Of course a girl must eat sufficient food, and must brush her hair and take care of her nails, and all those little things—everybody knows that. But the main things, beside food, the things, too, that some little girls fail in, are air, sunshine, water and smiles. Elsie had all 7 these and therefore she looked clean and fresh and pretty.
She had on a dress too, naturally, but I don’t know just what kind of a one it was, for that is a small matter compared with the body itself. I think it was some kind of a calico, made for vacation frolicing, for Elsie was a city girl staying in the country for the summer, and almost anything was good enough for that.
So Elsie, fresh and clean, dancing and singing up the lane, swinging her pail of crystal water, the loveliest sight in the whole lovely landscape, came in view of the house where they were staying. And no sooner had she caught a glimpse of her mother on the porch than, eager to tell her funny experience, she ran forward in pleasant excitement, crying out: 8
“Oh, mamma! Such a queer thing—Oh, Oh, it was an engine, the biggest, biggest you ever saw—and—and it stepped on my nose—I mean it was only a bumble-bee and—it—it almost ran right over me—”
“Isn’t my little girl somewhat mixed in her speech!” smiled her mother as Elsie paused for breath.
“I—I guess I—I am!” Elsie faltered. “But then, I’m so excited!”
“Yes, you are excited,” smiled her mother, putting her arm around her shoulders and walking with her to the kitchen. “And when you are calm you may tell me all about it.”
So Elsie carried the pail of water to the sink and set it on its shelf. And when she had worked off her surplus energy in this way she felt sober enough to tell 9 her story clearly, and she did so, snuggled in her mother’s arms in the hammock on the porch. She finished by saying:
“Wasn’t that a funny thing, mamma, that I should dream that the bumble-bee was an engine just going to run over me!”
Then the really important part of the story began. Her mother answered: