“Mr. MarkHam: I have been Very Wicked. I have made father and Mother wretched. I am sorry.
066Please don’t be Hard on Me, and Set every body against me, because My Mother would settle right down and be very Sick. I am only a Little girl, and a Big Man might let me go. I have taken the Things back to the Store. Also father has Paid for them. You may Want something some day, and do Wrong to get it, and Then you will know How good it is. R. Gildersleeve.”
“Mr. HamPshire: Please Not tell the folks that come into the Store what I did. I want a Chance to be good. If you Ever hear of my stealing again, Then you can tell, of course. R. Gildersleeve.”
And here is what they said:—
Mr. Gildersleeve (crying). “Here, mother, put this away. Never speak of it to her. Poor child, I did mean to whip her!”
Mrs. Gildersleeve (crying). “Bless her heart, Tom, this is true repentance! Our child will not soon forget this lesson. Let us be very good to her.”
Mr. Markham (laughing). “Young saucebox! But there’s true grit for you! Well, I don’t think I shall stoop to injure a child. Let it go. I’m quits with Tom now, and we’ll begin again even.”
Mr. Hampshire (laughing). “She’s a nice little 067dot, after all. I don’t see what possessed her. I’d like to show this to Maria; guess I won’t, though, for it is partly my business to keep the little name white.”
And none of them ever told. When Roxy was an old woman, she related to me the story herself. The name was kept white through life. Such a scrupulous, kindly, charitable old lady! The only strange thing about her was, that she never could eat anything flavored with cinnamon, or which had raisins in it.
