not imagine what

else to do with her! Her young mother had died, and as the child had been treated lie a



faorite doll or a ery spoiled pet money or lap dog eer since the first hour of her life,

she was a ery appalling little creature! 6hen she wanted anything or did not want

anything she wept and howledA and, as she always wanted the things she could not hae,and did not want the things that were best for her, her shrill little oice was usually to be

heard uplifted in wails in one part of the house or another!

Her strongest weapon was that in some mysterious way she had found out that a ery smallgirl who had lost her mother was a person who ought to be pitied and made much of! She

had probably heard some grown;up people taling her oer in the early days, after her

mother's death!So it became her habit to mae great use of this nowledge!

$he first time Sara too her in charge was one morning when, on passing a sitting room,

she heard both Miss Minchin and Miss (melia trying to suppress the angry wails of some

child who, eidently, refused to be silenced! She refused so strenuously indeed that MissMinchin was obliged to almost shout;;in a stately and seere manner;; to mae herself

heard!

96hat 1S she crying for?9 she almost yelled!

9"h;;oh;;ohD9 Sara heardA 91 haen't got any mam;;ma;aD99"h, LottieD9 screamed Miss (melia! 9.o stop, darlingD .on't cryD 7lease don'tD9

9"hD "hD "hD "hD "hD9 Lottle howled tempestuously!9Haen't;;got;;any;;mam;;ma;aD9

9She ought to be whipped,9 Miss Minchin proclaimed! 9@ou SH(LL be whipped, you

naughty childD9Lottle wailed more loudly than eer! Miss (melia began to cry!

Miss Minchin's oice rose until it almost thundered, then suddenly she sprang up from her

chair in impotent indignation and flounced out of the room, leaing Miss (melia to

arrange the matter!Sara had paused in the hall, wondering if she ought to go into the room, because she had

recently begun a friendly ac<uaintance with Lottie and might be able to <uiet her! 6hen

Miss Minchin came out and saw her, she looed rather annoyed! She realied that heroice, as heard from inside the room, could not hae sounded either dignified or amiable!

9"h, SaraD9 she e=claimed, endeaoring to produce a suitable smile!

91 stopped,9 e=plained Sara, 9because 1 new it was Lottie;; and 1 thought, perhaps;;>ust perhaps, 1 could mae her be <uiet! May 1 try, Miss Minchin?9

91f you can, you are a cleer child,9 answered Miss Minchin, drawing in her mouth

sharply! $hen, seeing that Sara looed slightly chilled by her asperity, she changed her

manner!9But you are cleer in eerything,9 she said in her approing way! 91 dare say you can

manage her! 4o in!9 (nd she left her!

6hen Sara entered the room, Lottie was lying upon the floor, screaming and icing hersmall fat legs iolently, and Miss (melia was bending oer her in consternation and

despair, looing <uite red and damp with heat! Lottie had always found, when in her own

nursery at home, that icing and screaming would always be <uieted by any means sheinsisted on! 7oor plump Miss (melia was trying first one method, and then another!

97oor darling,9 she said one moment, 91 now you haen't any mamma, poor;;9 $hen in

<uite another tone, 91f you don't stop, Lottie, 1 will shae you! 7oor little angelD $here;;D

@ou wiced, bad, detestable child, 1 will smac youD 1 willD9



Sara went to them <uietly! She did not now at all what she was going to do, but she had a

ague inward coniction that it would be better not to say such different inds of things

<uite so helplessly and e=citedly!9Miss (melia,9 she said in a low oice, 9Miss Minchin says 1 may try to mae her stop;;

may 1?9

Miss (melia turned and looed at her hopelessly! 9"h, ." you thin you can?9 shegasped!

91 don't now whether 1 C(#, answered Sara, still in her half;whisperA 9but 1 will try!9

Miss (melia stumbled up from her nees with a heay sigh, and Lottie's fat little legsiced as hard as eer!

91f you will steal out of the room,9 said Sara, 91 will stay with her!9

9"h, SaraD9 almost whimpered Miss (melia! 96e neer had such a dreadful child before! 1

don't beliee we can eep her!9But she crept out of the room, and was ery much relieed to find an e=cuse for doing it!

Sara stood by the howling furious child for a few moments, and looed down at her

without saying anything! $hen she sat down flat on the floor beside her and waited! %=cept

for Lottie's angry screams, the room was <uite <uiet! $his was a new state of affairs forlittle Miss Legh, who was accustomed, when she screamed, to hear other people protest

and implore and command and coa= by turns!$o lie and ic and shrie, and find the only person near you not seeming to mind in the

least, attracted her attention!

She opened her tight;shut streaming eyes to see who this person was! (nd it was onlyanother little girl! But it was the one who owned %mily and all the nice things! (nd she

was looing at her steadily and as if she was merely thining! Haing paused for a few

seconds to find this out, Lottie thought she must begin again, but the <uiet of the room and

of Sara's odd, interested face made her first howl rather half;hearted!91;;haen't;;any;;ma;;ma;;ma;aD9 she announcedA but her oice was not so strong!

Sara looed at her still more steadily, but with a sort of understanding in her eyes!

9#either hae 1,9 she said!$his was so une=pected that it was astounding! Lottie actually dropped her legs, gae a

wriggle, and lay and stared! ( new idea will stop a crying child when nothing else will!

(lso it was true that while Lottie dislied Miss Minchin, who was cross, and Miss (melia,who was foolishly indulgent, she rather lied Sara, little as she new her! She did not want

to gie up her grieance, but her thoughts were distracted from it, so she wriggled again,

and, after a suly sob, said, 96here is she?9

Sara paused a moment! Because she had been told that her mamma was in heaen, she hadthought a great deal about the matter, and her thoughts had not been <uite lie those of

other people!

9She went to heaen,9 she said! 9But 1 am sure she comes out sometimes to see me;;though1 don't see her! So does yours! 7erhaps they can both see us now! 7erhaps they are both in

this room!9

Lottle sat bolt upright, and looed about her! She was a pretty, little, curly;headed creature,and her round eyes were lie wet forget;me;nots! 1f her mamma had seen her during the

last half;hour, she might not hae thought her the ind of child who ought to be related to

an angel! Sara went on taling! 7erhaps some people might thin that what she said was



rather lie a fairy story, but it was all so real to her own imagination that Lottie began to

listen in spite of herself!

She had been told that her mamma had wings and a crown, and she had been shown pictures of ladies in beautiful white nightgowns, who were said to be angels! But Sara

seemed to be telling a real story about a loely country where real people were!

9$here are fields and fields of flowers,9 she said, forgetting herself, as usual, when she began, and taling rather as if she were in a dream, 9fields and fields of lilies;;and when

the soft wind blows oer them it wafts the scent of them into the air;;and eerybody

always breathes it, because the soft wind is always blowing! (nd little children run aboutin the lily fields and gather armfuls of them, and laugh and mae little wreaths! (nd the

streets are shining! (nd people are neer tired, howeer far they wal! $hey can float

anywhere they lie! (nd there are walls made of pearl and gold all round the city, but they

are low enough for the people to go and lean on them, and loo down on to the earth andsmile, and send beautiful messages!9

6hatsoeer story she had begun to tell, Lottie would, no doubt, hae stopped crying, and

been fascinated into listeningA but there was no denying that this story was prettier than

most others!She dragged herself close to Sara, and dran in eery word until the end came;;far too

soon! 6hen it did come, she was so sorry that she put up her lip ominously!91 want to go there,9 she cried! 91;;haen't any mamma in this school!9

Sara saw the danger signal, and came out of her dream! She too hold of the chubby hand

and pulled her close to her side with a coa=ing little laugh!91 will be your mamma,9 she said! 96e will play that you are my little girl! (nd %mily

shall be your sister!9

Lottie's dimples all began to show themseles!

9Shall she?9 she said!9@es,9 answered Sara, >umping to her feet! 9Let us go and tell her! (nd then 1 will wash

your face and brush your hair!9

$o which Lottie agreed <uite cheerfully, and trotted out of the room and upstairs with her,without seeming een to remember that the whole of the last hour's tragedy had been

caused by the fact that she had refused to be washed and brushed for lunch and Miss

Minchin had been called in to use her ma>estic authority!(nd from that time Sara was an adopted mother!



+Becy

"f course the greatest power Sara possessed and the one which gained her een more

followers than her lu=uries and the fact that she was 9the show pupil,9 the power thatLainia and certain other girls were most enious of, and at the same time most fascinated

by in spite of themseles, was her power of telling stories and of maing eerything she

taled about seem lie a story, whether it was one or not!

(nyone who has been at school with a teller of stories nows what the wonder means;;how he or she is followed about and besought in a whisper to relate romancesA how groups

gather round and hang on the outsirts of the faored party in the hope of being allowed to >oin in and listen! Sara not only could tell stories, but she adored telling them! 6hen she

sat or stood in the midst of a circle and began to inent wonderful things, her green eyes

grew big and shining, her chees flushed, and, without nowing that she was doing it, she began to act and made what she told loely or alarming by the raising or dropping of her

oice, the bend and sway of her slim body, and the dramatic moement of her hands!

She forgot that she was taling to listening childrenA she saw and lied with the fairy fol,

or the ings and <ueens and beautiful ladies, whose adentures she was narrating!Sometimes when she had finished her story, she was <uite out of breath with e=citement,

and would lay her hand on her thin, little, <uic;rising chest, and half laugh as if at herself!

96hen 1 am telling it,9 she would say, 9it doesn't seem as if it was only made up! 1t seemsmore real than you are;;more real than the schoolroom! 1 feel as if 1 were all the people in

the story;; one after the other! 1t is <ueer!9

She had been at Miss Minchin's school about two years when, one foggy winter'safternoon, as she was getting out of her carriage, comfortably wrapped up in her warmest

elets and furs and looing ery much grander than she new, she caught sight, as she

crossed the paement, of a dingy little figure standing on the area steps, and stretching its

nec so that its wide;open eyes might peer at her through the railings! Something in theeagerness and timidity of the smudgy face made her loo at it, and when she looed she

smiled because it was her way to smile at people!

But the owner of the smudgy face and the wide;open eyes eidently was afraid that sheought not to hae been caught looing at pupils of importance! She dodged out of sight lie

a >ac;in;the;bo= and scurried bac into the itchen, disappearing so suddenly

that if she had not been such a poor little forlorn thing, Sara would hae laughed in spite ofherself! $hat ery eening, as Sara was sitting in the midst of a group of listeners in a

corner of the schoolroom telling one of her stories, the ery same figure timidly entered the

room, carrying a coal bo= much too heay for her, and nelt down upon the hearth rug to

replenish the fire and sweep up the ashes!



She was cleaner than she had been when she peeped through the area railings, but she

looed >ust as frightened! She was eidently afraid to loo at the children or seem to be

listening!She put on pieces of coal cautiously with her fingers so that she might mae no disturbing

noise, and she swept about the fire irons ery softly! But Sara saw in two minutes that she

was deeply interested in what was going on, and that she was doing her wor slowly in thehope of catching a word here and there!

(nd realiing this, she raised her oice and spoe more clearly!

9$he Mermaids swam softly about in the crystal;green water, and dragged after them afishing;net woen of deep;sea pearls,9 she said! 9$he 7rincess sat on the white roc and

watched them!9

1t was a wonderful story about a princess who was loed by a 7rince Merman, and went to

lie with him in shining caes under the sea! $he small drudge before the grate swept thehearth once and then swept it again! Haing done it twice, she did it three timesA and, as

she was doing it the third time, the sound of the story so lured her to listen that she fell

under the spell and actually forgot that she had no right to listen at all, and also forgot

eerything else! She sat down upon her heels as she nelt on the hearth rug, and the brushhung idly in her fingers! $he oice of the storyteller went on and drew her with it into

winding grottos under the sea, glowing with soft, clear blue light, and paed with puregolden sands! Strange sea flowers and grasses waed about her, and far away faint singing

and music echoed!

$he hearth brush fell from the wor;roughened hand, and Lainia Herbert looed round!9$hat girl has been listening,9 she said!

$he culprit snatched up her brush, and scrambled to her feet!

She caught at the coal bo= and simply scuttled out of the room lie a frightened rabbit!

Sara felt rather hot;tempered! 91 new she was listening,9 she said! 96hy shouldn't she?9Lainia tossed her head with great elegance! 96ell,9 she remared, 91 do not now whether

your mamma would lie you to tell stories to serant girls, but 1 now M@ mamma

wouldn't lie M% to do it!99My mammaD9 said Sara, looing odd! 91 don't beliee she would mind in the least! She

nows that stories belong to eerybody!9

91 thought,9 retorted Lainia, in seere recollection, that your mamma was dead! How canshe now things?9

9.o you thin she ."%S#'$ now things?9 said Sara, in her stern little oice! Sometimes

she had a rather stern little oice!

9Sara's mamma nows eerything,9 piped in Lottie! 9So does my mamma;;'cept Sara is mymamma at Miss Minchin's;;my other one nows eerything! $he streets are shining, and

there are fields and fields of lilies, and eerybody gathers them! Sara tells me when she

puts me to bed!99@ou wiced thing,9 said Lainia, turning on SaraA 9maing fairy stories about heaen!9

9$here are much more splendid stories in 5eelation,9 returned Sara! 9Gust loo and seeD

How do you now mine are fairy stories? But 1 can tell you9;;with a fine bit of unheaenlytemper;;9you will neer find out whether they are or not if you're not inder to people than

you are now! Come along, Lottie!9

(nd she marched out of the room, rather hoping that she might see the little serant again

somewhere, but she found no trace of her when she got into the hall!



96ho is that little girl who maes the fires?9 she ased Mariette that night!

Mariette broe forth into a flow of description!

(h, indeed, Mademoiselle Sara might well as! She was a forlorn little thing who had >usttaen the place of scullery maid;; though, as to being scullery maid, she was eerything

else besides!

She blaced boots and grates, and carried heay coal;scuttles up and down stairs, andscrubbed floors and cleaned windows, and was ordered about by eerybody! She was

fourteen years old, but was so stunted in growth that she looed about twele! 1n truth,

Mariette was sorry for her! She was so timid that if one chanced to spea to her it appearedas if her poor, frightened eyes would

>ump out of her head!

96hat is her name?9 ased Sara, who had sat by the table, with her chin on her hands, as

she listened absorbedly to the recital!Her name was Becy! Mariette heard eeryone below;stairs calling, 9Becy, do this,9 and

9Becy, do that,9 eery fie minutes in the day!

Sara sat and looed into the fire, reflecting on Becy for some time after Mariette left her!

She made up a story of which Becy was the ill;used heroine! She thought she looed as ifshe had neer had <uite enough to eat! Her ery eyes were hungry!

She hoped she should see her again, but though she caught sight of her carrying things upor down stairs on seeral occasions, she always seemed in such a hurry and so afraid of

being seen that it was impossible to spea to her!

But a few wees later, on another foggy afternoon, when she entered her sitting room shefound herself confronting a rather pathetic picture! 1n her own special and pet easy;chair

before the bright fire, Becy;;with a coal smudge on her nose and seeral on her apron,

with her poor little cap hanging half off her head, and an empty coal bo= on the floor near

her;;sat fast asleep, tired out beyond een the endurance of her hard;woring young body!She had been sent up to put the bedrooms in order for the eening!

$here were a great many of them, and she had been running about all day! Sara's rooms she

had saed until the last! $hey were not lie the other rooms, which were plain and bare!"rdinary pupils were e=pected to be satisfied with mere necessaries! Sara's comfortable

sitting room seemed a bower of lu=ury to the scullery maid, though it was, in fact, merely a

nice, bright little room!But there were pictures and boos in it, and curious things from 1ndiaA there was a sofa and

the low, soft chairA %mily sat in a chair of her own, with the air of a presiding goddess, and

there was always a glowing fire and a polished grate! Becy saed it until the end of her

afternoon's wor, because it rested her to go into it, and she always hoped to snatch a fewminutes to sit down in the soft chair and loo about her, and thin about the wonderful

good fortune of the child who owned such surroundings and who went out on the cold days

in beautiful hats and coats one tried to catch a glimpse of through the area railing!"n this afternoon, when she had sat down, the sensation of relief to her short, aching legs

had been so wonderful and delightful that it had seemed to soothe her whole body, and the

glow of warmth and comfort from the fire had crept oer her lie a spell, until, as shelooed at the red coals, a tired, slow smile stole oer her smudged face, her head nodded

forward without her being aware of it, her eyes drooped, and she fell fast asleep! She had

really been only about ten minutes in the room when Sara entered, but she was in as deep a

sleep as if she had been, lie the Sleeping Beauty, slumbering for a hundred years! But she



did not loo;;poor Becy;; lie a Sleeping Beauty at all! She looed only lie an ugly,

stunted, worn;out little scullery drudge!

Sara seemed as much unlie her as if she were a creature from another world!"n this particular afternoon she had been taing her dancing lesson, and the afternoon on

which the dancing master appeared was rather a grand occasion at the seminary, though it

occurred eery wee!$he pupils were attired in their prettiest frocs, and as Sara danced particularly well, she

was ery much brought forward, and Mariette was re<uested to mae her as diaphanous

and fine as possible!$oday a froc the color of a rose had been put on her, and Mariette had bought some real

buds and made her a wreath to wear on her blac locs! She had been learning a new,

delightful dance in which she had been simming and flying about the room, lie a large

rose;colored butterfly, and the en>oyment and e=ercise had brought a brilliant, happy glowinto her face!

6hen she entered the room, she floated in with a few of the butterfly steps;;and there sat

Becy, nodding her cap sideways off her head!

9"hD9 cried Sara, softly, when she saw her! 9$hat poor thingD91t did not occur to her to feel cross at finding her pet chair occupied by the small, dingy

figure! $o tell the truth, she was <uite glad to find it there! 6hen the ill;used heroine of her story waened, she could tal to her! She crept toward her <uietly, and stood looing at

her! Becy gae a little snore!

91 wish she'd waen herself,9 Sara said! 91 don't lie to waen her! But Miss Minchinwould be cross if she found out! 1'll >ust wait a few minutes!9

She too a seat on the edge of the table, and sat swinging her slim, rose;colored legs, and

wondering what it would be best to do! Miss (melia might come in at any moment, and if

she did, Becy would be sure to be scolded!9But she is so tired,9 she thought! 9She is so tiredD9

( piece of flaming coal ended her perple=ity for her that ery moment! 1t broe off from a

large lump and fell on to the fender! Becy started, and opened her eyes with a frightenedgasp! She did not now she had fallen asleep! She had only sat down for one moment and

felt the beautiful glow;;and here she found herself staring in wild alarm at the wonderful

pupil, who sat perched <uite near her, lie a rose;colored fairy, with interested eyes!She sprang up and clutched at her cap! She felt it dangling oer her ear, and tried wildly to

put it straight! "h, she had got herself into trouble now with a engeanceD $o hae

impudently fallen asleep on such a young lady's chairD She would be turned out of doors

without wages! She made a sound lie a big breathless sob!9"h, missD "h, missD9 she stuttered! 91 arst yer pardon, missD "h, 1 do, missD9

Sara >umped down, and came <uite close to her!

9.on't be frightened,9 she said, <uite as if she had been speaing to a little girl lie herself!91t doesn't matter the least bit!9

91 didn't go to do it, miss,9 protested Becy! 91t was the warm fire;;an' me bein' so tired!

1t;;it 6(S#'$ impertnenceD9Sara broe into a friendly little laugh, and put her hand on her shoulder!

9@ou were tired,9 she saidA 9you could not help it! @ou are not really awae yet!9



How poor Becy stared at herD 1n fact, she had neer heard such a nice, friendly sound in

anyone's oice before! She was used to being ordered about and scolded, and haing her

ears bo=ed!(nd this one;;in her rose;colored dancing afternoon splendor;; was looing at her as if she

were not a culprit at all;;as if she had a right to be tired;;een to fall asleepD $he touch of

the soft, slim little paw on her shoulder was the most amaing thing she had eer nown!9(in't;;ain't yer angry, miss?9 she gasped! 9(in't yer goin' to tell the missus?9

9#o,9 cried out Sara! 9"f course 1'm not!9

$he woeful fright in the coal;smutted face made her suddenly so sorry that she couldscarcely bear it! "ne of her <ueer thoughts rushed into her mind! She put her hand against

Becy's chee!

96hy,9 she said, 9we are >ust the same;;1 am only a little girl lie you! 1t's >ust an accident

that 1 am not you, and you are not meD9Becy did not understand in the least! Her mind could not grasp such amaing thoughts,

and 9an accident9 meant to her a calamity in which some one was run oer or fell off a

ladder and was carried to 9the 'orspital!9

9(' accident, miss,9 she fluttered respectfully! 91s it?99@es,9 Sara answered, and she looed at her dreamily for a moment!

But the ne=t she spoe in a different tone! She realied that Becy did not now what shemeant!

9Hae you done your wor?9 she ased! 9.are you stay here a few minutes?9

Becy lost her breath again!9Here, miss? Me?9

Sara ran to the door, opened it, and looed out and listened!

9#o one is anywhere about,9 she e=plained! 91f your bedrooms are finished, perhaps you

might stay a tiny while! 1 thought;; perhaps;;you might lie a piece of cae!9$he ne=t ten minutes seemed to Becy lie a sort of delirium! Sara opened a cupboard, and

gae her a thic slice of cae! She seemed to re>oice when it was deoured in hungry bites!

She taled and ased <uestions, and laughed until Becy's fears actually began to calmthemseles, and she once or twice gathered boldness enough to as a <uestion or so

herself, daring as she felt it to be!

91s that;;9 she entured, looing longingly at the rose;colored froc! (nd she ased italmost in a whisper! 91s that there your best?9

91t is one of my dancing;frocs,9 answered Sara! 91 lie it, don't you?9

For a few seconds Becy was almost speechless with admiration!

$hen she said in an awed oice, 9"nce 1 see a princess! 1 was standin' in the street with thecrowd outside Coin' 4arden, watchin' the swells go inter the operer! (n' there was one

eeryone stared at most! $hey ses to each other, $hat's the princess!' She was a growed;up

young lady, but she was pin all oer;; gownd an' cloa, an' flowers an' all! 1 called her tomind the minnit 1 see you, sittin' there on the table, miss! @ou looed lie her!9

91'e often thought,9 said Sara, in her reflecting oice, 9that 1 should lie to be a princessA 1

wonder what it feels lie! 1 beliee 1 will begin pretending 1 am one!9Becy stared at her admiringly, and, as before, did not understand her in the least! She

watched her with a sort of adoration!

8ery soon Sara left her reflections and turned to her with a new <uestion!

9Becy,9 she said, 9weren't you listening to that story?9



9@es, miss,9 confessed Becy, a little alarmed again! 91 nowed 1 hadn't orter, but it was

that beautiful 1;;1 couldn't help it!9

91 lied you to listen to it,9 said Sara! 91f you tell stories, you lie nothing so much as to tellthem to people who want to listen! 1 don't now why it is! 6ould you lie to hear the rest?9

Becy lost her breath again!

9Me hear it?9 she cried! 9Lie as if 1 was a pupil, missD (ll about the 7rince;;and the littlewhite Mer;babies swimming about laughing;; with stars in their hair?9

Sara nodded!

9@ou haen't time to hear it now, 1'm afraid,9 she saidA 9but if you will tell me >ust whattime you come to do my rooms, 1 will try to be here and tell you a bit of it eery day until

it is finished! 1t's a loely long one;;and 1'm always putting new bits to it!9

9$hen,9 breathed Becy, deoutly, 91 wouldn't mind H"6 heay the coal bo=es was;;or

6H($ the coo done to me, if;;if 1 might hae that to thin of!99@ou may,9 said Sara! 91'll tell it (LL to you!9

6hen Becy went downstairs, she was not the same Becy who had staggered up, loaded

down by the weight of the coal scuttle!

She had an e=tra piece of cae in her pocet, and she had been fed and warmed, but notonly by cae and fire! Something else had warmed and fed her, and the something else was

Sara!6hen she was gone Sara sat on her faorite perch on the end of her table! Her feet were on

a chair, her elbows on her nees, and her chin in her hands!

91f 1 6(S a princess;;a 5%(L princess,9 she murmured, 91 could scatter largess to the populace! But een if 1 am only a pretend princess, 1 can inent little things to do for

people! $hings lie this! She was >ust as happy as if it was largess! 1'll pretend that to do

things people lie is scattering largess! 1'e scattered largess!9



-$he .iamond Mines

#ot ery long after this a ery e=citing thing happened!

#ot only Sara, but the entire school, found it e=citing, and made it the chief sub>ect ofconersation for wees after it occurred!

1n one of his letters Captain Crewe told a most interesting story! ( friend who had been at

school with him when he was a boy had une=pectedly come to see him in 1ndia! He was

the owner of a large tract of land upon which diamonds had been found, and he wasengaged in deeloping the mines! 1f all went as was confidently e=pected, he would

become possessed of such wealth as it made one diy to thin ofA and because he wasfond of the friend of his school days, he had gien him an opportunity to share in this

enormous fortune by becoming a partner in his scheme! $his, at least, was what Sara

gathered from his letters! 1t is true that any other business scheme, howeer magnificent,would hae had but small attraction for her or for the schoolroomA but 9diamond mines9

sounded so lie the (rabian #ights that no one could be indifferent! Sara thought them

enchanting, and painted pictures, for %rmengarde and Lottie, of labyrinthine passages in

the bowels of the earth, where sparling stones studded the walls and roofs and ceilings,and strange, dar men dug them out with heay pics! %rmengarde delighted in the story,

and Lottie insisted on its being retold to her eery eening!

Lainia was ery spiteful about it, and told Gessie that she didn't beliee such things asdiamond mines e=isted!

9My mamma has a diamond ring which cost forty pounds,9 she said! 9(nd it is not a big

one, either! 1f there were mines full of diamonds, people would be so rich it would beridiculous!9

97erhaps Sara will be so rich that she will be ridiculous,9 giggled Gessie!

9She's ridiculous without being rich,9 Lainia sniffed!

91 beliee you hate her,9 said Gessie!9#o, 1 don't,9 snapped Lainia! 9But 1 don't beliee in mines full of diamonds!9

96ell, people hae to get them from somewhere,9 said Gessie!

9Lainia,9 with a new giggle, 9what do you thin 4ertrude says?991 don't now, 1'm sureA and 1 don't care if it's something more about that eerlasting Sara!9

96ell, it is! "ne of her pretends' is that she is a princess!

She plays it all the time;;een in school! She says it maes her learn her lessons better! Shewants %rmengarde to be one, too, but %rmengarde says she is too fat!9

9She 1S too fat,9 said Lainia! 9(nd Sara is too thin!9

#aturally, Gessie giggled again! 9She says it has nothing to do with what you loo lie, or

what you hae! 1t has only to do with what you $H1# of, and what you ."!9



91 suppose she thins she could be a princess if she was a beggar,9 said Lainia! 9Let us

begin to call her @our 5oyal Highness!9

Lessons for the day were oer, and they were sitting before the schoolroom fire, en>oyingthe time they lied best! 1t was the time when Miss Minchin and Miss (melia were taing

their tea in the sitting room sacred to themseles! (t this hour a great deal of taling was

done, and a great many secrets changed hands, particularly if the younger pupils behaedthemseles well, and did not s<uabble or run about noisily, which it must be confessed

they usually did! 6hen they made an uproar the older girls usually interfered with scolding

and shaes! $hey were e=pected to eep order, and there was danger that if they did not,Miss Minchin or Miss (melia would appear and put an end to festiities! %en as Lainia

spoe the door opened and Sara entered with Lottie, whose habit was to trot eerywhere

after her lie a little dog!

9$here she is, with that horrid childD9 e=claimed Lainia in a whisper! 91f she's so fond ofher, why doesn't she eep her in her own room? She will begin howling about something in

fie minutes!9

1t happened that Lottie had been seied with a sudden desire to play in the schoolroom, and

had begged her adopted parent to come with her!She >oined a group of little ones who were playing in a corner!

Sara curled herself up in the window;seat, opened a boo, and began to read! 1t was a booabout the French 5eolution, and she was soon lost in a harrowing picture of the prisoners

in the Bastille;; men who had spent so many years in dungeons that when they were

dragged out by those who rescued them, their long, gray hair and beards almost hid theirfaces, and they had forgotten that an outside world e=isted at all, and were lie beings in a

dream!

She was so far away from the schoolroom that it was not agreeable to be dragged bac

suddenly by a howl from Lottie! #eer did she find anything so difficult as to eep herselffrom losing her temper when she was suddenly disturbed while absorbed in a boo!

7eople who are fond of boos now the feeling of irritation which sweeps oer them at

such a moment! $he temptation to be unreasonable and snappish is one not easy tomanage!

91t maes me feel as if someone had hit me,9 Sara had told %rmengarde once in

confidence! 9(nd as if 1 want to hit bac! 1 hae to remember things <uicly to eep fromsaying something ill;tempered!9

She had to remember things <uicly when she laid her boo on the window;seat and

>umped down from her comfortable corner!

Lottie had been sliding across the schoolroom floor, and, haing first irritated Lainia andGessie by maing a noise, had ended by falling down and hurting her fat nee! She was

screaming and dancing up and down in the midst of a group of friends and enemies, who

were alternately coa=ing and scolding her!9Stop this minute, you cry;babyD Stop this minuteD9 Lainia commanded!

91'm not a cry;baby ! ! ! 1'm notD9 wailed Lottle! 9Sara, Sa;;raD9

91f she doesn't stop, Miss Minchin will hear her,9 cried Gessie!9Lottie darling, 1'll gie you a pennyD9

91 don't want your penny,9 sobbed LottieA and she looed down at the fat nee, and, seeing

a drop of blood on it, burst forth again!

Sara flew across the room and, neeling down, put her arms round her!



9#ow, Lottie,9 she said! 9#ow, Lottie, you 75"M1S%. Sara!9

9She said 1 was a cry;baby,9 wept Lottie!

Sara patted her, but spoe in the steady oice Lottie new!9But if you cry, you will be one, Lottie pet! @ou 75"M1S%.!9

Lottie remembered that she had promised, but she preferred to lift up her oice!

91 haen't any mamma,9 she proclaimed! 91 haen't;;a bit;;of mamma!99@es, you hae,9 said Sara, cheerfully! 9Hae you forgotten? .on't you now that Sara is

your mamma? .on't you want Sara for your mamma?9

Lottie cuddled up to her with a consoled sniff!9Come and sit in the window;seat with me,9 Sara went on, 9and 1'll whisper a story to

you!9

96ill you?9 whimpered Lottie! 96ill you;;tell me;;about the diamond mines?9

9$he diamond mines?9 broe out Lainia! 9#asty, little spoiled thing, 1 should lie toSL(7 herD9

Sara got up <uicly on her feet! 1t must be remembered that she had been ery deeply

absorbed in the boo about the Bastille, and she had had to recall seeral things rapidly

when she realied that she must go and tae care of her adopted child! She was not anangel, and she was not fond of Lainia!

96ell,9 she said, with some fire, 91 should lie to slap @"I ; but 1 don't want to slap youD9restraining herself! 9(t least 1 both want to slap you;;and 1 should L1% to slap you;;but 1

6"#'$ slap you! 6e are not little gutter children! 6e are both old enough to now

better!9Here was Lainia's opportunity!

9(h, yes, your royal highness,9 she said! 96e are princesses, 1 beliee! (t least one of us

is! $he school ought to be ery fashionable now Miss Minchin has a princess for a pupil!9

Sara started toward her! She looed as if she were going to bo= her ears! 7erhaps she was!Her tric of pretending things was the >oy of her life! She neer spoe of it to girls she was

not fond of!

Her new 9pretend9 about being a princess was ery near to her heart, and she was shy andsensitie about it! She had meant it to be rather a secret, and here was Lainia deriding it

before nearly all the school!

She felt the blood rush up into her face and tingle in her ears!She only >ust saed herself! 1f you were a princess, you did not fly into rages! Her hand

dropped, and she stood <uite still a moment!

6hen she spoe it was in a <uiet, steady oiceA she held her head up, and eerybody

listened to her!91t's true,9 she said! 9Sometimes 1 do pretend 1 am a princess! 1 pretend 1 am a princess, so

that 1 can try and behae lie one!9

Lainia could not thin of e=actly the right thing to say! Seeral times she had found thatshe could not thin of a satisfactory reply when she was dealing with Sara! $he reason for

this was that, somehow, the rest always seemed to be aguely in sympathy with her

opponent!She saw now that they were pricing up their ears interestedly!

