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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sara Crewe, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Sara Crewe
+       or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's
+
+Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
+
+Release Date: March 7, 2008 [EBook #24772]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SARA CREWE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Colin Bell, Andrew Wainwright, Joseph Cooper
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                              SARA CREWE
+
+                                  OR
+
+                   WHAT HAPPENED AT MISS MINCHIN'S
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "SHE LAID HER DOLL, EMILY, ACROSS HER KNEES, AND PUT HER
+FACE DOWN UPON HER, AND HER ARMS AROUND HER, AND SAT THERE, NOT SAYING
+ONE WORD, NOT MAKING ONE SOUND."]
+
+
+
+
+                              SARA CREWE
+
+                                  OR
+
+                   WHAT HAPPENED AT MISS MINCHIN'S
+
+                                  BY
+
+                       FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT
+
+                               NEW YORK
+                       CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
+                                 1891
+
+                         COPYRIGHT, 1888, BY
+                       CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.
+
+                       [_All rights reserved._]
+
+                     Press of J. J. Little & Co.,
+                        Astor Place, New York.
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+FROM DRAWINGS BY REGINALD B. BIRCH.
+
+"She laid her doll, Emily, across her knees, and put her face down upon
+her, and her arms around her, and sat there, not saying one word, not
+making one sound."                                           Frontispiece.
+
+"She slowly advanced into the parlor, clutching her doll."         Page 15
+
+"Eat it," said Sara, "and you will not be so hungry."               "   41
+
+"He was waiting for his Master to come out to the carriage, and Sara
+stopped and spoke a few words to him."                              "   49
+
+"The monkey seemed much interested in her remarks."                 "   63
+
+"He drew her small, dark head down upon his knee and stroked her
+hair."                                                              "   79
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                             SARA CREWE;
+
+                                 OR,
+
+                   WHAT HAPPENED AT MISS MINCHIN'S.
+
+
+In the first place, Miss Minchin lived in London. Her home was a large,
+dull, tall one, in a large, dull square, where all the houses were
+alike, and all the sparrows were alike, and where all the door-knockers
+made the same heavy sound, and on still days--and nearly all the days
+were still--seemed to resound through the entire row in which the knock
+was knocked. On Miss Minchin's door there was a brass plate. On the
+brass plate there was inscribed in black letters,
+
+              +----------------------------------------+
+              |                                        |
+              |             MISS MINCHIN'S             |
+              |                                        |
+              |   SELECT SEMINARY FOR YOUNG LADIES.    |
+              |                                        |
+              +----------------------------------------+
+
+Little Sara Crewe never went in or out of the house without reading
+that door-plate and reflecting upon it. By the time she was twelve, she
+had decided that all her trouble arose because, in the first place, she
+was not "Select," and in the second, she was not a "Young Lady." When
+she was eight years old, she had been brought to Miss Minchin as a
+pupil, and left with her. Her papa had brought her all the way from
+India. Her mamma had died when she was a baby, and her papa had kept her
+with him as long as he could. And then, finding the hot climate was
+making her very delicate, he had brought her to England and left her
+with Miss Minchin, to be part of the Select Seminary for Young Ladies.
+Sara, who had always been a sharp little child, who remembered things,
+recollected hearing him say that he had not a relative in the world whom
+he knew of, and so he was obliged to place her at a boarding-school, and
+he had heard Miss Minchin's establishment spoken of very highly. The
+same day, he took Sara out and bought her a great many beautiful
+clothes--clothes so grand and rich that only a very young and
+inexperienced man would have bought them for a mite of a child who was
+to be brought up in a boarding-school. But the fact was that he was a
+rash, innocent young man, and very sad at the thought of parting with
+his little girl, who was all he had left to remind him of her beautiful
+mother, whom he had dearly loved. And he wished her to have everything
+the most fortunate little girl could have; and so, when the polite
+saleswomen in the shops said, "Here is our very latest thing in hats,
+the plumes are exactly the same as those we sold to Lady Diana Sinclair
+yesterday," he immediately bought what was offered to him, and paid
+whatever was asked. The consequence was that Sara had a most
+extraordinary wardrobe. Her dresses were silk and velvet and India
+cashmere, her hats and bonnets were covered with bows and plumes, her
+small undergarments were adorned with real lace, and she returned in the
+cab to Miss Minchin's with a doll almost as large as herself, dressed
+quite as grandly as herself, too.
+
+Then her papa gave Miss Minchin some money and went away, and for
+several days Sara would neither touch the doll, nor her breakfast, nor
+her dinner, nor her tea, and would do nothing but crouch in a small
+corner by the window and cry. She cried so much, indeed, that she made
+herself ill. She was a queer little child, with old-fashioned ways and
+strong feelings, and she had adored her papa, and could not be made to
+think that India and an interesting bungalow were not better for her
+than London and Miss Minchin's Select Seminary. The instant she had
+entered the house, she had begun promptly to hate Miss Minchin, and to
+think little of Miss Amelia Minchin, who was smooth and dumpy, and
+lisped, and was evidently afraid of her older sister. Miss Minchin was
+tall, and had large, cold, fishy eyes, and large, cold hands, which
+seemed fishy, too, because they were damp and made chills run down
+Sara's back when they touched her, as Miss Minchin pushed her hair off
+her forehead and said:
+
+"A most beautiful and promising little girl, Captain Crewe. She will be
+a favorite pupil; _quite_ a favorite pupil, I see."
+
+For the first year she was a favorite pupil; at least she was indulged
+a great deal more than was good for her. And when the Select Seminary
+went walking, two by two, she was always decked out in her grandest
+clothes, and led by the hand, at the head of the genteel procession, by
+Miss Minchin herself. And when the parents of any of the pupils came,
+she was always dressed and called into the parlor with her doll; and she
+used to hear Miss Minchin say that her father was a distinguished Indian
+officer, and she would be heiress to a great fortune. That her father
+had inherited a great deal of money, Sara had heard before; and also
+that some day it would be hers, and that he would not remain long in the
+army, but would come to live in London. And every time a letter came,
+she hoped it would say he was coming, and they were to live together
+again.
+
+But about the middle of the third year a letter came bringing very
+different news. Because he was not a business man himself, her papa had
+given his affairs into the hands of a friend he trusted. The friend had
+deceived and robbed him. All the money was gone, no one knew exactly
+where, and the shock was so great to the poor, rash young officer, that,
+being attacked by jungle fever shortly afterward, he had no strength to
+rally, and so died, leaving Sara with no one to take care of her.
+
+Miss Minchin's cold and fishy eyes had never looked so cold and fishy as
+they did when Sara went into the parlor, on being sent for, a few days
+after the letter was received.
+
+No one had said anything to the child about mourning, so, in her
+old-fashioned way, she had decided to find a black dress for herself,
+and had picked out a black velvet she had outgrown, and came into the
+room in it, looking the queerest little figure in the world, and a sad
+little figure too. The dress was too short and too tight, her face was
+white, her eyes had dark rings around them, and her doll, wrapped in a
+piece of old black crape, was held under her arm. She was not a pretty
+child. She was thin, and had a weird, interesting little face, short
+black hair, and very large, green-gray eyes fringed all around with
+heavy black lashes.
+
+"I am the ugliest child in the school," she had said once, after staring
+at herself in the glass for some minutes.
