“Now kiss me, you darling, and come close—so we will not waken Bobbie. Let me see, this is going to be the story of the little girl who adopted a—mother! Yesterday it was Bobbie’s story of how a mother adopted a little boy. You remember, the mother had to have a baby to fill a big empty space, so she went to a house where some lost kiddies were and found just the one that fitted in and—and—but this is Ann’s story to-day!
“Once there was a little girl—a very dear and good little girl—who knew all about a mother, and how dear a mother was; because she had one who was obliged to go away—”
“For a right lil’ time?” Ann broke in.
“Of course,” Betty agreed, “a right little time; but the small girl thought, while she waited, that she would adopt a mother and not tell her about the other one, for fear she might not understand, and she’d teach the adopted mother how to be a real mother. And now one must remember all the things little girls do to—to adopted mothers. First—”
At this point Lynda entered the room, but Betty went on calmly:
“First, what do little girls do, Ann?”
“Teach them how to hold lil’ girls.”
“Splendid! What next?”
“Kiss them and cuddle them right close.”
“Exactly! Next?”