An hour afterwards Mrs. Corder carried her up a cup of tea and a round of toast, and setting these refreshments down upon a little stand, she dropped into the nearest chair to recover her breath, and said:
“Now, for the future, my dear, you will come down and take your meals with me. I have adopted you, and so you are to be my daughter, unless some of your kinsfolk should come forward and take you away from me; which I hope they won’t, unless they can do much better for you than I can.”
Annella spoke no word of thanks, but arose and knelt down by the side of the good mother, and raised her fat hand to her pale lips, and kissed it fervently.
“There, child, there; do get up and drink your tea, I aint a image to be knelt down afore, nor likewise a sovring Queen to have my hand kissed. But if you are fond of old women, and do want to be petted, why here, then,” said the affectionate creature, raising the girl, and drawing her slight form to her own motherly bosom.
“There, now drink your tea while it is hot, and then go right to bed, and get a good night’s rest. And mind to-morrow morning come down and take your breakfast with me at eight o’clock,” said the good woman, releasing the orphan.
And then, as Mrs. Corder was much too busy to indulge in sentiment, she arose and bade Annella good-night, and left her to repose.
“And now I’ll just look in and see how my other girl does. I might as well own up to having fifteen children at once, for this beautiful creature needs a mother’s care as much as any of the others,” said Mrs. Corder to herself, as on her way down stairs she paused before Eudora’s door and rapped.
Being requested to enter, she put her head in at the door, saying:
“I just looked in upon you to see if you required anything, and to say that you needn’t trouble your tender heart any longer about Miss Nella. She’s having her tea, and is going to bed presently. She’ll do very well for the present. I have adopted her.”
“You should really be at the head of an orphan asylum, Mrs. Corder,” said Eudora, looking up from her book.