+
+But there had been a clever, good-natured little French teacher who had
+said to the music-master:
+
+"Zat leetle Crewe. Vat a child! A so ogly beauty! Ze so large eyes! ze
+so little spirituelle face. Waid till she grow up. You shall see!"
+
+This morning, however, in the tight, small black frock, she looked
+thinner and odder than ever, and her eyes were fixed on Miss Minchin
+with a queer steadiness as she slowly advanced into the parlor,
+clutching her doll.
+
+[Illustration: "SHE SLOWLY ADVANCED INTO THE PARLOR, CLUTCHING HER
+DOLL."]
+
+"Put your doll down!" said Miss Minchin.
+
+"No," said the child, "I won't put her down; I want her with me. She is
+all I have. She has stayed with me all the time since my papa died."
+
+She had never been an obedient child. She had had her own way ever since
+she was born, and there was about her an air of silent determination
+under which Miss Minchin had always felt secretly uncomfortable. And
+that lady felt even now that perhaps it would be as well not to insist
+on her point. So she looked at her as severely as possible.
+
+"You will have no time for dolls in future," she said; "you will have to
+work and improve yourself, and make yourself useful."
+
+Sara kept the big odd eyes fixed on her teacher and said nothing.
+
+"Everything will be very different now," Miss Minchin went on. "I sent
+for you to talk to you and make you understand. Your father is dead. You
+have no friends. You have no money. You have no home and no one to take
+care of you."
+
+The little pale olive face twitched nervously, but the green-gray eyes
+did not move from Miss Minchin's, and still Sara said nothing.
+
+"What are you staring at?" demanded Miss Minchin sharply. "Are you so
+stupid you don't understand what I mean? I tell you that you are quite
+alone in the world, and have no one to do anything for you, unless I
+choose to keep you here."
+
+The truth was, Miss Minchin was in her worst mood. To be suddenly
+deprived of a large sum of money yearly and a show pupil, and to find
+herself with a little beggar on her hands, was more than she could bear
+with any degree of calmness.
+
+"Now listen to me," she went on, "and remember what I say. If you work
+hard and prepare to make yourself useful in a few years, I shall let you
+stay here. You are only a child, but you are a sharp child, and you pick
+up things almost without being taught. You speak French very well, and
+in a year or so you can begin to help with the younger pupils. By the
+time you are fifteen you ought to be able to do that much at least."
+
+"I can speak French better than you, now," said Sara; "I always spoke it
+with my papa in India." Which was not at all polite, but was painfully
+true; because Miss Minchin could not speak French at all, and, indeed,
+was not in the least a clever person. But she was a hard, grasping
+business woman; and, after the first shock of disappointment, had seen
+that at very little expense to herself she might prepare this clever,
+determined child to be very useful to her and save her the necessity of
+paying large salaries to teachers of languages.
+
+"Don't be impudent, or you will be punished," she said. "You will have
+to improve your manners if you expect to earn your bread. You are not a
+parlor boarder now. Remember that if you don't please me, and I send you
+away, you have no home but the street. You can go now."
+
+Sara turned away.
+
+"Stay," commanded Miss Minchin, "don't you intend to thank me?"
+
+Sara turned toward her. The nervous twitch was to be seen again in her
+face, and she seemed to be trying to control it.
+
+"What for?" she said.
+
+"For my kindness to you," replied Miss Minchin. "For my kindness in
+giving you a home."
+
+Sara went two or three steps nearer to her. Her thin little chest was
+heaving up and down, and she spoke in a strange, unchildish voice.
+
+"You are not kind," she said. "You are not kind." And she turned again
+and went out of the room, leaving Miss Minchin staring after her
+strange, small figure in stony anger.
+
+The child walked up the staircase, holding tightly to her doll; she
+meant to go to her bedroom, but at the door she was met by Miss Amelia.
+
+"You are not to go in there," she said. "That is not your room now."
+
+"Where is my room?" asked Sara.
+
+"You are to sleep in the attic next to the cook."
+
+Sara walked on. She mounted two flights more, and reached the door of
+the attic room, opened it and went in, shutting it behind her. She stood
+against it and looked about her. The room was slanting-roofed and
+whitewashed; there was a rusty grate, an iron bedstead, and some odd
+articles of furniture, sent up from better rooms below, where they had
+been used until they were considered to be worn out. Under the skylight
+in the roof, which showed nothing but an oblong piece of dull gray sky,
+there was a battered old red footstool.
+
+Sara went to it and sat down. She was a queer child, as I have said
+before, and quite unlike other children. She seldom cried. She did not
+cry now. She laid her doll, Emily, across her knees, and put her face
+down upon her, and her arms around her, and sat there, her little black
+head resting on the black crape, not saying one word, not making one
+sound.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+From that day her life changed entirely. Sometimes she used to feel as
+if it must be another life altogether, the life of some other child. She
+was a little drudge and outcast; she was given her lessons at odd times
+and expected to learn without being taught; she was sent on errands by
+Miss Minchin, Miss Amelia and the cook. Nobody took any notice of her
+except when they ordered her about. She was often kept busy all day and
+then sent into the deserted school-room with a pile of books to learn
+her lessons or practise at night. She had never been intimate with the
+other pupils, and soon she became so shabby that, taking her queer
+clothes together with her queer little ways, they began to look upon her
+as a being of another world than their own. The fact was that, as a
+rule, Miss Minchin's pupils were rather dull, matter-of-fact young
+people, accustomed to being rich and comfortable; and Sara, with her
+elfish cleverness, her desolate life, and her odd habit of fixing her
+eyes upon them and staring them out of countenance, was too much for
+them.
+
+"She always looks as if she was finding you out," said one girl, who was
+sly and given to making mischief. "I am," said Sara promptly, when she
+heard of it. "That's what I look at them for. I like to know about
+people. I think them over afterward."
+
+She never made any mischief herself or interfered with any one. She
+talked very little, did as she was told, and thought a great deal.
+Nobody knew, and in fact nobody cared, whether she was unhappy or happy,
+unless, perhaps, it was Emily, who lived in the attic and slept on the
+iron bedstead at night. Sara thought Emily understood her feelings,
+though she was only wax and had a habit of staring herself. Sara used to
+talk to her at night.
+
+"You are the only friend I have in the world," she would say to her.
+"Why don't you say something? Why don't you speak? Sometimes I am sure
+you could, if you would try. It ought to make you try, to know you are
+the only thing I have. If I were you, I should try. Why don't you try?"
+
+It really was a very strange feeling she had about Emily. It arose from
+her being so desolate. She did not like to own to herself that her only
+friend, her only companion, could feel and hear nothing. She wanted to
+believe, or to pretend to believe, that Emily understood and sympathized
+with her, that she heard her even though she did not speak in answer.
+She used to put her in a chair sometimes and sit opposite to her on the
+old red footstool, and stare at her and think and pretend about her
+until her own eyes would grow large with something which was almost like
+fear, particularly at night, when the garret was so still, when the only
+sound that was to be heard was the occasional squeak and scurry of rats
+in the wainscot. There were rat-holes in the garret, and Sara detested
+rats, and was always glad Emily was with her when she heard their
+hateful squeak and rush and scratching. One of her "pretends" was that
+Emily was a kind of good witch and could protect her. Poor little Sara!
+everything was "pretend" with her. She had a strong imagination; there
+was almost more imagination than there was Sara, and her whole forlorn,
+uncared-for child-life was made up of imaginings. She imagined and
+pretended things until she almost believed them, and she would scarcely
+have been surprised at any remarkable thing that could have happened. So
+she insisted to herself that Emily understood all about her troubles and
+was really her friend.
