“No! It’s a baby!” and Nan whispered so shrilly that the teacher heard her and looked up in surprise.
“Nan Bobbsey! were you whispering?” asked Miss Riker.
“Ye—yes—yes’m—I—I was!” faltered Nan, realizing, too late, what she had done.
“What were you saying?” Miss Riker asked, not unkindly. “Was it about the lesson, Nan?”
“No’m. It was about—about the new baby at our house!”
“Oh, a new baby! That’s lovely!” and Miss Riker smiled. “But you shouldn’t whisper about it in school, Nan. When did the baby come?”
“Last night—in the rain. It was left on our doorstep in a basket—and I heard it cry. I thought it was a kitten—and it was a baby!”
There was a gasp of surprise from all the pupils in the room.
“Nan Bobbsey!” exclaimed Miss Riker, rather sternly, “are you making up a fairy story?”
“Oh, no!” exclaimed Nan. “It’s all true!” And she was allowed to tell the class what had happened. It was so unusual that Miss Riker forgot all about lessons, for which the boys and girls were very glad. And so the story of the abandoned baby was known all over the school at recess.