$he truth was, they lied princesses, and they all hoped they might hear something more

definite about this one, and drew nearer Sara accordingly!

Lainia could only inent one remar, and it fell rather flat!



9.ear me,9 she said, 91 hope, when you ascend the throne, you won't forget usD9

91 won't,9 said Sara, and she did not utter another word, but stood <uite still, and stared at

her steadily as she saw her tae Gessie's arm and turn away!(fter this, the girls who were >ealous of her used to spea of her as 97rincess Sara9

wheneer they wished to be particularly disdainful, and those who were fond of her gae

her the name among themseles as a term of affection! #o one called her 9princess9 insteadof 9Sara,9 but her adorers were much pleased with the pictures<ueness and grandeur of the

title, and Miss Minchin, hearing of it, mentioned it more than once to isiting parents,

feeling that it rather suggested a sort of royal boarding school!$o Becy it seemed the most appropriate thing in the world!

$he ac<uaintance begun on the foggy afternoon when she had >umped up terrified from her

sleep in the comfortable chair, had ripened and grown, though it must be confessed that

Miss Minchin and Miss (melia new ery little about it! $hey were aware that Sara was9ind9 to the scullery maid, but they new nothing of certain delightful moments snatched

perilously when, the upstairs rooms being set in order with lightning rapidity, Sara's sitting

room was reached, and the heay coal bo= set down with a sigh of >oy!

(t such times stories were told by installments, things of a satisfying nature were either produced and eaten or hastily tuced into pocets to be disposed of at night, when Becy

went upstairs to her attic to bed!9But 1 has to eat 'em careful, miss,9 she said onceA 9'cos if 1 leaes crumbs the rats come

out to get 'em!9

95atsD9 e=claimed Sara, in horror! 9(re there 5($S there?99Lots of 'em, miss,9 Becy answered in <uite a matter;of;fact manner! 9$here mostly is rats

an' mice in attics! @ou gets used to the noise they maes scuttling about! 1'e got so 1 don't

mind 'em s' long as they don't run oer my piller!9

9IghD9 said Sara!9@ou gets used to anythin' after a bit,9 said Becy! 9@ou hae to, miss, if you're born a

scullery maid! 1'd rather hae rats than cocroaches!9

9So would 1,9 said SaraA 91 suppose you might mae friends with a rat in time, but 1 don't beliee 1 should lie to mae friends with a cocroach!9

Sometimes Becy did not dare to spend more than a few minutes in the bright, warm room,

and when this was the case perhaps only a few words could be e=changed, and a small purchase slipped into the old;fashioned pocet Becy carried under her dress sirt, tied

round her waist with a band of tape! $he search for and discoery of satisfying things to eat

which could be paced into small compass, added a new interest to Sara's e=istence! 6hen

she droe or waled out, she used to loo into shop windows eagerly!$he first time it occurred to her to bring home two or three little meat pies, she felt that she

had hit upon a discoery!

6hen she e=hibited them, Becy's eyes <uite sparled!9"h, missD9 she murmured! 9$hem will be nice an' fillin!' 1t's fillin'ness that's best! Sponge

cae's a 'eenly thing, but it melts away lie;;if you understand, miss! $hese'll >ust S$(@

in yer stummic!996ell,9 hesitated Sara, 91 don't thin it would be good if they stayed always, but 1 do

beliee they will be satisfying!9



$hey were satisfying;;and so were beef sandwiches, bought at a coo;shop;;and so were

rolls and Bologna sausage! 1n time, Becy began to lose her hungry, tired feeling, and the

coal bo= did not seem so unbearably heay!Howeer heay it was, and whatsoeer the temper of the coo, and the hardness of the

wor heaped upon her shoulders, she had always the chance of the afternoon to loo

forward to;;the chance that Miss Sara would be able to be in her sitting room! 1n fact, themere seeing of Miss Sara would hae been enough without meat pies!

1f there was time only for a few words, they were always friendly, merry words that put

heart into oneA and if there was time for more, then there was an installment of a story to betold, or some other thing one remembered afterward and sometimes lay awae in one's bed

in the attic to thin oer! Sara;;who was only doing what she unconsciously lied better

than anything else, #ature haing made her for a gier;;had not the least idea what she

meant to poor Becy, and how wonderful a benefactor she seemed!1f #ature has made you for a gier, your hands are born open, and so is your heartA and

though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you

can gie things out of that;;warm things, ind things, sweet things;;help and comfort and

laughter;;and sometimes gay, ind laughter is the best help of all!Becy had scarcely nown what laughter was through all her poor, little hard;drien life!

Sara made her laugh, and laughed with herA and, though neither of them <uite new it, thelaughter was as 9fillin'9 as the meat pies!

( few wees before Sara's eleenth birthday a letter came to her from her father, which did

not seem to be written in such boyish high spirits as usual! He was not ery well, and waseidently oerweighted by the business connected with the diamond mines!

9@ou see, little Sara,9 he wrote, 9your daddy is not a businessman at all, and figures and

documents bother him! He does not really understand them, and all this seems so

enormous! 7erhaps, if 1 was not feerish 1 should not be awae, tossing about, one half ofthe night and spend the other half in troublesome dreams! 1f my little missus were here, 1

dare say she would gie me some solemn, good adice! @ou would, wouldn't you, Little

Missus?9"ne of his many >oes had been to call her his 9little missus9 because she had such an old;

fashioned air!

He had made wonderful preparations for her birthday! (mong other things, a new doll had been ordered in 7aris, and her wardrobe was to be, indeed, a marel of splendid perfection!

6hen she had replied to the letter asing her if the doll would be an acceptable present,

Sara had been ery <uaint!

91 am getting ery old,9 she wroteA 9you see, 1 shall neer lie to hae another doll gienme! $his will be my last doll!

$here is something solemn about it! 1f 1 could write poetry, 1 am sure a poem about ( Last

.oll' would be ery nice!But 1 cannot write poetry! 1 hae tried, and it made me laugh!

1t did not sound lie 6atts or Coleridge or ShaeNspeare at all!

#o one could eer tae %mily's place, but 1 should respect the Last .oll ery muchA and 1am sure the school would loe it! $hey all lie dolls, though some of the big ones;;the

almost fifteen ones;; pretend they are too grown up!9



Captain Crewe had a splitting headache when he read this letter in his bungalow in 1ndia!

$he table before him was heaped with papers and letters which were alarming him and

filling him with an=ious dread, but he laughed as he had not laughed for wees!9"h,9 he said, 9she's better fun eery year she lies! 4od grant this business may right

itself and leae me free to run home and see her! 6hat wouldn't 1 gie to hae her little

arms round my nec this minuteD 6hat 6"IL.#'$ 1 gieD9$he birthday was to be celebrated by great festiities! $he schoolroom was to be decorated,

and there was to be a party! $he bo=es containing the presents were to be opened with

great ceremony, and there was to be a glittering feast spread in Miss Minchin's sacredroom!

6hen the day arried the whole house was in a whirl of e=citement! How the morning

passed nobody <uite new, because there seemed such preparations to be made! $he

schoolroom was being deced with garlands of hollyA the dess had been moed away, andred coers had been put on the forms which were arrayed round the room against the wall!

6hen Sara went into her sitting room in the morning, she found on the table a small,

dumpy pacage, tied up in a piece of brown paper!

She new it was a present, and she thought she could guess whom it came from! Sheopened it <uite tenderly! 1t was a s<uare pincushion, made of not <uite clean red flannel,

and blac pins had been stuc carefully into it to form the words, 9Menny hapy returns!99"hD9 cried Sara, with a warm feeling in her heart! 96hat pains she has taenD 1 lie it so,

it;;it maes me feel sorrowful!9

But the ne=t moment she was mystified! "n the under side of the pincushion was secured acard, bearing in neat letters the name 9Miss (melia Minchin!9

Sara turned it oer and oer!

9Miss (meliaD9 she said to herself 9How C(# it beD9

(nd >ust at that ery moment she heard the door being cautiously pushed open and sawBecy peeping round it!

$here was an affectionate, happy grin on her face, and she shuffled forward and stood

nerously pulling at her fingers!9.o yer lie it, Miss Sara?9 she said! 9.o yer?9

9Lie it?9 cried Sara! 9@ou darling Becy, you made it all yourself!9

Becy gae a hysteric but >oyful sniff, and her eyes looed <uite moist with delight!91t ain't nothin' but flannin, an' the flannin ain't newA but 1 wanted to gie yer somethin' an'

1 made it of nights! 1 new yer could 75%$%#. it was satin with diamond pins in! 1 tried

to when 1 was main' it! $he card, miss,9 rather doubtfullyA 9't warn't wrong of me to pic

it up out o' the dust;bin, was it? Miss 'Meliar had throwed it away! 1 hadn't no card o' myown, an' 1 nowed it wouldn't be a proper presin if 1 didn't pin a card on;; so 1 pinned

Miss 'Meliar's!9

Sara flew at her and hugged her! She could not hae told herself or anyone else why therewas a lump in her throat!

9"h, BecyD9 she cried out, with a <ueer little laugh, 91 loe you, Becy;;1 do, 1 doD9

9"h, missD9 breathed Becy! 9$han yer, miss, indlyA it ain't good enough for that! $he;;the flannin wasn't new!9



/

$he .iamond Mines (gain

6hen Sara entered the holly;hung schoolroom in the afternoon, she did so as the head of a

sort of procession! Miss Minchin, in her grandest sil dress, led her by the hand! (manserant followed, carrying the bo= containing the Last .oll, a housemaid carried a

second bo=, and Becy brought up the rear, carrying a third and wearing a clean apron and

a new cap! Sara would hae much preferred to enter in the usual way, but Miss Minchinhad sent for her, and, after an interiew in her priate sitting room, had e=pressed her

wishes!

9$his is not an ordinary occasion,9 she said! 91 do not desire that it should be treated as

one!9So Sara was led grandly in and felt shy when, on her entry, the big girls stared at her and

touched each other's elbows, and the little ones began to s<uirm >oyously in their seats!

9Silence, young ladiesD9 said Miss Minchin, at the murmur which arose! 9Games, place the bo= on the table and remoe the lid! %mma, put yours upon a chair! BecyD9 suddenly and

seerely!

Becy had <uite forgotten herself in her e=citement, and was grinning at Lottie, who waswriggling with rapturous e=pectation! She almost dropped her bo=, the disapproing oice

so startled her, and her frightened, bobbing curtsy of apology was so funny that Lainia

and Gessie tittered!

91t is not your place to loo at the young ladies,9 said Miss Minchin! 9@ou forget yourself!7ut your bo= down!9

Becy obeyed with alarmed haste and hastily baced toward the door!

9@ou may leae us,9 Miss Minchin announced to the serants with a wae of her hand!Becy stepped aside respectfully to allow the superior serants to pass out first! She could

not help casting a longing glance at the bo= on the table! Something made of blue satin was

peeping from between the folds of tissue paper!91f you please, Miss Minchin,9 said Sara, suddenly, 9mayn't Becy stay?9

1t was a bold thing to do! Miss Minchin was betrayed into something lie a slight >ump!

$hen she put her eyeglass up, and gaed at her show pupil disturbedly!

9BecyD9 she e=claimed! 9My dearest SaraD9



Sara adanced a step toward her!

91 want her because 1 now she will lie to see the presents,9 she e=plained! 9She is a little

girl, too, you now!9Miss Minchin was scandalied! She glanced from one figure to the other!

9My dear Sara,9 she said, 9Becy is the scullery maid! Scullery maids;;er;;are not little

girls!91t really had not occurred to her to thin of them in that light!

Scullery maids were machines who carried coal scuttles and made fires!

9But Becy is,9 said Sara! 9(nd 1 now she would en>oy herself! 7lease let her stay;; because it is my birthday!9

Miss Minchin replied with much dignity: 9(s you as it as a birthday faor;;she may stay!

5ebecca, than Miss Sara for her great indness!9

Becy had been bacing into the corner, twisting the hem of her apron in delightedsuspense! She came forward, bobbing curtsies, but between Sara's eyes and her own there

passed a gleam of friendly understanding, while her words tumbled oer each other!

9"h, if you please, missD 1'm that grateful, missD 1 did want to see the doll, miss, that 1 did!

$han you, miss! (nd than you, ma'am,9;;turning and maing an alarmed bob to MissMinchin;;9for letting me tae the liberty!9

Miss Minchin waed her hand again;;this time it was in the direction of the corner near thedoor!

94o and stand there,9 she commanded! 9#ot too near the young ladies!9

Becy went to her place, grinning! She did not care where she was sent, so that she mighthae the luc of being inside the room, instead of being downstairs in the scullery, while

these delights were going on! She did not een mind when Miss Minchin cleared her throat

ominously and spoe again!

9#ow, young ladies, 1 hae a few words to say to you,9 she announced!9She's going to mae a speech,9 whispered one of the girls! 91 wish it was oer!9

Sara felt rather uncomfortable! (s this was her party, it was probable that the speech was

about her! 1t is not agreeable to stand in a schoolroom and hae a speech made about you!9@ou are aware, young ladies,9 the speech began;;for it was a speech;;9that dear Sara is

eleen years old today!9

9.%(5 SaraD9 murmured Lainia!9Seeral of you here hae also been eleen years old, but Sara's birthdays are rather

different from other little girls' birthdays! 6hen she is older she will be heiress to a large

fortune, which it will be her duty to spend in a meritorious manner!9

9$he diamond mines,9 giggled Gessie, in a whisper!Sara did not hear herA but as she stood with her green;gray eyes fi=ed steadily on Miss

Minchin, she felt herself growing rather hot!

6hen Miss Minchin taled about money, she felt somehow that she always hated her;;and,of course, it was disrespectful to hate grown;up people!

96hen her dear papa, Captain Crewe, brought her from 1ndia and gae her into my care,9

the speech proceeded, 9he said to me, in a >esting way, 1 am afraid she will be ery rich,Miss Minchin!' My reply was, Her education at my seminary, Captain Crewe, shall be

such as will adorn the largest fortune!' Sara has become my most accomplished pupil! Her

French and her dancing are a credit to the seminary! Her manners;; which hae caused you

to call her 7rincess Sara;;are perfect! Her amiability she e=hibits by giing you this



afternoon's party! 1 hope you appreciate her generosity! 1 wish you to e=press your

appreciation of it by saying aloud all together, $han you, SaraD'9

$he entire schoolroom rose to its feet as it had done the morning Sara remembered so well!9$han you, SaraD9 it said, and it must be confessed that Lottie >umped up and down! Sara

looed rather shy for a moment!

She made a curtsy;;and it was a ery nice one!9$han you,9 she said, 9for coming to my party!9

98ery pretty, indeed, Sara,9 approed Miss Minchin! 9$hat is what a real princess does

when the populace applauds her! Lainia9;;scathingly;; 9the sound you >ust made wase=tremely lie a snort! 1f you are >ealous of your fellow;pupil, 1 beg you will e=press your

feelings in some more ladylie manner! #ow 1 will leae you to en>oy yourseles!9

$he instant she had swept out of the room the spell her presence always had upon them

was broen! $he door had scarcely closed before eery seat was empty! $he little girls >umped or tumbled out of theirsA the older ones wasted no time in deserting theirs!

$here was a rush toward the bo=es! Sara had bent oer one of them with a delighted face!

9$hese are boos, 1 now,9 she said!

$he little children broe into a rueful murmur, and %rmengarde looed aghast!9.oes your papa send you boos for a birthday present?9 she e=claimed!

96hy, he's as bad as mine! .on't open them, Sara!991 lie them,9 Sara laughed, but she turned to the biggest bo=!

6hen she too out the Last .oll it was so magnificent that the children uttered delighted

groans of >oy, and actually drew bac to gae at it in breathless rapture!9She is almost as big as Lottie,9 someone gasped!

Lottie clapped her hands and danced about, giggling!

9She's dressed for the theater,9 said Lainia! 9Her cloa is lined with ermine!9

9"h,9 cried %rmengarde, darting forward, 9she has an opera;glass in her hand;;a blue;and;gold oneD9

9Here is her trun,9 said Sara! 9Let us open it and loo at her things!9

She sat down upon the floor and turned the ey! $he children crowded clamoring aroundher, as she lifted tray after tray and reealed their contents! #eer had the schoolroom been

in such an uproar!

$here were lace collars and sil stocings and handerchiefsA there was a >ewel casecontaining a neclace and a tiara which looed <uite as if they were made of real

diamondsA there was a long sealsin and muff, there were ball dresses and waling dresses

and isiting dressesA there were hats and tea gowns and fans!

%en Lainia and Gessie forgot that they were too elderly to care for dolls, and utterede=clamations of delight and caught up things to loo at them!

9Suppose,9 Sara said, as she stood by the table, putting a large, blac;elet hat on the

impassiely smiling owner of all these splendors;;9suppose she understands human taland feels proud of being admired!9

9@ou are always supposing things,9 said Lainia, and her air was ery superior!

91 now 1 am,9 answered Sara, undisturbedly! 91 lie it! $here is nothing so nice assupposing! 1t's almost lie being a fairy! 1f you suppose anything hard enough it seems as if

it were real!9

91t's all ery well to suppose things if you hae eerything,9 said Lainia! 9Could you

suppose and pretend if you were a beggar and lied in a garret?9



Sara stopped arranging the Last .oll's ostrich plumes, and looed thoughtful!

91 B%L1%8% 1 could,9 she said! 91f one was a beggar, one would hae to suppose and

pretend all the time! But it mightn't be easy!9She often thought afterward how strange it was that >ust as she had finished saying this;;

>ust at that ery moment;;Miss (melia came into the room!

9Sara,9 she said, 9your papa's solicitor, Mr! Barrow, has called to see Miss Minchin, and,as she must tal to him alone and the refreshments are laid in her parlor, you had all better

come and hae your feast now, so that my sister can hae her interiew here in the

schoolroom!95efreshments were not liely to be disdained at any hour, and many pairs of eyes gleamed!

Miss (melia arranged the procession into decorum, and then, with Sara at her side heading

it, she led it away, leaing the Last .oll sitting upon a chair with the glories of her

wardrobe scattered about herA dresses and coats hung upon chair bacs, piles of lace;frilled petticoats lying upon their seats! Becy, who was not e=pected to partae of refreshments,

had the indiscretion to linger a moment to loo at these beauties;; it really was an

indiscretion!

94o bac to your wor, Becy,9 Miss (melia had saidA but she had stopped to pic upreerently first a muff and then a coat, and while she stood looing at them adoringly, she

heard Miss Minchin upon the threshold, and, being smitten with terror at the thought of being accused of taing liberties, she rashly darted under the table, which hid her by its

tablecloth! Miss Minchin came into the room, accompanied by a sharp;featured, dry little

gentleman, who looed rather disturbed! Miss Minchin herself also looed ratherdisturbed, it must be admitted, and she gaed at the dry little gentleman with an irritated

and puled e=pression!

She sat down with stiff dignity, and waed him to a chair!

97ray, be seated, Mr! Barrow,9 she said!Mr! Barrow did not sit down at once! His attention seemed attracted by the Last .oll and

the things which surrounded her!

He settled his eyeglasses and looed at them in nerous disapproal!$he Last .oll herself did not seem to mind this in the least!

She merely sat upright and returned his gae indifferently!

9( hundred pounds,9 Mr! Barrow remared succinctly!9(ll e=pensie material, and made at a 7arisian modiste's! He spent money laishly

enough, that young man!9

Miss Minchin felt offended! $his seemed to be a disparagement of her best patron and was

a liberty! %en solicitors had no right to tae liberties!91 beg your pardon, Mr! Barrow,9 she said stiffly! 91 do not understand!9

9Birthday presents,9 said Mr! Barrow in the same critical manner, 9to a child eleen years

oldD Mad e=traagance, 1 call it!9Miss Minchin drew herself up still more rigidly! 9Captain Crewe is a man of fortune,9 she

said! 9$he diamond mines alone;;9

Mr! Barrow wheeled round upon her! 9.iamond minesD9 he broe out! 9$here are noneD #eer wereD9

Miss Minchin actually got up from her chair!

96hatD9 she cried! 96hat do you mean?9



9(t any rate,9 answered Mr! Barrow, <uite snappishly, 9it would hae been much better if

there neer had been any!9

9(ny diamond mines?9 e>aculated Miss Minchin, catching at the bac of a chair andfeeling as if a splendid dream was fading away from her!

9.iamond mines spell ruin oftener than they spell wealth,9 said Mr! Barrow! 96hen a man

is in the hands of a ery dear friend and is not a businessman himself, he had better steerclear of the dear friend's diamond mines, or gold mines, or any other ind of mines dear

friends want his money to put into! $he late Captain Crewe;;9

Here Miss Minchin stopped him with a gasp!9$he L($% Captain CreweD9 she cried out! 9$he L($%D @ou don't come to tell me that

Captain Crewe is;;9

9He's dead, ma'am,9 Mr! Barrow answered with >ery brus<ueness! 9.ied of >ungle feer

and business troubles combined! $he >ungle feer might not hae illed him if he had not been drien mad by the business troubles, and the business troubles might not hae put an

end to him if the >ungle feer had not assisted! Captain Crewe is deadD9

Miss Minchin dropped into her chair again! $he words he had spoen filled her with alarm!

96hat 6%5% his business troubles?9 she said! 96hat 6%5% they?99.iamond mines,9 answered Mr! Barrow, 9and dear friends;;and ruin!9

Miss Minchin lost her breath!95uinD9 she gasped out!

9Lost eery penny! $hat young man had too much money! $he dear friend was mad on the

sub>ect of the diamond mine! He put all his own money into it, and all Captain Crewe's!$hen the dear friend ran away;; Captain Crewe was already stricen with feer when the

news came! $he shoc was too much for him! He died delirious, raing about his little

girl;;and didn't leae a penny!9

#ow Miss Minchin understood, and neer had she receied such a blow in her life! Hershow pupil, her show patron, swept away from the Select Seminary at one blow! She felt as

if she had been outraged and robbed, and that Captain Crewe and Sara and Mr! Barrow

were e<ually to blame!9.o you mean to tell me,9 she cried out, 9that he left #"$H1#4D $hat Sara will hae no

fortuneD $hat the child is a beggarD $hat she is left on my hands a little pauper instead of an

heiress?9Mr! Barrow was a shrewd businessman, and felt it as well to mae his own freedom from

responsibility <uite clear without any delay!

9She is certainly left a beggar,9 he replied! 9(nd she is certainly left on your hands,

ma'am;;as she hasn't a relation in the world that we now of!9Miss Minchin started forward! She looed as if she was going to open the door and rush

out of the room to stop the festiities going on >oyfully and rather noisily that moment oer

the refreshments!91t is monstrousD9 she said! 9She's in my sitting room at this moment, dressed in sil gaue

and lace petticoats, giing a party at my e=pense!9

9She's giing it at your e=pense, madam, if she's giing it,9 said Mr! Barrow, calmly!9Barrow Sipworth are not responsible for anything! $here neer was a cleaner sweep

made of a man's fortune! Captain Crewe died without paying "I5 last bill;;and it was a

big one!9



Miss Minchin turned bac from the door in increased indignation! $his was worse than

anyone could hae dreamed of its being!

9$hat is what has happened to meD9 she cried! 91 was always so sure of his payments that 1went to all sorts of ridiculous e=penses for the child! 1 paid the bills for that ridiculous doll

and her ridiculous fantastic wardrobe! $he child was to hae anything she wanted! She has

a carriage and a pony and a maid, and 1'e paid for all of them since the last che<ue came!9Mr! Barrow eidently did not intend to remain to listen to the story of Miss Minchin's

grieances after he had made the position of his firm clear and related the mere dry facts!

He did not feel any particular sympathy for irate eepers of boarding schools!9@ou had better not pay for anything more, ma'am,9 he remared, 9unless you want to

mae presents to the young lady! #o one will remember you! She hasn't a brass farthing to

call her own!9

9But what am 1 to do?9 demanded Miss Minchin, as if she felt it entirely his duty to maethe matter right! 96hat am 1 to do?9

9$here isn't anything to do,9 said Mr! Barrow, folding up his eyeglasses and slipping them

into his pocet! 9Captain Crewe is dead! $he child is left a pauper! #obody is responsible

for her but you!991 am not responsible for her, and 1 refuse to be made responsibleD9 Miss Minchin became

<uite white with rage!Mr! Barrow turned to go! 91 hae nothing to do with that, madam,9 he said un;interestedly!

9Barrow Sipworth are not responsible! 8ery sorry the thing has happened, of course!9

91f you thin she is to be foisted off on me, you are greatly mistaen,9 Miss Minchingasped! 91 hae been robbed and cheatedA 1 will turn her into the streetD9

1f she had not been so furious, she would hae been too discreet to say <uite so much! She

saw herself burdened with an e=traagantly brought;up child whom she had always

resented, and she lost all self;control!Mr! Barrow undisturbedly moed toward the door!

91 wouldn't do that, madam,9 he commentedA 9it wouldn't loo well! Inpleasant story to

get about in connection with the establishment! 7upil bundled out penniless and withoutfriends!9

He was a cleer business man, and he new what he was saying!

He also new that Miss Minchin was a business woman, and would be shrewd enough tosee the truth! She could not afford to do a thing which would mae people spea of her as

cruel and hard;hearted!

9Better eep her and mae use of her,9 he added! 9She's a cleer child, 1 beliee! @ou can

get a good deal out of her as she grows older!991 will get a good deal out of her before she grows olderD9 e=claimed Miss Minchin!

91 am sure you will, ma'am,9 said Mr! Barrow, with a little sinister smile! 91 am sure you

will! 4ood morningD9He bowed himself out and closed the door, and it must be confessed that Miss Minchin

stood for a few moments and glared at it! 6hat he had said was <uite true! She new it!

She had absolutely no redress! Her show pupil had melted into nothingness, leaing only afriendless, beggared little girl! Such money as she herself had adanced was lost and could

not be regained!

(nd as she stood there breathless under her sense of in>ury, there fell upon her ears a burst

of gay oices from her own sacred room, which had actually been gien up to the feast!



She could at least stop this!

But as she started toward the door it was opened by Miss (melia, who, when she caught

sight of the changed, angry face, fell bac a step in alarm!96hat 1S the matter, sister?9 she e>aculated!

Miss Minchin's oice was almost fierce when she answered: 96here is Sara Crewe?9

Miss (melia was bewildered!9SaraD9 she stammered! 96hy, she's with the children in your room, of course!9

9Has she a blac froc in her sumptuous wardrobe?9;;in bitter irony!

9( blac froc?9 Miss (melia stammered again! 9( BL(C one?99She has frocs of eery other color! Has she a blac one?9

Miss (melia began to turn pale!

9#o;;yesD9 she said! 9But it is too short for her! She has only the old blac elet, and she

has outgrown it!994o and tell her to tae off that preposterous pin sil gaue, and put the blac one on,

whether it is too short or not! She has done with fineryD9

$hen Miss (melia began to wring her fat hands and cry!

9"h, sisterD9 she sniffed! 9"h, sisterD 6hat C(# hae happened?9Miss Minchin wasted no words!

9Captain Crewe is dead,9 she said! 9He has died without a penny! $hat spoiled, pampered,fanciful child is left a pauper on my hands!9

Miss (melia sat down <uite heaily in the nearest chair!

9Hundreds of pounds hae 1 spent on nonsense for her! (nd 1 shall neer see a penny of it!7ut a stop to this ridiculous party of hers! 4o and mae her change her froc at once!9

91?9 panted Miss (melia! 9M;must 1 go and tell her now?9

9$his momentD9 was the fierce answer! 9.on't sit staring lie a goose! 4oD9

7oor Miss (melia was accustomed to being called a goose! She new, in fact, that she wasrather a goose, and that it was left to geese to do a great many disagreeable things! 1t was a

somewhat embarrassing thing to go into the midst of a room full of delighted children, and

tell the gier of the feast that she had suddenly been transformed into a little beggar, andmust go upstairs and put on an old blac froc which was too small for her! But the thing

must be done!

$his was eidently not the time when <uestions might be ased!She rubbed her eyes with her handerchief until they looed <uite red!

(fter which she got up and went out of the room, without enturing to say another word!

6hen her older sister looed and spoe as she had done >ust now, the wisest course to

pursue was to obey orders without any comment! Miss Minchin waled across the room!She spoe to herself aloud without nowing that she was doing it! .uring the last year the

story of the diamond mines had suggested all sorts of possibilities to her! %en proprietors

of seminaries might mae fortunes in stocs, with the aid of owners of mines!(nd now, instead of looing forward to gains, she was left to loo bac upon losses!

9$he 7rincess Sara, indeedD9 she said! 9$he child has been pampered as if she were a

OI%%#!9She was sweeping angrily past the corner table as she said it, and the ne=t moment she

started at the sound of a loud, sobbing sniff which issued from under the coer!

96hat is thatD9 she e=claimed angrily! $he loud, sobbing sniff was heard again, and she

stooped and raised the hanging folds of the table coer!



9How .(5% youD9 she cried out! 9How dare youD Come out immediatelyD9

1t was poor Becy who crawled out, and her cap was noced on one side, and her face

was red with repressed crying!91f you please, 'm;;it's me, mum,9 she e=plained! 91 now 1 hadn't ought to! But 1 was

looin' at the doll, mum;;an' 1 was frightened when you come in;;an' slipped under the

table!99@ou hae been there all the time, listening,9 said Miss Minchin!

9#o, mum,9 Becy protested, bobbing curtsies! 9#ot listenin';; 1 thought 1 could slip out

without your noticin', but 1 couldn't an' 1 had to stay! But 1 didn't listen, mum;;1 wouldn'tfor nothin'! But 1 couldn't help hearin'!9

Suddenly it seemed almost as if she lost all fear of the awful lady before her! She burst into

fresh tears!

9"h, please, 'm,9 she saidA 91 dare say you'll gie me warnin, mum;; but 1'm so sorry for poor Miss Sara;;1'm so sorryD9

9Leae the roomD9 ordered Miss Minchin!

Becy curtsied again, the tears openly streaming down her chees!

9@es, 'mA 1 will, 'm,9 she said, tremblingA 9but oh, 1 >ust wanted to arst you: Miss Sara;;she's been such a rich young lady, an' she's been waited on, 'and and footA an' what will she

do now, mum, without no maid? 1f;;if, oh please, would you let me wait on her after 1'edone my pots an' ettles? 1'd do 'em that <uic;; if you'd let me wait on her now she's poor!

"h,9 breaing out afresh, 9poor little Miss Sara, mum;;that was called a princess!9

Somehow, she made Miss Minchin feel more angry than eer! $hat the ery scullery maidshould range herself on the side of this child;; whom she realied more fully than eer that

she had neer lied;; was too much! She actually stamped her foot!

9#o;;certainly not,9 she said! 9She will wait on herself, and on other people, too! Leae the

room this instant, or you'll leae your place!9Becy threw her apron oer her head and fled! She ran out of the room and down the steps

into the scullery, and there she sat down among her pots and ettles, and wept as if her

heart would brea!91t's e=actly lie the ones in the stories,9 she wailed! 9$hem pore princess ones that was

droe into the world!9

Miss Minchin had neer looed <uite so still and hard as she did when Sara came to her, afew hours later, in response to a message she had sent her!

%en by that time it seemed to Sara as if the birthday party had either been a dream or a

thing which had happened years ago, and had happened in the life of <uite another little

girl!%ery sign of the festiities had been swept awayA the holly had been remoed from the

schoolroom walls, and the forms and dess put bac into their places! Miss Minchin's

sitting room looed as it always did;;all traces of the feast were gone, and Miss Minchinhad resumed her usual dress! $he pupils had been ordered to lay aside their party frocsA

and this haing been done, they had returned to the schoolroom and huddled together in

groups, whispering and taling e=citedly!9$ell Sara to come to my room,9 Miss Minchin had said to her sister! 9(nd e=plain to her

clearly that 1 will hae no crying or unpleasant scenes!9

9Sister,9 replied Miss (melia, 9she is the strangest child 1 eer saw! She has actually made

no fuss at all! @ou remember she made none when Captain Crewe went bac to 1ndia!



