"I never lived on the desert before, and I hate it, hate it, hate it! Almost as bad as I do Dad! I ain't crying, and I ain't mad—at you." Tabitha lifted her head and the other child saw two very bright, black, beautiful eyes in the thin tanned face, but the tears she expected to see were not there.
They sat and stared at each other in silence a moment and then the strange girl said, "My name is Carrie Carson. What's yours?"
"Theodora Marcella Gabrielle Julianna Victoria Emeline Catt."
Carrie gasped. So did Tabitha, but for a different reason. Carrie was amazed at the length of the name and the ease with which its owner spoke it. Tabitha was astonished to think the idea of dropping her own obnoxious name and adopting a new one had never occurred to her before. No thought of deception ever entered her mind; she merely hated "Tabitha" with all the strength of her passionate nature; she had found a name that filled her with delight; she had adopted it at first in play, but it had become very real to her, and now as she spoke the words that were so beautiful to her, it seemed as if they belonged to her.
"How do you ever remember them all?" asked Carrie. "Must people use that whole long name when they speak to you?"
"Not unless they want to," answered Tabitha with restored composure. "Theodora Gabrielle is enough."
"Well, Theodora Gabrielle, have you got any sisters?"
"No, only one brother, To— Dionysius Ulysses Humphrey Llewelyn."
"My! what long names you do have in your family! Will you say it again, please? I couldn't quite make it out."
So Tabitha repeated the words slowly, adding, "I always call him all of them, but he would just as soon folks would call him Ulysses. He was named after General Grant who fought in the Civil War. To— Dionysius Ulysses Humphrey Llewelyn taught me how to read, 'cause we move so much that sometimes we miss a lot of school, and I've gone clear through the United States history. Have you?"