"My poor dear child," said my father, "I cannot accept your sacrifice, but
I shall always remember your thought of me; and in the meantime, if you
like, we can go and buy another Bible like yours that I, too, may read it.
How will that do?" At this Paula clapped her hands in delight, as she said,
"Indeed, that will be wonderful!"
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE SCHOOL-TEACHER AND HER BROTHER
"Lisita," said Paula to me one day on returning from school, "Mlle. Virtud was not in class this morning."
"That's all the same to me," I said with indifference, "except that if I had known that, I would have gone to school anyway in spite of my chilblains."
"Do they still hurt you so badly," Paula asked.
"Yes, quite a bit; but not so badly as yesterday, and it bores me terribly to stay at home alone. You see, Teresa makes me clean the spinach, and Catalina gives me a basketful of stockings to darn, and I think I'd rather go to school, especially if there is anything the matter with the teacher, even though my feet hurt worse than a toothache. Do you ever have chilblains?"
"No, I don't think I ever had them."
"Well," I said, "I always seem to be the one that gets something—something that's bad and horrible."
"I think that Mlle. Virtud is sick," continued Paula.