6hen 1 told her what had happened, she >ust stood <uite still and looed at me without

maing a sound! Her eyes seemed to get bigger and bigger, and she went <uite pale! 6hen

1 had finished, she still stood staring for a few seconds, and then her chin began to shae,and she turned round and ran out of the room and upstairs! Seeral of the other children

began to cry, but she did not seem to hear them or to be alie to anything but >ust what 1

was saying! 1t made me feel <uite <ueer not to be answeredA and when you tell anythingsudden and strange, you e=pect people will say S"M%$H1#4; whateer it is!9

#obody but Sara herself eer new what had happened in her room after she had run

upstairs and loced her door! 1n fact, she herself scarcely remembered anything but that shewaled up and down, saying oer and oer again to herself in a oice which did not seem

her own, 9My papa is deadD My papa is deadD9

"nce she stopped before %mily, who sat watching her from her chair, and cried out wildly,

9%milyD .o you hear? .o you hear;;papa is dead? He is dead in 1ndia;;thousands of milesaway!9

6hen she came into Miss Minchin's sitting room in answer to her summons, her face was

white and her eyes had dar rings around them! Her mouth was set as if she did not wish it

to reeal what she had suffered and was suffering! She did not loo in the least lie therose;colored butterfly child who had flown about from one of her treasures to the other in

the decorated schoolroom!She looed instead a strange, desolate, almost grotes<ue little figure!

She had put on, without Mariette's help, the cast;aside blac;elet froc! 1t was too short

and tight, and her slender legs looed long and thin, showing themseles from beneath the brief sirt! (s she had not found a piece of blac ribbon, her short, thic, blac hair

tumbled loosely about her face and contrasted strongly with its pallor! She held %mily

tightly in one arm, and %mily was swathed in a piece of blac material!

97ut down your doll,9 said Miss Minchin! 96hat do you mean by bringing her here?99#o,9 Sara answered! 91 will not put her down! She is all 1 hae! My papa gae her to me!9

She had always made Miss Minchin feel secretly uncomfortable, and she did so now! She

did not spea with rudeness so much as with a cold steadiness with which Miss Minchinfelt it difficult to cope;; perhaps because she new she was doing a heartless and inhuman

thing!

9@ou will hae no time for dolls in future,9 she said! 9@ou will hae to wor and improeyourself and mae yourself useful!9

Sara ept her big, strange eyes fi=ed on her, and said not a word!

9%erything will be ery different now,9 Miss Minchin went on! 91 suppose Miss (melia

has e=plained matters to you!99@es,9 answered Sara! 9My papa is dead! He left me no money! 1 am <uite poor!9

9@ou are a beggar,9 said Miss Minchin, her temper rising at the recollection of what all this

meant! 91t appears that you hae no relations and no home, and no one to tae care of you!9For a moment the thin, pale little face twitched, but Sara again said nothing!

96hat are you staring at?9 demanded Miss Minchin, sharply! 9(re you so stupid that you

cannot understand? 1 tell you that you are <uite alone in the world, and hae no one to doanything for you, unless 1 choose to eep you here out of charity!9

91 understand,9 answered Sara, in a low toneA and there was a sound as if she had gulped

down something which rose in her throat!

91 understand!9



9$hat doll,9 cried Miss Minchin, pointing to the splendid birthday gift seated near;;9that

ridiculous doll, with all her nonsensical, e=traagant things;;1 actually paid the bill for

herD9Sara turned her head toward the chair!

9$he Last .oll,9 she said! 9$he Last .oll!9 (nd her little mournful oice had an odd

sound!9$he Last .oll, indeedD9 said Miss Minchin! 9(nd she is mine, not yours! %erything you

own is mine!9

97lease tae it away from me, then,9 said Sara! 91 do not want it!91f she had cried and sobbed and seemed frightened, Miss Minchin might almost hae had

more patience with her! She was a woman who lied to domineer and feel her power, and

as she looed at Sara's pale little steadfast face and heard her proud little oice, she <uite

felt as if her might was being set at naught!9.on't put on grand airs,9 she said! 9$he time for that sort of thing is past! @ou are not a

princess any longer! @our carriage and your pony will be sent away;;your maid will be

dismissed!

@ou will wear your oldest and plainest clothes;;your e=traagant ones are no longer suitedto your station! @ou are lie Becy;; you must wor for your liing!9

$o her surprise, a faint gleam of light came into the child's eyes;; a shade of relief!9Can 1 wor?9 she said! 91f 1 can wor it will not matter so much! 6hat can 1 do?9

9@ou can do anything you are told,9 was the answer! 9@ou are a sharp child, and pic up

things readily! 1f you mae yourself useful 1 may let you stay here! @ou spea French well,and you can help with the younger children!9

9May 1?9 e=claimed Sara! 9"h, please let meD 1 now 1 can teach them! 1 lie them, and

they lie me!9

9.on't tal nonsense about people liing you,9 said Miss Minchin! 9@ou will hae to domore than teach the little ones! @ou will run errands and help in the itchen as well as in

the schoolroom! 1f you don't please me, you will be sent away! 5emember that! #ow go!9

Sara stood still >ust a moment, looing at her! 1n her young soul, she was thining deep andstrange things! $hen she turned to leae the room!

9StopD9 said Miss Minchin! 9.on't you intend to than me?9

Sara paused, and all the deep, strange thoughts surged up in her breast!96hat for?9 she said!

9For my indness to you,9 replied Miss Minchin! 9For my indness in giing you a home!9

Sara made two or three steps toward her! Her thin little chest heaed up and down, and she

spoe in a strange un;childishly fierce way!9@ou are not ind,9 she said! 9@ou are #"$ ind, and it is #"$ a home!9 (nd she had

turned and run out of the room before Miss Minchin could stop her or do anything but stare

after her with stony anger!She went up the stairs slowly, but panting for breath and she held %mily tightly against her

side!

91 wish she could tal,9 she said to herself! 91f she could spea;; if she could speaD9She meant to go to her room and lie down on the tiger;sin, with her chee upon the great

cat's head, and loo into the fire and thin and thin and thin! But >ust before she reached

the landing Miss (melia came out of the door and closed it behind her, and stood before it,



looing nerous and awward! $he truth was that she felt secretly ashamed of the thing she

had been ordered to do!

9@ou;;you are not to go in there,9 she said!9#ot go in?9 e=claimed Sara, and she fell bac a pace!

9$hat is not your room now,9 Miss (melia answered, reddening a little! Somehow, all at

once, Sara understood! She realied that this was the beginning of the change MissMinchin had spoen of!

96here is my room?9 she ased, hoping ery much that her oice did not shae!

9@ou are to sleep in the attic ne=t to Becy!9Sara new where it was! Becy had told her about it! She turned, and mounted up two

flights of stairs! $he last one was narrow, and coered with shabby strips of old carpet! She

felt as if she were waling away and leaing far behind her the world in which that other

child, who no longer seemed herself, had lied! $his child, in her short, tight old froc,climbing the stairs to the attic, was <uite a different creature!

6hen she reached the attic door and opened it, her heart gae a dreary little thump! $hen

she shut the door and stood against it and looed about her!

@es, this was another world! $he room had a slanting roof and was whitewashed! $hewhitewash was dingy and had fallen off in places!

$here was a rusty grate, an old iron bedstead, and a hard bed coered with a faded coerlet!Some pieces of furniture too much worn to be used downstairs had been sent up! Inder the

sylight in the roof, which showed nothing but an oblong piece of dull gray sy, there

stood an old battered red footstool! Sara went to it and sat down!She seldom cried! She did not cry now! She laid %mily across her nees and put her face

down upon her and her arms around her, and sat there, her little blac head resting on the

blac draperies, not saying one word, not maing one sound!

(nd as she sat in this silence there came a low tap at the door;; such a low, humble onethat she did not at first hear it, and, indeed, was not roused until the door was timidly

pushed open and a poor tear;smeared face appeared peeping round it! 1t was Becy's face,

and Becy had been crying furtiely for hours and rubbing her eyes with her itchen apronuntil she looed strange indeed!

9"h, miss,9 she said under her breath! 9Might 1;;would you allow me;; >est to come in?9

Sara lifted her head and looed at her! She tried to begin a smile, and somehow she couldnot! Suddenly;;and it was all through the loing mournfulness of Becy's streaming eyes;;

her face looed more lie a child's not so much too old for her years! She held out her hand

and gae a little sob!

9"h, Becy,9 she said! 91 told you we were >ust the same;;only two little girls;;>ust twolittle girls! @ou see how true it is! $here's no difference now! 1'm not a princess anymore!9

Becy ran to her and caught her hand, and hugged it to her breast, neeling beside her and

sobbing with loe and pain!9@es, miss, you are,9 she cried, and her words were all broen! 96hats'eer 'appens to

you;;whats'eer;;you'd be a princess all the same;;an' nothin' couldn't mae you nothin'

different!9



01n the (ttic

$he first night she spent in her attic was a thing Sara neer forgot!

.uring its passing she lied through a wild, unchildlie woe of which she neer spoe toanyone about her! $here was no one who would hae understood! 1t was, indeed, well for

her that as she lay awae in the darness her mind was forcibly distracted, now and then, by the strangeness of her surroundings! 1t was, perhaps, well for her that she was reminded

by her small body of material things!

1f this had not been so, the anguish of her young mind might hae been too great for achild to bear! But, really, while the night was passing she scarcely new that she had a

body at all or remembered any other thing than one!

9My papa is deadD9 she ept whispering to herself! 9My papa is deadD9

1t was not until long afterward that she realied that her bed had been so hard that sheturned oer and oer in it to find a place to rest, that the darness seemed more intense

than any she had eer nown, and that the wind howled oer the roof among the chimneys

lie something which wailed aloud! $hen there was something worse!$his was certain scufflings and scratchings and s<ueaings in the walls and behind the

sirting boards! She new what they meant, because Becy had described them! $hey

meant rats and mice who were either fighting with each other or playing together!"nce or twice she een heard sharp;toed feet scurrying across the floor, and she

remembered in those after days, when she recalled things, that when first she heard them

she started up in bed and sat trembling, and when she lay down again coered her head

with the bedclothes!$he change in her life did not come about gradually, but was made all at once!

9She must begin as she is to go on,9 Miss Minchin said to Miss (melia! 9She must be

taught at once what she is to e=pect!9Mariette had left the house the ne=t morning! $he glimpse Sara caught of her sitting room,

as she passed its open door, showed her that eerything had been changed! Her ornaments

and lu=uries had been remoed, and a bed had been placed in a corner to transform it into anew pupil's bedroom!

6hen she went down to breafast she saw that her seat at Miss Minchin's side was

occupied by Lainia, and Miss Minchin spoe to her coldly!



9@ou will begin your new duties, Sara,9 she said, 9by taing your seat with the younger

children at a smaller table! @ou must eep them <uiet, and see that they behae well and do

not waste their food! @ou ought to hae been down earlier! Lottie has already upset hertea!9

$hat was the beginning, and from day to day the duties gien to her were added to! She

taught the younger children French and heard their other lessons, and these were the leastof her labors!

1t was found that she could be made use of in numberless directions! She could be sent on

errands at any time and in all weathers! She could be told to do things other peopleneglected! $he coo and the housemaids too their tone from Miss Minchin, and rather

en>oyed ordering about the 9young one9 who had been made so much fuss oer for so long!

$hey were not serants of the best class, and had neither good manners nor good tempers,

and it was fre<uently conenient to hae at hand someone on whom blame could be laid!.uring the first month or two, Sara thought that her willingness to do things as well as she

could, and her silence under reproof, might soften those who droe her so hard! 1n her

proud little heart she wanted them to see that she was trying to earn her liing and not

accepting charity! But the time came when she saw that no one was softened at allA and themore willing she was to do as she was told, the more domineering and e=acting careless

housemaids became, and the more ready a scolding coo was to blame her! 1f she had beenolder, Miss Minchin would hae gien her the bigger girls to teach and saed money by

dismissing an instructressA but while she remained and looed lie a child, she could be

made more useful as a sort of little superior errand girl and maid of all wor! (n ordinaryerrand boy would not hae been so cleer and reliable! Sara could be trusted with difficult

commissions and complicated messages! She could een go and pay bills, and she

combined with this the ability to dust a room well and to set things in order!

Her own lessons became things of the past! She was taught nothing, and only after longand busy days spent in running here and there at eerybody's orders was she grudgingly

allowed to go into the deserted schoolroom, with a pile of old boos, and study alone at

night!91f 1 do not remind myself of the things 1 hae learned, perhaps 1 may forget them,9 she

said to herself! 91 am almost a scullery maid, and if 1 am a scullery maid who nows

nothing, 1 shall be lie poor Becy! 1 wonder if 1 could OI1$% forget and begin to drop myH'S and not remember that Henry the %ighth had si= wies!9

"ne of the most curious things in her new e=istence was her changed position among the

pupils! 1nstead of being a sort of small royal personage among them, she no longer seemed

to be one of their number at all! She was ept so constantly at wor that she scarcely eerhad an opportunity of speaing to any of them, and she could not aoid seeing that Miss

Minchin preferred that she should lie a life apart from that of the occupants of the

schoolroom!91 will not hae her forming intimacies and taling to the other children,9 that lady said!

94irls lie a grieance, and if she begins to tell romantic stories about herself, she will

become an ill;used heroine, and parents will be gien a wrong impression! 1t is better thatshe should lie a separate life;;one suited to her circumstances! 1 am giing her a home,

and that is more than she has any right to e=pect from me!9

Sara did not e=pect much, and was far too proud to try to continue to be intimate with girls

who eidently felt rather awward and uncertain about her! $he fact was that Miss



Minchin's pupils were a set of dull, matter;of;fact young people! $hey were accustomed to

being rich and comfortable, and as Sara's frocs grew shorter and shabbier and <ueerer;

looing, and it became an established fact that she wore shoes with holes in them and wassent out to buy groceries and carry them through the streets in a baset on her arm when

the coo wanted them in a hurry, they felt rather as if, when they spoe to her, they were

addressing an under serant!9$o thin that she was the girl with the diamond mines, Lainia commented!

9She does loo an ob>ect! (nd she's <ueerer than eer! 1 neer lied her much, but 1 can't

bear that way she has now of looing at people without speaing;;>ust as if she was findingthem out!9

91 am,9 said Sara, promptly, when she heard of this! 9$hat's what 1 loo at some people for!

1 lie to now about them! 1 thin them oer afterward!9

$he truth was that she had saed herself annoyance seeral times by eeping her eye onLainia, who was <uite ready to mae mischief, and would hae been rather pleased to

hae made it for the e=;show pupil!

Sara neer made any mischief herself, or interfered with anyone!

She wored lie a drudgeA she tramped through the wet streets, carrying parcels and basetsA she labored with the childish inattention of the little ones' French lessonsA as she

became shabbier and more forlorn;looing, she was told that she had better tae her mealsdownstairsA she was treated as if she was nobody's concern, and her heart grew proud and

sore, but she neer told anyone what she felt!

9Soldiers don't complain,9 she would say between her small, shut teeth, 91 am not going todo itA 1 will pretend this is part of a war!9

But there were hours when her child heart might almost hae broen with loneliness but

for three people!

$he first, it must be owned, was Becy;;>ust Becy! $hroughout all that first night spent inthe garret, she had felt a ague comfort in nowing that on the other side of the wall in

which the rats scuffled and s<ueaed there was another young human creature!

(nd during the nights that followed the sense of comfort grew! $hey had little chance tospea to each other during the day!

%ach had her own tass to perform, and any attempt at conersation would hae been

regarded as a tendency to loiter and lose time!9.on't mind me, miss,9 Becy whispered during the first morning, 9if 1 don't say nothin'

polite! Some un'd be down on us if 1 did! 1 M%(#S please' an' than you' an' beg

pardon,' but 1 dassn't to tae time to say it!9

But before daybrea she used to slip into Sara's attic and button her dress and gie her suchhelp as she re<uired before she went downstairs to light the itchen fire! (nd when night

came Sara always heard the humble noc at her door which meant that her handmaid was

ready to help her again if she was needed! .uring the first wees of her grief Sara felt as ifshe were too stupefied to tal, so it happened that some time passed before they saw each

other much or e=changed isits! Becy's heart told her that it was best that people in

trouble should be left alone! $he second of the trio of comforters was %rmengarde, but oddthings happened before %rmengarde found her place!

6hen Sara's mind seemed to awaen again to the life about her, she realied that she had

forgotten that an %rmengarde lied in the world! $he two had always been friends, but Sara

had felt as if she were years the older! 1t could not be contested that %rmengarde was as



dull as she was affectionate! She clung to Sara in a simple, helpless wayA she brought her

lessons to her that she might be helpedA she listened to her eery word and besieged her

with re<uests for stories! But she had nothing interesting to say herself, and she loathed boos of eery description! She was, in fact, not a person one would remember when one

was caught in the storm of a great trouble, and Sara forgot her!

1t had been all the easier to forget her because she had been suddenly called home for a fewwees! 6hen she came bac she did not see Sara for a day or two, and when she met her

for the first time she encountered her coming down a corridor with her arms full of

garments which were to be taen downstairs to be mended!Sara herself had already been taught to mend them! She looed pale and unlie herself, and

she was attired in the <ueer, outgrown froc whose shortness showed so much thin blac

leg!

%rmengarde was too slow a girl to be e<ual to such a situation! She could not thin ofanything to say! She new what had happened, but, somehow, she had neer imagined

Sara could loo lie this;; so odd and poor and almost lie a serant! 1t made her <uite

miserable, and she could do nothing but brea into a short hysterical laugh and e=claim;;

aimlessly and as if without any meaning, 9"h, Sara, is that you?99@es,9 answered Sara, and suddenly a strange thought passed through her mind and made

her face flush! She held the pile of garments in her arms, and her chin rested upon the topof it to eep it steady!

Something in the loo of her straight;gaing eyes made %rmengarde lose her wits still

more! She felt as if Sara had changed into a new ind of girl, and she had neer nown her before!

7erhaps it was because she had suddenly grown poor and had to mend things and wor lie

Becy!

9"h,9 she stammered! 9How;;how are you?991 don't now,9 Sara replied! 9How are you?9

91'm;;1'm <uite well,9 said %rmengarde, oerwhelmed with shyness! $hen spasmodically

she thought of something to say which seemed more intimate! 9(re you;;are you eryunhappy?9 she said in a rush!

$hen Sara was guilty of an in>ustice! Gust at that moment her torn heart swelled within her,

and she felt that if anyone was as stupid as that, one had better get away from her!96hat do you thin?9 she said! 9.o you thin 1 am ery happy?9

(nd she marched past her without another word!

1n course of time she realied that if her wretchedness had not made her forget things, she

would hae nown that poor, dull %rmengarde was not to be blamed for her unready,awward ways!

She was always awward, and the more she felt, the more stupid she was gien to being!

But the sudden thought which had flashed upon her had made her oer;sensitie!9She is lie the others,9 she had thought! 9She does not really want to tal to me! She

nows no one does!9

So for seeral wees a barrier stood between them! 6hen they met by chance Sara looedthe other way, and %rmengarde felt too stiff and embarrassed to spea! Sometimes they

nodded to each other in passing, but there were times when they did not een e=change a

greeting!



91f she would rather not tal to me,9 Sara thought, 91 will eep out of her way! Miss

Minchin maes that easy enough!9

Miss Minchin made it so easy that at last they scarcely saw each other at all! (t that time itwas noticed that %rmengarde was more stupid than eer, and that she looed listless and

unhappy!

She used to sit in the window;seat, huddled in a heap, and stare out of the window withoutspeaing! "nce Gessie, who was passing, stopped to loo at her curiously!

96hat are you crying for, %rmengarde?9 she ased!

91'm not crying,9 answered %rmengarde, in a muffled, unsteady oice!9@ou are,9 said Gessie! 9( great big tear >ust rolled down the bridge of your nose and

dropped off at the end of it! (nd there goes another!9

96ell,9 said %rmengarde, 91'm miserable;;and no one need interfere!9

(nd she turned her plump bac and too out her handerchief and boldly hid her face in it!$hat night, when Sara went to her attic, she was later than usual!

She had been ept at wor until after the hour at which the pupils went to bed, and after

that she had gone to her lessons in the lonely schoolroom! 6hen she reached the top of the

stairs, she was surprised to see a glimmer of light coming from under the attic door!9#obody goes there but myself,9 she thought <uicly, 9but someone has lighted a candle!9

Someone had, indeed, lighted a candle, and it was not burning in the itchen candlesticshe was e=pected to use, but in one of those belonging to the pupils' bedrooms! $he

someone was sitting upon the battered footstool, and was dressed in her nightgown and

wrapped up in a red shawl! 1t was %rmengarde!9%rmengardeD9 cried Sara! She was so startled that she was almost frightened! 9@ou will

get into trouble!9

%rmengarde stumbled up from her footstool! She shuffled across the attic in her bedroom

slippers, which were too large for her! Her eyes and nose were pin with crying!91 now 1 shall;;if 1'm found out!9 she said! 9But 1 don't care;; 1 don't care a bit! "h, Sara,

please tell me! 6hat is the matter? 6hy don't you lie me any more?9

Something in her oice made the familiar lump rise in Sara's throat!1t was so affectionate and simple;;so lie the old %rmengarde who had ased her to be

9best friends!9 1t sounded as if she had not meant what she had seemed to mean during

these past wees!91 do lie you,9 Sara answered! 91 thought;;you see, eerything is different now! 1 thought

you;;were different!

%rmengarde opened her wet eyes wide!

96hy, it was you who were differentD9 she cried! 9@ou didn't want to tal to me! 1 didn'tnow what to do! 1t was you who were different after 1 came bac!9

Sara thought a moment! She saw she had made a mistae!

91 (M different,9 she e=plained, 9though not in the way you thin!Miss Minchin does not want me to tal to the girls! Most of them don't want to tal to me! 1

thought;;perhaps;;you didn't! So 1 tried to eep out of your way!9

9"h, Sara,9 %rmengarde almost wailed in her reproachful dismay!(nd then after one more loo they rushed into each other's arms!

1t must be confessed that Sara's small blac head lay for some minutes on the shoulder

coered by the red shawl! 6hen %rmengarde had seemed to desert her, she had felt

horribly lonely!



(fterward they sat down upon the floor together, Sara clasping her nees with her arms,

and %rmengarde rolled up in her shawl!

%rmengarde looed at the odd, big;eyed little face adoringly!91 couldn't bear it any more,9 she said! 91 dare say you could lie without me, SaraA but 1

couldn't lie without you! 1 was nearly .%(.! So tonight, when 1 was crying under the

bedclothes, 1 thought all at once of creeping up here and >ust begging you to let us befriends again!9

9@ou are nicer than 1 am,9 said Sara! 91 was too proud to try and mae friends! @ou see,

now that trials hae come, they hae shown that 1 am #"$ a nice child! 1 was afraid theywould! 7erhaps9;;wrinling her forehead wisely;;9that is what they were sent for!9

91 don't see any good in them,9 said %rmengarde stoutly!

9#either do 1;;to spea the truth,9 admitted Sara, franly! 9But 1 suppose there M14H$ be

good in things, een if we don't see it! $here M14H$E9;;."IB$FILL@;;9B good inMiss Minchin!9

%rmengarde looed round the attic with a rather fearsome curiosity!

9Sara,9 she said, 9do you thin you can bear liing here?9

Sara looed round also!91f 1 pretend it's <uite different, 1 can,9 she answeredA 9or if 1 pretend it is a place in a

story!9She spoe slowly! Her imagination was beginning to wor for her! 1t had not wored for

her at all since her troubles had come upon her! She had felt as if it had been stunned!

9"ther people hae lied in worse places! $hin of the Count of Monte Cristo in thedungeons of the Chateau d'1f! (nd thin of the people in the BastilleD9

9$he Bastille,9 half whispered %rmengarde, watching her and beginning to be fascinated!

She remembered stories of the French 5eolution which Sara had been able to fi= in her

mind by her dramatic relation of them! #o one but Sara could hae done it! ( well;nownglow came into Sara's eyes!

9@es,9 she said, hugging her nees, 9that will be a good place to pretend about! 1 am a

prisoner in the Bastille! 1 hae been here for years and years;;and yearsA and eerybody hasforgotten about me! Miss Minchin is the >ailer;;and Becy9;;a sudden light adding itself to

the glow in her eyes;;9Becy is the prisoner in the ne=t cell!9

She turned to %rmengarde, looing <uite lie the old Sara!91 shall pretend that,9 she saidA 9and it will be a great comfort!9

%rmengarde was at once enraptured and awed!

9(nd will you tell me all about it?9 she said! 9May 1 creep up here at night, wheneer it is

safe, and hear the things you hae made up in the day? 1t will seem as if we were morebest friends' than eer!9

9@es,9 answered Sara, nodding! 9(dersity tries people, and mine has tried you and proed

how nice you are!9



2Melchisedec

$he third person in the trio was Lottie! She was a small thing and did not now what

adersity meant, and was much bewildered by the alteration she saw in her young adoptedmother!

She had heard it rumored that strange things had happened to Sara, but she could notunderstand why she looed different;;why she wore an old blac froc and came into the

schoolroom only to teach instead of to sit in her place of honor and learn lessons herself!

$here had been much whispering among the little ones when it had been discoered thatSara no longer lied in the rooms in which %mily had so long sat in state! Lottie's chief

difficulty was that Sara said so little when one ased her <uestions! (t seen mysteries

must be made ery clear if one is to understand them!

9(re you ery poor now, Sara?9 she had ased confidentially the first morning her friendtoo charge of the small French class!

9(re you as poor as a beggar?9 She thrust a fat hand into the slim one and opened round,

tearful eyes! 91 don't want you to be as poor as a beggar!9She looed as if she was going to cry! (nd Sara hurriedly consoled her!

9Beggars hae nowhere to lie,9 she said courageously! 91 hae a place to lie in!9

96here do you lie?9 persisted Lottle! 9$he new girl sleeps in your room, and it isn't prettyany more!9

91 lie in another room,9 said Sara!

91s it a nice one?9 in<uired Lottie! 91 want to go and see it!9

9@ou must not tal,9 said Sara! 9Miss Minchin is looing at us! She will be angry with mefor letting you whisper!9

She had found out already that she was to be held accountable for eerything which was

ob>ected to! 1f the children were not attentie, if they taled, if they were restless, it wasshe who would be reproed!

But Lottie was a determined little person! 1f Sara would not tell her where she lied, she

would find out in some other way!She taled to her small companions and hung about the elder girls and listened when they

were gossipingA and acting upon certain information they had unconsciously let drop, she

started late one afternoon on a oyage of discoery, climbing stairs she had neer nown

the e=istence of, until she reached the attic floor!



$here she found two doors near each other, and opening one, she saw her beloed Sara

standing upon an old table and looing out of a window!

9SaraD9 she cried, aghast! 9Mamma SaraD9 She was aghast because the attic was so bareand ugly and seemed so far away from all the world!

Her short legs had seemed to hae been mounting hundreds of stairs!

Sara turned round at the sound of her oice! 1t was her turn to be aghast! 6hat wouldhappen now? 1f Lottie began to cry and any one chanced to hear, they were both lost! She

>umped down from her table and ran to the child!

9.on't cry and mae a noise,9 she implored! 91 shall be scolded if you do, and 1 hae beenscolded all day! 1t's;;it's not such a bad room, Lottie!9

91sn't it?9 gasped Lottie, and as she looed round it she bit her lip!

She was a spoiled child yet, but she was fond enough of her adopted parent to mae an

effort to control herself for her sae!$hen, somehow, it was <uite possible that any place in which Sara lied might turn out to

be nice! 96hy isn't it, Sara?9 she almost whispered!

Sara hugged her close and tried to laugh! $here was a sort of comfort in the warmth of the

plump, childish body! She had had a hard day and had been staring out of the windowswith hot eyes!

9@ou can see all sorts of things you can't see downstairs,9 she said!96hat sort of things?9 demanded Lottie, with that curiosity Sara could always awaen

een in bigger girls!

9Chimneys;;<uite close to us;;with smoe curling up in wreaths and clouds and going upinto the sy;;and sparrows hopping about and taling to each other >ust as if they were

people;; and other attic windows where heads may pop out any minute and you can

wonder who they belong to! (nd it all feels as high up;; as if it was another world!9

9"h, let me see itD9 cried Lottie! 9Lift me upD9Sara lifted her up, and they stood on the old table together and leaned on the edge of the

flat window in the roof, and looed out!

(nyone who has not done this does not now what a different world they saw! $he slatesspread out on either side of them and slanted down into the rain gutter;pipes! $he

sparrows, being at home there, twittered and hopped about <uite without fear! $wo of them

perched on the chimney top nearest and <uarrelled with each other fiercely until one peced the other and droe him away! $he garret window ne=t to theirs was shut because

the house ne=t door was empty!

91 wish someone lied there,9 Sara said! 91t is so close that if there was a little girl in the

attic, we could tal to each other through the windows and climb oer to see each other, ifwe were not afraid of falling!9

$he sy seemed so much nearer than when one saw it from the street, that Lottie was

enchanted! From the attic window, among the chimney pots, the things which werehappening in the world below seemed almost unreal! "ne scarcely belieed in the

e=istence of Miss Minchin and Miss (melia and the schoolroom, and the roll of wheels in

the s<uare seemed a sound belonging to another e=istence!9"h, SaraD9 cried Lottie, cuddling in her guarding arm! 91 lie this attic;;1 lie itD 1t is nicer

than downstairsD9

9Loo at that sparrow,9 whispered Sara! 91 wish 1 had some crumbs to throw to him!9



91 hae someD9 came in a little shrie from Lottie! 91 hae part of a bun in my pocetA 1

bought it with my penny yesterday, and 1 saed a bit!9

6hen they threw out a few crumbs the sparrow >umped and flew away to an ad>acentchimney top! He was eidently not accustomed to intimates in attics, and une=pected

crumbs startled him!

But when Lottie remained <uite still and Sara chirped ery softly;; almost as if she were asparrow herself;;he saw that the thing which had alarmed him represented hospitality, after

all! He put his head on one side, and from his perch on the chimney looed down at the

crumbs with twinling eyes! Lottie could scarcely eep still!96ill he come? 6ill he come?9 she whispered!

9His eyes loo as if he would,9 Sara whispered bac! 9He is thining and thining whether

he dare! @es, he willD @es, he is comingD9

He flew down and hopped toward the crumbs, but stopped a few inches away from them, putting his head on one side again, as if reflecting on the chances that Sara and Lottie

might turn out to be big cats and >ump on him! (t last his heart told him they were really

nicer than they looed, and he hopped nearer and nearer, darted at the biggest crumb with a

lightning pec, seied it, and carried it away to the other side of his chimney!9#ow he #"6S, said Sara! 9(nd he will come bac for the others!9

He did come bac, and een brought a friend, and the friend went away and brought arelatie, and among them they made a hearty meal oer which they twittered and chattered

and e=claimed, stopping eery now and then to put their heads on one side and e=amine

Lottie and Sara! Lottie was so delighted that she <uite forgot her first shoced impressionof the attic! 1n fact, when she was lifted down from the table and returned to earthly things,

as it were, Sara was able to point out to her many beauties in the room which she herself

would not hae suspected the e=istence of!

91t is so little and so high aboe eerything,9 she said, 9that it is almost lie a nest in a tree!$he slanting ceiling is so funny! See, you can scarcely stand up at this end of the roomA and

when the morning begins to come 1 can lie in bed and loo right up into the sy through

that flat window in the roof! 1t is lie a s<uare patch of light! 1f the sun is going to shine,little pin clouds float about, and 1 feel as if 1 could touch them! (nd if it rains, the drops

patter and patter as if they were saying something nice! $hen if there are stars, you can lie

and try to count how many go into the patch! 1t taes such a lot! (nd >ust loo at that tiny,rusty grate in the corner! 1f it was polished and there was a fire in it, >ust thin how nice it

would be! @ou see, it's really a beautiful little room!9

She was waling round the small place, holding Lottie's hand and maing gestures which

described all the beauties she was maing herself see! She <uite made Lottie see them, too!Lottie could always beliee in the things Sara made pictures of!

9@ou see,9 she said, 9there could be a thic, soft blue 1ndian rug on the floorA and in that

corner there could be a soft little sofa, with cushions to curl up onA and >ust oer it could bea shelf full of boos so that one could reach them easilyA and there could be a fur rug

before the fire, and hangings on the wall to coer up the whitewash, and pictures! $hey

would hae to be little ones, but they could be beautifulA and there could be a lamp with adeep rose;colored shadeA and a table in the middle, with things to hae tea withA and a little

fat copper ettle singing on the hobA and the bed could be <uite different! 1t could be made

soft and coered with a loely sil coerlet! 1t could be beautiful! (nd perhaps we could



coa= the sparrows until we made such friends with them that they would come and pec at

the window and as to be let in!9

9"h, SaraD9 cried Lottie! 91 should lie to lie hereD96hen Sara had persuaded her to go downstairs again, and, after setting her on her way, had

come bac to her attic, she stood in the middle of it and looed about her! $he enchantment

of her imaginings for Lottie had died away! $he bed was hard and coered with its dingy<uilt! $he whitewashed wall showed its broen patches, the floor was cold and bare, the

grate was broen and rusty, and the battered footstool, tilted sideways on its in>ured leg,

the only seat in the room! She sat down on it for a few minutes and let her head drop in herhands! $he mere fact that Lottie ha d come and gone away again made things seem a little

worse;; >ust as perhaps prisoners feel a little more desolate after isitors come and go,

leaing them behind!

91t's a lonely place,9 she said! 9Sometimes it's the loneliest place in the world!9She was sitting in this way when her attention was attracted by a slight sound near her! She

lifted her head to see where it came from, and if she had been a nerous child she would

hae left her seat on the battered footstool in a great hurry! ( large rat was sitting up on his

hind <uarters and sniffing the air in an interested manner!Some of Lottie's crumbs had dropped upon the floor and their scent had drawn him out of

his hole! He looed so <ueer and so lie a gray;whisered dwarf or gnome that Sara wasrather fascinated! He looed at her with his bright eyes, as if he were asing a <uestion! He

was eidently so doubtful that one of the child's <ueer thoughts came into her mind!

91 dare say it is rather hard to be a rat,9 she mused!9#obody lies you! 7eople >ump and run away and scream out, "h, a horrid ratD' 1

shouldn't lie people to scream and >ump and say, "h, a horrid SaraD' the moment they

saw me! (nd set traps for me, and pretend they were dinner! 1t's so different to be a

sparrow! But nobody ased this rat if he wanted to be a rat when he was made! #obodysaid, 6ouldn't you rather be a sparrow?'9

She had sat so <uietly that the rat had begun to tae courage! He was ery much afraid of

her, but perhaps he had a heart lie the sparrow and it told him that she was not a thingwhich pounced!

He was ery hungry! He had a wife and a large family in the wall, and they had had

frightfully bad luc for seeral days! He had left the children crying bitterly, and felt hewould ris a good deal for a few crumbs, so he cautiously dropped upon his feet!

9Come on,9 said SaraA 91'm not a trap! @ou can hae them, poor thingD 7risoners in the

Bastille used to mae friends with rats! Suppose 1 mae friends with you!9

How it is that animals understand things 1 do not now, but it is certain that they dounderstand! 7erhaps there is a language which is not made of words and eerything in the

world understands it! 7erhaps there is a soul hidden in eerything and it can always spea,

without een maing a sound, to another soul! But whatsoeer was the reason, the rat newfrom that moment that he was safe;; een though he was a rat! He new that this young

human being sitting on the red footstool would not >ump up and terrify him with wild,

sharp noises or throw heay ob>ects at him which, if they did not fall and crush him, wouldsend him limping in his scurry bac to his hole!

He was really a ery nice rat, and did not mean the least harm! 6hen he had stood on his

hind legs and sniffed the air, with his bright eyes fi=ed on Sara, he had hoped that she

would understand this, and would not begin by hating him as an enemy! 6hen the



mysterious thing which speas without saying any words told him that she would not, he

went softly toward the crumbs and began to eat them!

(s he did it he glanced eery now and then at Sara, >ust as the sparrows had done, and hise=pression was so ery apologetic that it touched her heart!

She sat and watched him without maing any moement! "ne crumb was ery much larger

than the others;;in fact, it could scarcely be called a crumb! 1t was eident that he wantedthat piece ery much, but it lay <uite near the footstool and he was still rather timid!

91 beliee he wants it to carry to his family in the wall,9 Sara thought! 91f 1 do not stir at all,

perhaps he will come and get it!9She scarcely allowed herself to breathe, she was so deeply interested!

$he rat shuffled a little nearer and ate a few more crumbs, then he stopped and sniffed

delicately, giing a side glance at the occupant of the footstoolA then he darted at the piece

of bun with something ery lie the sudden boldness of the sparrow, and the instant he had possession of it fled bac to the wall, slipped down a crac in the sirting board, and was

gone!

91 new he wanted it for his children,9 said Sara! 91 do beliee 1 could mae friends with

him!9( wee or so afterward, on one of the rare nights when %rmengarde found it safe to steal

up to the attic, when she tapped on the door with the tips of her fingers Sara did not cometo her for two or three minutes! $here was, indeed, such a silence in the room at first that

%rmengarde wondered if she could hae fallen asleep! $hen, to her surprise, she heard her

utter a little, low laugh and spea coa=ingly to someone!9$hereD9 %rmengarde heard her say! 9$ae it and go home, MelchisedecD 4o home to your

wifeD9

(lmost immediately Sara opened the door, and when she did so she found %rmengarde

standing with alarmed eyes upon the threshold!96ho;;who (5% you taling to, Sara?9 she gasped out!

Sara drew her in cautiously, but she looed as if something pleased and amused her!

9@ou must promise not to be frightened;;not to scream the least bit, or 1 can't tell you,9 sheanswered!

%rmengarde felt almost inclined to scream on the spot, but managed to control herself! She

looed all round the attic and saw no one!(nd yet Sara had certainly been speaing $" someone! She thought of ghosts!

91s it;;something that will frighten me?9 she ased timorously!

9Some people are afraid of them,9 said Sara! 91 was at first;; but 1 am not now!9

96as it;;a ghost?9 <uaed %rmengarde!9#o,9 said Sara, laughing! 91t was my rat!9

%rmengarde made one bound, and landed in the middle of the little dingy bed! She tuced

her feet under her nightgown and the red shawl!She did not scream, but she gasped with fright!

9"hD "hD9 she cried under her breath! 9( ratD ( ratD9

91 was afraid you would be frightened,9 said Sara! 9But you needn't be! 1 am maing himtame! He actually nows me and comes out when 1 call him! (re you too frightened to

want to see him?9



$he truth was that, as the days had gone on and, with the aid of scraps brought up from the

itchen, her curious friendship had deeloped, she had gradually forgotten that the timid

creature she was becoming familiar with was a mere rat!(t first %rmengarde was too much alarmed to do anything but huddle in a heap upon the

bed and tuc up her feet, but the sight of Sara's composed little countenance and the story

of Melchisedec's first appearance began at last to rouse her curiosity, and she leanedforward oer the edge of the bed and watched Sara go and neel down by the hole in the

sirting board!

9He;;he won't run out <uicly and >ump on the bed, will he?9 she said!9#o,9 answered Sara! 9He's as polite as we are! He is >ust lie a person! #ow watchD9

She began to mae a low, whistling sound;;so low and coa=ing that it could only hae

been heard in entire stillness! She did it seeral times, looing entirely absorbed in it!

%rmengarde thought she looed as if she were woring a spell!(nd at last, eidently in response to it, a gray;whisered, bright;eyed head peeped out of

the hole! Sara had some crumbs in her hand!

She dropped them, and Melchisedec came <uietly forth and ate them!

( piece of larger sie than the rest he too and carried in the most businesslie manner bac to his home!

9@ou see,9 said Sara, 9that is for his wife and children! He is ery nice! He only eats thelittle bits! (fter he goes bac 1 can always hear his family s<ueaing for >oy! $here are

three inds of s<ueas! "ne ind is the children's, and one is Mrs! Melchisedec's, and one

is Melchisedec's own!9%rmengarde began to laugh!

9"h, SaraD9 she said! 9@ou (5% <ueer;;but you are nice!9

91 now 1 am <ueer,9 admitted Sara, cheerfullyA 9and 1 $5@ to be nice!9

She rubbed her forehead with her little brown paw, and a puled, tender loo came intoher face! 97apa always laughed at me,9 she saidA 9but 1 lied it! He thought 1 was <ueer, but

he lied me to mae up things! 1;;1 can't help maing up things! 1f 1 didn't, 1 don't beliee 1

could lie!9 She paused and glanced around the attic!91'm sure 1 couldn't lie here,9 she added in a low oice!

%rmengarde was interested, as she always was! 96hen you tal about things,9 she said,

9they seem as if they grew real! @ou tal about Melchisedec as if he was a person!99He 1S a person,9 said Sara! 9He gets hungry and frightened, >ust as we doA and he is

married and has children! How do we now he doesn't thin things, >ust as we do? His eyes

loo as if he was a person! $hat was why 1 gae him a name!9

She sat down on the floor in her faorite attitude, holding her nees!9Besides,9 she said, 9he is a Bastille rat sent to be my friend! 1 can always get a bit of bread

the coo has thrown away, and it is <uite enough to support him!9

91s it the Bastille yet?9 ased %rmengarde, eagerly! 9.o you always pretend it is theBastille?9

9#early always,9 answered Sara! 9Sometimes 1 try to pretend it is another ind of placeA

but the Bastille is generally easiest;; particularly when it is cold!9Gust at that moment %rmengarde almost >umped off the bed, she was so startled by a sound

she heard! 1t was lie two distinct nocs on the wall!

96hat is that?9 she e=claimed!



Sara got up from the floor and answered <uite dramatically: 91t is the prisoner in the ne=t

cell!9

9BecyD9 cried %rmengarde, enraptured!9@es,9 said Sara! 9ListenA the two nocs meant, 7risoner, are you there?'9

She noced three times on the wall herself, as if in answer!

9$hat means, @es, 1 am here, and all is well!'9Four nocs came from Becy's side of the wall!

9$hat means,9 e=plained Sara, 9$hen, fellow;sufferer, we will sleep in peace! 4ood

night!'9%rmengarde <uite beamed with delight!

9"h, SaraD9 she whispered >oyfully! 91t is lie a storyD9

91t 1S a story,9 said Sara! 9%8%5@$H1#4'S a story! @ou are a story;; 1 am a story! Miss

Minchin is a story!9(nd she sat down again and taled until %rmengarde forgot that she was a sort of escaped

prisoner herself, and had to be reminded by Sara that she could not remain in the Bastille

all night, but must steal noiselessly downstairs again and creep bac into her deserted bed!

&3$he 1ndian 4entleman

But it was a perilous thing for %rmengarde and Lottie to mae pilgrimages to the attic!

$hey could neer be <uite sure when Sara would be there, and they could scarcely eer be

certain that Miss (melia would not mae a tour of inspection through the bedrooms afterthe pupils were supposed to be asleep! So their isits were rare ones, and Sara lied a

strange and lonely life! 1t was a lonelier life when she was downstairs than when she was in

her attic! She had no one to tal toA and when she was sent out on errands and waled

through the streets, a forlorn little figure carrying a baset or a parcel, trying to hold her haton when the wind was blowing, and feeling the water soa through her shoes when it was

raining, she felt as if the crowds hurrying past her made her loneliness greater!

6hen she had been the 7rincess Sara, driing through the streets in her brougham, orwaling, attended by Mariette, the sight of her bright, eager little face and pictures<ue

coats and hats had often caused people to loo after her! ( happy, beautifully cared for

little girl naturally attracts attention! Shabby, poorly dressed children are not rare enoughand pretty enough to mae people turn around to loo at them and smile! #o one looed at

Sara in these days, and no one seemed to see her as she hurried along the crowded

paements!

She had begun to grow ery fast, and, as she was dressed only in such clothes as the plainer remnants of her wardrobe would supply, she new she looed ery <ueer, indeed!

(ll her aluable garments had been disposed of, and such as had been left for her use she

was e=pected to wear so long as she could put them on at all!Sometimes, when she passed a shop window with a mirror in it, she almost laughed

outright on catching a glimpse of herself, and sometimes her face went red and she bit her

lip and turned away!1n the eening, when she passed houses whose windows were lighted up, she used to loo

into the warm rooms and amuse herself by imagining things about the people she saw

sitting before the fires or about the tables! 1t always interested her to catch glimpses of

rooms before the shutters were closed! $here were seeral families in the s<uare in which



Miss Minchin lied, with which she had become <uite familiar in a way of her own! $he

one she lied best she called the Large Family! She called it the Large Family not because

the members of it were big;;for, indeed, most of them were little;; but because there wereso many of them! $here were eight children in the Large Family, and a stout, rosy mother,

and a stout, rosy father, and a stout, rosy grandmother, and any number of serants!

$he eight children were always either being taen out to wal or to ride in perambulators by comfortable nurses, or they were going to drie with their mamma, or they were flying

to the door in the eening to meet their papa and iss him and dance around him and drag

off his oercoat and loo in the pocets for pacages, or they were crowding about thenursery windows and looing out and pushing each other and laughing;;in fact, they were

always doing something en>oyable and suited to the tastes of a large family!

Sara was <uite fond of them, and had gien them names out of boos;; <uite romantic

names! She called them the Montmorencys when she did not call them the Large Family!$he fat, fair baby with the lace cap was %thelberta Beauchamp MontmorencyA the ne=t

baby was 8iolet Cholmondeley MontmorencyA the little boy who could >ust stagger and

who had such round legs was Sydney Cecil 8iian MontmorencyA and then came Lilian

%angeline Maud Marion, 5osalind 4ladys, 4uy Clarence, 8eronica %ustacia, and ClaudeHarold Hector!

"ne eening a ery funny thing happened;;though, perhaps, in one sense it was not afunny thing at all!

Seeral of the Montmorencys were eidently going to a children's party, and >ust as Sara

was about to pass the door they were crossing the paement to get into the carriage whichwas waiting for them!

8eronica %ustacia and 5osalind 4ladys, in white;lace frocs and loely sashes, had >ust

got in, and 4uy Clarence, aged fie, was following them! He was such a pretty fellow and

had such rosy chees and blue eyes, and such a darling little round head coered withcurls, that Sara forgot her baset and shabby cloa altogether;;in fact, forgot eerything

but that she wanted to loo at him for a moment!

So she paused and looed!1t was Christmas time, and the Large Family had been hearing many stories about children

who were poor and had no mammas and papas to fill their stocings and tae them to the

pantomime;;children who were, in fact, cold and thinly clad and hungry! 1n the stories,ind people;;sometimes little boys and girls with tender hearts;; inariably saw the poor

children and gae them money or rich gifts, or too them home to beautiful dinners! 4uy

Clarence had been affected to tears that ery afternoon by the reading of such a story, and

he had burned with a desire to find such a poor child and gie her a certain si=pence he possessed, and thus proide for her for life!

(n entire si=pence, he was sure, would mean affluence for eermore!

(s he crossed the strip of red carpet laid across the paement from the door to the carriage,he had this ery si=pence in the pocet of his ery short man;o;war trousersA (nd >ust as

5osalind 4ladys got into the ehicle and >umped on the seat in order to feel the cushions

spring under her, he saw Sara standing on the wet paement in her shabby froc and hat,with her old baset on her arm, looing at him hungrily!

He thought that her eyes looed hungry because she had perhaps had nothing to eat for a

long time! He did not now that they looed so because she was hungry for the warm,

merry life his home held and his rosy face spoe of, and that she had a hungry wish to



snatch him in her arms and iss him! He only new that she had big eyes and a thin face

and thin legs and a common baset and poor clothes!

So he put his hand in his pocet and found his si=pence and waled up to her benignly!9Here, poor little girl,9 he said! 9Here is a si=pence! 1 will gie it to you!9

Sara started, and all at once realied that she looed e=actly lie poor children she had

seen, in her better days, waiting on the paement to watch her as she got out of her brougham!

(nd she had gien them pennies many a time! Her face went red and then it went pale, and

for a second she felt as if she could not tae the dear little si=pence!9"h, noD9 she said! 9"h, no, than youA 1 mustn't tae it, indeedD9

Her oice was so unlie an ordinary street child's oice and her manner was so lie the

manner of a well;bred little person that 8eronica %ustacia Pwhose real name was GanetQ and

5osalind 4ladys Pwho was really called #oraQ leaned forward to listen!But 4uy Clarence was not to be thwarted in his beneolence!

He thrust the si=pence into her hand!

9@es, you must tae it, poor little girlD9 he insisted stoutly! 9@ou can buy things to eat with

it! 1t is a whole si=penceD9$here was something so honest and ind in his face, and he looed so liely to be

heartbroenly disappointed if she did not tae it, that Sara new she must not refuse him!$o be as proud as that would be a cruel thing! So she actually put her pride in her pocet,

though it must be admitted her chees burned!

9$han you,9 she said! 9@ou are a ind, ind little darling thing!9(nd as he scrambled >oyfully into the carriage she went away, trying to smile, though she

caught her breath <uicly and her eyes were shining through a mist! She had nown that

she looed odd and shabby, but until now she had not nown that she might be taen for a

beggar!(s the Large Family's carriage droe away, the children inside it were taling with

interested e=citement!

9"h, .onald,9 Pthis was 4uy Clarence's nameQ, Ganet e=claimed alarmedly, 9why did youoffer that little girl your si=pence? 1'm sure she is not a beggarD9

9She didn't spea lie a beggarD9 cried #ora! 9(nd her face didn't really loo lie a

beggar's faceD99Besides, she didn't beg,9 said Ganet! 91 was so afraid she might be angry with you! @ou

now, it maes people angry to be taen for beggars when they are not beggars!9

9She wasn't angry,9 said .onald, a trifle dismayed, but still firm!

9She laughed a little, and she said 1 was a ind, ind little darling thing! (nd 1 wasD9;;stoutly! 91t was my whole si=pence!9

Ganet and #ora e=changed glances!

9( beggar girl would neer hae said that,9 decided Ganet!9She would hae said, $han yer indly, little gentleman;; than yer, sirA' and perhaps she

would hae bobbed a curtsy!9

Sara new nothing about the fact, but from that time the Large Family was as profoundlyinterested in her as she was in it!

Faces used to appear at the nursery windows when she passed, and many discussions

concerning her were held round the fire!





errands through wind and cold and rain, she came in wet and hungry, and was sent out

again because nobody chose to remember that she was only a child, and that her slim legs

might be tired and her small body might be chilledA when she had been gien only harshwords and cold, slighting loos for thansA when the coo had been ulgar and insolentA

when Miss Minchin had been in her worst mood, and when she had seen the girls sneering

among themseles at her shabbiness;;then she was not always able to comfort her sore, proud, desolate heart with fancies when %mily merely sat upright in her old chair and

stared!

"ne of these nights, when she came up to the attic cold and hungry, with a tempest ragingin her young breast, %mily's stare seemed so acant, her sawdust legs and arms so

ine=pressie, that Sara lost all control oer herself! $here was nobody but %mily;; no one

in the world! (nd there she sat!

91 shall die presently,9 she said at first!%mily simply stared!

91 can't bear this,9 said the poor child, trembling! 91 now 1 shall die! 1'm coldA 1'm wetA 1'm

staring to death! 1'e waled a thousand miles today, and they hae done nothing but

scold me from morning until night! (nd because 1 could not find that last thing the coosent me for, they would not gie me any supper! Some men laughed at me because my old

shoes made me slip down in the mud! 1'm coered with mud now! (nd they laughed! .oyou hear?9

She looed at the staring glass eyes and complacent face, and suddenly a sort of

heartbroen rage seied her! She lifted her little saage hand and noced %mily off thechair, bursting into a passion of sobbing;;Sara who neer cried!

9@ou are nothing but a ."LLD she cried! 9#othing but a doll;; doll;;dollD @ou care for

nothing! @ou are stuffed with sawdust! @ou neer had a heart! #othing could eer mae

you feel! @ou are a ."LLD9%mily lay on the floor, with her legs ignominiously doubled up oer her head, and a new

flat place on the end of her noseA but she was calm, een dignified! Sara hid her face in her

arms!$he rats in the wall began to fight and bite each other and s<uea and scramble!

Melchisedec was chastising some of his family!

Sara's sobs gradually <uieted themseles! 1t was so unlie her to brea down that she wassurprised at herself! (fter a while she raised her face and looed at %mily, who seemed to

be gaing at her round the side of one angle, and, somehow, by this time actually with a

ind of glassy;eyed sympathy! Sara bent and piced her up!

5emorse oertoo her! She een smiled at herself a ery little smile!9@ou can't help being a doll,9 she said with a resigned sigh, 9any more than Lainia and

Gessie can help not haing any sense! 6e are not all made alie! 7erhaps you do your

sawdust best!9(nd she issed her and shoo her clothes straight, and put her bac upon her chair!

She had wished ery much that some one would tae the empty house ne=t door! She

wished it because of the attic window which was so near hers! 1t seemed as if it would beso nice to see it propped open someday and a head and shoulders rising out of the s<uare

aperture!



91f it looed a nice head,9 she thought, 91 might begin by saying, 4ood morning,' and all

sorts of things might happen! But, of course, it's not really liely that anyone but under

serants would sleep there!9"ne morning, on turning the corner of the s<uare after a isit to the grocer's, the butcher's,

and the baer's, she saw, to her great delight, that during her rather prolonged absence, a

an full of furniture had stopped before the ne=t house, the front doors were thrown open,and men in shirt sleees were going in and out carrying heay pacages and pieces of

furniture!

91t's taenD9 she said! 91t really 1S taenD "h, 1 do hope a nice head will loo out of the atticwindowD9

She would almost hae lied to >oin the group of loiterers who had stopped on the

paement to watch the things carried in!

She had an idea that if she could see some of the furniture she could guess something aboutthe people it belonged to!

9Miss Minchin's tables and chairs are >ust lie her,9 she thoughtA 91 remember thining that

the first minute 1 saw her, een though 1 was so little! 1 told papa afterward, and he laughed

and said it was true! 1 am sure the Large Family hae fat, comfortable armchairs and sofas,and 1 can see that their red;flowery wallpaper is e=actly lie them! 1t's warm and cheerful

and ind;looing and happy!9She was sent out for parsley to the greengrocer's later in the day, and when she came up the

area steps her heart gae <uite a <uic beat of recognition! Seeral pieces of furniture had

been set out of the an upon the paement! $here was a beautiful table of elaboratelywrought teawood, and some chairs, and a screen coered with rich "riental embroidery!

$he sight of them gae her a weird, homesic feeling! She had seen things so lie them in

1ndia! "ne of the things Miss Minchin had taen from her was a cared teawood des her

father had sent her!9$hey are beautiful things,9 she saidA 9they loo as if they ought to belong to a nice person!

(ll the things loo rather grand! 1 suppose it is a rich family!9

$he ans of furniture came and were unloaded and gae place to others all the day! Seeraltimes it so happened that Sara had an opportunity of seeing things carried in! 1t became

plain that she had been right in guessing that the newcomers were people of large means!

(ll the furniture was rich and beautiful, and a great deal of it was "riental! 6onderful rugsand draperies and ornaments were taen from the ans, many pictures, and boos enough

for a library!

(mong other things there was a superb god Buddha in a splendid shrine!

9Someone in the family MIS$ hae been in 1ndia,9 Sara thought!9$hey hae got used to 1ndian things and lie them! 1 (M glad! 1 shall feel as if they were

friends, een if a head neer loos out of the attic window!9

6hen she was taing in the eening's mil for the coo Pthere was really no odd >ob shewas not called upon to doQ, she saw something occur which made the situation more

interesting than eer! $he handsome, rosy man who was the father of the Large Family

waled across the s<uare in the most matter;of;fact manner, and ran up the steps of thene=t;door house! He ran up them as if he felt <uite at home and e=pected to run up and

down them many a time in the future!

He stayed inside <uite a long time, and seeral times came out and gae directions to the

wormen, as if he had a right to do so!



1t was <uite certain that he was in some intimate way connected with the newcomers and

was acting for them!

91f the new people hae children,9 Sara speculated, 9the Large Family children will be sureto come and play with them, and they M14H$ come up into the attic >ust for fun!9

(t night, after her wor was done, Becy came in to see her fellow prisoner and bring her

news!91t's a' #indian gentleman that's comin' to lie ne=t door, miss,9 she said! 91 don't now

whether he's a blac gentleman or not, but he's a #indian one! He's ery rich, an' he's ill,

an' the gentleman of the Large Family is his lawyer! He's had a lot of trouble, an' it's madehim ill an' low in his mind! He worships idols, miss! He's an 'eathen an' bows down to

wood an' stone! 1 seen a' idol bein' carried in for him to worship! Somebody had oughter

send him a trac'! @ou can get a trac' for a penny!9

Sara laughed a little!91 don't beliee he worships that idol,9 she saidA 9some people lie to eep them to loo at

because they are interesting! My papa had a beautiful one, and he did not worship it!9

But Becy was rather inclined to prefer to beliee that the new neighbor was 9an 'eathen!9

1t sounded so much more romantic than that he should merely be the ordinary ind ofgentleman who went to church with a prayer boo! She sat and taled long that night of

what he would be lie, of what his wife would be lie if he had one, and of what hischildren would be lie if they had children! Sara saw that priately she could not help

hoping ery much that they would all be blac, and would wear turbans, and, aboe all,

that;; lie their parent;;they would all be 9'eathens!991 neer lied ne=t door to no 'eathens, miss,9 she saidA 91 should lie to see what sort o'

ways they'd hae!9

1t was seeral wees before her curiosity was satisfied, and then it was reealed that the

new occupant had neither wife nor children!He was a solitary man with no family at all, and it was eident that he was shattered in

health and unhappy in mind!

( carriage droe up one day and stopped before the house! 6hen the footman dismountedfrom the bo= and opened the door the gentleman who was the father of the Large Family

got out first!

(fter him there descended a nurse in uniform, then came down the steps two men;serants!$hey came to assist their master, who, when he was helped out of the carriage, proed to

be a man with a haggard, distressed face, and a seleton body wrapped in furs! He was

carried up the steps, and the head of the Large Family went with him, looing ery

an=ious! Shortly afterward a doctor's carriage arried, and the doctor went in;;plainly totae care of him!

9$here is such a yellow gentleman ne=t door, Sara,9 Lottie whispered at the French class

afterward! 9.o you thin he is a Chinee? $he geography says the Chinee men are yellow!99#o, he is not Chinese,9 Sara whispered bacA 9he is ery ill! 4o on with your e=ercise,

Lottie! #on, monsieur! Ge n'ai pas le canif de mon oncle!'9

$hat was the beginning of the story of the 1ndian gentleman!



&&

5am .ass

$here were fine sunsets een in the s<uare, sometimes! "ne could only see parts of them,

howeer, between the chimneys and oer the roofs! From the itchen windows one could

not see them at all, and could only guess that they were going on because the brics looed

warm and the air rosy or yellow for a while, or perhaps one saw a blaing glow strie a particular pane of glass somewhere!

$here was, howeer, one place from which one could see all the splendor of them: the piles

of red or gold clouds in the westA or the purple ones edged with daling brightnessA or thelittle fleecy, floating ones, tinged with rose;color and looing lie flights of pin does

scurrying across the blue in a great hurry if there was a wind!

$he place where one could see all this, and seem at the same time to breathe a purer air,was, of course, the attic window!

6hen the s<uare suddenly seemed to begin to glow in an enchanted way and loo

wonderful in spite of its sooty trees and railings, Sara new something was going on in the

syA and when it was at all possible to leae the itchen without being missed or called bac, she inariably stole away and crept up the flights of stairs, and, climbing on the old

table, got her head and body as far out of the window as possible! 6hen she had

accomplished this, she always drew a long breath and looed all round her! 1t used to seemas if she had all the sy and the world to herself! #o one else eer looed out of the other

attics! 4enerally the sylights were closedA but een if they were propped open to admit

air, no one seemed to come near them! (nd there Sara would stand, sometimes turning herface upward to the blue which seemed so friendly and near;;>ust lie a loely aulted

ceiling;;sometimes watching the west and all the wonderful things that happened there: the

clouds melting or drifting or waiting softly to be changed pin or crimson or snow;white or

purple or pale doe;gray! Sometimes they made islands or great mountains enclosing laes



of deep tur<uoise;blue, or li<uid amber, or chrysoprase;greenA sometimes dar headlands

>utted into strange, lost seasA sometimes slender strips of wonderful lands >oined other

wonderful lands together! $here were places where it seemed that one could run or climbor stand and wait to see what ne=t was coming;;until, perhaps, as it all melted, one could

float away! (t least it seemed so to Sara, and nothing had eer been <uite so beautiful to

her as the things she saw as she stood on the table;;her body half out of the sylightRthesparrows twittering with sunset softness on the slates! $he sparrows always seemed to her

to twitter with a sort of subdued softness >ust when these marels were going on!

$here was such a sunset as this a few days after the 1ndian gentleman was brought to hisnew homeA and, as it fortunately happened that the afternoon's wor was done in the

itchen and nobody had ordered her to go anywhere or perform any tas, Sara found it

easier than usual to slip away and go upstairs! She mounted her table and stood looing

out! 1t was a wonderful moment! $here were floods of molten gold coering the west, as ifa glorious tide was sweeping oer the world!

( deep, rich yellow light filled the airA the birds flying across the tops of the houses

showed <uite blac against it!

91t's a Splendid one,9 said Sara, softly, to herself! 91t maes me feel almost afraid;;as ifsomething strange was >ust going to happen! $he Splendid ones always mae me feel lie

that!9She suddenly turned her head because she heard a sound a few yards away from her! 1t was

an odd sound lie a <ueer little s<ueay chattering! 1t came from the window of the ne=t

attic!Someone had come to loo at the sunset as she had! $here was a head and a part of a body

emerging from the sylight, but it was not the head or body of a little girl or a housemaidA

it was the pictures<ue white;swathed form and dar;faced, gleaming;eyed, white;turbaned

head of a natie 1ndian man;serant;;9a Lascar,9 Sara said to herself <uicly;;and thesound she had heard came from a small money he held in his arms as if he were fond of

it, and which was snuggling and chattering against his breast!

(s Sara looed toward him he looed toward her! $he first thing she thought was that hisdar face looed sorrowful and homesic!

She felt absolutely sure he had come up to loo at the sun, because he had seen it so

seldom in %ngland that he longed for a sight of it!She looed at him interestedly for a second, and then smiled across the slates! She had

learned to now how comforting a smile, een from a stranger, may be!

Hers was eidently a pleasure to him! His whole e=pression altered, and he showed such

gleaming white teeth as he smiled bac that it was as if a light had been illuminated in hisdusy face!

$he friendly loo in Sara's eyes was always ery effectie when people felt tired or dull!

1t was perhaps in maing his salute to her that he loosened his hold on the money! He wasan impish money and always ready for adenture, and it is probable that the sight of a

little girl e=cited him!

He suddenly broe loose, >umped on to the slates, ran across them chattering, and actuallyleaped on to Sara's shoulder, and from there down into her attic room! 1t made her laugh

and delighted herA but she new he must be restored to his master;;if the Lascar was his

master;;and she wondered how this was to be done! 6ould he let her catch him, or would



he be naughty and refuse to be caught, and perhaps get away and run off oer the roofs and

be lost?

$hat would not do at all! 7erhaps he belonged to the 1ndian gentleman, and the poor manwas fond of him!

She turned to the Lascar, feeling glad that she remembered still some of the Hindustani she

had learned when she lied with her father!She could mae the man understand! She spoe to him in the language he new!

96ill he let me catch him?9 she ased!

She thought she had neer seen more surprise and delight than the dar face e=pressedwhen she spoe in the familiar tongue!

$he truth was that the poor fellow felt as if his gods had interened, and the ind little

oice came from heaen itself! (t once Sara saw that he had been accustomed to %uropean

children! He poured forth a flood of respectful thans! He was the serant of Missee Sahib!$he money was a good money and would not biteA but, unfortunately, he was difficult to

catch! He would flee from one spot to another, lie the lightning! He was disobedient,

though not eil!

5am .ass new him as if he were his child, and 5am .ass he would sometimes obey, butnot always! 1f Missee Sahib would permit 5am .ass, he himself could cross the roof to her

room, enter the windows, and regain the unworthy little animal! But he was eidentlyafraid Sara might thin he was taing a great liberty and perhaps would not let him come!

But Sara gae him leae at once!

9Can you get across?9 she in<uired!91n a moment,9 he answered her!

9$hen come,9 she saidA 9he is flying from side to side of the room as if he was frightened!9

5am .ass slipped through his attic window and crossed to hers as steadily and lightly as if

he had waled on roofs all his life!He slipped through the sylight and dropped upon his feet without a sound! $hen he turned

to Sara and salaamed again! $he money saw him and uttered a little scream! 5am .ass

hastily too the precaution of shutting the sylight, and then went in chase of him!1t was not a ery long chase! $he money prolonged it a few minutes eidently for the

mere fun of it, but presently he sprang chattering on to 5am .ass's shoulder and sat there

chattering and clinging to his nec with a weird little sinny arm!5am .ass thaned Sara profoundly! She had seen that his <uic natie eyes had taen in at

a glance all the bare shabbiness of the room, but he spoe to her as if he were speaing to

the little daughter of a ra>ah, and pretended that he obsered nothing! He did not presume

to remain more than a few moments after he had caught the money, and those momentswere gien to further deep and grateful obeisance to her in return for her indulgence! $his

little eil one, he said, stroing the money, was, in truth, not so eil as he seemed, and his

master, who was ill, was sometimes amused by him! He would hae been made sad if hisfaorite had run away and been lost!

