"No. I had just my dear grandfather."
"Then you know how lonely I am, mother. It's pretty hard to be a little girl and all alone."
"Do you think you are alone, little daughter, when you have father, and aunt Carla, and mother?"
"But you are big, mother, don't you see? When a little girl hasn't any other little boys and girls to play with, the world's a pretty lonesome place."
The mother sighed.
The child rested her chin in her dainty hands, and looked up through her long lashes into her mother's eyes.
"I have been thinking, mother."
The child was given to confidences, especially with her mother.
"What did you think, Edith?" The mother smiled encouragingly.
"I thought I'd pray for a brother."