“But now you must run, my dear, for I am so busy that if I stop to talk to you I shall never finish what I have to do. I wish you would go up in the nursery, and see if the children are all right. Maria is so busy helping me that she has no time to look after them.”
Alice went up stairs, resolving that she would take care of the children all the afternoon. “I cannot pack the trunks,” she said,
“but I can help by giving the others time to do it.”
She found beside her little sister Janet and brother Harry, Pauline and Charley Roberts there. The children had found a box of paints, and had been amusing themselves by making pictures of each other. They were in a great state of merriment over their last performance when Alice opened the door and walked in.
“Why don’t you paint something really nice?” said she. “I have some pictures in my room, and you can draw any one which you will select. Now, wait a minute till I bring you some.”