$hen he salaamed once more and got through the sylight and across the slates again with

as much agility as the money himself had displayed!6hen he had gone Sara stood in the middle of her attic and thought of many things his face

and his manner had brought bac to her! $he sight of his natie costume and the profound

reerence of his manner stirred all her past memories! 1t seemed a strange thing to

remember that she;; the drudge whom the coo had said insulting things to an hour ago;;



had only a few years ago been surrounded by people who all treated her as 5am .ass had

treated herA who salaamed when she went by, whose foreheads almost touched the ground

when she spoe to them, who were her serants and her slaes! 1t was lie a sort of dream!1t was all oer, and it could neer come bac! 1t certainly seemed that there was no way in

which any change could tae place!

She new what Miss Minchin intended that her future should be!So long as she was too young to be used as a regular teacher, she would be used as an

errand girl and serant and yet e=pected to remember what she had learned and in some

mysterious way to learn more!$he greater number of her eenings she was supposed to spend at study, and at arious

indefinite interals she was e=amined and new she would hae been seerely admonished

if she had not adanced as was e=pected of her! $he truth, indeed, was that Miss Minchin

new that she was too an=ious to learn to re<uire teachers!4ie her boos, and she would deour them and end by nowing them by heart! She might

be trusted to be e<ual to teaching a good deal in the course of a few years! $his was what

would happen: when she was older she would be e=pected to drudge in the schoolroom as

she drudged now in arious parts of the houseA they would be obliged to gie her morerespectable clothes, but they would be sure to be plain and ugly and to mae her loo

somehow lie a serant!$hat was all there seemed to be to loo forward to, and Sara stood <uite still for seeral

minutes and thought it oer!

$hen a thought came bac to her which made the color rise in her chee and a spar lightitself in her eyes! She straightened her thin little body and lifted her head!

96hateer comes,9 she said, 9cannot alter one thing! 1f 1 am a princess in rags and tatters, 1

can be a princess inside! 1t would be easy to be a princess if 1 were dressed in cloth of gold,

but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one nows it! $herewas Marie (ntoinette when she was in prison and her throne was gone and she had only a

blac gown on, and her hair was white, and they insulted her and called her 6idow Capet!

She was a great deal more lie a <ueen then than when she was so gay and eerything wasso grand! 1 lie her best then! $hose howling mobs of people did not frighten her! She was

stronger than they were, een when they cut her head off!9

$his was not a new thought, but <uite an old one, by this time!1t had consoled her through many a bitter day, and she had gone about the house with an

e=pression in her face which Miss Minchin could not understand and which was a source

of great annoyance to her, as it seemed as if the child were mentally liing a life which

held her aboe he rest of the world! 1t was as if she scarcely heard the rude and acid thingssaid to herA or, if she heard them, did not care for them at all! Sometimes, when she was in

the midst of some harsh, domineering speech, Miss Minchin would find the stil ,

unchildish eyes fi=ed upon her with something lie a proud smile in them! (t such timesshe did not now that Sara was saying to herself: 9@ou don't now that you are saying

these things to a princess, and that if 1 chose 1 could wae my hand and order you to

e=ecution! 1 only spare you because 1 am a princess, and you are a poor, stupid, unind,ulgar old thing, and don't now any better!9

$his used to interest and amuse her more than anything elseA and <ueer and fanciful as it

was, she found comfort in it and it was a good thing for her! 6hile the thought held



possession of her, she could not be made rude and malicious by the rudeness and malice of

those about her!

9( princess must be polite,9 she said to herself!(nd so when the serants, taing their tone from their mistress, were insolent and ordered

her about, she would hold her head erect and reply to them with a <uaint ciility which

often made them stare at her!9She's got more airs and graces than if she come from Bucingham 7alace, that young

one,9 said the coo, chucling a little sometimes!

91 lose my temper with her often enough, but 1 will say she neer forgets her manners! 1fyou please, coo'A 6ill you be so ind, coo?' 1 beg your pardon, coo'A May 1 trouble

you, coo?' She drops 'em about the itchen as if they was nothing!9

$he morning after the interiew with 5am .ass and his money, Sara was in the

schoolroom with her small pupils! Haing finished giing them their lessons, she was putting the French e=ercise;boos together and thining, as she did it, of the arious things

royal personages in disguise were called upon to do: (lfred the 4reat, for instance, burning

the caes and getting his ears bo=ed by the wife of the neat;herd!

How frightened she must hae been when she found out what she had done!1f Miss Minchin should find out that she;;Sara, whose toes were almost sticing out of her

boots;;was a princess;;a real oneD $he loo in her eyes was e=actly the loo which MissMinchin most dislied!

She would not hae itA she was <uite near her and was so enraged that she actually flew at

her and bo=ed her ears;;e=actly as the neat;herd's wife had bo=ed ing (lfred's! 1t madeSara start!

She waened from her dream at the shoc, and, catching her breath, stood still a second!

$hen, not nowing she was going to do it, she broe into a little laugh!

96hat are you laughing at, you bold, impudent child?9 Miss Minchin e=claimed!1t too Sara a few seconds to control herself sufficiently to remember that she was a

princess! Her chees were red and smarting from the blows she had receied!

91 was thining,9 she answered!9Beg my pardon immediately,9 said Miss Minchin!

Sara hesitated a second before she replied!

91 will beg your pardon for laughing, if it was rude,9 she said thenA 9but 1 won't beg your pardon for thining!9

96hat were you thining?9 demanded Miss Minchin! 9How dare you thin? 6hat were

you thining?9

Gessie tittered, and she and Lainia nudged each other in unison!(ll the girls looed up from their boos to listen! 5eally, it always interested them a little

when Miss Minchin attaced Sara! Sara always said something <ueer, and neer seemed

the least bit frightened!She was not in the least frightened now, though her bo=ed ears were scarlet and her eyes

were as bright as stars!

91 was thining,9 she answered grandly and politely, 9that you did not now what you weredoing!9

9$hat 1 did not now what 1 was doing?9 Miss Minchin fairly gasped!

9@es,9 said Sara, 9and 1 was thining what would happen if 1 were a princess and you

bo=ed my ears;;what 1 should do to you! (nd 1 was thining that if 1 were one, you would



neer dare to do it, whateer 1 said or did! (nd 1 was thining how surprised and

frightened you would be if you suddenly found out;;9

She had the imagined future so clearly before her eyes that she spoe in a manner whichhad an effect een upon Miss Minchin!

1t almost seemed for the moment to her narrow, unimaginatie mind that there must be

some real power hidden behind this candid daring!96hat?9 she e=claimed! 9Found out what?9

9$hat 1 really was a princess,9 said Sara, 9and could do anything;; anything 1 lied!9

%ery pair of eyes in the room widened to its full limit!Lainia leaned forward on her seat to loo!

94o to your room,9 cried Miss Minchin, breathlessly, 9this instantD Leae the schoolroomD

(ttend to your lessons, young ladiesD9

Sara made a little bow!9%=cuse me for laughing if it was impolite,9 she said, and waled out of the room, leaing

Miss Minchin struggling with her rage, and the girls whispering oer their boos!

9.id you see her? .id you see how <ueer she looed?9 Gessie broe out!

91 shouldn't be at all surprised if she did turn out to be something! Suppose she shouldD9

&

$he "ther Side of the 6all

6hen one lies in a row of houses, it is interesting to thin of the things which are being

done and said on the other side of the wall of the ery rooms one is liing in! Sara was

fond of amusing herself by trying to imagine the things hidden by the wall which diidedthe Select Seminary from the 1ndian gentleman's house!

She new that the schoolroom was ne=t to the 1ndian gentleman's study, and she hoped that

the wall was thic so that the noise made sometimes after lesson hours would not disturbhim!

91 am growing <uite fond of him,9 she said to %rmengardeA 91 should not lie him to be

disturbed! 1 hae adopted him for a friend!@ou can do that with people you neer spea to at all! @ou can >ust watch them, and thin

about them and be sorry for them, until they seem almost lie relations! 1'm <uite an=ious

sometimes when 1 see the doctor call twice a day!9

91 hae ery few relations,9 said %rmengarde, reflectiely, 9and 1'm ery glad of it! 1 don'tlie those 1 hae! My two aunts are always saying, .ear me, %rmengardeD @ou are ery

fat! @ou shouldn't eat sweets,' and my uncle is always asing me things lie, 6hen did

%dward the $hird ascend the throne?' and, 6ho died of a surfeit of lampreys?'9Sara laughed!

97eople you neer spea to can't as you <uestions lie that,9 she saidA 9and 1'm sure the

1ndian gentleman wouldn't een if he was <uite intimate with you! 1 am fond of him!9She had become fond of the Large Family because they looed happyA but she had become

fond of the 1ndian gentleman because he looed unhappy! He had eidently not fully

recoered from some ery seere illness! 1n the itchen;;where, of course, the serants,

through some mysterious means, new eerything;;there was much discussion of his case!



He was not an 1ndian gentleman really, but an %nglishman who had lied in 1ndia! He had

met with great misfortunes which had for a time so imperilled his whole fortune that he

had thought himself ruined and disgraced foreer!$he shoc had been so great that he had almost died of brain feerA and eer since he had

been shattered in health, though his fortunes had changed and all his possessions had been

restored to him!His trouble and peril had been connected with mines!

9(nd mines with diamonds in 'emD9 said the coo! 9#o sain's of mine neer goes into no

mines;;particular diamond ones9;; with a side glance at Sara! 96e all now somethin' of$H%M!9

9He felt as my papa felt,9 Sara thought! 9He was ill as my papa wasA but he did not die!9

So her heart was more drawn to him than before! 6hen she was sent out at night she used

sometimes to feel <uite glad, because there was always a chance that the curtains of thehouse ne=t door might not yet be closed and she could loo into the warm room and see

her adopted friend! 6hen no one was about she used sometimes to stop, and, holding to the

iron railings, wish him good night as if he could hear her!

97erhaps you can F%%L if you can't hear,9 was her fancy!97erhaps ind thoughts reach people somehow, een through windows and doors and

walls! 7erhaps you feel a little warm and comforted, and don't now why, when 1 amstanding here in the cold and hoping you will get well and happy again! 1 am so sorry for

you,9 she would whisper in an intense little oice! 91 wish you had a Little Missus' who

could pet you as 1 used to pet papa when he had a headache! 1 should lie to be your LittleMissus' myself, poor dearD 4ood night;;good night! 4od bless youD9

She would go away, feeling <uite comforted and a little warmer herself!

Her sympathy was so strong that it seemed as if it MIS$ reach him somehow as he sat

alone in his armchair by the fire, nearly always in a great dressing gown, and nearly alwayswith his forehead resting in his hand as he gaed hopelessly into the fire!

He looed to Sara lie a man who had a trouble on his mind still, not merely lie one

whose troubles lay all in the past!9He always seems as if he were thining of something that hurts him #"6E, she said to

herself, 9but he has got his money bac and he will get oer his brain feer in time, so he

ought not to loo lie that! 1 wonder if there is something else!91f there was something else;;something een serants did not hear ofRshe could not help

belieing that the father of the Large Family new it;;the gentleman she called Mr!

Montmorency! Mr! Montmorency went to see him often, and Mrs! Montmorency and all

the little Montmorencys went, too, though less often! He seemed particularly fond of thetwo elder little girls;;the Ganet and #ora who had been so alarmed when their small brother

.onald had gien Sara his si=pence!

He had, in fact, a ery tender place in his heart for all children, and particularly for littlegirls! Ganet and #ora were as fond of him as he was of them, and looed forward with the

greatest pleasure to the afternoons when they were allowed to cross the s<uare and mae

their well;behaed little isits to him!$hey were e=tremely decorous little isits because he was an inalid!

9He is a poor thing,9 said Ganet, 9and he says we cheer him up! 6e try to cheer him up ery

<uietly!9



Ganet was the head of the family, and ept the rest of it in order! 1t was she who decided

when it was discreet to as the 1ndian gentleman to tell stories about 1ndia, and it was she

who saw when he was tired and it was the time to steal <uietly away and tell 5am .ass togo to him! $hey were ery fond of 5am .ass!

He could hae told any number of stories if he had been able to spea anything but

Hindustani! $he 1ndian gentleman's real name was Mr! Carrisford, and Ganet told Mr!Carrisford about the encounter with the little;girl;who;was;not;a;beggar! He was ery

much interested, and all the more so when he heard from 5am .ass of the adenture of the

money on the roof! 5am .ass made for him a ery clear picture of the attic and itsdesolateness;; of the bare floor and broen plaster, the rusty, empty grate, and the hard,

narrow bed!

9Carmichael,9 he said to the father of the Large Family, after he had heard this description,

91 wonder how many of the attics in this s<uare are lie that one, and how many wretchedlittle serant girls sleep on such beds, while 1 toss on my down pillows, loaded and

harassed by wealth that is, most of it;;not mine!9

9My dear fellow,9 Mr! Carmichael answered cheerily, 9the sooner you cease tormenting

yourself the better it will be for you! 1f you possessed all the wealth of all the 1ndies, youcould not set right all the discomforts in the world, and if you began to refurnish all the

attics in this s<uare, there would still remain all the attics in all the other s<uares and streetsto put in order! (nd there you areD9

Mr! Carrisford sat and bit his nails as he looed into the glowing bed of coals in the grate!

9.o you suppose,9 he said slowly, after a pause;;9do you thin it is possible that the otherchild;;the child 1 neer cease thining of, 1 beliee;;could be;;could 7"SS1BL@ be

reduced to any such condition as the poor little soul ne=t door?9

Mr! Carmichael looed at him uneasily! He new that the worst thing the man could do for

himself, for his reason and his health, was to begin to thin in the particular way of this particular sub>ect!

91f the child at Madame 7ascal's school in 7aris was the one you are in search of,9 he

answered soothingly, 9she would seem to be in the hands of people who can afford to taecare of her! $hey adopted her because she had been the faorite companion of their little

daughter who died! $hey had no other children, and Madame 7ascal said that they were

e=tremely well;to;do 5ussians!99(nd the wretched woman actually did not now where they had taen herD9 e=claimed

Mr! Carrisford!

Mr! Carmichael shrugged his shoulders!

9She was a shrewd, worldly Frenchwoman, and was eidently only too glad to get the childso comfortably off her hands when the father's death left her totally unproided for!

6omen of her type do not trouble themseles about the futures of children who might

proe burdens! $he adopted parents apparently disappeared and left no trace!99But you say 1F the child was the one 1 am in search of! @ou say 'if!' 6e are not sure!

$here was a difference in the name!9

9Madame 7ascal pronounced it as if it were Carew instead of Crewe;; but that might bemerely a matter of pronunciation! $he circumstances were curiously similar! (n %nglish

officer in 1ndia had placed his motherless little girl at the school! He had died suddenly



after losing his fortune!9 Mr! Carmichael paused a moment, as if a new thought had

occurred to him! 9(re you SI5% the child was left at a school in 7aris? (re you sure it

was 7aris?99My dear fellow,9 broe forth Carrisford, with restless bitterness, 91 am SI5% of nothing!

1 neer saw either the child or her mother! 5alph Crewe and 1 loed each other as boys, but

we had not met since our school days, until we met in 1ndia! 1 was absorbed in themagnificent promise of the mines! He became absorbed, too! $he whole thing was so huge

and glittering that we half lost our heads! 6hen we met we scarcely spoe of anything else!

1 only new that the child had been sent to school somewhere! 1 do not een remember,now, H"6 1 new it!9

He was beginning to be e=cited! He always became e=cited when his still weaened brain

was stirred by memories of the catastrophes of the past!

Mr! Carmichael watched him an=iously! 1t was necessary to as some <uestions, but theymust be put <uietly and with caution!

9But you had reason to thin the school 6(S in 7aris?9

9@es,9 was the answer, 9because her mother was a Frenchwoman, and 1 had heard that she

wished her child to be educated in 7aris! 1t seemed only liely that she would be there!99@es,9 Mr! Carmichael said, 9it seems more than probable!9

$he 1ndian gentleman leaned forward and struc the table with a long, wasted hand!9Carmichael,9 he said, 91 MIS$ find her! 1f she is alie, she is somewhere! 1f she is

friendless and penniless, it is through my fault! How is a man to get bac his nere with a

thing lie that on his mind? $his sudden change of luc at the mines has made realities ofall our most fantastic dreams, and poor Crewe's child may be begging in the streetD9

9#o, no,9 said Carmichael! 9$ry to be calm! Console yourself with the fact that when she is

found you hae a fortune to hand oer to her!9

96hy was 1 not man enough to stand my ground when things looed blac?9Carrisford groaned in petulant misery! 91 beliee 1 should hae stood my ground if 1 had

not been responsible for other people's money as well as my own! 7oor Crewe had put into

the scheme eery penny that he owned! He trusted me;;he L"8%. me! (nd he diedthining 1 had ruined him;;1;;$om Carrisford, who played cricet at %ton with him! 6hat a

illain he must hae thought meD9

9.on't reproach yourself so bitterly!991 don't reproach myself because the speculation threatened to fail;; 1 reproach myself for

losing my courage! 1 ran away lie a swindler and a thief, because 1 could not face my best

friend and tell him 1 had ruined him and his child!9

$he good;hearted father of the Large Family put his hand on his shoulder comfortingly!9@ou ran away because your brain had gien way under the strain of mental torture,9 he

said! 9@ou were half delirious already! 1f you had not been you would hae stayed and

fought it out! @ou were in a hospital, strapped down in bed, raing with brain feer, twodays after you left the place! 5emember that!9

Carrisford dropped his forehead in his hands!

94ood 4odD @es,9 he said! 91 was drien mad with dread and horror! 1 had not slept forwees! $he night 1 staggered out of my house all the air seemed full of hideous things

mocing and mouthing at me!9

9$hat is e=planation enough in itself,9 said Mr! Carmichael!

9How could a man on the erge of brain feer >udge sanelyD9



Carrisford shoo his drooping head!

9(nd when 1 returned to consciousness poor Crewe was dead;;and buried! (nd 1 seemed to

remember nothing! 1 did not remember the child for months and months! %en when 1 began to recall her e=istence eerything seemed in a sort of hae!9

He stopped a moment and rubbed his forehead! 91t sometimes seems so now when 1 try to

remember! Surely 1 must sometime hae heard Crewe spea of the school she was sent to!.on't you thin so?9

9He might not hae spoen of it definitely! @ou neer seem een to hae heard her real

name!99He used to call her by an odd pet name he had inented! He called her his Little Missus!'

But the wretched mines droe eerything else out of our heads! 6e taled of nothing else!

1f he spoe of the school, 1 forgot;;1 forgot! (nd now 1 shall neer remember!9

9Come, come,9 said Carmichael! 96e shall find her yet! 6e will continue to search forMadame 7ascal's good;natured 5ussians! She seemed to hae a ague idea that they lied

in Moscow! 6e will tae that as a clue! 1 will go to Moscow!9

91f 1 were able to trael, 1 would go with you,9 said CarrisfordA 9but 1 can only sit here

wrapped in furs and stare at the fire! (nd when 1 loo into it 1 seem to see Crewe's gayyoung face gaing bac at me! He loos as if he were asing me a <uestion! Sometimes 1

dream of him at night, and he always stands before me and ass the same <uestion inwords! Can you guess what he says, Carmichael?9

Mr! Carmichael answered him in a rather low oice!

9#ot e=actly,9 he said!9He always says, $om, old man;;$om;;where is the Little Missus?'9

He caught at Carmichael's hand and clung to it! 91 must be able to answer him;;1 mustD9 he

said! 9Help me to find her! Help me!9

"n the other side of the wall Sara was sitting in her garret taling to Melchisedec, who hadcome out for his eening meal!

91t has been hard to be a princess today, Melchisedec,9 she said!

91t has been harder than usual! 1t gets harder as the weather grows colder and the streets getmore sloppy! 6hen Lainia laughed at my muddy sirt as 1 passed her in the hall, 1

thought of something to say all in a flash;;and 1 only >ust stopped myself in time! @ou can't

sneer bac at people lie that;;if you are a princess! But you hae to bite your tongue tohold yourself in! 1 bit mine! 1t was a cold afternoon, Melchisedec! (nd it's a cold night!9

Ouite suddenly she put her blac head down in her arms, as she often did when she was

alone!

9"h, papa,9 she whispered, 9what a long time it seems since 1 was your Little Missus'D9$his was what happened that day on both sides of the wall!



&)

"ne of the 7opulace

$he winter was a wretched one! $here were days on which Sara tramped through snow

when she went on her errandsA there were worse days when the snow melted and combined

itself with mud to form slushA there were others when the fog was so thic that the lamps inthe street were lighted all day and London looed as it had looed the afternoon, seeral

years ago, when the cab had drien through the thoroughfares with Sara tuced up on its

seat, leaning against her father's shoulder! "n such days the windows of the house of theLarge Family always looed delightfully coy and alluring, and the study in which the

1ndian gentleman sat glowed with warmth and rich color! But the attic was dismal beyond

words! $here were no longer sunsets or sunrises to loo at, and scarcely eer any stars, it

seemed to Sara! $he clouds hung low oer the sylight and were either gray or mud;color,or dropping heay rain! (t four o'cloc in the afternoon, een when there was no special

fog, the daylight was at an end! 1f it was necessary to go to her attic for anything, Sara was

obliged to light a candle! $he women in the itchen were depressed, and that made themmore ill;tempered than eer!

Becy was drien lie a little slae!

9'$warn't for you, miss,9 she said hoarsely to Sara one night when she had crept into theattic;;9'twarn't for you, an' the Bastille, an' bein' the prisoner in the ne=t cell, 1 should die!

$hat there does seem real now, doesn't it? $he missus is more lie the head >ailer eery day

she lies! 1 can >est see them big eys you say she carries!



$he coo she's lie one of the under;>ailers! $ell me some more, please, miss;;tell me

about the subt'ranean passage we'e dug under the walls!9

91'll tell you something warmer,9 shiered Sara! 94et your coerlet and wrap it round you,and 1'll get mine, and we will huddle close together on the bed, and 1'll tell you about the

tropical forest where the 1ndian gentleman's money used to lie! 6hen 1 see him sitting

on the table near the window and looing out into the street with that mournful e=pression,1 always feel sure he is thining about the tropical forest where he used to swing by his tail

from coconut trees! 1 wonder who caught him, and if he left a family behind who had

depended on him for coconuts!99$hat is warmer, miss,9 said Becy, gratefullyA 9but, someways, een the Bastille is sort of

heatin' when you gets to tellin' about it!9

9$hat is because it maes you thin of something else,9 said Sara, wrapping the coerlet

round her until only her small dar face was to be seen looing out of it! 91'e noticed this!6hat you hae to do with your mind, when your body is miserable, is to mae it thin of

something else!9

9Can you do it, miss?9 faltered Becy, regarding her with admiring eyes!

Sara nitted her brows a moment!9Sometimes 1 can and sometimes 1 can't,9 she said stoutly!

9But when 1 C(# 1'm all right! (nd what 1 beliee is that we always could;;if we practicedenough! 1'e been practicing a good deal lately, and it's beginning to be easier than it used

to be! 6hen things are horrible;;>ust horrible;;1 thin as hard as eer 1 can of being a

princess! 1 say to myself, 1 am a princess, and 1 am a fairy one, and because 1 am a fairynothing can hurt me or mae me uncomfortable!' @ou don't now how it maes you

forget9;; with a laugh!

She had many opportunities of maing her mind thin of something else, and many

opportunities of proing to herself whether or not she was a princess! But one of thestrongest tests she was eer put to came on a certain dreadful day which, she often thought

afterward, would neer <uite fade out of her memory een in the years to come!

For seeral days it had rained continuouslyA the streets were chilly and sloppy and full ofdreary, cold mistA there was mud eerywhere;; sticy London mud;;and oer eerything

the pall of drile and fog!

"f course there were seeral long and tiresome errands to be done;; there always were ondays lie this;;and Sara was sent out again and again, until her shabby clothes were damp

through! $he absurd old feathers on her forlorn hat were more draggled and absurd than

eer, and her downtrodden shoes were so wet that they could not hold any more water!

(dded to this, she had been depried of her dinner, because Miss Minchin had chosen to punish her! She was so cold and hungry and tired that her face began to hae a pinched

loo, and now and then some ind;hearted person passing her in the street glanced at her

with sudden sympathy! But she did not now that!She hurried on, trying to mae her mind thin of something else!

1t was really ery necessary! Her way of doing it was to 9pretend9 and 9suppose9 with all

the strength that was left in her!But really this time it was harder than she had eer found it, and once or twice she thought

it almost made her more cold and hungry instead of less so! But she perseered obstinately,

and as the muddy water s<uelched through her broen shoes and the wind seemed trying to





$he child shuffled herself and her rags a little more!

9(in't 1 >ist?9 she said in a hoarse oice! 9Gist ain't 1?9

9Haen't you had any dinner?9 said Sara!9#o dinner,9 more hoarsely still and with more shuffling! 9#or yet no bre'fast;;nor yet no

supper! #o nothin'!

9Since when?9 ased Sara!9.unno! #eer got nothin' today;;nowhere! 1'e a=ed an' a=ed!9

Gust to loo at her made Sara more hungry and faint! But those <ueer little thoughts were at

wor in her brain, and she was taling to herself, though she was sic at heart!91f 1'm a princess,9 she was saying, 9if 1'm a princess;;when they were poor and drien

from their thrones;;they always shared;; with the populace;;if they met one poorer and

hungrier than themseles! $hey always shared! Buns are a penny each! 1f it had been

si=pence 1 could hae eaten si=! 1t won't be enough for either of us! But it will be betterthan nothing!9

96ait a minute,9 she said to the beggar child!

She went into the shop! 1t was warm and smelled deliciously!

$he woman was >ust going to put some more hot buns into the window!91f you please,9 said Sara, 9hae you lost fourpenceRa siler fourpence?9 (nd she held

the forlorn little piece of money out to her!$he woman looed at it and then at her;;at her intense little face and draggled, once fine

clothes!

9Bless us, no,9 she answered! 9.id you find it?99@es,9 said Sara! 91n the gutter!9

9eep it, then,9 said the woman! 91t may hae been there for a wee, and goodness nows

who lost it! @"I could neer find out!9

91 now that,9 said Sara, 9but 1 thought 1 would as you!99#ot many would,9 said the woman, looing puled and interested and good;natured all at

once!

9.o you want to buy something?9 she added, as she saw Sara glance at the buns!9Four buns, if you please,9 said Sara! 9$hose at a penny each!9

$he woman went to the window and put some in a paper bag!

Sara noticed that she put in si=!91 said four, if you please,9 she e=plained! 91 hae only fourpence!9

91'll throw in two for maeweight,9 said the woman with her good;natured loo! 91 dare say

you can eat them sometime! (ren't you hungry?9

( mist rose before Sara's eyes!9@es,9 she answered! 91 am ery hungry, and 1 am much obliged to you for your indnessA

and9;;she was going to add;;9there is a child outside who is hungrier than 1 am!9 But >ust at

that moment two or three customers came in at once, and each one seemed in a hurry, soshe could only than the woman again and go out!

$he beggar girl was still huddled up in the corner of the step!

She looed frightful in her wet and dirty rags! She was staring straight before her with astupid loo of suffering, and Sara saw her suddenly draw the bac of her roughened blac

hand across her eyes to rub away the tears which seemed to hae surprised her by forcing

their way from under her lids! She was muttering to herself!



Sara opened the paper bag and too out one of the hot buns, which had already warmed her

own cold hands a little!

9See,9 she said, putting the bun in the ragged lap, 9this is nice and hot! %at it, and you willnot feel so hungry!9

$he child started and stared up at her, as if such sudden, amaing good luc almost

frightened herA then she snatched up the bun and began to cram it into her mouth with greatwolfish bites!

9"h, myD "h, myD9 Sara heard her say hoarsely, in wild delight!

9"H myD9Sara too out three more buns and put them down!

$he sound in the hoarse, raenous oice was awful!

9She is hungrier than 1 am,9 she said to herself! 9She's staring!9

But her hand trembled when she put down the fourth bun!91'm not staring,9 she said;;and she put down the fifth!

$he little raening London saage was still snatching and deouring when she turned

away! She was too raenous to gie any thans, een if she had eer been taught

politeness;;which she had not!She was only a poor little wild animal!

94ood;bye,9 said Sara!6hen she reached the other side of the street she looed bac!

$he child had a bun in each hand and had stopped in the middle of a bite to watch her! Sara

gae her a little nod, and the child, after another stare;;a curious lingering stare;;>ered hershaggy head in response, and until Sara was out of sight she did not tae another bite or

een finish the one she had begun!

(t that moment the baer;woman looed out of her shop window!

96ell, 1 neerD9 she e=claimed! 91f that young un hasn't gien her buns to a beggar childD 1twasn't because she didn't want them, either! 6ell, well, she looed hungry enough! 1'd gie

something to now what she did it for!9

She stood behind her window for a few moments and pondered!$hen her curiosity got the better of her! She went to the door and spoe to the beggar child!

96ho gae you those buns?9 she ased her! $he child nodded her head toward Sara's

anishing figure!96hat did she say?9 in<uired the woman!

9(=ed me if 1 was 'ungry,9 replied the hoarse oice!

96hat did you say?9

9Said 1 was >ist!99(nd then she came in and got the buns, and gae them to you, did she?9

$he child nodded!

9How many?99Fie!9

$he woman thought it oer!

9Left >ust one for herself,9 she said in a low oice! 9(nd she could hae eaten the wholesi=;;1 saw it in her eyes!9

She looed after the little draggled far;away figure and felt more disturbed in her usually

comfortable mind than she had felt for many a day!



91 wish she hadn't gone so <uic,9 she said! 91'm blest if she shouldn't hae had a doen!9

$hen she turned to the child!

9(re you hungry yet?9 she said!91'm allus hungry,9 was the answer, 9but 't ain't as bad as it was!9

9Come in here,9 said the woman, and she held open the shop door!

$he child got up and shuffled in! $o be inited into a warm place full of bread seemed anincredible thing! She did not now what was going to happen! She did not care, een!

94et yourself warm,9 said the woman, pointing to a fire in the tiny bac room! 9(nd loo

hereA when you are hard up for a bit of bread, you can come in here and as for it! 1'm blestif 1 won't gie it to you for that young one's sae!9

Sara found some comfort in her remaining bun! (t all eents, it was ery hot, and it was

better than nothing! (s she waled along she broe off small pieces and ate them slowly tomae them last longer!

9Suppose it was a magic bun,9 she said, 9and a bite was as much as a whole dinner! 1

should be oereating myself if 1 went on lie this!9

1t was dar when she reached the s<uare where the Select Seminary was situated! $helights in the houses were all lighted!

$he blinds were not yet drawn in the windows of the room where she nearly always caughtglimpses of members of the Large Family!

Fre<uently at this hour she could see the gentleman she called Mr! Montmorency sitting in

a big chair, with a small swarm round him, taling, laughing, perching on the arms of hisseat or on his nees or leaning against them! $his eening the swarm was about him, but he

was not seated! "n the contrary, there was a good deal of e=citement going on! 1t was

eident that a >ourney was to be taen, and it was Mr! Montmorency who was to tae it! (

brougham stood before the door, and a big portmanteau had been strapped upon it!$he children were dancing about, chattering and hanging on to their father! $he pretty rosy

mother was standing near him, taling as if she was asing final <uestions! Sara paused a

moment to see the little ones lifted up and issed and the bigger ones bent oer and issedalso!

91 wonder if he will stay away long,9 she thought! 9$he portmanteau is rather big! "h, dear,

how they will miss himD 1 shall miss him myself;;een though he doesn't now 1 am alie!96hen the door opened she moed away;;remembering the si=pence;; but she saw the

traeler come out and stand against the bacground of the warmly;lighted hall, the older

children still hoering about him!

96ill Moscow be coered with snow?9 said the little girl Ganet!96ill there be ice eerywhere?9

9Shall you drie in a drosy?9 cried another! 9Shall you see the Car?9

91 will write and tell you all about it,9 he answered, laughing! 9(nd 1 will send you picturesof muhis and things! 5un into the house! 1t is a hideous damp night! 1 would rather stay

with you than go to Moscow! 4ood nightD 4ood night, duciesD 4od bless youD9

(nd he ran down the steps and >umped into the brougham!91f you find the little girl, gie her our loe,9 shouted 4uy Clarence, >umping up and down

on the door mat!