+
+"As to answering," she used to say, "I don't answer very often. I never
+answer when I can help it. When people are insulting you, there is
+nothing so good for them as not to say a word--just to look at them and
+_think_. Miss Minchin turns pale with rage when I do it. Miss Amelia
+looks frightened, so do the girls. They know you are stronger than they
+are, because you are strong enough to hold in your rage and they are
+not, and they say stupid things they wish they hadn't said afterward.
+There's nothing so strong as rage, except what makes you hold it
+in--that's stronger. It's a good thing not to answer your enemies. I
+scarcely ever do. Perhaps Emily is more like me than I am like myself.
+Perhaps she would rather not answer her friends, even. She keeps it all
+in her heart."
+
+But though she tried to satisfy herself with these arguments, Sara did
+not find it easy. When, after a long, hard day, in which she had been
+sent here and there, sometimes on long errands, through wind and cold
+and rain; and, when she came in wet and hungry, had been sent out again
+because nobody chose to remember that she was only a child, and that her
+thin little legs might be tired, and her small body, clad in its
+forlorn, too small finery, all too short and too tight, might be
+chilled; when she had been given only harsh words and cold, slighting
+looks for thanks; when the cook had been vulgar and insolent; when Miss
+Minchin had been in her worst moods, and when she had seen the girls
+sneering at her among themselves and making fun of her poor, outgrown
+clothes--then Sara did not find Emily quite all that her sore, proud,
+desolate little heart needed as the doll sat in her little old chair and
+stared.
+
+One of these nights, when she came up to the garret cold, hungry, tired,
+and with a tempest raging in her small breast, Emily's stare seemed so
+vacant, her sawdust legs and arms so limp and inexpressive, that Sara
+lost all control over herself.
+
+"I shall die presently!" she said at first.
+
+Emily stared.
+
+"I can't bear this!" said the poor child, trembling. "I know I shall
+die. I'm cold, I'm wet, I'm starving to death. I've walked a thousand
+miles to-day, and they have done nothing but scold me from morning until
+night. And because I could not find that last thing they sent me for,
+they would not give me any supper. Some men laughed at me because my old
+shoes made me slip down in the mud. I'm covered with mud now. And they
+laughed! Do you _hear_!"
+
+She looked at the staring glass eyes and complacent wax face, and
+suddenly a sort of heart-broken rage seized her. She lifted her little
+savage hand and knocked Emily off the chair, bursting into a passion of
+sobbing.
+
+"You are nothing but a doll!" she cried. "Nothing but a
+doll--doll--doll! You care for nothing. You are stuffed with sawdust.
+You never had a heart. Nothing could ever make you feel. You are a
+_doll_!"
+
+Emily lay upon the floor, with her legs ignominiously doubled up over
+her head, and a new flat place on the end of her nose; but she was still
+calm, even dignified.
+
+Sara hid her face on her arms and sobbed. Some rats in the wall began to
+fight and bite each other, and squeak and scramble. But, as I have
+already intimated, Sara was not in the habit of crying. After a while
+she stopped, and when she stopped she looked at Emily, who seemed to be
+gazing at her around the side of one ankle, and actually with a kind of
+glassy-eyed sympathy. Sara bent and picked her up. Remorse overtook her.
+
+"You can't help being a doll," she said, with a resigned sigh, "any more
+than those girls downstairs can help not having any sense. We are not
+all alike. Perhaps you do your sawdust best."
+
+None of Miss Minchin's young ladies were very remarkable for being
+brilliant; they were select, but some of them were very dull, and some
+of them were fond of applying themselves to their lessons. Sara, who
+snatched her lessons at all sorts of untimely hours from tattered and
+discarded books, and who had a hungry craving for everything readable,
+was often severe upon them in her small mind. They had books they never
+read; she had no books at all. If she had always had something to read,
+she would not have been so lonely. She liked romances and history and
+poetry; she would read anything. There was a sentimental housemaid in
+the establishment who bought the weekly penny papers, and subscribed to
+a circulating library, from which she got greasy volumes containing
+stories of marquises and dukes who invariably fell in love with
+orange-girls and gypsies and servant-maids, and made them the proud
+brides of coronets; and Sara often did parts of this maid's work so that
+she might earn the privilege of reading these romantic histories. There
+was also a fat, dull pupil, whose name was Ermengarde St. John, who was
+one of her resources. Ermengarde had an intellectual father who, in his
+despairing desire to encourage his daughter, constantly sent her
+valuable and interesting books, which were a continual source of grief
+to her. Sara had once actually found her crying over a big package of
+them.
+
+"What is the matter with you?" she asked her, perhaps rather
+disdainfully.
+
+And it is just possible she would not have spoken to her, if she had not
+seen the books. The sight of books always gave Sara a hungry feeling,
+and she could not help drawing near to them if only to read their
+titles.
+
+"What is the matter with you?" she asked.
+
+"My papa has sent me some more books," answered Ermengarde woefully,
+"and he expects me to read them."
+
+"Don't you like reading?" said Sara.
+
+"I hate it!" replied Miss Ermengarde St. John. "And he will ask me
+questions when he sees me: he will want to know how much I remember; how
+would _you_ like to have to read all those?"
+
+"I'd like it better than anything else in the world," said Sara.
+
+Ermengarde wiped her eyes to look at such a prodigy.
+
+"Oh, gracious!" she exclaimed.
+
+Sara returned the look with interest. A sudden plan formed itself in her
+sharp mind.
+
+"Look here!" she said. "If you'll lend me those books, I'll read them
+and tell you everything that's in them afterward, and I'll tell it to
+you so that you will remember it. I know I can. The A B C children
+always remember what I tell them."
+
+"Oh, goodness!" said Ermengarde. "Do you think you could?"
+
+"I know I could," answered Sara. "I like to read, and I always remember.
+I'll take care of the books, too; they will look just as new as they do
+now, when I give them back to you."
+
+Ermengarde put her handkerchief in her pocket.
+
+"If you'll do that," she said, "and if you'll make me remember, I'll
+give you--I'll give you some money."
+
+"I don't want your money," said Sara. "I want your books--I want them."
+And her eyes grew big and queer, and her chest heaved once.
+
+"Take them, then," said Ermengarde; "I wish I wanted them, but I am not
+clever, and my father is, and he thinks I ought to be."
+
+Sara picked up the books and marched off with them. But when she was at
+the door, she stopped and turned around.
+
+"What are you going to tell your father?" she asked.
+
+"Oh," said Ermengarde, "he needn't know; he'll think I've read them."
+
+Sara looked down at the books; her heart really began to beat fast.
+
+"I won't do it," she said rather slowly, "if you are going to tell him
+lies about it--I don't like lies. Why can't you tell him I read them and
+then told you about them?"
+
+"But he wants me to read them," said Ermengarde.
+
+"He wants you to know what is in them," said Sara; "and if I can tell it
+to you in an easy way and make you remember, I should think he would
+like that."
+
+"He would like it better if I read them myself," replied Ermengarde.
+
+"He will like it, I dare say, if you learn anything in any way," said
+Sara. "I should, if I were your father."
