'Yes, mother, but they are small ones, and I want a very large one. And my dolls have brown hair and black eyes, and I want a doll with blue eyes and light hair, and one that can open and shut its eyes, like Cousin Bella's.'
And Selina looked up at her mother.
'Mother, will you buy one for me?'
'I am afraid that I cannot buy one for you. I have not so much money as your Aunt Sarah has to spend upon dolls and playthings.'
Selina was silent for a moment, then she said,—
'Yes, I know that. Mother, I do not care about the large doll. I will make some new clothes for my small ones, and try to think that they are large.'
'That is a good child,' said her mother; 'and perhaps some day I shall be able to get a larger one for you.'
So Selina tried to think no more of her Cousin Bella's large doll, and her mother gave her a piece of muslin to make a frock for one of her own dolls, and some blue ribbon for a sash.
Selina sewed away merrily, and she and her mother talked over a letter that had come from her father, who was in France, and who said he hoped to be home again in a day or two.
'And tell Selina that I have got a box for her, with a present inside.'