$hen they went in and shut the door!



9.id you see,9 said Ganet to #ora, as they went bac to the room;;9the little;girl;who;is;

not;a;beggar was passing? She looed all cold and wet, and 1 saw her turn her head oer

her shoulder and loo at us!Mamma says her clothes always loo as if they had been gien her by someone who was

<uite rich;;someone who only let her hae them because they were too shabby to wear!

$he people at the school always send her out on errands on the horridest days and nightsthere are!9

Sara crossed the s<uare to Miss Minchin's area steps, feeling faint and shay!

91 wonder who the little girl is,9 she thought;;9the little girl he is going to loo for!9(nd she went down the area steps, lugging her baset and finding it ery heay indeed, as

the father of the Large Family droe <uicly on his way to the station to tae the train

which was to carry him to Moscow, where he was to mae his best efforts to search for the

lost little daughter of Captain Crewe!

&*

6hat Melchisedec Heard and Saw

"n this ery afternoon, while Sara was out, a strange thing happened in the attic! "nly

Melchisedec saw and heard itA and he was so much alarmed and mystified that he scuttled bac to his hole and hid there, and really <uaed and trembled as he peeped out furtiely

and with great caution to watch what was going on!

$he attic had been ery still all the day after Sara had left it in the early morning! $he

stillness had only been broen by the pattering of the rain upon the slates and the sylight!Melchisedec had, in fact, found it rather dullA and when the rain ceased to patter and

perfect silence reigned, he decided to come out and reconnoiter, though e=perience taught

him that Sara would not return for some time! He had been rambling and sniffing about,and had >ust found a totally une=pected and une=plained crumb left from his last meal,

when his attention was attracted by a sound on the roof! He stopped to listen with a

palpitating heart!$he sound suggested that something was moing on the roof! 1t was approaching the

sylightA it reached the sylight! $he sylight was being mysteriously opened! ( dar face

peered into the atticA then another face appeared behind it, and both looed in with signs of



caution and interest! $wo men were outside on the roof, and were maing silent

preparations to enter through the sylight itself!

"ne was 5am .ass and the other was a young man who was the 1ndian gentleman'ssecretaryA but of course Melchisedec did not now this!

He only new that the men were inading the silence and priacy of the atticA and as the

one with the dar face let himself down through the aperture with such lightness andde=terity that he did not mae the slightest sound, Melchisedec turned tail and fled

precipitately bac to his hole! He was frightened to death!

He had ceased to be timid with Sara, and new she would neer throw anything butcrumbs, and would neer mae any sound other than the soft, low, coa=ing whistlingA but

strange men were dangerous things to remain near! He lay close and flat near the entrance

of his home, >ust managing to peep through the crac with a bright, alarmed eye!

How much he understood of the tal he heard 1 am not in the least able to sayA but, een ifhe had understood it all, he would probably hae remained greatly mystified!

$he secretary, who was light and young, slipped through the sylight as noiselessly as

5am .ass had doneA and he caught a last glimpse of Melchisedec's anishing tail!

96as that a rat?9 he ased 5am .ass in a whisper!9@esA a rat, Sahib,9 answered 5am .ass, also whispering!

9$here are many in the walls!99IghD9 e=claimed the young man! 91t is a wonder the child is not terrified of them!9

5am .ass made a gesture with his hands! He also smiled respectfully!

He was in this place as the intimate e=ponent of Sara, though she had only spoen to himonce!

9$he child is the little friend of all things, Sahib,9 he answered!

9She is not as other children! 1 see her when she does not see me! 1 slip across the slates

and loo at her many nights to see that she is safe! 1 watch her from my window when shedoes not now 1 am near! She stands on the table there and loos out at the sy as if it

spoe to her! $he sparrows come at her call! $he rat she has fed and tamed in her

loneliness! $he poor slae of the house comes to her for comfort! $here is a little child whocomes to her in secretA there is one older who worships her and would listen to her foreer

if she might! $his 1 hae seen when 1 hae crept across the roof! By the mistress of the

house;;who is an eil woman;;she is treated lie a pariahA but she has the bearing of a childwho is of the blood of ingsD9

9@ou seem to now a great deal about her,9 the secretary said!

9(ll her life each day 1 now,9 answered 5am .ass! 9Her going out 1 now, and her

coming inA her sadness and her poor >oysA her coldness and her hunger! 1 now when she isalone until midnight, learning from her boosA 1 now when her secret friends steal to her

and she is happier;;as children can be, een in the midst of poerty;; because they come

and she may laugh and tal with them in whispers! 1f she were ill 1 should now, and 1would come and sere her if it might be done!9

9@ou are sure no one comes near this place but herself, and that she will not return and

surprise us! She would be frightened if she found us here, and the Sahib Carrisford's planwould be spoiled!9

5am .ass crossed noiselessly to the door and stood close to it!



9#one mount here but herself, Sahib,9 he said! 9She has gone out with her baset and may

be gone for hours! 1f 1 stand here 1 can hear any step before it reaches the last flight of the

stairs!9$he secretary too a pencil and a tablet from his breast pocet!

9eep your ears open,9 he saidA and he began to wal slowly and softly round the

miserable little room, maing rapid notes on his tablet as he looed at things!First he went to the narrow bed! He pressed his hand upon the mattress and uttered an

e=clamation!

9(s hard as a stone,9 he said! 9$hat will hae to be altered some day when she is out! (special >ourney can be made to bring it across! 1t cannot be done tonight!9 He lifted the

coering and e=amined the one thin pillow!

9Coerlet dingy and worn, blanet thin, sheets patched and ragged,9 he said! 96hat a bed

for a child to sleep in;;and in a house which calls itself respectableD $here has not been afire in that grate for many a day,9 glancing at the rusty fireplace!

9#eer since 1 hae seen it,9 said 5am .ass! 9$he mistress of the house is not one who

remembers that another than herself may be cold!9

$he secretary was writing <uicly on his tablet! He looed up from it as he tore off a leafand slipped it into his breast pocet!

91t is a strange way of doing the thing,9 he said! 96ho planned it?95am .ass made a modestly apologetic obeisance!

91t is true that the first thought was mine, Sahib,9 he saidA 9though it was naught but a

fancy! 1 am fond of this childA we are both lonely! 1t is her way to relate her isions to hersecret friends! Being sad one night, 1 lay close to the open sylight and listened! $he ision

she related told what this miserable room might be if it had comforts in it! She seemed to

see it as she taled, and she grew cheered and warmed as she spoe! $hen she came to this

fancyA and the ne=t day, the Sahib being ill and wretched, 1 told him of the thing to amusehim! 1t seemed then but a dream, but it pleased the Sahib! $o hear of the child's doings

gae him entertainment! He became interested in her and ased <uestions! (t last he began

to please himself with the thought of maing her isions real things!99@ou thin that it can be done while she sleeps? Suppose she awaened,9 suggested the

secretaryA and it was eident that whatsoeer the plan referred to was, it had caught and

pleased his fancy as well as the Sahib Carrisford's!91 can moe as if my feet were of elet,9 5am .ass repliedA 9and children sleep soundly;;

een the unhappy ones! 1 could hae entered this room in the night many times, and

without causing her to turn upon her pillow! 1f the other bearer passes to me the things

through the window, 1 can do all and she will not stir! 6hen she awaens she will thin amagician has been here!9

He smiled as if his heart warmed under his white robe, and the secretary smiled bac at

him!91t will be lie a story from the (rabian #ights,9 he said! 9"nly an "riental could hae

planned it! 1t does not belong to London fogs!9

$hey did not remain ery long, to the great relief of Melchisedec, who, as he probably didnot comprehend their conersation, felt their moements and whispers ominous! $he

young secretary seemed interested in eerything! He wrote down things about the floor, the

fireplace, the broen footstool, the old table, the walls;; which last he touched with his



hand again and again, seeming much pleased when he found that a number of old nails had

been drien in arious places!

9@ou can hang things on them,9 he said!5am .ass smiled mysteriously!

9@esterday, when she was out,9 he said, 91 entered, bringing with me small, sharp nails

which can be pressed into the wall without blows from a hammer! 1 placed many in the plaster where 1 may need them! $hey are ready!9

$he 1ndian gentleman's secretary stood still and looed round him as he thrust his tablets

bac into his pocet!91 thin 1 hae made notes enoughA we can go now,9 he said! 9$he Sahib Carrisford has a

warm heart! 1t is a thousand pities that he has not found the lost child!9

91f he should find her his strength would be restored to him,9 said 5am .ass! 9His 4od

may lead her to him yet!9$hen they slipped through the sylight as noiselessly as they had entered it! (nd, after he

was <uite sure they had gone, Melchisedec was greatly relieed, and in the course of a few

minutes felt it safe to emerge from his hole again and scuffle about in the hope that een

such alarming human beings as these might hae chanced to carry crumbs in their pocetsand drop one or two of them!

&+

$he Magic

6hen Sara had passed the house ne=t door she had seen 5am .ass closing the shutters,

and caught her glimpse of this room also!

91t is a long time since 1 saw a nice place from the inside,9 was the thought which crossedher mind!

$here was the usual bright fire glowing in the grate, and the 1ndian gentleman was sitting

before it! His head was resting in his hand, and he looed as lonely and unhappy as eer!97oor manD9 said Sara! 91 wonder what you are supposing!9

(nd this was what he was 9supposing9 at that ery moment!

9Suppose,9 he was thining, 9suppose;;een if Carmichael traces the people to Moscow;;the little girl they too from Madame 7ascal's school in 7aris is #"$ the one we are in

search of! Suppose she proes to be <uite a different child! 6hat steps shall 1 tae ne=t?9

6hen Sara went into the house she met Miss Minchin, who had come downstairs to scold

the coo!



96here hae you wasted your time?9 she demanded! 9@ou hae been out for hours!9

91t was so wet and muddy,9 Sara answered, 9it was hard to wal, because my shoes were

so bad and slipped about!99Mae no e=cuses,9 said Miss Minchin, 9and tell no falsehoods!9

Sara went in to the coo! $he coo had receied a seere lecture and was in a fearful

temper as a result! She was only too re>oiced to hae someone to ent her rage on, and Sarawas a conenience, as usual!

96hy didn't you stay all night?9 she snapped!

Sara laid her purchases on the table!9Here are the things,9 she said!

$he coo looed them oer, grumbling! She was in a ery saage humor indeed!

9May 1 hae something to eat?9 Sara ased rather faintly!

9$ea's oer and done with,9 was the answer! 9.id you e=pect me to eep it hot for you?9Sara stood silent for a second!

91 had no dinner,9 she said ne=t, and her oice was <uite low!

She made it low because she was afraid it would tremble!

9$here's some bread in the pantry,9 said the coo! 9$hat's all you'll get at this time of day!9Sara went and found the bread! 1t was old and hard and dry!

$he coo was in too icious a humor to gie her anything to eat with it! 1t was always safeand easy to ent her spite on Sara!

5eally, it was hard for the child to climb the three long flights of stairs leading to her attic!

She often found them long and steep when she was tiredA but tonight it seemed as if shewould neer reach the top! Seeral times she was obliged to stop to rest! 6hen she reached

the top landing she was glad to see the glimmer of a light coming from under her door!

$hat meant that %rmengarde had managed to creep up to pay her a isit! $here was some

comfort in that!1t was better than to go into the room alone and find it empty and desolate! $he mere

presence of plump, comfortable %rmengarde, wrapped in her red shawl, would warm it a

little!@esA there %rmengarde was when she opened the door! She was sitting in the middle of the

bed, with her feet tuced safely under her!

She had neer become intimate with Melchisedec and his family, though they ratherfascinated her! 6hen she found herself alone in the attic she always preferred to sit on the

bed until Sara arried!

She had, in fact, on this occasion had time to become rather nerous, because Melchisedec

had appeared and sniffed about a good deal, and once had made her utter a represseds<ueal by sitting up on his hind legs and, while he looed at her, sniffing pointedly in her

direction!

9"h, Sara,9 she cried out, 91 am glad you hae come! Melchy 6"IL. sniff about so! 1tried to coa= him to go bac, but he wouldn't for such a long time! 1 lie him, you nowA

but it does frighten me when he sniffs right at me! .o you thin he eer 6"IL. >ump?9

9#o,9 answered Sara!%rmengarde crawled forward on the bed to loo at her!

9@ou ." loo tired, Sara,9 she saidA 9you are <uite pale!9

91 (M tired,9 said Sara, dropping on to the lopsided footstool!

9"h, there's Melchisedec, poor thing! He's come to as for his supper!9



Melchisedec had come out of his hole as if he had been listening for her footstep! Sara was

<uite sure he new it! He came forward with an affectionate, e=pectant e=pression as Sara

put her hand in her pocet and turned it inside out, shaing her head!91'm ery sorry,9 she said! 91 haen't one crumb left! 4o home, Melchisedec, and tell your

wife there was nothing in my pocet! 1'm afraid 1 forgot because the coo and Miss

Minchin were so cross!9Melchisedec seemed to understand! He shuffled resignedly, if not contentedly, bac to his

home!

91 did not e=pect to see you tonight, %rmie,9 Sara said!%rmengarde hugged herself in the red shawl!

9Miss (melia has gone out to spend the night with her old aunt,9 she e=plained! 9#o one

else eer comes and loos into the bedrooms after we are in bed! 1 could stay here until

morning if 1 wanted to!9She pointed toward the table under the sylight! Sara had not looed toward it as she came

in! ( number of boos were piled upon it!

%rmengarde's gesture was a de>ected one!

97apa has sent me some more boos, Sara,9 she said! 9$here they are!9Sara looed round and got up at once! She ran to the table, and picing up the top olume,

turned oer its leaes <uicly!For the moment she forgot her discomforts!

9(h,9 she cried out, 9how beautifulD Carlyle's French 5eolution! 1 hae S" wanted to read

thatD991 haen't,9 said %rmengarde! 9(nd papa will be so cross if 1 don't! He'll e=pect me to now

all about it when 1 go home for the holidays! 6hat SH(LL 1 do?9

Sara stopped turning oer the leaes and looed at her with an e=cited flush on her chees!

9Loo here,9 she cried, 9if you'll lend me these boos, 1'll read them;;and tell youeerything that's in them afterward;; and 1'll tell it so that you will remember it, too!9

9"h, goodnessD9 e=claimed %rmengarde! 9.o you thin you can?9

91 now 1 can,9 Sara answered! 9$he little ones always remember what 1 tell them!99Sara,9 said %rmengarde, hope gleaming in her round face, 9if you'll do that, and mae me

remember, 1'll;;1'll gie you anything!9

91 don't want you to gie me anything,9 said Sara! 91 want your boos;; 1 want themD9 (ndher eyes grew big, and her chest heaed!

9$ae them, then,9 said %rmengarde! 91 wish 1 wanted them;; but 1 don't! 1'm not cleer,

and my father is, and he thins 1 ought to be!9

Sara was opening one boo after the other! 96hat are you going to tell your father?9 sheased, a slight doubt dawning in her mind!

9"h, he needn't now,9 answered %rmengarde! 9He'll thin 1'e read them!9

Sara put down her boo and shoo her head slowly! 9$hat's almost lie telling lies,9 shesaid! 9(nd lies;;well, you see, they are not only wiced;;they're 8IL4(5! Sometimes9;;

reflectiely;;91'e thought perhaps 1 might do something wiced;;1 might suddenly fly into

a rage and ill Miss Minchin, you now, when she was ill;treating me;;but 1 C"IL.#'$ be ulgar! 6hy can't you tell your father T1T read them?9

9He wants me to read them,9 said %rmengarde, a little discouraged by this une=pected turn

of affairs!



9He wants you to now what is in them,9 said Sara! 9(nd if 1 can tell it to you in an easy

way and mae you remember it, 1 should thin he would lie that!9

9He'll lie it if 1 learn anything in (#@ way,9 said rueful %rmengarde!9@ou would if you were my father!9

91t's not your fault that;;9 began Sara! She pulled herself up and stopped rather suddenly!

She had been going to say, 91t's not your fault that you are stupid!99$hat what?9 %rmengarde ased!

9$hat you can't learn things <uicly,9 amended Sara! 91f you can't, you can't! 1f 1 can;;why,

1 canA that's all!9She always felt ery tender of %rmengarde, and tried not to let her feel too strongly the

difference between being able to learn anything at once, and not being able to learn

anything at all!

(s she looed at her plump face, one of her wise, old;fashioned thoughts came to her!97erhaps,9 she said, 9to be able to learn things <uicly isn't eerything! $o be ind is worth

a great deal to other people! 1f Miss Minchin new eerything on earth and was lie what

she is now, she'd still be a detestable thing, and eerybody would hate her! Lots of cleer

people hae done harm and hae been wiced! Loo at 5obespierre;;9She stopped and e=amined %rmengarde's countenance, which was beginning to loo

bewildered! 9.on't you remember?9 she demanded!91 told you about him not long ago! 1 beliee you'e forgotten!9

96ell, 1 don't remember (LL of it,9 admitted %rmengarde!

96ell, you wait a minute,9 said Sara, 9and 1'll tae off my wet things and wrap myself inthe coerlet and tell you oer again!9

She too off her hat and coat and hung them on a nail against the wall, and she changed her

wet shoes for an old pair of slippers! $hen she >umped on the bed, and drawing the coerlet

about her shoulders, sat with her arms round her nees! 9#ow, listen,9 she said!She plunged into the gory records of the French 5eolution, and told such stories of it that

%rmengarde's eyes grew round with alarm and she held her breath! But though she was

rather terrified, there was a delightful thrill in listening, and she was not liely to forget5obespierre again, or to hae any doubts about the 7rincesse de Lamballe!

9@ou now they put her head on a pie and danced round it,9 Sara e=plained! 9(nd she had

beautiful floating blonde hairA and when 1 thin of her, 1 neer see her head on her body, but always on a pie, with those furious people dancing and howling!9

1t was agreed that Mr! St! Gohn was to be told the plan they had made, and for the present

the boos were to be left in the attic!

9#ow let's tell each other things,9 said Sara! 9How are you getting on with your Frenchlessons?9

9%er so much better since the last time 1 came up here and you e=plained the

con>ugations! Miss Minchin could not understand why 1 did my e=ercises so well that firstmorning!9

Sara laughed a little and hugged her nees!

9She doesn't understand why Lottie is doing her sums so well,9 she saidA 9but it is becauseshe creeps up here, too, and 1 help her!9

She glanced round the room! 9$he attic would be rather nice;;if it wasn't so dreadful,9 she

said, laughing again! 91t's a good place to pretend in!9



$he truth was that %rmengarde did not now anything of the sometimes almost unbearable

side of life in the attic and she had not a sufficiently iid imagination to depict it for

herself!"n the rare occasions that she could reach Sara's room she only saw the side of it which

was made e=citing by things which were 9pretended9 and stories which were told! Her

isits partoo of the character of adenturesA and though sometimes Sara looed rather pale, and it was not to be denied that she had grown ery thin, her proud little spirit would

not admit of complaints!

She had neer confessed that at times she was almost raenous with hunger, as she wastonight! She was growing rapidly, and her constant waling and running about would hae

gien her a een appetite een if she had had abundant and regular meals of a much more

nourishing nature than the unappetiing, inferior food snatched at such odd times as suited

the itchen conenience!She was growing used to a certain gnawing feeling in her young stomach!

91 suppose soldiers feel lie this when they are on a long and weary march,9 she often said

to herself! She lied the sound of the phrase, 9long and weary march!9 1t made her feel

rather lie a soldier!She had also a <uaint sense of being a hostess in the attic!

91f 1 lied in a castle,9 she argued, 9and %rmengarde was the lady of another castle, andcame to see me, with nights and s<uires and assals riding with her, and pennons flying,

when 1 heard the clarions sounding outside the drawbridge 1 should go down to receie

her,and 1 should spread feasts in the ban<uet hall and call in minstrels to sing and play and

relate romances! 6hen she comes into the attic 1 can't spread feasts, but 1 can tell stories,

and not let her now disagreeable things! 1 dare say poor chatelaines had to do that in time

of famine, when their lands had been pillaged!9She was a proud, brae little chatelaine, and dispensed generously the one hospitality she

could offer;;the dreams she dreamed;; the isions she saw;;the imaginings which were her

>oy and comfort!So, as they sat together, %rmengarde did not now that she was faint as well as raenous,

and that while she taled she now and then wondered if her hunger would let her sleep

when she was left alone!She felt as if she had neer been <uite so hungry before!

91 wish 1 was as thin as you, Sara,9 %rmengarde said suddenly!

91 beliee you are thinner than you used to be! @our eyes loo so big, and loo at the sharp

little bones sticing out of your elbowD9Sara pulled down her sleee, which had pushed itself up!

91 always was a thin child,9 she said braely, 9and 1 always had big green eyes!9

91 loe your <ueer eyes,9 said %rmengarde, looing into them with affectionate admiration!9$hey always loo as if they saw such a long way! 1 loe them;;and 1 loe them to be

green;; though they loo blac generally!9

9$hey are cat's eyes,9 laughed SaraA 9but 1 can't see in the dar with them;;because 1 haetried, and 1 couldn't;;1 wish 1 could!9

1t was >ust at this minute that something happened at the sylight which neither of them

saw! 1f either of them had chanced to turn and loo, she would hae been startled by the

sight of a dar face which peered cautiously into the room and disappeared as <uicly and



almost as silently as it had appeared! #ot OI1$% as silently, howeer! Sara, who had een

ears, suddenly turned a little and looed up at the roof!

9$hat didn't sound lie Melchisedec,9 she said! 91t wasn't scratchy enough!996hat?9 said %rmengarde, a little startled!

9.idn't you thin you heard something?9 ased Sara!

9#;no,9 %rmengarde faltered! 9.id you?997erhaps 1 didn't,9 said SaraA 9but 1 thought 1 did! 1t sounded as if something was on the

slates;;something that dragged softly!9

96hat could it be?9 said %rmengarde! 9Could it be;;robbers?99#o,9 Sara began cheerfully! 9$here is nothing to steal;;9

She broe off in the middle of her words! $hey both heard the sound that checed her! 1t

was not on the slates, but on the stairs below, and it was Miss Minchin's angry oice! Sara

sprang off the bed, and put out the candle!9She is scolding Becy,9 she whispered, as she stood in the darness!

9She is maing her cry!9

96ill she come in here?9 %rmengarde whispered bac, panic;stricen!

9#o! She will thin 1 am in bed! .on't stir!91t was ery seldom that Miss Minchin mounted the last flight of stairs!

Sara could only remember that she had done it once before!But now she was angry enough to be coming at least part of the way up, and it sounded as

if she was driing Becy before her!

9@ou impudent, dishonest childD9 they heard her say! 9Coo tells me she has missed thingsrepeatedly!9

9'$ warn't me, mum,9 said Becy sobbing! 91 was 'ungry enough, but 't warn't me;;neerD9

9@ou desere to be sent to prison,9 said Miss Minchin's oice!

97icing and stealingD Half a meat pie, indeedD99'$ warn't me,9 wept Becy! 91 could 'ae eat a whole un;;but 1 neer laid a finger on it!9

Miss Minchin was out of breath between temper and mounting the stairs!

$he meat pie had been intended for her special late supper!1t became apparent that she bo=ed Becy's ears!

9.on't tell falsehoods,9 she said! 94o to your room this instant!9

Both Sara and %rmengarde heard the slap, and then heard Becy run in her slipshod shoesup the stairs and into her attic!

$hey heard her door shut, and new that she threw herself upon her bed!

91 could 'ae e't two of 'em,9 they heard her cry into her pillow! 9(n' 1 neer too a bite!

'$was coo gie it to her policeman!9Sara stood in the middle of the room in the darness! She was clenching her little teeth and

opening and shutting fiercely her outstretched hands! She could scarcely stand still, but she

dared not moe until Miss Minchin had gone down the stairs and all was still!9$he wiced, cruel thingD9 she burst forth! 9$he coo taes things herself and then says

Becy steals them! She ."%S#'$D She ."%S#'$D She's so hungry sometimes that she

eats crusts out of the ash barrelD9She pressed her hands hard against her face and burst into passionate little sobs, and

%rmengarde, hearing this unusual thing, was oerawed by it! Sara was cryingD $he

uncon<uerable SaraD

1t seemed to denote something new;;some mood she had neer nown!



Suppose;;suppose;;a new dread possibility presented itself to her ind, slow, little mind all

at once! She crept off the bed in the dar and found her way to the table where the candle

stood!She struc a match and lit the candle! 6hen she had lighted it, she bent forward and looed

at Sara, with her new thought growing to definite fear in her eyes!

9Sara,9 she said in a timid, almost awe;stricen oice, are;;are;; you neer told me;;1 don'twant to be rude, but;;are @"I eer hungry?9

1t was too much >ust at that moment! $he barrier broe down! Sara lifted her face from her

hands!9@es,9 she said in a new passionate way! 9@es, 1 am! 1'm so hungry now that 1 could almost

eat you! (nd it maes it worse to hear poor Becy! She's hungrier than 1 am!9

%rmengarde gasped!

9"h, ohD9 she cried woefully! 9(nd 1 neer newD991 didn't want you to now,9 Sara said! 91t would hae made me feel lie a street beggar! 1

now 1 loo lie a street beggar!9

9#o, you don't;;you don'tD9 %rmengarde broe in! 9@our clothes are a little <ueer;;but you

couldn't loo lie a street beggar! @ou haen't a street;beggar face!99( little boy once gae me a si=pence for charity,9 said Sara, with a short little laugh in

spite of herself! 9Here it is!9(nd she pulled out the thin ribbon from her nec! 9He wouldn't hae gien me his

Christmas si=pence if 1 hadn't looed as if 1 needed it!9

Somehow the sight of the dear little si=pence was good for both of them! 1t made themlaugh a little, though they both had tears in their eyes!

96ho was he?9 ased %rmengarde, looing at it <uite as if it had not been a mere ordinary

siler si=pence!

9He was a darling little thing going to a party,9 said Sara!9He was one of the Large Family, the little one with the round legs;; the one 1 call 4uy

Clarence! 1 suppose his nursery was crammed with Christmas presents and hampers full of

caes and things, and he could see 1 had nothing!9%rmengarde gae a little >ump bacward! $he last sentences had recalled something to her

troubled mind and gien her a sudden inspiration!

9"h, SaraD9 she cried! 96hat a silly thing 1 am not to hae thought of itD99"f what?9

9Something splendidD9 said %rmengarde, in an e=cited hurry!

9$his ery afternoon my nicest aunt sent me a bo=! 1t is full of good things! 1 neer touched

it, 1 had so much pudding at dinner, and 1 was so bothered about papa's boos!9 Her words began to tumble oer each other! 91t's got cae in it, and little meat pies, and >am tarts and

buns, and oranges and red;currant wine, and figs and chocolate! 1'll creep bac to my room

and get it this minute, and we'll eat it now!9Sara almost reeled! 6hen one is faint with hunger the mention of food has sometimes a

curious effect! She clutched %rmengarde's arm!

9.o you thin;;you C"IL.? she e>aculated!91 now 1 could,9 answered %rmengarde, and she ran to the door;; opened it softly;;put her

head out into the darness, and listened!

$hen she went bac to Sara! 9$he lights are out! %erybody's in bed!

1 can creep;;and creep;;and no one will hear!9



1t was so delightful that they caught each other's hands and a sudden light sprang into

Sara's eyes!

9%rmieD9 she said! 9Let us 75%$%#.D Let us pretend it's a partyD (nd oh, won't you initethe prisoner in the ne=t cell?9

9@esD @esD Let us noc on the wall now! $he >ailer won't hear!9

Sara went to the wall! $hrough it she could hear poor Becy crying more softly! Shenoced four times!

9$hat means, Come to me through the secret passage under the wall,' she e=plained! 1

hae something to communicate!'9Fie <uic nocs answered her!

9She is coming,9 she said!

(lmost immediately the door of the attic opened and Becy appeared! Her eyes were red

and her cap was sliding off, and when shecaught sight of %rmengarde she began to rub her face nerously with her apron!

9.on't mind me a bit, BecyD9 cried %rmengarde!

9Miss %rmengarde has ased you to come in,9 said Sara, 9because she is going to bring a

bo= of good things up here to us!9Becy's cap almost fell off entirely, she broe in with such e=citement!

9$o eat, miss?9 she said! 9$hings that's good to eat?99@es,9 answered Sara, 9and we are going to pretend a party!9

9(nd you shall hae as much as you 6(#$ to eat,9 put in %rmengarde!

91'll go this minuteD9She was in such haste that as she tiptoed out of the attic she dropped her red shawl and did

not now it had fallen! #o one saw it for a minute or so! Becy was too much oerpowered

by the good luc which had befallen her!

9"h, missD oh, missD9 she gaspedA 91 now it was you that ased her to let me come! 1t;;itmaes me cry to thin of it!9 (nd she went to Sara's side and stood and looed at her

worshipingly!

But in Sara's hungry eyes the old light had begun to glow and transform her world for her!Here in the attic;;with the cold night outside;; with the afternoon in the sloppy streets

barely passed;;with the memory of the awful unfed loo in the beggar child's eyes not yet

faded;; this simple, cheerful thing had happened lie a thing of magic!She caught her breath!

9Somehow, something always happens,9 she cried, 9>ust before things get to the ery

worst! 1t is as if the Magic did it! 1f 1 could only >ust remember that always! $he worst

thing neer OI1$% comes!9She gae Becy a little cheerful shae!

9#o, noD @ou mustn't cryD9 she said! 96e must mae haste and set the table!9

9Set the table, miss?9 said Becy, gaing round the room!96hat'll we set it with?9

Sara looed round the attic, too!

9$here doesn't seem to be much,9 she answered, half laughing!$hat moment she saw something and pounced upon it! 1t was %rmengarde's red shawl

which lay upon the floor!

9Here's the shawl,9 she cried! 91 now she won't mind it!

1t will mae such a nice red tablecloth!9



$hey pulled the old table forward, and threw the shawl oer it!

5ed is a wonderfully ind and comfortable color! 1t began to mae the room loo furnished

directly!9How nice a red rug would loo on the floorD9 e=claimed Sara! 96e must pretend there is

oneD9

Her eye swept the bare boards with a swift glance of admiration!$he rug was laid down already!

9How soft and thic it isD9 she said, with the little laugh which Becy new the meaning

ofA and she raised and set her foot down again delicately, as if she felt something under it!9@es, miss,9 answered Becy, watching her with serious rapture! She was always <uite

serious!

96hat ne=t, now?9 said Sara, and she stood still and put her hands oer her eyes!

9Something will come if 1 thin and wait a little9;; in a soft, e=pectant oice! 9$he Magicwill tell me!9

"ne of her faorite fancies was that on 9the outside,9 as she called it, thoughts were

waiting for people to call them!

Becy had seen her stand and wait many a time before, and new that in a few seconds shewould uncoer an enlightened, laughing face!

1n a moment she did!9$hereD9 she cried! 91t has comeD 1 now nowD 1 must loo among the things in the old

trun 1 had when 1 was a princess!9

She flew to its corner and neeled down! 1t had not been put in the attic for her benefit, but because there was no room for it elsewhere! #othing had been left in it but rubbish!

But she new she should find something! $he Magic always arranged that ind of thing in

one way or another!

1n a corner lay a pacage so insignificant;looing that it had been oerlooed, and whenshe herself had found it she had ept it as a relic! 1t contained a doen small white

handerchiefs!

She seied them >oyfully and ran to the table! She began to arrange them upon the redtable;coer, patting and coa=ing them into shape with the narrow lace edge curling

outward, her Magic woring its spells for her as she did it!

9$hese are the plates,9 she said! 9$hey are golden plates!$hese are the richly embroidered napins! #uns wored them in conents in Spain!9

9.id they, miss?9 breathed Becy, her ery soul uplifted by the information!

9@ou must pretend it,9 said Sara! 91f you pretend it enough, you will see them!9

9@es, miss,9 said BecyA and as Sara returned to the trun she deoted herself to the effortof accomplishing an end so much to be desired!

Sara turned suddenly to find her standing by the table, looing ery <ueer indeed! She had

shut her eyes, and was twisting her face in strange conulsie contortions, her handshanging stiffly clenched at her sides! She looed as if she was trying to lift some enormous

weight!

96hat is the matter, Becy?9 Sara cried! 96hat are you doing?9Becy opened her eyes with a start!

