And they tore their hair,
And they made despair.
And I said I thought perhaps
I did not care."
"Do you like that song?" she said, opening her eyes wide at the man.
Yes, the man liked it very much, but she was not answering his question.
"I sang it that way because that way Miss Tyler sings. She shuts her eyes and opens her mouth, and screeches horrid; but I don't screech, I truly sing. Don't I truly sing? Don't you think I was a bird if you didn't see me? don't you, dwarf?"
The dwarf said he was not going to answer any more questions. The child fidgetted on her seat, sighed, said he was stupid, and finally resigned herself.
"I told you that last night!" she said again. "My mamma went to New York, and my papa, too. They leaved me alone after I told them not to. And I told them; I said if they did, then I would; and they would, and so I did. And so you see!"
She looked up suddenly at the man, and once more he winced and drew in his breath.