Her sister did not speak for a moment longer, then, “Lift up your skirt,” she said. Jennie obeyed, revealing her little bare legs.
Esther, drawing near, lifted her skirt also. Marian put down her dish and towel and knelt in front of the two for a closer inspection.
“Jennie,” she said finally, “Jennie, you are actually getting fat.”
“Is she?” questioned Esther. “She isn’t as fat as I.”
Marian took off Jennie’s jacket and inspected her arms. Delbert drew near, and Davie came up to pass his expert opinion on the subject. “You are getting fat,” repeated Marian.
And it was so. The little face was rosy, the cheeks were not hollow now, and the chin was not so pointed as it used to be. The little legs, though not so plump as those of Esther’s showing, were really and truly rounded out.
“Well,” said Delbert, “she hasn’t been sick, you know, not since we have been here, and we have been here ’most a year.”
“No,” said Marian, “she has not been sick. She has not even complained of feeling badly, as far as I can remember. Do you ever feel bad any more, Jennie?”
Jennie soberly examined her sensations for a moment.
“I feel hungry,” she said.