Murfins went back to his cleaning.
“Well, I’ll be damned!” he cried. “Didn’t know the old girl had it in her. Just goes to prove that folks don’t always match their outsides! Yes, I’ll be damned! I’ll be damned a couple of times—maybe three!”
“Do you know how long I’ve wanted a little girl and never knew what it was I wanted?” Mrs. Theddon asked when her emotions permitted.
“No, ma’am,” the princess answered.
“It’s been a long, long time! God never sent me a little girl of my own—excepting my Dream Girl, dear.”
“Your Dream Girl?”
“Sometimes in dark nights I dreamed a little girl—somebody very like yourself, came to me—and——”
“Please don’t cry, Mrs. Theddon!”
“We’re going to be so happy, you and I! You must forget the Orphanage or that you ever knew it. You must try to believe you’ve lived with me always. You’re going to have pretty dresses and a beautiful room. You’re going to have all sorts of nice people to teach you and help you. And good times!—we’re going to have all sorts of parties and walks and travels together, you and I—and then some day—all I own will be yours—because you’re all I’ll have, all—I—have—now!”
“That will be awfully fine,” the little girl replied joyously.