+
+And though this was not a flattering way of stating the case, Ermengarde
+was obliged to admit it was true, and, after a little more argument,
+gave in. And so she used afterward always to hand over her books to
+Sara, and Sara would carry them to her garret and devour them; and after
+she had read each volume, she would return it and tell Ermengarde about
+it in a way of her own. She had a gift for making things interesting.
+Her imagination helped her to make everything rather like a story, and
+she managed this matter so well that Miss St. John gained more
+information from her books than she would have gained if she had read
+them three times over by her poor stupid little self. When Sara sat down
+by her and began to tell some story of travel or history, she made the
+travellers and historical people seem real; and Ermengarde used to sit
+and regard her dramatic gesticulations, her thin little flushed cheeks,
+and her shining, odd eyes with amazement.
+
+"It sounds nicer than it seems in the book," she would say. "I never
+cared about Mary, Queen of Scots, before, and I always hated the French
+Revolution, but you make it seem like a story."
+
+"It is a story," Sara would answer. "They are all stories. Everything is
+a story--everything in this world. You are a story--I am a story--Miss
+Minchin is a story. You can make a story out of anything."
+
+"I can't," said Ermengarde.
+
+Sara stared at her a minute reflectively.
+
+"No," she said at last. "I suppose you couldn't. You are a little like
+Emily."
+
+"Who is Emily?"
+
+Sara recollected herself. She knew she was sometimes rather impolite in
+the candor of her remarks, and she did not want to be impolite to a girl
+who was not unkind--only stupid. Notwithstanding all her sharp little
+ways she had the sense to wish to be just to everybody. In the hours she
+spent alone, she used to argue out a great many curious questions with
+herself. One thing she had decided upon was, that a person who was
+clever ought to be clever enough not to be unjust or deliberately unkind
+to any one. Miss Minchin was unjust and cruel, Miss Amelia was unkind
+and spiteful, the cook was malicious and hasty-tempered--they all were
+stupid, and made her despise them, and she desired to be as unlike them
+as possible. So she would be as polite as she could to people who in the
+least deserved politeness.
+
+"Emily is--a person--I know," she replied.
+
+"Do you like her?" asked Ermengarde.
+
+"Yes, I do," said Sara.
+
+Ermengarde examined her queer little face and figure again. She did look
+odd. She had on, that day, a faded blue plush skirt, which barely
+covered her knees, a brown cloth sacque, and a pair of olive-green
+stockings which Miss Minchin had made her piece out with black ones, so
+that they would be long enough to be kept on. And yet Ermengarde was
+beginning slowly to admire her. Such a forlorn, thin, neglected little
+thing as that, who could read and read and remember and tell you things
+so that they did not tire you all out! A child who could speak French,
+and who had learned German, no one knew how! One could not help staring
+at her and feeling interested, particularly one to whom the simplest
+lesson was a trouble and a woe.
+
+"Do you like _me_?" said Ermengarde, finally, at the end of her
+scrutiny.
+
+Sara hesitated one second, then she answered:
+
+"I like you because you are not ill-natured--I like you for letting me
+read your books--I like you because you don't make spiteful fun of me
+for what I can't help. It's not your fault that----"
+
+She pulled herself up quickly. She had been going to say, "that you are
+stupid."
+
+"That what?" asked Ermengarde.
+
+"That you can't learn things quickly. If you can't, you can't. If I
+can, why, I can--that's all." She paused a minute, looking at the plump
+face before her, and then, rather slowly, one of her wise, old-fashioned
+thoughts came to her.
+
+"Perhaps," she said, "to be able to learn things quickly isn't
+everything. To be kind is worth a good deal to other people. If Miss
+Minchin knew everything on earth, which she doesn't, and if she was like
+what she is now, she'd still be a detestable thing, and everybody would
+hate her. Lots of clever people have done harm and been wicked. Look at
+Robespierre----"
+
+She stopped again and examined her companion's countenance.
+
+"Do you remember about him?" she demanded. "I believe you've forgotten."
+
+"Well, I don't remember _all_ of it," admitted Ermengarde.
+
+"Well," said Sara, with courage and determination, "I'll tell it to you
+over again."
+
+And she plunged once more into the gory records of the French
+Revolution, and told such stories of it, and made such vivid pictures of
+its horrors, that Miss St. John was afraid to go to bed afterward, and
+hid her head under the blankets when she did go, and shivered until she
+fell asleep. But afterward she preserved lively recollections of the
+character of Robespierre, and did not even forget Marie Antoinette and
+the Princess de Lamballe.
+
+"You know they put her head on a pike and danced around it," Sara had
+said; "and she had beautiful blonde hair; and when I think of her, I
+never see her head on her body, but always on a pike, with those furious
+people dancing and howling."
+
+Yes, it was true; to this imaginative child everything was a story; and
+the more books she read, the more imaginative she became. One of her
+chief entertainments was to sit in her garret, or walk about it, and
+"suppose" things. On a cold night, when she had not had enough to eat,
+she would draw the red footstool up before the empty grate, and say in
+the most intense voice:
+
+"Suppose there was a great, wide steel grate here, and a great glowing
+fire--a _glowing_ fire--with beds of red-hot coal and lots of little
+dancing, flickering flames. Suppose there was a soft, deep rug, and this
+was a comfortable chair, all cushions and crimson velvet; and suppose I
+had a crimson velvet frock on, and a deep lace collar, like a child in a
+picture; and suppose all the rest of the room was furnished in lovely
+colors, and there were book-shelves full of books, which changed by
+magic as soon as you had read them; and suppose there was a little table
+here, with a snow-white cover on it, and little silver dishes, and in
+one there was hot, hot soup, and in another a roast chicken, and in
+another some raspberry-jam tarts with criss-cross on them, and in
+another some grapes; and suppose Emily could speak, and we could sit and
+eat our supper, and then talk and read; and then suppose there was a
+soft, warm bed in the corner, and when we were tired we could go to
+sleep, and sleep as long as we liked."
+
+Sometimes, after she had supposed things like these for half an hour,
+she would feel almost warm, and would creep into bed with Emily and fall
+asleep with a smile on her face.
+
+"What large, downy pillows!" she would whisper. "What white sheets and
+fleecy blankets!" And she almost forgot that her real pillows had
+scarcely any feathers in them at all, and smelled musty, and that her
+blankets and coverlid were thin and full of holes.
+
+At another time she would "suppose" she was a princess, and then she
+would go about the house with an expression on her face which was a
+source of great secret annoyance to Miss Minchin, because it seemed as
+if the child scarcely heard the spiteful, insulting things said to her,
+or, if she heard them, did not care for them at all. Sometimes, while
+she was in the midst of some harsh and cruel speech, Miss Minchin would
+find the odd, unchildish eyes fixed upon her with something like a proud
+smile in them. At such times she did not know that Sara was saying to
+herself:
+
+"You don't know that you are saying these things to a princess, and that
+if I chose I could wave my hand and order you to execution. I only spare
+you because I _am_ a princess, and you are a poor, stupid, old, vulgar
+thing, and don't know any better."
+
+This used to please and amuse her more than anything else; and queer and
+fanciful as it was, she found comfort in it, and it was not a bad thing
+for her. It really kept her from being made rude and malicious by the
+rudeness and malice of those about her.
+
+"A princess must be polite," she said to herself. And so when the
+servants, who took their tone from their mistress, were insolent and
+ordered her about, she would hold her head erect, and reply to them
+sometimes in a way which made them stare at her, it was so quaintly
+civil.
