“What is she saying?”
“She is saying: ‘Come and look at my first egg of the season. It is very beautiful. The shell is of the palest brown, like coffee ice-cream. It is very beautiful. Look at it, all ye hens who have laid nothing. It is very beautiful—of palest brown, like coffee ice-cream.’”
Diana had one of her ill turns, just before Christmas; and the poor little girl had to spend Christmas in bed. She was much better when the day came, but her father said she must not get up, but that she could see Peggy and Alice for a little while in the afternoon.
The children had hung their stockings up the night before, and they had been surprised and delighted with their presents. Peggy wanted to take them up to show to Diana.
“But there are such a lot of them,” Alice protested, “and some of them are so big.”
“We can wear up the furs and stocking-caps and mittens,” said Peggy, “and we can put the other things in a basket and carry them up on our new sled. She’d love to see her namesake.”
“I’m not going to take Diana out in such slippery walking,” said Alice, “she might get a fall and break her head.”
“As you please,” said Peggy; “but I know if I liked a person well enough to name a child after her, I’d take her up the first minute, slippery or not.”
“You might,” said Alice, “but I’m not going to. She is my child, and she’s very breakable.”
“Well, anyway, I am going to take Diana a Christmas egg, breakable or not.”