“Never mind, Dot,” Tess said, trying to be very brave, “Ruthie and Aggie and the rest can’t be far away.”
“But why did they go off and leave us behind?” wailed the little girl. “And—and—I ache!”
“Where do you ache, dear?” asked the sympathetic Tess.
“In—in that funny bone that goes up and down my back,” sobbed Dot.
“Funny-bone! Why, Dot!” cried Tess, “that isn’t in your back. Your funny-bone is in your elbow.”
“I guess I know where I hurt, Tess Kenway!” responded Dot, indignantly. “And it isn’t in my elbow. It’s that long, straight bone in my back I’m talking about. You know, Tess—your head sits on one end of it and you sit on the other. And it’s all—just—one—big—ache——So there!” and she cried again.
“Now, I tell you what, Dot Kenway,” said Tess, briskly. “There’s one thing never does any good—not when your folks is lost from you.”
“Wha—what’s that?” choked the smallest Corner House girl.
“Crying,” the older sister said, firmly.
“We—ell,” sniffed Dot.