"Do you really? Then it can't be so awfully wicked. You are so understanding, Mother Bab. I can't tell Aunt Maria how I feel about such things for she'd be dreadfully hurt or worried or provoked, but you seem always to know what I mean and how I feel."
"I was eighteen myself once, a good many years ago, but I still remember it."
"You have a good memory."
"Yes. Why, I can remember some of the dresses I wore when I was eighteen. But then, I have a dress bundle to help me remember them."
"What's a dress bundle?"
"Didn't Aunt Maria keep one for you?"
"I never heard of one."
"It's a long string of samples of dresses you wore when you were little. Wait, I'll get mine and show you."
She left the room and went up-stairs. After a short time she returned and held out a stout thread upon which were strung small, irregular scraps of dress material. "This is my dress bundle. My mother started it for me when I was a baby and kept it up till I was big enough to do it myself. Every time I got a new dress a little patch of the goods was threaded on my dress bundle."
"Oh, may I see? Why, that's just like a part of your babyhood and childhood come back!"