“I beat! I beat!” exclaimed Melvina, her dark eyes shining and her face flushed with the unwonted exercise.
“You do everything best,” Anna declared generously, “but I did not know that you could run so fast.”
“Neither did I,” Melvina acknowledged laughingly. Anna felt a little puzzled by this sudden change in Melvina, which was far more noticeable than Anna’s own effort to give up her boyish ways and become a quiet, sedate little girl. For ever since the few hours of freedom on the shore, on the day of the tempest, Melvina had endeavored to be as much like Anna as possible. She ran, instead of walking slowly, whenever she was out of her mother’s sight. She had even neglected her lessons to go out-of-doors and watch a family of young robins one morning, and had been immediately called in by her surprised mother. In fact, Melvina had tried in every way to do things that she imagined Anna liked to do. She had even besought her mother to cut off her hair; but, as she dared not give her reason for such a wish, Mrs. Lyon had reproved her sharply, saying that it was a great misfortune for a little girl not to have smoothly braided hair, or long curls. So while Anna endeavored to cover her pretty curly hair, to behave sedately, and give up many of her outdoor games, in order to be like Melvina, Melvina was wishing that she could be exactly like Anna; and as they stood looking at each other at the end of their race each little girl noticed a change in the other which she could not understand, and they started off toward Luretta’s home at a more sober pace.
“Here they are,” said Anna, as they came to the corner of the shed and saw the rabbits looking out at them between the slats of the box.
Melvina kneeled down close to the box and exclaimed admiringly as Trit and Trot scurried away to the farthest corner.
“I do wish I could touch one! Would it not be fun to dress them up like dolls!” she said. “If they were mine I would dress them up in bonnets and skirts, and teach them to bow. Oh, Anna! Can’t we take one out? One of them is yours, Luretta said so; let us take out your rabbit, Anna.”
“But we haven’t anything to dress it up in,” said Anna, beginning to think that Melvina was a good deal like other little girls after all.
“Could we not take your rabbit over to my house, Anna? My mother has gone to Mrs. Burnham’s to spend the day, and we could take Trot up to my room and dress her up and play games. Do, Anna!” urged Melvina.
“It would be great sport indeed,” agreed Anna eagerly; “we could call Trot by some fine name, like Queen Elizabeth, and have your dolls for visitors.”
“Yes, yes, we could! Or play Trot was a lion that we had captured in Africa. Where is the door to the box, Anna?” and Melvina’s dark eyes shone more brightly than ever as Anna slid back the little door that Paul had so carefully made, and, after several vain efforts, finally secured one of the rabbits and quickly wrapped it in the skirt of her dress.