+
+"I am a princess in rags and tatters," she would think, "but I am a
+princess, inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in
+cloth-of-gold; it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the
+time when no one knows it. There was Marie Antoinette: when she was in
+prison, and her throne was gone, and she had only a black gown on, and
+her hair was white, and they insulted her and called her the Widow
+Capet,--she was a great deal more like a queen then than when she was so
+gay and had everything grand. I like her best then. Those howling mobs
+of people did not frighten her. She was stronger than they were even
+when they cut her head off."
+
+Once when such thoughts were passing through her mind the look in her
+eyes so enraged Miss Minchin that she flew at Sara and boxed her ears.
+
+Sara awakened from her dream, started a little, and then broke into a
+laugh.
+
+"What are you laughing at, you bold, impudent child!" exclaimed Miss
+Minchin.
+
+It took Sara a few seconds to remember she was a princess. Her cheeks
+were red and smarting from the blows she had received.
+
+"I was thinking," she said.
+
+"Beg my pardon immediately," said Miss Minchin.
+
+"I will beg your pardon for laughing, if it was rude," said Sara; "but I
+won't beg your pardon for thinking."
+
+"What were you thinking?" demanded Miss Minchin. "How dare you think?
+What were you thinking?"
+
+This occurred in the school-room, and all the girls looked up from their
+books to listen. It always interested them when Miss Minchin flew at
+Sara, because Sara always said something queer, and never seemed in the
+least frightened. She was not in the least frightened now, though her
+boxed ears were scarlet, and her eyes were as bright as stars.
+
+"I was thinking," she answered gravely and quite politely, "that you did
+not know what you were doing."
+
+"That I did not know what I was doing!" Miss Minchin fairly gasped.
+
+"Yes," said Sara, "and I was thinking what would happen, if I were a
+princess and you boxed my ears--what I should do to you. And I was
+thinking that if I were one, you would never dare to do it, whatever I
+said or did. And I was thinking how surprised and frightened you would
+be if you suddenly found out----"
+
+She had the imagined picture so clearly before her eyes, that she spoke
+in a manner which had an effect even on Miss Minchin. It almost seemed
+for the moment to her narrow, unimaginative mind that there must be some
+real power behind this candid daring.
+
+"What!" she exclaimed, "found out what?"
+
+"That I really was a princess," said Sara, "and could do
+anything--anything I liked."
+
+"Go to your room," cried Miss Minchin breathlessly, "this instant. Leave
+the school-room. Attend to your lessons, young ladies."
+
+Sara made a little bow.
+
+"Excuse me for laughing, if it was impolite," she said, and walked out
+of the room, leaving Miss Minchin in a rage and the girls whispering
+over their books.
+
+"I shouldn't be at all surprised if she did turn out to be something,"
+said one of them. "Suppose she should!"
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+That very afternoon Sara had an opportunity of proving to herself
+whether she was really a princess or not. It was a dreadful afternoon.
+For several days it had rained continuously, the streets were chilly and
+sloppy; there was mud everywhere--sticky London mud--and over everything
+a pall of fog and drizzle. Of course there were several long and
+tiresome errands to be done,--there always were on days like this,--and
+Sara was sent out again and again, until her shabby clothes were damp
+through. The absurd old feathers on her forlorn hat were more draggled
+and absurd than ever, and her down-trodden shoes were so wet they could
+not hold any more water. Added to this, she had been deprived of her
+dinner, because Miss Minchin wished to punish her. She was very hungry.
+She was so cold and hungry and tired that her little face had a pinched
+look, and now and then some kind-hearted person passing her in the
+crowded street glanced at her with sympathy. But she did not know that.
+She hurried on, trying to comfort herself in that queer way of hers by
+pretending and "supposing,"--but really this time it was harder than she
+had ever found it, and once or twice she thought it almost made her more
+cold and hungry instead of less so. But she persevered obstinately.
+"Suppose I had dry clothes on," she thought. "Suppose I had good shoes
+and a long, thick coat and merino stockings and a whole umbrella. And
+suppose--suppose, just when I was near a baker's where they sold hot
+buns, I should find sixpence--which belonged to nobody. Suppose, if I
+did, I should go into the shop and buy six of the hottest buns, and
+should eat them all without stopping."
+
+Some very odd things happen in this world sometimes. It certainly was an
+odd thing which happened to Sara. She had to cross the street just as
+she was saying this to herself--the mud was dreadful--she almost had to
+wade. She picked her way as carefully as she could, but she could not
+save herself much, only, in picking her way she had to look down at her
+feet and the mud, and in looking down--just as she reached the
+pavement--she saw something shining in the gutter. A piece of silver--a
+tiny piece trodden upon by many feet, but still with spirit enough left
+to shine a little. Not quite a sixpence, but the next thing to it--a
+four-penny piece! In one second it was in her cold, little red and blue
+hand.
+
+"Oh!" she gasped. "It is true!"
+
+And then, if you will believe me, she looked straight before her at the
+shop directly facing her. And it was a baker's, and a cheerful, stout,
+motherly woman, with rosy cheeks, was just putting into the window a
+tray of delicious hot buns,--large, plump, shiny buns, with currants in
+them.
+
+It almost made Sara feel faint for a few seconds--the shock and the
+sight of the buns and the delightful odors of warm bread floating up
+through the baker's cellar-window.
+
+She knew that she need not hesitate to use the little piece of money. It
+had evidently been lying in the mud for some time, and its owner was
+completely lost in the streams of passing people who crowded and jostled
+each other all through the day.
+
+"But I'll go and ask the baker's woman if she has lost a piece of
+money," she said to herself, rather faintly.
+
+So she crossed the pavement and put her wet foot on the step of the
+shop; and as she did so she saw something which made her stop.
+
+It was a little figure more forlorn than her own--a little figure which
+was not much more than a bundle of rags, from which small, bare, red and
+muddy feet peeped out--only because the rags with which the wearer was
+trying to cover them were not long enough. Above the rags appeared a
+shock head of tangled hair and a dirty face, with big, hollow, hungry
+eyes.
+
+Sara knew they were hungry eyes the moment she saw them, and she felt a
+sudden sympathy.
+
+"This," she said to herself, with a little sigh, "is one of the
+Populace--and she is hungrier than I am."
+
+The child--this "one of the Populace"--stared up at Sara, and shuffled
+herself aside a little, so as to give her more room. She was used to
+being made to give room to everybody. She knew that if a policeman
+chanced to see her, he would tell her to "move on."
+
+Sara clutched her little four-penny piece, and hesitated a few seconds.
+Then she spoke to her.
+
+"Are you hungry?" she asked.
+
+The child shuffled herself and her rags a little more.
+
+"Ain't I jist!" she said, in a hoarse voice. "Jist ain't I!"
+
+"Haven't you had any dinner?" said Sara.
+
+"No dinner," more hoarsely still and with more shuffling, "nor yet no
+bre'fast--nor yet no supper--nor nothin'."
+
+"Since when?" asked Sara.
+
+"Dun'no. Never got nothin' to-day--nowhere. I've axed and axed."
+
+Just to look at her made Sara more hungry and faint. But those queer
+little thoughts were at work in her brain, and she was talking to
+herself though she was sick at heart.
+
+"If I'm a princess," she was saying--"if I'm a princess--! When they
+were poor and driven from their thrones--they always shared--with the
+Populace--if they met one poorer and hungrier. They always shared. Buns
+are a penny each. If it had been sixpence! I could have eaten six. It
+won't be enough for either of us--but it will be better than nothing."
