At the sound of her voice the child’s woolly head rolled over, and a smile of welcome radiated her tear-stained face.
“How is it that you are all alone?” asked Nathalie, taking out an orange from the basket; “where are Mother and Mammy?”
“Mamma went to de town, and Mammy—she’s doin’ de wash,” and then her eyes expanded with joy as she spied the orange.
The orange was soon demolished, and then, as Nathalie started to show her the two picture-books, she realized that Miss I Can confronted her again, for a sticky mouth and hands revealed the fact that she had an unpleasant task to perform. For a moment she hesitated, but quickly overcoming her disinclination, she plunged in, got a basin of water, and finding no wash-cloth, dipped her own dainty handkerchief in it, and amid sundry squeals and protests gave the little face and hands a good scrubbing.
This performed, the picture-books were brought forth and she was soon busy explaining the pictures to the pleased little girl. But this diversion she soon tired of and then came the cry, “Oh, Story Lady, won’t yo’ please tell me er story?”
“Why, I don’t think I know any now—” Nathalie had meant to look up a fairy book so as to be prepared, but the pleading look in the black eyes upturned to hers won its way and she said, “All right, I’ll see what I know? How would ‘The Babes in the Woods’ do?”
As this title was mentioned, a cry of protest came from the child, “No, I don’t want to hear about de woods. I’se afraid of de woods.”
“Of course you don’t, you poor little chickie,” answered Nathalie contritely, and then her face lightened up as a streak of sunshine at that moment glancing in the window proved an inspiration. So she began to tell about Sunshine Polly, who had been told that if she could get some sunshine in her heart she would always be happy, and how she forthwith set out for this golden country, and after many adventures found it. Indeed it proved to be a most beautiful place, with a king, very round and bright, and a lot of sunshine fairies flying all about throwing some of their sunny treasure into the eyes of every one they saw.
By the bright eyes watching her, Nathalie knew that she had made a good selection this time, and the story progressed. She told how Polly got the sunbeams, with a breathing spell every now and then to think up some more, and the cries, “Oh, dat’s a lubly story! Oh, I likes dat story!” But at last Polly returned from the land of sunshine with a crown of sunbeams on her head and a big bundle of it in her heart.
Nathalie smiled as she finished, for it seemed as if she too, had been to the sunshine land and had put some of it into Rosy’s little heart. “Ah, now I will get a chance to slip away,” she thought, picking up her basket as a prelude to her departure.