"I do not want any breakfast," she pouted.
"But it is very nice, and you can have the oysters to-morrow morning," urged Violet.
"I want them now. Mary, send John for them at once, and then have them cooked immediately," the child commanded, arbitrarily.
"But, miss, it would take a long time, and you would be half famished before you got your breakfast," remonstrated Mary.
"I don't care; I will have them!" Bertha insisted, passionately.
"No, dear, not this morning," Violet said, kindly, but firmly, and thinking it best to take matters into her own hands and settle them once for all. "Mary, roll Miss Bertha's chair to the table, and we will eat what we have."
The girl turned to obey, but Bertha struck at her, saying that she was to be let alone; she would not have any breakfast.
Violet thought a moment; then, with a significant glance at the servant, she said, quietly:
"Very well, Mary; if Miss Bertha does not care to eat, of course she need not. I will, however, have my breakfast now, as this nice chicken will be getting cold. You may pour out a cup of coffee for me, if you please."
She seated herself at the table and began to help herself to the various viands, and entirely ignoring the presence of the sulky girl on the other side of the room.