"Well, he sat on the piazza and laughed when I scared Mrs. Hermanton, so I want to know if he'll think it's funny every time I do things. You know he puts one foot up on a chair, and every time any one touches that chair ever so little, he cries: 'Oh, oh, oh!' and holds on to his foot.
"The next time I'm near him, I'm going to make b'lieve hit my foot against something, and then I'll cry out, just 'zactly as he does:
"'Oh, oh, oh!' and I'll hold on to my foot," said Floretta.
"I know it's funny," said Dorothy, "but I don't think you ought to."
"Well, you needn't. P'raps you couldn't do it just like other folks, but I can, and I'm going to!" said Floretta.
She was a handsome child, but her boldness marred her beauty.
She was, indeed, a clever imitator, but she had been told so too often. Her mother constantly praised her cleverness, and unwise friends applauded her efforts, until Floretta acquired the idea that she must, on all occasions, mimic some one.
Sometimes those whom she mocked thought it clever, and laughed when they had thus been held up to derision.
At other times Floretta found that she had chosen the wrong person to mimic, and had received a sharp rebuke.
This taught her nothing, however.