“There was, no doubt, at first a distinct look of alarm, but she rose to the occasion. It might no doubt be possible to overawe this new and ferocious-looking being: at all events it would be well to try, or he might perhaps be open to a joke and be propitiated in that way! Some such thoughts were evidently in her mind, for first of all she stared at me with a frown, then made a deliciously dignified bow towards me, and then, almost before the bow was finished, stooped down, and drew her frock round her feet, saying, ‘Baby dot no legs!’ going off into a fit of decidedly forced laughter by way of carrying off her joke, should I prove too dense to see it.
“Well, it served her purpose: it was a kind of introduction, and it enabled her to get over the awkward moments of her first shyness and to reach the haven of granny’s chair. We were soon firm friends after that. I happened to have a watch ‘like daddy’s,’ which was an assurance of my respectability, and I openly and fervently admired a certain pair of little red shoes, and what lady can resist a well-timed compliment on her turn-out?
“After a short time spent in such polite conversation, it suddenly occurred to the little fairy that she was not doing her proper share towards entertaining the company. A little wriggle freed her from any restraining hands or inconvenient people, and she ran to the far end of the room. From this vantage ground she ran forward from time to time into the better-lit part at our end with all the anxiety to be well received of a born actress. The first ‘act’ consisted in her picking up her tiny skirts and walking on her toes, saying ‘Muddy, muddy! Baby’s feet wet!’ Then with a shriek of delight she rushed off, to come back the next minute waving her hands over her head and gazing solemnly upwards, saying, ‘Wind b’owing! Clouds and wind! Baby’s f’ightened!’ But this only lasted for a minute before she dashed off and returned declaring that she was another child, a little girl she had not seen more than once or twice, but whom she evidently desired to imitate.
“It is impossible to describe the effect produced upon me by this extraordinary performance by so young a child. Her rapid change of mood bewildered me: the mischievous laughter of one moment was so quickly followed by a look of wonder or terror or sadness, to be succeeded in its turn by a sudden scream of delight, that I felt as if I were watching something not altogether canny. It was really almost a relief when at last she buried her face in a friendly lap and cried for bed and ‘nanna.’
Baby’s Exit.
“Even then the rapid change of mood was not all over, for in the midst of her tears she was gathered into nurse’s comfortable arms, and as she left the room a decidedly pert little voice was heard to say, ‘Baby did c’y!’
“So I found out why my friends at the Vicarage, who knew my weakness for children, had asked me to tea, but I have never been able to analyse the exact impression left on my mind beyond that of a lovely and excited baby.”
CHAPTER VI
THE CHILD—ITS PLEASURES
Love and Happiness.