1 was a;'pretendin',' miss,9 she answered a little sheepishlyA 91 was tryin' to see it lie you

do! 1 almost did,9 with a hopeful grin!

9But it taes a lot o' stren'th!9



97erhaps it does if you are not used to it,9 said Sara, with friendly sympathyA 9but you don't

now how easy it is when you'e done it often! 1 wouldn't try so hard >ust at first! 1t will

come to you after a while! 1'll >ust tell you what things are! Loo at these!9She held an old summer hat in her hand which she had fished out of the bottom of the

trun! $here was a wreath of flowers on it!

She pulled the wreath off!9$hese are garlands for the feast,9 she said grandly! 9$hey fill all the air with perfume!

$here's a mug on the wash;stand, Becy!

"h;;and bring the soap dish for a centerpiece!9Becy handed them to her reerently!

96hat are they now, miss?9 she in<uired! 9@ou'd thin they was made of crocery;;but 1

now they ain't!9

9$his is a caren flagon,9 said Sara, arranging tendrils of the wreath about the mug! 9(ndthis9;;bending tenderly oer the soap dish and heaping it with roses;;9is purest alabaster

encrusted with gems!9

She touched the things gently, a happy smile hoering about her lips which made her loo

as if she were a creature in a dream!9My, ain't it loelyD9 whispered Becy!

91f we >ust had something for bonbon dishes,9 Sara murmured!9$hereD9;;darting to the trun again! 91 remember 1 saw something this minute!9

1t was only a bundle of wool wrapped in red and white tissue paper, but the tissue paper

was soon twisted into the form of little dishes, and was combined with the remainingflowers to ornament the candlestic which was to light the feast! "nly the Magic could

hae made it more than an old table coered with a red shawl and set with rubbish from a

long;unopened trun! But Sara drew bac and gaed at it, seeing wondersA and Becy, after

staring in delight, spoe with bated breath!9$his 'ere,9 she suggested, with a glance round the attic;;9is it the Bastille now;;or has it

turned into somethin' different?9

9"h, yes, yesD9 said Sara! 9Ouite different! 1t is a ban<uet hallD99My eye, missD9 e>aculated Becy! 9( blanet 'allD9 and she turned to iew the splendors

about her with awed bewilderment!

9( ban<uet hall,9 said Sara! 9( ast chamber where feasts are gien! 1t has a aulted roof,and a minstrels' gallery, and a huge chimney filled with blaing oaen logs, and it is

brilliant with wa=en tapers twinling on eery side!9

9My eye, Miss SaraD9 gasped Becy again!

$hen the door opened, and %rmengarde came in, rather staggering under the weight of herhamper! She started bac with an e=clamation of >oy! $o enter from the chill darness

outside, and find one's self confronted by a totally unanticipated festal board, draped with

red, adorned with white napery, and wreathed with flowers, was to feel that the preparations were brilliant indeed!

9"h, SaraD9 she cried out! 9@ou are the cleerest girl 1 eer sawD9

91sn't it nice?9 said Sara! 9$hey are things out of my old trun! 1 ased my Magic, and ittold me to go and loo!9

9But oh, miss,9 cried Becy, 9wait till she's told you what they areD $hey ain't >ust;;oh,

miss, please tell her,9 appealing to Sara! So Sara told her, and because her Magic helped

her she made her (LM"S$ see it all: the golden platters;;the aulted spaces;; the blaing



logs;;the twinling wa=en tapers! (s the things were taen out of the hamper;;the frosted

caes;;the fruits;; the bonbons and the wine;;the feast became a splendid thing!

91t's lie a real partyD9 cried %rmengarde!91t's lie a <ueen's table,9 sighed Becy!

$hen %rmengarde had a sudden brilliant thought!

91'll tell you what, Sara,9 she said! 97retend you are a princess now and this is a royalfeast!9

9But it's your feast,9 said SaraA 9you must be the princess, and we will be your maids of

honor!99"h, 1 can't,9 said %rmengarde! 91'm too fat, and 1 don't now how! @"I be her!9

96ell, if you want me to,9 said Sara!

But suddenly she thought of something else and ran to the rusty grate!

9$here is a lot of paper and rubbish stuffed in hereD9 she e=claimed!91f we light it, there will be a bright blae for a few minutes, and we shall feel as if it was a

real fire!9 She struc a match and lighted it up with a great specious glow which

illuminated the room!

9By the time it stops blaing,9 Sara said, 9we shall forget about its not being real!9She stood in the dancing glow and smiled!

9.oesn't it L"" real?9 she said! 9#ow we will begin the party!9She led the way to the table! She waed her hand graciously to %rmengarde and Becy!

She was in the midst of her dream!

9(dance, fair damsels,9 she said in her happy dream;oice, 9and be seated at the ban<uettable! My noble father, the ing, who is absent on a long >ourney, has commanded me to

feast you!9

She turned her head slightly toward the corner of the room!

96hat, ho, there, minstrelsD Strie up with your iols and bassoons! 7rincesses,9 shee=plained rapidly to %rmengarde and Becy, 9always had minstrels to play at their feasts!

7retend there is a minstrel gallery up there in the corner! #ow we will begin!9

$hey had barely had time to tae their pieces of cae into their hands;; not one of them hadtime to do more, when;;they all three sprang to their feet and turned pale faces toward the

door;;listening;;listening!

Someone was coming up the stairs! $here was no mistae about it!%ach of them recognied the angry, mounting tread and new that the end of all things had

come!

91t's;;the missusD9 choed Becy, and dropped her piece of cae upon the floor!

9@es,9 said Sara, her eyes growing shoced and large in her small white face! 9MissMinchin has found us out!9

Miss Minchin struc the door open with a blow of her hand!

She was pale herself, but it was with rage! She looed from the frightened faces to the ban<uet table, and from the ban<uet table to the last flicer of the burnt paper in the grate!

91 hae been suspecting something of this sort,9 she e=claimedA 9but 1 did not dream of

such audacity! Lainia was telling the truth!9So they new that it was Lainia who had somehow guessed their secret and had betrayed

them! Miss Minchin strode oer to Becy and bo=ed her ears for a second time!

9@ou impudent creatureD9 she said! 9@ou leae the house in the morningD9

Sara stood <uite still, her eyes growing larger, her face paler!





9$here isn't any ban<uet left, %mily,9 she said! 9(nd there isn't any princess! $here is

nothing left but the prisoners in the Bastille!9

(nd she sat down and hid her face!6hat would hae happened if she had not hidden it >ust then, and if she had chanced to

loo up at the sylight at the wrong moment, 1 do not now;;perhaps the end of this

chapter might hae been <uite different;;because if she had glanced at the sylight shewould certainly hae been startled by what she would hae seen!

She would hae seen e=actly the same face pressed against the glass and peering in at her

as it had peered in earlier in the eening when she had been taling to %rmengarde!But she did not loo up! She sat with her little blac head in her arms for some time! She

always sat lie that when she was trying to bear something in silence! $hen she got up and

went slowly to the bed!

91 can't pretend anything else;;while 1 am awae,9 she said!9$here wouldn't be any use in trying! 1f 1 go to sleep, perhaps a dream will come and

pretend for me!9

She suddenly felt so tired;;perhaps through want of food;;that she sat down on the edge of

the bed <uite wealy!9Suppose there was a bright fire in the grate, with lots of little dancing flames,9 she

murmured! 9Suppose there was a comfortable chair before it;;and suppose there was asmall table near, with a little hot;;hot supper on it! (nd suppose9;;as she drew the thin

coerings oer her;;9suppose this was a beautiful soft bed, with fleecy blanets and large

downy pillows! Suppose;;suppose;;9 (nd her ery weariness was good to her, for her eyesclosed and she fell fast asleep!

She did not now how long she slept! But she had been tired enough to sleep deeply and

profoundly;;too deeply and soundly to be disturbed by anything, een by the s<ueas and

scamperings of Melchisedec's entire family, if all his sons and daughters had chosen tocome out of their hole to fight and tumble and play!

6hen she awaened it was rather suddenly, and she did not now that any particular thing

had called her out of her sleep!$he truth was, howeer, that it was a sound which had called her bac;; a real sound;;the

clic of the sylight as it fell in closing after a lithe white figure which slipped through it

and crouched down close by upon the slates of the roof;;>ust near enough to see whathappened in the attic, but not near enough to be seen!

(t first she did not open her eyes! She felt too sleepy and;; curiously enough;;too warm

and comfortable! She was so warm and comfortable, indeed, that she did not beliee she

was really awae!She neer was as warm and coy as this e=cept in some loely ision!

96hat a nice dreamD9 she murmured! 91 feel <uite warm! 1;;don't;;want;;to;;wae;;up!9

"f course it was a dream! She felt as if warm, delightful bedclothes were heaped upon her!She could actually F%%L blanets, and when she put out her hand it touched something

e=actly lie a satin;coered eider;down <uilt! She must not awaen from this delight;; she

must be <uite still and mae it last!But she could not;;een though she ept her eyes closed tightly, she could not! Something

was forcing her to awaen;; something in the room! 1t was a sense of light, and a sound;;

the sound of a cracling, roaring little fire!

9"h, 1 am awaening,9 she said mournfully! 91 can't help it;; 1 can't!9



Her eyes opened in spite of herself! (nd then she actually smiled;; for what she saw she

had neer seen in the attic before, and new she neer should see!

9"h, 1 H(8%#'$ awaened,9 she whispered, daring to rise on her elbow and loo all abouther! 91 am dreaming yet!9 She new it MIS$ be a dream, for if she were awae such

things could not;; could not be!

.o you wonder that she felt sure she had not come bac to earth? $his is what she saw! 1nthe grate there was a glowing, blaing fireA on the hob was a little brass ettle hissing and

boilingA spread upon the floor was a thic, warm crimson rugA before the fire a folding;

chair, unfolded, and with cushions on itA by the chair a small folding;table, unfolded,coered with a white cloth, and upon it spread small coered dishes, a cup, a saucer, a

teapotA on the bed were new warm coerings and a satin;coered down <uiltA at the foot a

curious wadded sil robe, a pair of <uilted slippers, and some boos! $he room of her

dream seemed changed into fairyland;; and it was flooded with warm light, for a brightlamp stood on the table coered with a rosy shade!

She sat up, resting on her elbow, and her breathing came short and fast!

91t does not;;melt away,9 she panted! 9"h, 1 neer had such a dream before!9 She scarcely

dared to stirA but at last she pushed the bedclothes aside, and put her feet on the floor with arapturous smile!

91 am dreaming;;1 am getting out of bed,9 she heard her own oice sayA and then, as shestood up in the midst of it all, turning slowly from side to side;;91 am dreaming it stays;;

realD 1'm dreaming it F%%LS real! 1t's bewitched;;or 1'm bewitched! 1 only $H1# 1 see it

all!9 Her words began to hurry themseles! 91f 1 can only eep on thining it,9 she cried, 91don't careD 1 don't careD9

She stood panting a moment longer, and then cried out again!

9"h, it isn't trueD9 she said! 91t C(#'$ be trueD But oh, how true it seemsD9

$he blaing fire drew her to it, and she nelt down and held out her hands close to it;;soclose that the heat made her start bac!

9( fire 1 only dreamed wouldn't be H"$, she cried!

She sprang up, touched the table, the dishes, the rugA she went to the bed and touched the blanets! She too up the soft wadded dressing;gown, and suddenly clutched it to her

breast and held it to her chee!

91t's warm! 1t's softD9 she almost sobbed! 91t's real! 1t must beD9She threw it oer her shoulders, and put her feet into the slippers!

9$hey are real, too! 1t's all realD9 she cried! 91 am #"$; 1 am #"$ dreamingD9

She almost staggered to the boos and opened the one which lay upon the top! Something

was written on the flyleaf;;>ust a few words, and they were these:9$o the little girl in the attic! From a friend!9

6hen she saw that;;wasn't it a strange thing for her to do;; she put her face down upon the

page and burst into tears!91 don't now who it is,9 she saidA 9but somebody cares for me a little! 1 hae a friend!9

She too her candle and stole out of her own room and into Becy's, and stood by her

bedside!9Becy, BecyD9 she whispered as loudly as she dared! 96ae upD9

6hen Becy waened, and she sat upright staring aghast, her face still smudged with

traces of tears, beside her stood a little figure in a lu=urious wadded robe of crimson sil!



$he face she saw was a shining, wonderful thing! $he 7rincess Sara;;as she remembered

her;; stood at her ery bedside, holding a candle in her hand!

9Come,9 she said! 9"h, Becy, comeD9Becy was too frightened to spea! She simply got up and followed her, with her mouth

and eyes open, and without a word!

(nd when they crossed the threshold, Sara shut the door gently and drew her into thewarm, glowing midst of things which made her brain reel and her hungry senses faint! 91t's

trueD 1t's trueD9 she cried! 91'e touched them all! $hey are as real as we are! $he Magic has

come and done it, Becy, while we were asleep;;the Magic that won't let those worstthings %8%5 <uite happen!9

&-

$he 8isitor

1magine, if you can, what the rest of the eening was lie! How they crouched by the fire

which blaed and leaped and made so much of itself in the little grate! How they remoedthe coers of the dishes, and found rich, hot, saory soup, which was a meal in itself, and

sandwiches and toast and muffins enough for both of them!

$he mug from the washstand was used as Becy's tea cup, and the tea was so delicious thatit was not necessary to pretend that it was anything but tea! $hey were warm and full;fed

and happy, and it was >ust lie Sara that, haing found her strange good fortune real, she

should gie herself up to the en>oyment of it to the utmost!



She had lied such a life of imaginings that she was <uite e<ual to accepting any wonderful

thing that happened, and almost to cease, in a short time, to find it bewildering!

91 don't now anyone in the world who could hae done it,9 she saidA 9but there has beensomeone! (nd here we are sitting by their fire;; and;;and;;it's trueD (nd whoeer it is;;

whereer they are;; 1 hae a friend, Becy;;someone is my friend!9

1t cannot be denied that as they sat before the blaing fire, and ate the nourishing,comfortable food, they felt a ind of rapturous awe, and looed into each other's eyes with

something lie doubt!

9.o you thin,9 Becy faltered once, in a whisper, 9do you thin it could melt away, miss?Hadn't we better be <uic?9 (nd she hastily crammed her sandwich into her mouth! 1f it

was only a dream, itchen manners would be oerlooed!

9#o, it won't melt away,9 said Sara! 91 am %($1#4 this muffin, and 1 can taste it! @ou

neer really eat things in dreams! @ou only thin you are going to eat them! Besides, 1 eepgiing myself pinchesA and 1 touched a hot piece of coal >ust now, on purpose!9

$he sleepy comfort which at length almost oerpowered them was a heaenly thing! 1t was

the drowsiness of happy, well;fed childhood, and they sat in the fire glow and lu=uriated in

it until Sara found herself turning to loo at her transformed bed!$here were een blanets enough to share with Becy! $he narrow couch in the ne=t attic

was more comfortable that night than its occupant had eer dreamed that it could be!(s she went out of the room, Becy turned upon the threshold and looed about her with

deouring eyes!

91f it ain't here in the mornin', miss,9 she said, 9it's been here tonight, anyways, an' 1 shan'tneer forget it!9 She looed at each particular thing, as if to commit it to memory! 9$he fire

was $H%5%, pointing with her finger, 9an' the table was before itA an' the lamp was there,

an' the light looed rosy redA an' there was a satin coer on your bed, an' a warm rug on the

floor, an' eerythin' looed beautifulA an'9;;she paused a second, and laid her hand on herstomach tenderly;;9there 6(S soup an' sandwiches an' muffins;; there 6(S!9

(nd, with this coniction a reality at least, she went away!

$hrough the mysterious agency which wors in schools and among serants, it was <uitewell nown in the morning that Sara Crewe was in horrible disgrace, that %rmengarde was

under punishment, and that Becy would hae been paced out of the house before

breafast, but that a scullery maid could not be dispensed with at once!$he serants new that she was allowed to stay because Miss Minchin could not easily

find another creature helpless and humble enough to wor lie a bounden slae for so few

shillings a wee!

$he elder girls in the schoolroom new that if Miss Minchin did not send Sara away it wasfor practical reasons of her own! 9She's growing so fast and learning such a lot, somehow,9

said Gessie to Lainia, 9that she will be gien classes soon, and Miss Minchin nows she

will hae to wor for nothing! 1t was rather nasty of you, Lay, to tell about her haingfun in the garret! How did you find it out?9

91 got it out of Lottie! She's such a baby she didn't now she was telling me! $here was

nothing nasty at all in speaing to Miss Minchin! 1 felt it my duty9;;priggishly! 9She was being deceitful! (nd it's ridiculous that she should loo so grand, and be made so much of,

in her rags and tattersD9

96hat were they doing when Miss Minchin caught them?9



97retending some silly thing! %rmengarde had taen up her hamper to share with Sara and

Becy! She neer inites us to share things!

#ot that 1 care, but it's rather ulgar of her to share with serant girls in attics! 1 wonderMiss Minchin didn't turn Sara out;; een if she does want her for a teacher!9

91f she was turned out where would she go?9 in<uired Gessie, a trifle an=iously!

9How do 1 now?9 snapped Lainia! 9She'll loo rather <ueer when she comes into theschoolroom this morning, 1 should thin;; after what's happened! She had no dinner

yesterday, and she's not to hae any today!9

Gessie was not as ill;natured as she was silly! She piced up her boo with a little >er!96ell, 1 thin it's horrid,9 she said! 9$hey'e no right to stare her to death!9

6hen Sara went into the itchen that morning the coo looed asance at her, and so did

the housemaidsA but she passed them hurriedly!

She had, in fact, oerslept herself a little, and as Becy had done the same, neither had hadtime to see the other, and each had come downstairs in haste!

Sara went into the scullery! Becy was iolently scrubbing a ettle, and was actually

gurgling a little song in her throat! She looed up with a wildly elated face!

91t was there when 1 waened, miss;;the blanet,9 she whispered e=citedly!91t was as real as it was last night!9

9So was mine,9 said Sara! 91t is all there now;;all of it! 6hile 1 was dressing 1 ate some ofthe cold things we left!9

9"h, lawsD "h, lawsD9 Becy uttered the e=clamation in a sort of rapturous groan, and

duced her head oer her ettle >ust in time, as the coo came in from the itchen!Miss Minchin had e=pected to see in Sara, when she appeared in the schoolroom, ery

much what Lainia had e=pected to see!

Sara had always been an annoying pule to her, because seerity neer made her cry or

loo frightened! 6hen she was scolded she stood still and listened politely with a graefaceA when she was punished she performed her e=tra tass or went without her meals,

maing no complaint or outward sign of rebellion! $he ery fact that she neer made an

impudent answer seemed to Miss Minchin a ind of impudence in itself! But afteryesterday's depriation of meals, the iolent scene of last night, the prospect of hunger

today, she must surely hae broen down! 1t would be strange indeed if she did not come

downstairs with pale chees and red eyes and an unhappy, humbled face!Miss Minchin saw her for the first time when she entered the schoolroom to hear the little

French class recite its lessons and superintend its e=ercises! (nd she came in with a

springing step, color in her chees, and a smile hoering about the corners of her mouth!

1t was the most astonishing thing Miss Minchin had eer nown!1t gae her <uite a shoc! 6hat was the child made of? 6hat could such a thing mean? She

called her at once to her des!

9@ou do not loo as if you realie that you are in disgrace,9 she said! 9(re you absolutelyhardened?9

$he truth is that when one is still a child;;or een if one is grown up;; and has been well

fed, and has slept long and softly and warmA when one has gone to sleep in the midst of afairy story, and has waened to find it real, one cannot be unhappy or een loo as if one

wereA and one could not, if one tried, eep a glow of >oy out of one's eyes!

Miss Minchin was almost struc dumb by the loo of Sara's eyes when she made her

perfectly respectful answer!



91 beg your pardon, Miss Minchin,9 she saidA 91 now that 1 am in disgrace!9

9Be good enough not to forget it and loo as if you had come into a fortune! 1t is an

impertinence! (nd remember you are to hae no food today!99@es, Miss Minchin,9 Sara answeredA but as she turned away her heart leaped with the

memory of what yesterday had been!

91f the Magic had not saed me >ust in time,9 she thought, 9how horrible it would hae beenD9

9She can't be ery hungry,9 whispered Lainia! 9Gust loo at her! 7erhaps she is pretending

she has had a good breafast9;;with a spiteful laugh!9She's different from other people,9 said Gessie, watching Sara with her class! 9Sometimes

1'm a bit frightened of her!9

95idiculous thingD9 e>aculated Lainia!

(ll through the day the light was in Sara's face, and the color in her chee! $he serantscast puled glances at her, and whispered to each other, and Miss (melia's small blue

eyes wore an e=pression of bewilderment! 6hat such an audacious loo of well;being,

under august displeasure could mean she could not understand!

1t was, howeer, >ust lie Sara's singular obstinate way!She was probably determined to brae the matter out!

"ne thing Sara had resoled upon, as she thought things oer!$he wonders which had happened must be ept a secret, if such a thing were possible! 1f

Miss Minchin should choose to mount to the attic again, of course all would be discoered!

But it did not seem liely that she would do so for some time at least, unless she was led bysuspicion! %rmengarde and Lottie would be watched with such strictness that they would

not dare to steal out of their beds again!

%rmengarde could be told the story and trusted to eep it secret! 1f Lottie made any

discoeries, she could be bound to secrecy also!7erhaps the Magic itself would help to hide its own marels!

9But whateer happens,9 Sara ept saying to herself all day;;96H($%8%5 happens,

somewhere in the world there is a heaenly ind person who is my friend;;my friend! 1f 1neer now who it is;;if 1 neer can een than him;;1 shall neer feel <uite so lonely! "h,

the Magic was 4"". to meD9

1f it was possible for weather to be worse than it had been the day before, it was worse thisday;;wetter, muddier, colder!

$here were more errands to be done, the coo was more irritable, and, nowing that Sara

was in disgrace, she was more saage!

But what does anything matter when one's Magic has >ust proed itself one's friend! Sara'ssupper of the night before had gien her strength, she new that she should sleep well and

warmly, and, een though she had naturally begun to be hungry again before eening, she

felt that she could bear it until breafast;time on the following day, when her meals wouldsurely be gien to her again! 1t was <uite late when she was at last allowed to go upstairs!

She had been told to go into the schoolroom and study until ten o'cloc, and she had

become interested in her wor, and remained oer her boos later!6hen she reached the top flight of stairs and stood before the attic door, it must be

confessed that her heart beat rather fast!





comforts and coneniences appeared one by one, until there seemed nothing left to be

desired!

6hen Sara went downstairs in the morning, the remains of the supper were on the tableAand when she returned to the attic in the eening, the magician had remoed them and left

another nice little meal!

Miss Minchin was as harsh and insulting as eer, Miss (melia as peeish, and the serantswere as ulgar and rude! Sara was sent on errands in all weathers, and scolded and drien

hither and thitherA she was scarcely allowed to spea to %rmengarde and LottieA Lainia

sneered at the increasing shabbiness of her clothesA and the other girls stared curiously ather when she appeared in the schoolroom!

But what did it all matter while she was liing in this wonderful mysterious story? 1t was

more romantic and delightful than anything she had eer inented to comfort her stared

young soul and sae herself from despair! Sometimes, when she was scolded, she couldscarcely eep from smiling!

91f you only newD9 she was saying to herself! 91f you only newD9

$he comfort and happiness she en>oyed were maing her stronger, and she had them

always to loo forward to! 1f she came home from her errands wet and tired and hungry,she new she would soon be warm and well fed after she had climbed the stairs!

.uring the hardest day she could occupy herself blissfully by thining of what she shouldsee when she opened the attic door, and wondering what new delight had been prepared for

her! 1n a ery short time she began to loo less thin! Color came into her chees, and her

eyes did not seem so much too big for her face!9Sara Crewe loos wonderfully well,9 Miss Minchin remared disapproingly to her sister!

9@es,9 answered poor, silly Miss (melia! 9She is absolutely fattening!

She was beginning to loo lie a little stared crow!9

9StaredD9 e=claimed Miss Minchin, angrily! 9$here was no reason why she should loostared! She always had plenty to eatD9

9"f;;of course,9 agreed Miss (melia, humbly, alarmed to find that she had, as usual, said

the wrong thing!9$here is something ery disagreeable in seeing that sort of thing in a child of her age,9

said Miss Minchin, with haughty agueness!

96hat;;sort of thing?9 Miss (melia entured!91t might almost be called defiance,9 answered Miss Minchin, feeling annoyed because she

new the thing she resented was nothing lie defiance, and she did not now what other

unpleasant term to use!

9$he spirit and will of any other child would hae been entirely humbled and broen by;; by the changes she has had to submit to! But, upon my word, she seems as little subdued as

if;;as if she were a princess!9

9.o you remember,9 put in the unwise Miss (melia, 9what she said to you that day in theschoolroom about what you would do if you found out that she was;;9

9#o, 1 don't,9 said Miss Minchin! 9.on't tal nonsense!9

But she remembered ery clearly indeed!8ery naturally, een Becy was beginning to loo plumper and less frightened! She could

not help it! She had her share in the secret fairy story, too! She had two mattresses, two

pillows, plenty of bed;coering, and eery night a hot supper and a seat on the cushions by

the fire! $he Bastille had melted away, the prisoners no longer e=isted! $wo comforted



children sat in the midst of delights! Sometimes Sara read aloud from her boos,

sometimes she learned her own lessons, sometimes she sat and looed into the fire and

tried to imagine who her friend could be, and wished she could say to him some of thethings in her heart! $hen it came about that another wonderful thing happened! ( man

came to the door and left seeral parcels! (ll were addressed in large letters, 9$o the Little

4irl in the right;hand attic!9Sara herself was sent to open the door and tae them in!

She laid the two largest parcels on the hall table, and was looing at the address, when

Miss Minchin came down the stairs and saw her!9$ae the things to the young lady to whom they belong,9 she said seerely! 9.on't stand

there staring at them!

9$hey belong to me,9 answered Sara, <uietly!

9$o you?9 e=claimed Miss Minchin! 96hat do you mean?991 don't now where they come from,9 said Sara, 9but they are addressed to me! 1 sleep in

the right;hand attic! Becy has the other one!9

Miss Minchin came to her side and looed at the parcels with an e=cited e=pression!

96hat is in them?9 she demanded!91 don't now,9 replied Sara!

9"pen them,9 she ordered!Sara did as she was told! 6hen the pacages were unfolded Miss Minchin's countenance

wore suddenly a singular e=pression! 6hat she saw was pretty and comfortable clothing;;

clothing of different inds: shoes, stocings, and gloes, and a warm and beautiful coat!$here were een a nice hat and an umbrella! $hey were all good and e=pensie things, and

on the pocet of the coat was pinned a paper, on which were written these words: 9$o be

worn eery day! 6ill be replaced by others when necessary!9

Miss Minchin was <uite agitated! $his was an incident which suggested strange things toher sordid mind! Could it be that she had made a mistae, after all, and that the neglected

child had some powerful though eccentric friend in the bacground;;perhaps some

preiously unnown relation, who had suddenly traced her whereabouts, and chose to proide for her in this mysterious and fantastic way?

5elations were sometimes ery odd;;particularly rich old bachelor uncles, who did not care

for haing children near them!( man of that sort might prefer to oerloo his young relation's welfare at a distance! Such

a person, howeer, would be sure to be crotchety and hot;tempered enough to be easily

offended!

1t would not be ery pleasant if there were such a one, and he should learn all the truthabout the thin, shabby clothes, the scant food, and the hard wor! She felt ery <ueer

indeed, and ery uncertain, and she gae a side glance at Sara!

96ell,9 she said, in a oice such as she had neer used since the little girl lost her father,9someone is ery ind to you! (s the things hae been sent, and you are to hae new ones

when they are worn out, you may as well go and put them on and loo respectable! (fter

you are dressed you may come downstairs and learn your lessons in the schoolroom! @ouneed not go out on any more errands today!9

(bout half an hour afterward, when the schoolroom door opened and Sara waled in, the

entire seminary was struc dumb!

9My wordD9 e>aculated Gessie, >ogging Lainia's elbow! 9Loo at the 7rincess SaraD9





Becy! Becy feels >ust as thanful as 1 do;; it is all >ust as beautiful and wonderful to her

as it is to me!

6e used to be so lonely and cold and hungry, and now;;oh, >ust thin what you hae donefor usD 7lease let me say >ust these words! 1t seems as if 1 "I4H$ to say them! $H(#

you;;$H(# you;;$H(# youD

$H% L1$$L% 415L 1# $H% ($$1C!

$he ne=t morning she left this on the little table, and in the eening it had been taen awaywith the other thingsA so she new the Magician had receied it, and she was happier for

the thought!

She was reading one of her new boos to Becy >ust before they went to their respectie

beds, when her attention was attracted by a sound at the sylight! 6hen she looed upfrom her page she saw that Becy had heard the sound also, as she had turned her head to

loo and was listening rather nerously!

9Something's there, miss,9 she whispered!

9@es,9 said Sara, slowly! 91t sounds;;rather lie a cat;; trying to get in!9She left her chair and went to the sylight! 1t was a <ueer little sound she heard;;lie a soft

scratching! She suddenly remembered something and laughed! She remembered a <uaintlittle intruder who had made his way into the attic once before! She had seen him that ery

afternoon, sitting disconsolately on a table before a window in the 1ndian gentleman's

house!9Suppose,9 she whispered in pleased e=citement;;9>ust suppose it was the money who got

away again! "h, 1 wish it wasD9

She climbed on a chair, ery cautiously raised the sylight, and peeped out! 1t had been

snowing all day, and on the snow, <uite near her, crouched a tiny, shiering figure, whosesmall blac face wrinled itself piteously at sight of her!

91t is the money,9 she cried out! 9He has crept out of the Lascar's attic, and he saw the

light!9Becy ran to her side!

9(re you going to let him in, miss?9 she said!

9@es,9 Sara answered >oyfully! 91t's too cold for moneys to be out! $hey're delicate! 1'llcoa= him in!9

She put a hand out delicately, speaing in a coa=ing oice;; as she spoe to the sparrows

and to Melchisedec;;as if she were some friendly little animal herself!

9Come along, money darling,9 she said! 91 won't hurt you!9He new she would not hurt him! He new it before she laid her soft, caressing little paw

on him and drew him towards her!

He had felt human loe in the slim brown hands of 5am .ass, and he felt it in hers! He lether lift him through the sylight, and when he found himself in her arms he cuddled up to

her breast and looed up into her face!

9#ice moneyD #ice moneyD9 she crooned, issing his funny head!9"h, 1 do loe little animal things!9

He was eidently glad to get to the fire, and when she sat down and held him on her nee

he looed from her to Becy with mingled interest and appreciation!

9He 1S plain;looing, miss, ain't he?9 said Becy!



9He loos lie a ery ugly baby,9 laughed Sara! 91 beg your pardon, moneyA but 1'm glad

you are not a baby! @our mother C"IL.#'$ be proud of you, and no one would dare to

say you looed lie any of your relations! "h, 1 do lie youD9She leaned bac in her chair and reflected!

97erhaps he's sorry he's so ugly,9 she said, 9and it's always on his mind! 1 wonder if he

H(S a mind! Money, my loe, hae you a mind?9But the money only put up a tiny paw and scratched his head!

96hat shall you do with him?9 Becy ased!

91 shall let him sleep with me tonight, and then tae him bac to the 1ndian gentlemantomorrow! 1 am sorry to tae you bac, moneyA but you must go! @ou ought to be fondest

of your own familyA and 1'm not a 5%(L relation!9

(nd when she went to bed she made him a nest at her feet, and he curled up and slept there

as if he were a baby and much pleased with his <uarters!

&/

91t 1s the ChildD9

$he ne=t afternoon three members of the Large Family sat in the 1ndian gentleman's

library, doing their best to cheer him up!

$hey had been allowed to come in to perform this office because he had specially initedthem! He had been liing in a state of suspense for some time, and today he was waiting

for a certain eent ery an=iously! $his eent was the return of Mr! Carmichael from

Moscow! His stay there had been prolonged from wee to wee!



"n his first arrial there, he had not been able satisfactorily to trace the family he had gone

in search of! 6hen he felt at last sure that he had found them and had gone to their house,

he had been told that they were absent on a >ourney! His efforts to reach them had beenunaailing, so he had decided to remain in Moscow until their return! Mr! Carrisford sat in

his reclining chair, and Ganet sat on the floor beside him! He was ery fond of Ganet!

