"No," said Nellie, "you'd only be all wet and muddy, and then you'd be sick."
Daisy sighed.
"Oh, I do want a birdie so," she said. "I'd love my birdie more'n my white mice; oh! a great deal more. Nellie, if I was a birdie, or a white mouse, would you love me the most?"
"I'd love you whatever you were," said Nellie, turning to kiss the sweet, dimpled cheek beside her: "I couldn't help it."
"If I was an ugly bug crawling about, would you love me?" questioned Daisy.
Nellie laughed.
"Yes, I'd try to," she answered.
"Nellie, if I was that ugly bug crawling about, would you smash me?"
"Not if you were not doing any harm," said Nellie. "That would be cruel."
"I'm glad," said Daisy, with unmistakable signs of relief in the assurance. "I wouldn't like my sister to smash me even if I was a bug. Nellie, mamma said God sometimes made people sorry 'cause He thought it was good for 'em to make 'em better: does He send bugs and spiders 'cause it is good for 'em too, and birdies just to make 'em glad?"