A Litte Princess

o one who would have understood. It was, indeed, well for her that as she lay awake in the darkness her mind was forcibly distracted, now and then, by the strangeness of her surroundings.

she scarcely knew that she had a body at

kept whispering to hers

ailed aloud. Then there was something worse. This was certain scufflings and scratchings and squeakings in the walls and behind the skirting boards. She knew what they meant, because Becky had described them. They meant rats and mice who were either fighting with each other or playin

not come about gradually,

Minchin said to Miss Amelia. "She must

e passed its open door, showed her that everything had been changed. Her ornaments and luxuries

er seat at Miss Minchin's side was occupied by

dren at a smaller table. You must keep them quiet, and see that they behave well and do not

numberless directions. She could be sent on errands at any time and in all weathers. She could be told to do things other people neglected. The cook and the housemaids took their tone from Miss Minchin, and rather enjoyed ordering about

In her proud little heart she wanted them to see that she was trying to earn her living and not accepting charity. But the time came when she saw that no one was softened

she could be made more useful as a sort of little superior errand girl and maid of all work. An ordinary errand boy would not have been so clever and reliable. Sara could be tr

d busy days spent in running here and there at everybody's orders was she grudgingly allow

I am almost a scullery maid, and if I am a scullery maid who knows nothing, I shall be like poor Becky. I w

hem, she no longer seemed to be one of their number at all. She was kept so constantly at work that she scarcely ever had an opportunity of speaking to

l romantic stories about herself, she will become an ill-used heroine, and parents will be given a wrong impression. It is better that she sh

er-of-fact young people. They were accustomed to being rich and comfortable, and as Sara's frocks grew shorter and shabbier and queerer-looking, and it became an established fact that she wore shoes with holes in the

an object. And she's queerer than ever. I never liked her much, but I can't bear that w

s. "That's what I look at some people for. I lik

eeping her eye on Lavinia, who was quite ready to make mischief, and

s; she labored with the childish inattention of the little ones' French lessons; as she became shabbier and more forlorn-looking, she was told that she had

een her small, shut teeth, "I am not going to

d heart might almost have broken w

man creature. And during the nights that followed the sense of comfort grew. They had little chance to speak to each other during the day. Each had her own tasks to perform, and any attempt at conversation would have been regarded as a tendency

ara always heard the humble knock at her door which meant that her handmaid was ready to help her again if she was needed. During the first weeks of her grief Sara felt as if she were too st

was Ermengarde, but odd things happen

not be contested that Ermengarde was as dull as she was affectionate. She clung to Sara in a simple, helpless way; she brought her lessons to her that she might be helped; she listened to her every word and besieged her with reques

she met her for the first time she encountered her coming down a corridor with her arms full of garments which were to be taken downstairs to be mended. Sara herself h

somehow, she had never imagined Sara could look like this-- so odd and poor and almost like a servant. It made her quite miserable, and

ted upon the top of it to keep it steady. Something in the look of her straight-gazing eyes made Ermengarde lose her wits still more. She felt as if Sara had ch

mmered. "How

Sara replied.

Then spasmodically she thought of something to say which seemed m

her torn heart swelled within her, and she felt that if any

ou think I am very happy?" And she m

would have known that poor, dull Ermengarde was not to be blamed for her unready, awkward

ch had flashed upon her ha

ought. "She does not really want to

e other way, and Ermengarde felt too stiff and embarrassed to speak. Sometimes they nodde

ara thought, "I will keep out of her wa

arde was more stupid than ever, and that she looked listless and unhappy. She used to sit in the window-seat, huddled

ying for, Ermeng

ered Ermengarde, in a

rolled down the bridge of your nose and droppe

eed interfere." And she turned her plump back and to

our at which the pupils went to bed, and after that she had gone to her lessons in the lonely schoolroom. When

," she thought quickly, "but

ted to use, but in one of those belonging to the pupils' bedrooms. The someone was sitting upon the b

o startled that she was almost frigh

across the attic in her bedroom slippers, which were to

on't care-- I don't care a bit. Oh, Sara, please tell m

ionate and simple--so like the old Ermengarde who had asked her to be "best friends."

ought--you see, everything is differen

pened her we

u didn't want to talk to me. I didn't know what to d

ent. She saw she

chin does not want me to talk to the girls. Most of them don't want to talk

into each other's arms. It must be confessed that Sara's small black head lay for some minutes on the s

her knees with her arms, and Ermengarde rolled up in her shawl.

ouldn't live without you. I was nearly DEAD>. So tonight, when I was crying under the bedclot

e, now that trials have come, they have shown that I am NOT a nice child. I was afraid

ood in them," said

"But I suppose there MIGHT be good in things, even if we don'

d the attic with a rat

do you think you ca

oked ro

t, I can," she answered; "or if I

r her. It had not worked for her at all since her troubles

the Count of Monte Cristo in the dungeons of the Cha

ted. She remembered stories of the French Revolution which Sara had been able to f

glow came int

. I have been here for years and years--and years; and everybody has forgotten about me. Miss Minchin is the ja

garde, looking quit

" she said; "and it wi

at once enrap

at night, whenever it is safe, and hear the things you have made up i

ersity tries people, and mine has tr