#ora had found a footstool, and .onald was astride the tiger's head which ornamented therug made of the animal's sin! 1t must be owned that he was riding it rather iolently!

9.on't chirrup so loud, .onald,9 Ganet said! 96hen you come to cheer an ill person up you

don't cheer him up at the top of your oice!7erhaps cheering up is too loud, Mr! Carrisford?9 turning to the 1ndian gentleman!

But he only patted her shoulder!

9#o, it isn't,9 he answered! 9(nd it eeps me from thining too much!9

91'm going to be <uiet,9 .onald shouted! 96e'll all be as <uiet as mice!99Mice don't mae a noise lie that,9 said Ganet!

.onald made a bridle of his handerchief and bounced up and down on the tiger's head!

9( whole lot of mice might,9 he said cheerfully! 9( thousand mice might!9

91 don't beliee fifty thousand mice would,9 said Ganet, seerelyA 9and we hae to be as<uiet as one mouse!9

Mr! Carrisford laughed and patted her shoulder again!97apa won't be ery long now,9 she said! 9May we tal about the lost little girl?9

91 don't thin 1 could tal much about anything else >ust now,9 the 1ndian gentleman

answered, nitting his forehead with a tired loo!96e lie her so much,9 said #ora! 96e call her the little un;fairy princess!9

96hy?9 the 1ndian gentleman in<uired, because the fancies of the Large Family always

made him forget things a little!

1t was Ganet who answered!91t is because, though she is not e=actly a fairy, she will be so rich when she is found that

she will be lie a princess in a fairy tale! 6e called her the fairy princess at first, but it

didn't <uite suit!991s it true,9 said #ora, 9that her papa gae all his money to a friend to put in a mine that

had diamonds in it, and then the friend thought he had lost it all and ran away because he

felt as if he was a robber?99But he wasn't really, you now,9 put in Ganet, hastily!

$he 1ndian gentleman too hold of her hand <uicly!

9#o, he wasn't really,9 he said!

91 am sorry for the friend,9 Ganet saidA 91 can't help it! He didn't mean to do it, and it would brea his heart! 1 am sure it would brea his heart!9

9@ou are an understanding little woman, Ganet,9 the 1ndian gentleman said, and he held her

hand close!9.id you tell Mr! Carrisford,9 .onald shouted again, 9about the little;girl;who;isNn't;a;

beggar? .id you tell him she has new nice clothes? 7'r'aps she's been found by somebody

when she was lost!99$here's a cabD9 e=claimed Ganet! 91t's stopping before the door! 1t is papaD9

$hey all ran to the windows to loo out!

9@es, it's papa,9 .onald proclaimed! 9But there is no little girl!9





9Sahib,9 he said, 9the child herself has come;;the child the sahib felt pity for! She brings

bac the money who had again run away to her attic under the roof! 1 hae ased that she

remain!1t was my thought that it would please the sahib to see and spea with her!9

96ho is she?9 in<uired Mr! Carmichael!

94od nows,9 Mr! Carrrisford answered! 9She is the child 1 spoe of! ( little drudge at theschool!9 He waed his hand to 5am .ass, and addressed him! 9@es, 1 should lie to see

her! 4o and bring her in!9 $hen he turned to Mr! Carmichael!

96hile you hae been away,9 he e=plained, 91 hae been desperate! $he days were so darand long! 5am .ass told me of this child's miseries, and together we inented a romantic

plan to help her! 1 suppose it was a childish thing to doA but it gae me something to plan

and thin of! 6ithout the help of an agile, soft;footed "riental lie 5am .ass, howeer, it

could not hae been done!9$hen Sara came into the room! She carried the money in her arms, and he eidently did

not intend to part from her, if it could be helped! He was clinging to her and chattering, and

the interesting e=citement of finding herself in the 1ndian gentleman's room had brought a

flush to Sara's chees!9@our money ran away again,9 she said, in her pretty oice!

9He came to my garret window last night, and 1 too him in because it was so cold! 1 wouldhae brought him bac if it had not been so late! 1 new you were ill and might not lie to

be disturbed!9

$he 1ndian gentleman's hollow eyes dwelt on her with curious interest!9$hat was ery thoughtful of you,9 he said!

Sara looed toward 5am .ass, who stood near the door!

9Shall 1 gie him to the Lascar?9 she ased!

9How do you now he is a Lascar?9 said the 1ndian gentleman, smiling a little!9"h, 1 now Lascars,9 Sara said, handing oer the reluctant money! 91 was born in 1ndia!9

$he 1ndian gentleman sat upright so suddenly, and with such a change of e=pression, that

she was for a moment <uite startled!9@ou were born in 1ndia,9 he e=claimed, 9were you? Come here!9

(nd he held out his hand!

Sara went to him and laid her hand in his, as he seemed to want to tae it! She stood still,and her green;gray eyes met his wonderingly!

Something seemed to be the matter with him!

9@ou lie ne=t door?9 he demanded!

9@esA 1 lie at Miss Minchin's seminary!99But you are not one of her pupils?9

( strange little smile hoered about Sara's mouth! She hesitated a moment!

91 don't thin 1 now e=actly 6H($ 1 am,9 she replied!96hy not?9

9(t first 1 was a pupil, and a parlor boarderA but now;;9

9@ou were a pupilD 6hat are you now?9$he <ueer little sad smile was on Sara's lips again!

91 sleep in the attic, ne=t to the scullery maid,9 she said!

91 run errands for the coo;;1 do anything she tells meA and 1 teach the little ones their

lessons!9



9Ouestion her, Carmichael,9 said Mr! Carrisford, sining bac as if he had lost his strength!

9Ouestion herA 1 cannot!9

$he big, ind father of the Large Family new how to <uestion little girls! Sara realiedhow much practice he had had when he spoe to her in his nice, encouraging oice!

96hat do you mean by (t first,' my child?9 he in<uired!

96hen 1 was first taen there by my papa!996here is your papa?9

9He died,9 said Sara, ery <uietly! 9He lost all his money and there was none left for me!

$here was no one to tae care of me or to pay Miss Minchin!99CarmichaelD9 the 1ndian gentleman cried out loudly! 9CarmichaelD9

96e must not frighten her,9 Mr! Carmichael said aside to him in a <uic, low oice! (nd

he added aloud to Sara, 9So you were sent up into the attic, and made into a little drudge!

$hat was about it, wasn't it?99$here was no one to tae care of me,9 said Sara! 9$here was no moneyA 1 belong to

nobody!9

9How did your father lose his money?9 the 1ndian gentleman broe in breathlessly!

9He did not lose it himself,9 Sara answered, wondering still more each moment! 9He had afriend he was ery fond of;; he was ery fond of him! 1t was his friend who too his

money! He trusted his friend too much!9$he 1ndian gentleman's breath came more <uicly!

9$he friend might hae M%(#$ to do no harm,9 he said! 91t might hae happened through

a mistae!9Sara did not now how unrelenting her <uiet young oice sounded as she answered! 1f she

had nown, she would surely hae tried to soften it for the 1ndian gentleman's sae!

9$he suffering was >ust as bad for my papa,9 she said! 1t illed him!9

96hat was your father's name?9 the 1ndian gentleman said!9$ell me!9

9His name was 5alph Crewe,9 Sara answered, feeling startled!

9Captain Crewe! He died in 1ndia!9$he haggard face contracted, and 5am .ass sprang to his master's side!

9Carmichael,9 the inalid gasped, 9it is the child;;the childD9

For a moment Sara thought he was going to die! 5am .ass poured out drops from a bottle,and held them to his lips! Sara stood near, trembling a little! She looed in a bewildered

way at Mr! Carmichael!

96hat child am 1?9 she faltered!

9He was your father's friend,9 Mr! Carmichael answered her!9.on't be frightened! 6e hae been looing for you for two years!9

Sara put her hand up to her forehead, and her mouth trembled!

She spoe as if she were in a dream!9(nd 1 was at Miss Minchin's all the while,9 she half whispered!

9Gust on the other side of the wall!9



&0

91 $ried #ot to Be9

1t was pretty, comfortable Mrs! Carmichael who e=plained eerything!

She was sent for at once, and came across the s<uare to tae Sara into her warm arms and

mae clear to her all that had happened!



$he e=citement of the totally une=pected discoery had been temporarily almost

oerpowering to Mr! Carrisford in his wea condition!

9Ipon my word,9 he said faintly to Mr! Carmichael, when it was suggested that the littlegirl should go into another room!

91 feel as if 1 do not want to lose sight of her!9

91 will tae care of her,9 Ganet said, 9and mamma will come in a few minutes!9 (nd it wasGanet who led her away!

96e're so glad you are found,9 she said! 9@ou don't now how glad we are that you are

found!9.onald stood with his hands in his pocets, and gaed at Sara with reflecting and self;

reproachful eyes!

91f 1'd >ust ased what your name was when 1 gae you my si=pence,9 he said, 9you would

hae told me it was Sara Crewe, and then you would hae been found in a minute!9 $henMrs! Carmichael came in!

She looed ery much moed, and suddenly too Sara in her arms and issed her!

9@ou loo bewildered, poor child,9 she said! 9(nd it is not to be wondered at!9

Sara could only thin of one thing!96as he,9 she said, with a glance toward the closed door of the library;;9was H% the

wiced friend? "h, do tell meD9Mrs! Carmichael was crying as she issed her again! She felt as if she ought to be issed

ery often because she had not been issed for so long!

9He was not wiced, my dear,9 she answered! 9He did not really lose your papa's money!He only thought he had lost itA and because he loed him so much his grief made him so ill

that for a time he was not in his right mind! He almost died of brain feer, and long before

he began to recoer your poor papa was dead!9

9(nd he did not now where to find me,9 murmured Sara!9(nd 1 was so near!9

Somehow, she could not forget that she had been so near!

9He belieed you were in school in France,9 Mrs! Carmichael e=plained!9(nd he was continually misled by false clues! He has looed for you eerywhere! 6hen

he saw you pass by, looing so sad and neglected, he did not dream that you were his

friend's poor childA but because you were a little girl, too, he was sorry for you, and wantedto mae you happier! (nd he told 5am .ass to climb into your attic window and try to

mae you comfortable!9

Sara gae a start of >oyA her whole loo changed!

9.id 5am .ass bring the things?9 she cried out! 9.id he tell 5am .ass to do it? .id hemae the dream that came true?9

9@es, my dear;;yesD He is ind and good, and he was sorry for you, for little lost Sara

Crewe's sae!9$he library door opened and Mr! Carmichael appeared, calling Sara to him with a gesture!

9Mr! Carrisford is better already,9 he said! 9He wants you to come to him!9

Sara did not wait! 6hen the 1ndian gentleman looed at her as she entered, he saw that herface was all alight!

She went and stood before his chair, with her hands clasped together against her breast!

9@ou sent the things to me,9 she said, in a >oyful emotional little oice, 9the beautiful,

beautiful things? @"I sent themD9



9@es, poor, dear child, 1 did,9 he answered her! He was wea and broen with long illness

and trouble, but he looed at her with the loo she remembered in her father's eyes;;that

loo of loing her and wanting to tae her in his arms! 1t made her neel down by him, >ustas she used to neel by her father when they were the dearest friends and loers in the

world!

9$hen it is you who are my friend,9 she saidA 9it is you who are my friendD9 (nd shedropped her face on his thin hand and issed it again and again!

9$he man will be himself again in three wees,9 Mr! Carmichael said aside to his wife!

9Loo at his face already!91n fact, he did loo changed! Here was the 9Little Missus,9 and he had new things to thin

of and plan for already! 1n the first place, there was Miss Minchin! She must be

interiewed and told of the change which had taen place in the fortunes of her pupil!

Sara was not to return to the seminary at all! $he 1ndian gentleman was ery determinedupon that point! She must remain where she was, and Mr! Carmichael should go and see

Miss Minchin himself!

91 am glad 1 need not go bac,9 said Sara! 9She will be ery angry!

She does not lie meA though perhaps it is my fault, because 1 do not lie her!9But, oddly enough, Miss Minchin made it unnecessary for Mr! Carmichael to go to her, by

actually coming in search of her pupil herself!She had wanted Sara for something, and on in<uiry had heard an astonishing thing! "ne of

the housemaids had seen her steal out of the area with something hidden under her cloa,

and had also seen her go up the steps of the ne=t door and enter the house!96hat does she meanD9 cried Miss Minchin to Miss (melia!

91 don't now, 1'm sure, sister,9 answered Miss (melia! 9Inless she has made friends with

him because he has lied in 1ndia!9

91t would be >ust lie her to thrust herself upon him and try to gain his sympathies in somesuch impertinent fashion,9 said Miss Minchin!

9She must hae been in the house for two hours! 1 will not allow such presumption! 1 shall

go and in<uire into the matter, and apologie for her intrusion!9Sara was sitting on a footstool close to Mr! Carrisford's nee, and listening to some of the

many things he felt it necessary to try to e=plain to her, when 5am .ass announced the

isitor's arrial!Sara rose inoluntarily, and became rather paleA but Mr! Carrisford saw that she stood

<uietly, and showed none of the ordinary signs of child terror!

Miss Minchin entered the room with a sternly dignified manner!

She was correctly and well dressed, and rigidly polite!91 am sorry to disturb Mr! Carrisford,9 she saidA 9but 1 hae e=planations to mae! 1 am

Miss Minchin, the proprietress of the @oung Ladies' Seminary ne=t door!9

$he 1ndian gentleman looed at her for a moment in silent scrutiny!He was a man who had naturally a rather hot temper, and he did not wish it to get too much

the better of him!

9So you are Miss Minchin?9 he said!91 am, sir!9

91n that case,9 the 1ndian gentleman replied, 9you hae arried at the right time! My

solicitor, Mr! Carmichael, was >ust on the point of going to see you!9



Mr! Carmichael bowed slightly, and Miiss Minchin looed from him to Mr! Carrisford in

amaement!

9@our solicitorD9 she said! 91 do not understand! 1 hae come here as a matter of duty! 1hae >ust discoered that you hae been intruded upon through the forwardness of one of

my pupils;;a charity pupil! 1 came to e=plain that she intruded without my nowledge!9

She turned upon Sara!94o home at once,9 she commanded indignantly!

9@ou shall be seerely punished! 4o home at once!9

$he 1ndian gentleman drew Sara to his side and patted her hand!9She is not going!9

Miss Minchin felt rather as if she must be losing her senses!

9#ot goingD9 she repeated!

9#o,9 said Mr! Carrisford! 9She is not going home;;if you gieyour house that name! Her home for the future will be with me!9

Miss Minchin fell bac in amaed indignation!

96ith @"ID 6ith @"I sirD 6hat does this mean?9

9indly e=plain the matter, Carmichael,9 said the 1ndian gentlemanA 9and get it oer as<uicly as possible!9 (nd he made Sara sit down again, and held her hands in his;;which

was another tric of her papa's!$hen Mr! Carmichael e=plained;;in the <uiet, leel;toned, steady manner of a man who

new his sub>ect, and all its legal significance, which was a thing Miss Minchin

understood as a business woman, and did not en>oy!9Mr! Carrisford, madam,9 he said, 9was an intimate friend of the late Captain Crewe! He

was his partner in certain large inestments! $he fortune which Captain Crewe supposed he

had lost has been recoered, and is now in Mr! Carrisford's hands!9

9$he fortuneD9 cried Miss MinchinA and she really lost color as she uttered the e=clamation!9Sara's fortuneD9

91t 61LL be Sara's fortune,9 replied Mr! Carmichael, rather coldly!

91t is Sara's fortune now, in fact! Certain eents hae increased it enormously! $hediamond mines hae retrieed themseles!9

9$he diamond minesD9 Miss Minchin gasped out! 1f this was true, nothing so horrible, she

felt, had eer happened to her since she was born!9$he diamond mines,9 Mr! Carmichael repeated, and he could not help adding, with a

rather sly, unlawyer;lie smile, 9$here are not many princesses, Miss Minchin, who are

richer than your little charity pupil, Sara Crewe, will be! Mr! Carrisford has been searching

for her for nearly two yearsA he has found her at last, and he will eep her!9(fter which he ased Miss Minchin to sit down while he e=plained matters to her fully,

and went into such detail as was necessary to mae it <uite clear to her that Sara's future

was an assured one, and that what had seemed to be lost was to be restored to her tenfoldAalso, that she had in Mr! Carrisford a guardian as well as a friend!

Miss Minchin was not a cleer woman, and in her e=citement she was silly enough to

mae one desperate effort to regain what she could not help seeing she had lost through herworldly folly!

9He found her under my care,9 she protested! 91 hae done eerything for her! But for me

she should hae stared in the streets!9

Here the 1ndian gentleman lost his temper!



9(s to staring in the streets,9 he said, 9she might hae stared more comfortably there

than in your attic!9

9Captain Crewe left her in my charge,9 Miss Minchin argued!9She must return to it until she is of age! She can be a parlor boarder again! She must finish

her education! $he law will interfere in my behalf9

9Come, come, Miss Minchin,9 Mr! Carmichael interposed, 9the law will do nothing of thesort! 1f Sara herself wishes to return to you, 1 dare say Mr! Carrisford might not refuse to

allow it! But that rests with Sara!9

9$hen,9 said Miss Minchin, 91 appeal to Sara! 1 hae not spoiled you, perhaps,9 she saidawwardly to the little girlA 9but you now that your papa was pleased with your progress!

(nd;;ahem;;1 hae always been fond of you!9

Sara's green;gray eyes fi=ed themseles on her with the <uiet, clear loo Miss Minchin

particularly dislied!9Hae @"I Miss Minchin?9 she said! 91 did not now that!9

Miss Minchin reddened and drew herself up!

9@ou ought to hae nown it,9 said sheA 9but children, unfortunately, neer now what is

best for them! (melia and 1 always said you were the cleerest child in the school! 6illyou not do your duty to your poor papa and come home with me?9

Sara too a step toward her and stood still! She was thining of the day when she had beentold that she belonged to nobody, and was in danger of being turned into the streetA she was

thining of the cold, hungry hours she had spent alone with %mily and Melchisedec in the

attic! She looed Miss Minchin steadily in the face!9@ou now why 1 will not go home with you, Miss Minchin,9 she saidA 9you now <uite

well!9

( hot flush showed itself on Miss Minchin's hard, angry face!

9@ou will neer see your companions again,9 she began! 91 will see that %rmengarde andLottie are ept away;;9

Mr! Carmichael stopped her with polite firmness!

9%=cuse me,9 he saidA 9she will see anyone she wishes to see! $he parents of Miss Crewe'sfellow;pupils are not liely to refuse her initations to isit her at her guardian's house! Mr!

Carrisford will attend to that!9

1t must be confessed that een Miss Minchin flinched! $his was worse than the eccentric bachelor uncle who might hae a peppery temper and be easily offended at the treatment of

his niece!

( woman of sordid mind could easily beliee that most people would not refuse to allow

their children to remain friends with a little heiress of diamond mines! (nd if Mr!Carrisford chose to tell certain of her patrons how unhappy Sara Crewe had been made,

many unpleasant things might happen!

9@ou hae not undertaen an easy charge,9 she said to the 1ndian gentleman, as she turnedto leae the roomA 9you will discoer that ery soon! $he child is neither truthful nor

grateful! 1 suppose9;;to Sara;;9that you feel now that you are a princess again!9

Sara looed down and flushed a little, because she thought her pet fancy might not be easyfor strangers;;een nice ones;; to understand at first!

91;;$51%. not to be anything else,9 she answered in a low oice;;9een when 1 was

coldest and hungriest;;1 tried not to be!9



9#ow it will not be necessary to try,9 said Miss Minchin, acidly, as 5am .ass salaamed

her out of the room!

She returned home and, going to her sitting room, sent at once for Miss (melia! She satcloseted with her all the rest of the afternoon, and it must be admitted that poor Miss

(melia passed through more than one bad <uarter of an hour! She shed a good many tears,

and mopped her eyes a good deal! "ne of her unfortunate remars almost caused her sisterto snap her head entirely off, but it resulted in an unusual manner!

91'm not as cleer as you, sister,9 she said, 9and 1 am always afraid to say things to you for

fear of maing you angry! 7erhaps if 1 were not so timid it would be better for the schooland for both of us! 1 must say 1'e often thought it would hae been better if you had been

less seere on Sara Crewe, and had seen that she was decently dressed and more

comfortable! 1 #"6 she was wored too hard for a child of her age, and 1 now she was

only half fed;;99How dare you say such a thingD9 e=claimed Miss Minchin!

91 don't now how 1 dare,9 Miss (melia answered, with a ind of recless courageA 9but

now 1'e begun 1 may as well finish, whateer happens to me! $he child was a cleer child

and a good child;; and she would hae paid you for any indness you had shown her! Butyou didn't show her any! $he fact was, she was too cleer for you, and you always dislied

her for that reason! She used to see through us both;;99(meliaD9 gasped her infuriated elder, looing as if she would bo= her ears and noc her

cap off, as she had often done to Becy!

But Miss (melia's disappointment had made her hysterical enough not to care whatoccurred ne=t!

9She didD She didD9 she cried! 9She saw through us both! She saw that you were a hard;

hearted, worldly woman, and that 1 was a wea fool, and that we were both of us ulgar

and mean enough to groel on our nees for her money, and behae ill to her because itwas taen from her;;though she behaed herself lie a little princess een when she was a

beggar! She did;; she did;;lie a little princessD9 (nd her hysterics got the better of the

poor woman, and she began to laugh and cry both at once, and roc herself bacward andforward!

9(nd now you'e lost her,9 she cried wildlyA 9and some other school will get her and her

moneyA and if she were lie any other child she'd tell how she's been treated, and all our pupils would be taen away and we should be ruined! (nd it seres us rightA but it seres

you right more than it does me, for you are a hard woman, Maria Minchin, you're a hard,

selfish, worldly womanD9

(nd she was in danger of maing so much noise with her hysterical choes and gurglesthat her sister was obliged to go to her and apply salts and sal olatile to <uiet her, instead

of pouring forth her indignation at her audacity!

(nd from that time forward, it may be mentioned, the elder Miss Minchin actually beganto stand a little in awe of a sister who, while she looed so foolish, was eidently not <uite

so foolish as she looed, and might, conse<uently, brea out and spea truths people did

not want to hear!$hat eening, when the pupils were gathered together before the fire in the schoolroom, as

was their custom before going to bed, %rmengarde came in with a letter in her hand and a

<ueer e=pression on her round face! 1t was <ueer because, while it was an e=pression of





$here would be no fire tonight, and no rosy lampA no supper, and no princess sitting in the

glow reading or telling stories;; no princessD

She choed down a sob as she pushed the attic door open, and then she broe into a lowcry!

$he lamp was flushing the room, the fire was blaing, the supper was waitingA and 5am

.ass was standing smiling into her startled face!9Missee sahib remembered,9 he said! 9She told the sahib all! She wished you to now the

good fortune which has befallen her! Behold a letter on the tray! She has written! She did

not wish that you should go to sleep unhappy! $he sahib commands you to come to himtomorrow! @ou are to be the attendant of missee sahib! $onight 1 tae these things bac

oer the roof!9

(nd haing said this with a beaming face, he made a little salaam and slipped through the

sylight with an agile silentness of moement which showed Becy how easily he haddone it before!

&2(nne

#eer had such >oy reigned in the nursery of the Large Family! #eer had they dreamed of such delights as resulted from an intimate ac<uaintance with

the little;girl;who;was;not;a;beggar! $he mere fact of her sufferings and adentures made

her a priceless possession!



%erybody wanted to be told oer and oer again the things which had happened to her!

6hen one was sitting by a warm fire in a big, glowing room, it was <uite delightful to hear

how cold it could be in an attic! 1t must be admitted that the attic was rather delighted in,and that its coldness and bareness <uite san into insignificance when Melchisedec was

remembered, and one heard about the sparrows and things one could see if one climbed on

the table and stuc one's head and shoulders out of the sylight!"f course the thing loed best was the story of the ban<uet and the dream which was true!

Sara told it for the first time the day after she had been found! Seeral members of the

Large Family came to tae tea with her, and as they sat or curled up on the hearth;rug shetold the story in her own way, and the 1ndian gentleman listened and watched her!

6hen she had finished she looed up at him and put her hand on his nee!

9$hat is my part,9 she said! 9#ow won't you tell your part of it, Incle $om?9 He had ased

her to call him always 9Incle $om!991 don't now your part yet, and it must be beautiful!9

So he told them how, when he sat alone, ill and dull and irritable, 5am .ass had tried to

distract him by describing the passers by, and there was one child who passed oftener than

any one elseA he had begun to be interested in her;;partly perhaps because he was thininga great deal of a little girl, and partly because 5am .ass had been able to relate the incident

of his isit to the attic in chase of the money! He had described its cheerless loo, and the bearing of the child, who seemed as if she was not of the class of those who were treated as

drudges and serants! Bit by bit, 5am .ass had made discoeries concerning the

wretchedness of her life!He had found out how easy a matter it was to climb across the few yards of roof to the

sylight, and this fact had been the beginning of all that followed!

9Sahib,9 he had said one day, 91 could cross the slates and mae the child a fire when she is

out on some errand! 6hen she returned, wet and cold, to find it blaing, she would thin amagician had done it!9

$he idea had been so fanciful that Mr! Carrisford's sad face had lighted with a smile, and

5am .ass had been so filled with rapture that he had enlarged upon it and e=plained to hismaster how simple it would be to accomplish numbers of other things! He had shown a

childlie pleasure and inention, and the preparations for the carrying out of the plan had

filled many a day with interest which would otherwise hae dragged wearily! "n the nightof the frustrated ban<uet 5am .ass had ept watch, all his pacages being in readiness in

the attic which was his ownA and the person who was to help him had waited with him, as

interested as himself in the odd adenture! 5am .ass had been lying flat upon the slates,

looing in at the sylight, when the ban<uet had come to its disastrous conclusionA he had been sure of the profoundness of Sara's wearied sleepA and then, with a dar lantern, he had

crept into the room, while his companion remained outside and handed the things to him!

6hen Sara had stirred eer so faintly, 5am .ass had closed the lantern;slide and lain flatupon the floor! $hese and many other e=citing things the children found out by asing a

thousand <uestions!

91 am so glad,9 Sara said! 91 am so 4L(. it was you who were my friendD9$here neer were such friends as these two became! Somehow, they seemed to suit each

other in a wonderful way! $he 1ndian gentleman had neer had a companion he lied <uite

as much as he lied Sara!



1n a month's time he was, as Mr! Carmichael had prophesied he would be, a new man! He

was always amused and interested, and he began to find an actual pleasure in the

possession of the wealth he had imagined that he loathed the burden of! $here were somany charming things to plan for Sara! $here was a little >oe between them that he was a

magician, and it was one of his pleasures to inent things to surprise her! She found

beautiful new flowers growing in her room, whimsical little gifts tuced under pillow, andonce, as they sat together in the eening, they heard the scratch of a heay paw on the

door, and when Sara went to find out what it was, there stood a great dog;;a splendid

5ussian boarhound;;with a grand siler and gold collar bearing an inscription!91 am Boris,9 it readA 91 sere the 7rincess Sara!9

$here was nothing the 1ndian gentleman loed more than the recollection of the little

princess in rags and tatters! $he afternoons in which the Large Family, or %rmengarde and

Lottie, gathered to re>oice together were ery delightful! But the hours when Sara and the1ndian gentleman sat alone and read or taled had a special charm of their own! .uring

their passing many interesting things occurred!

"ne eening, Mr! Carrisford, looing up from his boo, noticed that his companion had

not stirred for some time, but sat gaing into the fire!96hat are you supposing,' Sara?9 he ased!

Sara looed up, with a bright color on her chee!91 6(S supposing,9 she saidA 91 was remembering that hungry day, and a child 1 saw!9

9But there were a great many hungry days,9 said the 1ndian gentleman, with rather a sad

tone in his oice! 96hich hungry day was it?991 forgot you didn't now,9 said Sara! 91t was the day the dream came true!9

$hen she told him the story of the bun shop, and the fourpence she piced up out of the

sloppy mud, and the child who was hungrier than herself! She told it <uite simply, and in

as few words as possibleA but somehow the 1ndian gentleman found it necessary to shadehis eyes with his hand and loo down at the carpet!

9(nd 1 was supposing a ind of plan,9 she said, when she had finished!

91 was thining 1 should lie to do something!996hat was it?9 said Mr! Carrisford, in a low tone! 9@ou may do anything you lie to do,

princess!9

91 was wondering,9 rather hesitated Sara;;9you now, you say 1 hae so much money;;1was wondering if 1 could go to see the bun;woman, and tell her that if, when hungry

children;;particularly on those dreadful days;;come and sit on the steps, or loo in at the

window, she would >ust call them in and gie them something to eat, she might send the

bills to me! Could 1 do that?99@ou shall do it tomorrow morning,9 said the 1ndian gentleman!

9$han you,9 said Sara! 9@ou see, 1 now what it is to be hungry, and it is ery hard when

one cannot een 75%$%#. it away!99@es, yes, my dear,9 said the 1ndian gentleman! 9@es, yes, it must be! $ry to forget it!

Come and sit on this footstool near my nee, and only remember you are a princess!9

9@es,9 said Sara, smilingA 9and 1 can gie buns and bread to the populace!9(nd she went and sat on the stool, and the 1ndian gentleman Phe used to lie her to call him

that, too, sometimesQ drew her small dar head down on his nee and stroed her hair!

$he ne=t morning, Miss Minchin, in looing out of her window, saw the things she

perhaps least en>oyed seeing! $he 1ndian gentleman's carriage, with its tall horses, drew up



before the door of the ne=t house, and its owner and a little figure, warm with soft, rich

furs, descended the steps to get into it!

$he little figure was a familiar one, and reminded Miss Minchin of days in the past! 1t wasfollowed by another as familiar;; the sight of which she found ery irritating! 1t was Becy,

who, in the character of delighted attendant, always accompanied her young mistress to her

carriage, carrying wraps and belongings!(lready Becy had a pin, round face!

( little later the carriage drew up before the door of the baer's shop, and its occupants got

out, oddly enough, >ust as the bun;woman was putting a tray of smoing;hot buns into thewindow!

6hen Sara entered the shop the woman turned and looed at her, and, leaing the buns,

came and stood behind the counter!

For a moment she looed at Sara ery hard indeed, and then her good;natured face lightedup!

91'm sure that 1 remember you, miss,9 she said! 9(nd yet;;9

9@es,9 said SaraA 9once you gae me si= buns for fourpence, and;;9

9(nd you gae fie of 'em to a beggar child,9 the woman broe in on her!91'e always remembered it! 1 couldn't mae it out at first!9

She turned round to the 1ndian gentleman and spoe her ne=t words to him! 91 beg your pardon, sir, but there's not many young people that notices a hungry face in that wayA and

1'e thought of it many a time! %=cuse the liberty, miss,9;;to Sara;;9but you loo rosier

and;;well, better than you did that;;that;;991 am better, than you,9 said Sara! 9(nd;;1 am much happier;; and 1 hae come to as you

to do something for me!9

9Me, missD9 e=claimed the bun;woman, smiling cheerfully!

96hy, bless youD @es, miss! 6hat can 1 do?9(nd then Sara, leaning on the counter, made her little proposal concerning the dreadful

days and the hungry waifs and the buns!

$he woman watched her, and listened with an astonished face!96hy, bless meD9 she said again when she had heard it allA it'll be a pleasure to me to do it!

1 am a woring;woman myself and cannot afford to do much on my own account, and

there's sights of trouble on eery sideA but, if you'll e=cuse me, 1'm bound to say 1'e gienaway many a bit of bread since that wet afternoon, >ust along o' thining of you;;an' how

wet an' cold you was, an' how hungry you looedA an' yet you gae away your hot buns as

if you was a princess!9

$he 1ndian gentleman smiled inoluntarily at this, and Sara smiled a little, too,remembering what she had said to herself when she put the buns down on the raenous

child's ragged lap!

9She looed so hungry,9 she said! 9She was een hungrier than 1 was!99She was staring,9 said the woman! 9Many's the time she's told me of it since;;how she

sat there in the wet, and felt as if a wolf was a;tearing at her poor young insides!9

9"h, hae you seen her since then?9 e=claimed Sara! 9.o you now where she is?99@es, 1 do,9 answered the woman, smiling more good;naturedly than eer! 96hy, she's in

that there bac room, miss, an' has been for a monthA an' a decent, well;meanin' girl she's

goin' to turn out, an' such a help to me in the shop an' in the itchen as you'd scarce beliee,

nowin' how she's lied!9



Documents

Frances Hodgson Burnett - A Litte Princess