Yes, it was beautiful, the old home, with all its homely comforts, but Tibby had longed to try her wings in flight to seek other fields of enchantment.
By and by the little boy becomes restless and begs his mother to go and ride, fidgets and whimpers. Tibby wishes to amuse him, and looks at him longingly, until he comes and puts his small hands in her brown ones, and she tells him of the little singing toad in the tree-top, and of the twittering squirrels who make the elm their home, until his brown eyes grow heavy and he falls asleep in her arms. Then Tibby sits and feasts her eyes on the strange lady’s costume, a poem of harmony in color and fit,—though Tibby does not name it thus,—and feels the contrast between this lady’s attire and her own, marvels at the glittering jewels on her white fingers, and alas, in the girl’s heart, a dormant wild desire springs into active growth. She longs to go with this city-bred woman and have dainty boots and beautiful gowns.
Does the cry which she feels within herself reach the heart of the lady? Surely, surely her lips have not spoken, but the stranger lady, as if understanding her thought, says:
“What a nice way you have with children, my dear. I should like to have a girl like you to live with me and help me to look after Robert. You have done wonders with him. He is usually averse to strangers. How would you like to go home with me?�
“I should like it very much indeed,� she replies, with conviction.
“You have no mother, I believe you said,� the lady continues.
“Yes, a stepmother. The children are my half-brothers, except Tom and Bess. Our mother died when I was a little girl.�
“And what are you now?� asks the lady, smiling.
“Quite as large as you, I think,� Tibby says, with no intentional disrespect.
“That is true, but I suspect you are not quite so old.� And then the child tells her she is fourteen and does not have to go to school any more; and then—ah, Tibby heaves a sigh as she remembers the fluttering of her heart while Mrs. Wylie was talking with her husband, standing by the broken vehicle, and how she kept saying to herself, “I want to go! Take me! Take me!