"Bless my soul!" cried the lady. "Do you hear this child? And now, come to think of it, I don't know whether I am a lady or not—"
And the lady laughed until Bessie Bell felt quite shaken up.
"Or are you a Mama?" asked Bessie Bell, when it seemed that the lady was about to stop laughing.
"So that is it?" asked the lady, and she seemed about to begin laughing again.
"Yes, I am a Mama, and I have three little girls about as funny as you are."
Another time a lady passed by the cabin where Bessie Bell stood leaning against the little fluted white post of the gallery, and said:
"Good morning, Bessie Bell. I am Alice's Mama."
That made things so simple, thought Bessie Bell. This lady was a Mama. And she was Alice's Mama.
Bessie Bell wished that all would tell in that nice way at once whether they were Mamas or Just-Ladies.
The next lady who passed by the cabin also stopped to talk to Bessie Bell.