"Yes. And such lovely hair and eyes! She is beautiful! We will call her 'Rose,'" and the little invalid looked at the doll with admiring eyes, and gently smoothed the amber gown.
When breakfast was over Maggie started for school, and Mrs. Blundell was obliged to go out to take her work to the business-house that employed her; and for the first time in her life the time Annie spent alone did not seem very long. She lay back in bed, feeling perfectly happy and contented, talking to her doll, which she held in her weak arms, and every now and again pressing tender kisses on the blooming cheeks.
"Let us 'make believe,'" she whispered. "We are in a palace, a beautiful palace made of white marble, and the walls are shining with diamonds, and there is a grand feast for every one, and there are flowers everywhere! The King is having a party, and nobody is cold or hungry, because the King is so good and wise, he won't allow people to be unhappy or want for anything. It is warm, and oh, so comfortable! The King has asked us to sit by the fire with a lot of other little children, and we can feel the heat!"
The child paused, and shivered involuntarily, awakening suddenly to the reality; but in a minute she smiled, and continued to "make believe."
Meanwhile, the wintry sunshine was peeping through the tiny window; the mist was clearing, and in the streets people were remarking that there was a promise of a real old-fashioned Christmas.
Jim Blewett as he sat at his breakfast table looked at the sunshine, and smiled.
"The weather is going to change," he remarked to his landlady as she placed his fried bacon in front of him; indeed, "it has changed already. There's a more cheerful outlook this morning."
"Yes," she assented, "I expect we shall have a spell of real cold now. God help the poor folk if we do!"
"It will be healthier than all the damp we've been having, Mrs. Metherell."
"Maybe, but it'll be a deal more trying for the poor. You don't know London like I do, sir, or you'd know that!"