+
+"Wait a minute," she said to the beggar-child. She went into the shop.
+It was warm and smelled delightfully. The woman was just going to put
+more hot buns in the window.
+
+"If you please," said Sara, "have you lost fourpence--a silver
+fourpence?" And she held the forlorn little piece of money out to her.
+
+The woman looked at it and at her--at her intense little face and
+draggled, once-fine clothes.
+
+"Bless us--no," she answered. "Did you find it?"
+
+"In the gutter," said Sara.
+
+"Keep it, then," said the woman. "It may have been there a week, and
+goodness knows who lost it. _You_ could never find out."
+
+"I know that," said Sara, "but I thought 'd ask you."
+
+"Not many would," said the woman, looking puzzled and interested and
+good-natured all at once. "Do you want to buy something?" she added, as
+she saw Sara glance toward the buns.
+
+"Four buns, if you please," said Sara; "those at a penny each."
+
+The woman went to the window and put some in a paper bag. Sara noticed
+that she put in six.
+
+"I said four, if you please," she explained. "I have only the
+fourpence."
+
+"I'll throw in two for make-weight," said the woman, with her
+good-natured look. "I dare say you can eat them some time. Aren't you
+hungry?"
+
+A mist rose before Sara's eyes.
+
+"Yes," she answered. "I am very hungry, and I am much obliged to you for
+your kindness, and," she was going to add, "there is a child outside who
+is hungrier than I am." But just at that moment two or three customers
+came in at once and each one seemed in a hurry, so she could only thank
+the woman again and go out.
+
+The child was still huddled up on the corner of the steps. She looked
+frightful in her wet and dirty rags. She was staring with a stupid look
+of suffering straight before her, and Sara saw her suddenly draw the
+back of her roughened, black hand across her eyes to rub away the tears
+which seemed to have surprised her by forcing their way from under her
+lids. She was muttering to herself.
+
+Sara opened the paper bag and took out one of the hot buns, which had
+already warmed her cold hands a little.
+
+"See," she said, putting the bun on the ragged lap, "that is nice and
+hot. Eat it, and you will not be so hungry."
+
+[Illustration: "EAT IT," SAID SARA, "AND YOU WILL NOT BE SO HUNGRY."]
+
+The child started and stared up at her; then she snatched up the bun
+and began to cram it into her mouth with great wolfish bites.
+
+"Oh, my! Oh, my!" Sara heard her say hoarsely, in wild delight.
+
+"_Oh, my!_"
+
+Sara took out three more buns and put them down.
+
+"She is hungrier than I am," she said to herself. "She's starving." But
+her hand trembled when she put down the fourth bun. "I'm not starving,"
+she said--and she put down the fifth.
+
+The little starving London savage was still snatching and devouring when
+she turned away. She was too ravenous to give any thanks, even if she
+had been taught politeness--which she had not. She was only a poor
+little wild animal.
+
+"Good-bye," said Sara.
+
+When she reached the other side of the street she looked back. The child
+had a bun in both hands, and had stopped in the middle of a bite to
+watch her. Sara gave her a little nod, and the child, after another
+stare,--a curious, longing stare,--jerked her shaggy head in response,
+and until Sara was out of sight she did not take another bite or even
+finish the one she had begun.
+
+At that moment the baker-woman glanced out of her shop-window.
+
+"Well, I never!" she exclaimed. "If that young 'un hasn't given her buns
+to a beggar-child! It wasn't because she didn't want them, either--well,
+well, she looked hungry enough. I'd give something to know what she did
+it for." She stood behind her window for a few moments and pondered.
+Then her curiosity got the better of her. She went to the door and spoke
+to the beggar-child.
+
+"Who gave you those buns?" she asked her.
+
+The child nodded her head toward Sara's vanishing figure.
+
+"What did she say?" inquired the woman.
+
+"Axed me if I was 'ungry," replied the hoarse voice.
+
+"What did you say?"
+
+"Said I was jist!"
+
+"And then she came in and got buns and came out and gave them to you,
+did she?"
+
+The child nodded.
+
+"How many?"
+
+"Five."
+
+The woman thought it over. "Left just one for herself," she said, in a
+low voice. "And she could have eaten the whole six--I saw it in her
+eyes."
+
+She looked after the little, draggled, far-away figure, and felt more
+disturbed in her usually comfortable mind than she had felt for many a
+day.
+
+"I wish she hadn't gone so quick," she said. "I'm blest if she shouldn't
+have had a dozen."
+
+Then she turned to the child.
+
+"Are you hungry, yet?" she asked.
+
+"I'm allus 'ungry," was the answer; "but 'tain't so bad as it was."
+
+"Come in here," said the woman, and she held open the shop-door.
+
+The child got up and shuffled in. To be invited into a warm place full
+of bread seemed an incredible thing. She did not know what was going to
+happen; she did not care, even.
+
+"Get yourself warm," said the woman, pointing to a fire in a tiny back
+room. "And, look here,--when you're hard up for a bite of bread, you can
+come here and ask for it. I'm blest if I won't give it to you for that
+young un's sake."
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+Sara found some comfort in her remaining bun. It was hot; and it was a
+great deal better than nothing. She broke off small pieces and ate them
+slowly to make it last longer.
+
+"Suppose it was a magic bun," she said, "and a bite was as much as a
+whole dinner. I should be over-eating myself if I went on like this."
+
+It was dark when she reached the square in which Miss Minchin's Select
+Seminary was situated; the lamps were lighted, and in most of the
+windows gleams of light were to be seen. It always interested Sara to
+catch glimpses of the rooms before the shutters were closed. She liked
+to imagine things about people who sat before the fires in the houses,
+or who bent over books at the tables. There was, for instance, the Large
+Family opposite. She called these people the Large Family--not because
+they were large, for indeed most of them were little,--but because there
+were so many of them. There were eight children in the Large Family,
+and a stout, rosy mother, and a stout, rosy father, and a stout, rosy
+grandmamma, and any number of servants. The eight children were always
+either being taken out to walk, or to ride in perambulators, by
+comfortable nurses; or they were going to drive with their mamma; or
+they were flying to the door in the evening to kiss their papa and dance
+around him and drag off his overcoat and look for packages in the
+pockets of it; or they were crowding about the nursery windows and
+looking out and pushing each other and laughing,--in fact they were
+always doing something which seemed enjoyable and suited to the tastes
+of a large family. Sara was quite attached to them, and had given them
+all names out of books. She called them the Montmorencys, when she did
+not call them the Large Family. The fat, fair baby with the lace cap was
+Ethelberta Beauchamp Montmorency; the next baby was Violet Cholmondely
+Montmorency; the little boy who could just stagger, and who had such
+round legs, was Sydney Cecil Vivian Montmorency; and then came Lilian
+Evangeline, Guy Clarence, Maud Marian, Rosalind Gladys, Veronica
+Eustacia, and Claude Harold Hector.
