Notwithstanding her most earnest efforts to succeed in the undertaking, the spoon flew at an aggravating tangent across the room. In a frantic lurch to capture it she upset her cup, spilling into her lap the steaming tea.
In a moment Mrs. Sanderson was by her side.
"Dear child," she said, sympathetically, relieving the girl at once from her costly incumbrances. "I alone am to blame for offering you that stupid cup. Sid declares each time it is used that it shall be the last.
"You see," she added charmingly, "those miserable little feet, that look so secure when the cup is standing upon the saucer, have a malicious way of running away. They are just like the profligate dish that eloped with the spoon, when the cow jumped over the moon."
In a moment, Mariposilla had forgotten her embarrassment.
The lady took her at once to her bedroom, where she sponged away the stains, petting and reassuring the child until she glowed with happiness.
Soon Sidney came to say that our rooms were ready, urging us, as we withdrew, not to be late for dinner.
When we had unpacked our apparel, Mariposilla became at once absorbed in the delights of her toilet, speculating innocently, while she dressed, in regard to the mysteries of the cotillion, which she was to witness for the first time after dinner.
The cream and gold frock was joyfully assumed, and if possible the girl's pleasure was keener than upon the previous evening.