“And then Lucy Ann said, ‘Now run away, just as fast as you can, every single one of you;’ and she stamped her foot to make them run faster; so they picked up their axes and scampered off, and she was left alone. And then she walked around her garden twenty-seven times more, trying to think what she would plant in it.”
“And what did she, Polly Pepper?” demanded Van eagerly. “What did she plant in it?”
“Wait and see,” said Polly gayly. “Well, when she had got around the twenty-seventh time, she sat down quite tired out; and then she clapped her hands, and over the grass came running a little girl not much bigger than she was. ‘Go and bring the flower-basket,’ commanded Lucy Ann, ‘and be quick, Betserilda.’”
“What did she tell her to bring the flower-basket for?” asked little Dick, crowding into the centre of the group.
“Why, because she wanted to use it,” said Polly.
“And who was Betserilda?” asked Percy.
“Why, the girl she told to bring it,” said Jasper; “don’t you understand?”
“Oh!” said Percy.
“You see, Betsy’s name was really Betsy Amarilda,” said Polly; “but that was too long, for sometimes Lucy Ann was in quite a hurry, and so she always called her Betserilda.”
“Oh!” said Percy again.