+
+Next door to the Large Family lived the Maiden Lady, who had a
+companion, and two parrots, and a King Charles spaniel; but Sara was not
+so very fond of her, because she did nothing in particular but talk to
+the parrots and drive out with the spaniel. The most interesting person
+of all lived next door to Miss Minchin herself. Sara called him the
+Indian Gentleman. He was an elderly gentleman who was said to have lived
+in the East Indies, and to be immensely rich and to have something the
+matter with his liver,--in fact, it had been rumored that he had no
+liver at all, and was much inconvenienced by the fact. At any rate, he
+was very yellow and he did not look happy; and when he went out to his
+carriage, he was almost always wrapped up in shawls and overcoats, as if
+he were cold. He had a native servant who looked even colder than
+himself, and he had a monkey who looked colder than the native servant.
+Sara had seen the monkey sitting on a table, in the sun, in the parlor
+window, and he always wore such a mournful expression that she
+sympathized with him deeply.
+
+"I dare say," she used sometimes to remark to herself, "he is thinking
+all the time of cocoanut trees and of swinging by his tail under a
+tropical sun. He might have had a family dependent on him too, poor
+thing!"
+
+The native servant, whom she called the Lascar, looked mournful too, but
+he was evidently very faithful to his master.
+
+"Perhaps he saved his master's life in the Sepoy rebellion," she
+thought. "They look as if they might have had all sorts of adventures. I
+wish I could speak to the Lascar. I remember a little Hindustani."
+
+And one day she actually did speak to him, and his start at the sound of
+his own language expressed a great deal of surprise and delight. He was
+waiting for his master to come out to the carriage, and Sara, who was
+going on an errand as usual, stopped and spoke a few words. She had a
+special gift for languages and had remembered enough Hindustani to make
+herself understood by him. When his master came out, the Lascar spoke to
+him quickly, and the Indian Gentleman turned and looked at her
+curiously. And afterward the Lascar always greeted her with salaams of
+the most profound description. And occasionally they exchanged a few
+words. She learned that it was true that the Sahib was very rich--that
+he was ill--and also that he had no wife nor children, and that England
+did not agree with the monkey.
+
+[Illustration: "HE WAS WAITING FOR HIS MASTER TO COME OUT TO THE
+CARRIAGE, AND SARA STOPPED AND SPOKE A FEW WORDS TO HIM."]
+
+"He must be as lonely as I am," thought Sara. "Being rich does not seem
+to make him happy."
+
+That evening, as she passed the windows, the Lascar was closing the
+shutters, and she caught a glimpse of the room inside. There was a
+bright fire glowing in the grate, and the Indian Gentleman was sitting
+before it, in a luxurious chair. The room was richly furnished, and
+looked delightfully comfortable, but the Indian Gentleman sat with his
+head resting on his hand, and looked as lonely and unhappy as ever.
+
+"Poor man!" said Sara; "I wonder what _you_ are 'supposing'?"
+
+When she went into the house she met Miss Minchin in the hall.
+
+"Where have you wasted your time?" said Miss Minchin. "You have been
+out for hours!"
+
+"It was so wet and muddy," Sara answered. "It was hard to walk, because
+my shoes were so bad and slipped about so."
+
+"Make no excuses," said Miss Minchin, "and tell no falsehoods."
+
+Sara went downstairs to the kitchen.
+
+"Why didn't you stay all night?" said the cook.
+
+"Here are the things," said Sara, and laid her purchases on the table.
+
+The cook looked over them, grumbling. She was in a very bad temper
+indeed.
+
+"May I have something to eat?" Sara asked rather faintly.
+
+"Tea's over and done with," was the answer. "Did you expect me to keep
+it hot for you?"
+
+Sara was silent a second.
+
+"I had no dinner," she said, and her voice was quite low. She made it
+low, because she was afraid it would tremble.
+
+"There's some bread in the pantry," said the cook. "That's all you'll
+get at this time of day."
+
+Sara went and found the bread. It was old and hard and dry. The cook was
+in too bad a humor to give her anything to eat with it. She had just
+been scolded by Miss Minchin, and it was always safe and easy to vent
+her own spite on Sara.
+
+Really it was hard for the child to climb the three long flights of
+stairs leading to her garret. She often found them long and steep when
+she was tired, but to-night it seemed as if she would never reach the
+top. Several times a lump rose in her throat and she was obliged to stop
+to rest.
+
+"I can't pretend anything more to-night," she said wearily to herself.
+"I'm sure I can't. I'll eat my bread and drink some water and then go to
+sleep, and perhaps a dream will come and pretend for me. I wonder what
+dreams are."
+
+Yes, when she reached the top landing there were tears in her eyes, and
+she did not feel like a princess--only like a tired, hungry, lonely,
+lonely child.
+
+"If my papa had lived," she said, "they would not have treated me like
+this. If my papa had lived, he would have taken care of me."
+
+Then she turned the handle and opened the garret-door.
+
+Can you imagine it--can you believe it? I find it hard to believe it
+myself. And Sara found it impossible; for the first few moments she
+thought something strange had happened to her eyes--to her mind--that
+the dream had come before she had had time to fall asleep.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "Oh! It isn't true! I know, I know it
+isn't true!" And she slipped into the room and closed the door and
+locked it, and stood with her back against it, staring straight before
+her.
+
+Do you wonder? In the grate, which had been empty and rusty and cold
+when she left it, but which now was blackened and polished up quite
+respectably, there was a glowing, blazing fire. On the hob was a little
+brass kettle, hissing and boiling; spread upon the floor was a warm,
+thick rug; before the fire was a folding-chair, unfolded and with
+cushions on it; by the chair was a small folding-table, unfolded,
+covered with a white cloth, and upon it were spread small covered
+dishes, a cup and saucer, and a tea-pot; on the bed were new, warm
+coverings, a curious wadded silk robe, and some books. The little, cold,
+miserable room seemed changed into Fairyland. It was actually warm and
+glowing.
+
+"It is bewitched!" said Sara. "Or _I_ am bewitched. I only _think_ I see
+it all; but if I can only keep on thinking it, I don't care--I don't
+care--if I can only keep it up!"
+
+She was afraid to move, for fear it would melt away. She stood with her
+back against the door and looked and looked. But soon she began to feel
+warm, and then she moved forward.
+
+"A fire that I only _thought_ I saw surely wouldn't _feel_ warm," she
+said. "It feels real--real."
+
+She went to it and knelt before it. She touched the chair, the table;
+she lifted the cover of one of the dishes. There was something hot and
+savory in it--something delicious. The tea-pot had tea in it, ready for
+the boiling water from the little kettle; one plate had toast on it,
+another, muffins.
+
+"It is real," said Sara. "The fire is real enough to warm me; I can sit
+in the chair; the things are real enough to eat."
+
+It was like a fairy story come true--it was heavenly. She went to the
+bed and touched the blankets and the wrap. They were real too. She
+opened one book, and on the title-page was written in a strange hand,
+"The little girl in the attic."
+
+Suddenly--was it a strange thing for her to do?--Sara put her face down
+on the queer, foreign-looking quilted robe and burst into tears.
+
+"I don't know who it is," she said, "but somebody cares about me a
+little--somebody is my friend."
+
+Somehow that thought warmed her more than the fire. She had never had a
+friend since those happy, luxurious days when she had had everything;
+and those days had seemed such a long way off--so far away as to be only
+like dreams--during these last years at Miss Minchin's.
+
+She really cried more at this strange thought of having a friend--even
+though an unknown one--than she had cried over many of her worst
+troubles.
+
+But these tears seemed different from the others, for when she had wiped
+them away they did not seem to leave her eyes and her heart hot and
+smarting.
