[VII.]
A NEW FRIEND.
ONE morning Bessie was sitting on a large rock on the beach, looking at the waves as they rolled up, one after another, and listening to the pleasant sound they made. The other children and Jane were playing a little way off.
Presently a lady and gentleman came walking slowly along the beach. The gentleman used crutches, for he had only one foot. They stopped at the rock where Bessie sat, and the lady said, "You had better sit down, Horace, you have walked far enough."
The gentleman sat down beside Bessie, who looked at him for a minute and then got up.
"I'll sit on that other stone," she said, "and then there'll be room for the lady: that is big enough for me."
"Thank you, dear," said the lady; and the gentleman said, "Well, you are a polite little girl."
Bessie liked his looks, but it made her sorry to see that he had only one foot. She sat opposite to him looking at him very gravely; and he looked back at her, but with a smile. Now that Bessie had given up her seat to the strangers, she felt they were her company and she must entertain them, so she began to talk.
"Is your foot pretty well, sir?" she said.