"You must not give that away, Miss Bunny," cried the man; "that is in my charge, and I cannot allow you to give it to a beggar;" and he tried to drag the bread from her hands.
"You nasty man! I will give it to him if I like," she screamed. "My papa always lets me do what I like, and you are only a servant—and I will give it;" and she struggled to get away from him. "I only put the water in your glasses for fun—but I'm very glad I did it—and I wish I had put dirty water in—and I wish—let me go—I'll tell papa, and he'll be very angry and—"
"Bunny," said a soft reproachful voice, "my dear child, what is the matter?" and Miss Kerr laid her hand gently upon the little girl's shoulder.
"That nasty Ashton won't let me give this loaf to a poor boy who is there begging," cried Bunny; "he's very hungry and I want—"
"Ashton is quite right, Bunny," said Miss Kerr gently; "give him back the loaf, dear. It is not yours, so you have no right to give it away. Have you no money of your own to give the boy?"
"No, I have not," cried Bunny bursting into tears, "and I am sure papa would not mind my giving the loaf away—he never does. Ashton's a nasty, cross old thing;" and she flung the loaf on the floor.
"Ashton is only doing his duty, Bunny, and you must not speak in that way."
"Well, I wish he wouldn't do his duty then," sobbed the little girl; "it's a great shame of him to do his duty, when I tell him not."
"Come, now, dear, dry your eyes and give this to the poor boy," said Miss Kerr kindly; "see, I will lend you threepence to give to him, and when your papa gives you some pocket-money you can repay me. The boy will like the money better than the bread, I daresay, and you will feel that you are giving something that is really your own."
"Oh, thank you, thank you!" cried Bunny with delight, her tears drying up in an instant. "You are good! You are kind!" and throwing her arms round Miss Kerr's neck she kissed her over and over again; then seizing the pennies she flew to the door, and handing them to the boy said in a subdued voice: "Here, boy, a good lady gave me these pennies for you. I am a greedy little girl and spend all my own money on sweets, but I'll save up and pay Miss Kerr back very soon."