CHAPTER XVI
THE FIRST LESSON
Jewel looked up as she heard a knock. Sarah had made the bed and gone. Who could this be?
At her “Come in,” Eloise entered the room. The child's face brightened questioningly. She rose and gazed at the enchanted maiden, very lovely in the wrapper of white silk, open at the throat, and with little billows of lace cascading down to the toes of her white Turkish slippers.
“Good-morning, cousin Eloise,” said the child, waiting for the message or order which she supposed to be forthcoming.
“Good-morning.” The girl cast a comprehensive glance around the rather bare room. Her eyes bore no traces of the tears so recently shed, but her face was sad. “I heard you singing,” she said.
“Yes. Did I disturb anybody?” asked the child quickly.
“No. It is nice to be like the birds that sing in the rain.”
“Like the robin out there,” returned Jewel, relieved. “Did you hear him?” She ran to the window and threw it open, listening a minute. “No, he has gone.”