'Now, miss,' he said, turning to Rosalie, 'now's your time; only a penny, and none of them more than three feet high! Showing now! Showing now!'
Rosalie paid the money, and pressed eagerly into the show. The little people had just appeared, and were bowing and paying compliments to the company. But Mother Manikin was not there. Rosalie's eyes wandered up and down the show, and peered behind the curtain at the end, but Mother Manikin was nowhere to be seen. Rosalie could not watch the performance, so anxious was she to know if her dear little friend were within. At last the entertainment was over, and the giant and dwarfs shook hands with the company before ushering them out. Rosalie was the last to leave, and when the tall thin giant came up to her, she looked up timidly into his face and said—
'Please, sir, may I see Mother Manikin?'
'Who are you, my child?' said the giant majestically.
'I'm Rosalie, sir,—little Rosalie Joyce; don't you remember that Mother
Manikin sat up with my mother when she was ill?'
The child's lips quivered as she mentioned her mother.
'Oh dear me! yes, I remember it; of course I do,' said the giant.
'Of course, of course,' echoed the three little dwarfs.
'Then please will you take me to Mother Manikin?'
'With the greatest of pleasure, if she were here,' said the giant, with a bow; 'but the unfortunate part of the business is that she is not here!'