+
+And then imagine, if you can, what the rest of the evening was like. The
+delicious comfort of taking off the damp clothes and putting on the
+soft, warm, quilted robe before the glowing fire--of slipping her cold
+feet into the luscious little wool-lined slippers she found near her
+chair. And then the hot tea and savory dishes, the cushioned chair and
+the books!
+
+It was just like Sara, that, once having found the things real, she
+should give herself up to the enjoyment of them to the very utmost. She
+had lived such a life of imagining, and had found her pleasure so long
+in improbabilities, that she was quite equal to accepting any wonderful
+thing that happened. After she was quite warm and had eaten her supper
+and enjoyed herself for an hour or so, it had almost ceased to be
+surprising to her that such magical surroundings should be hers. As to
+finding out who had done all this, she knew that it was out of the
+question. She did not know a human soul by whom it could seem in the
+least degree probable that it could have been done.
+
+"There is nobody," she said to herself, "nobody." She discussed the
+matter with Emily, it is true, but more because it was delightful to
+talk about it than with a view to making any discoveries.
+
+"But we have a friend, Emily," she said; "we have a friend."
+
+Sara could not even imagine a being charming enough to fill her grand
+ideal of her mysterious benefactor. If she tried to make in her mind a
+picture of him or her, it ended by being something glittering and
+strange--not at all like a real person, but bearing resemblance to a
+sort of Eastern magician, with long robes and a wand. And when she fell
+asleep, beneath the soft white blanket, she dreamed all night of this
+magnificent personage, and talked to him in Hindustani, and made salaams
+to him.
+
+Upon one thing she was determined. She would not speak to any one of her
+good fortune--it should be her own secret; in fact, she was rather
+inclined to think that if Miss Minchin knew, she would take her
+treasures from her or in some way spoil her pleasure. So, when she went
+down the next morning, she shut her door very tight and did her best to
+look as if nothing unusual had occurred. And yet this was rather hard,
+because she could not help remembering, every now and then, with a sort
+of start, and her heart would beat quickly every time she repeated to
+herself, "I have a friend!"
+
+It was a friend who evidently meant to continue to be kind, for when she
+went to her garret the next night--and she opened the door, it must be
+confessed, with rather an excited feeling--she found that the same hands
+had been again at work, and had done even more than before. The fire and
+the supper were again there, and beside them a number of other things
+which so altered the look of the garret that Sara quite lost her breath.
+A piece of bright, strange, heavy cloth covered the battered mantel, and
+on it some ornaments had been placed. All the bare, ugly things which
+could be covered with draperies had been concealed and made to look
+quite pretty. Some odd materials in rich colors had been fastened
+against the walls with sharp, fine tacks--so sharp that they could be
+pressed into the wood without hammering. Some brilliant fans were pinned
+up, and there were several large cushions. A long, old wooden box was
+covered with a rug, and some cushions lay on it, so that it wore quite
+the air of a sofa.
+
+Sara simply sat down, and looked, and looked again.
+
+"It is exactly like something fairy come true," she said; "there isn't
+the least difference. I feel as if I might wish for anything--diamonds
+and bags of gold--and they would appear! _That_ couldn't be any stranger
+than this. Is this my garret? Am I the same cold, ragged, damp Sara? And
+to think how I used to pretend, and pretend, and wish there were
+fairies! The one thing I always wanted was to see a fairy story come
+true. I am _living_ in a fairy story! I feel as if I might be a fairy
+myself, and be able to turn things into anything else!"
+
+It was like a fairy story, and, what was best of all, it continued.
+Almost every day something new was done to the garret. Some new comfort
+or ornament appeared in it when Sara opened her door at night, until
+actually, in a short time, it was a bright little room, full of all
+sorts of odd and luxurious things. And the magician had taken care that
+the child should not be hungry, and that she should have as many books
+as she could read. When she left the room in the morning, the remains of
+her supper were on the table, and when she returned in the evening, the
+magician had removed them, and left another nice little meal. Downstairs
+Miss Minchin was as cruel and insulting as ever, Miss Amelia was as
+peevish, and the servants were as vulgar. Sara was sent on errands, and
+scolded, and driven hither and thither, but somehow it seemed as if she
+could bear it all. The delightful sense of romance and mystery lifted
+her above the cook's temper and malice. The comfort she enjoyed and
+could always look forward to was making her stronger. If she came home
+from her errands wet and tired, she knew she would soon be warm, after
+she had climbed the stairs. In a few weeks she began to look less thin.
+A little color came into her cheeks, and her eyes did not seem much too
+big for her face.
+
+It was just when this was beginning to be so apparent that Miss Minchin
+sometimes stared at her questioningly, that another wonderful thing
+happened. A man came to the door and left several parcels. All were
+addressed (in large letters) to "the little girl in the attic." Sara
+herself was sent to open the door, and she took them in. She laid the
+two largest parcels down on the hall-table and was looking at the
+address, when Miss Minchin came down the stairs.
+
+"Take the things upstairs to the young lady to whom they belong," she
+said. "Don't stand there staring at them."
+
+"They belong to me," answered Sara, quietly.
+
+"To you!" exclaimed Miss Minchin. "What do you mean?"
+
+"I don't know where they came from," said Sara, "but they're addressed
+to me."
+
+Miss Minchin came to her side and looked at them with an excited
+expression.
+
+"What is in them?" she demanded.
+
+"I don't know," said Sara.
+
+"Open them!" she demanded, still more excitedly.
+
+Sara did as she was told. They contained pretty and comfortable
+clothing,--clothing of different kinds; shoes and stockings and gloves,
+a warm coat, and even an umbrella. On the pocket of the coat was pinned
+a paper on which was written, "To be worn every day--will be replaced by
+others when necessary."
+
+Miss Minchin was quite agitated. This was an incident which suggested
+strange things to her sordid mind. Could it be that she had made a
+mistake after all, and that the child so neglected and so unkindly
+treated by her had some powerful friend in the background? It would not
+be very pleasant if there should be such a friend, and he or she should
+learn all the truth about the thin, shabby clothes, the scant food, the
+hard work. She felt queer indeed and uncertain, and she gave a
+side-glance at Sara.
+
+"Well," she said, in a voice such as she had never used since the day
+the child lost her father--"well, some one is very kind to you. As you
+have the things and are to have new ones when they are worn out, you may
+as well go and put them on and look respectable; and after you are
+dressed, you may come downstairs and learn your lessons in the
+school-room."
+
+So it happened that, about half an hour afterward, Sara struck the
+entire school-room of pupils dumb with amazement, by making her
+appearance in a costume such as she had never worn since the change of
+fortune whereby she ceased to be a show-pupil and a parlor-boarder. She
+scarcely seemed to be the same Sara. She was neatly dressed in a pretty
+gown of warm browns and reds, and even her stockings and slippers were
+nice and dainty.
+
+"Perhaps some one has left her a fortune," one of the girls whispered.
+"I always thought something would happen to her, she is so queer."
+
+That night when Sara went to her room she carried out a plan she had
+been devising for some time. She wrote a note to her unknown friend. It
+ran as follows:
+
+     "I hope you will not think it is not polite that I should write
+     this note to you when you wish to keep yourself a secret, but I do
+     not mean to be impolite, or to try to find out at all, only I want
+     to thank you for being so kind to me--so beautiful kind, and making
+     everything like a fairy story. I am so grateful to you and I am so
+     happy! I used to be so lonely and cold and, hungry, and now, oh,
+     just think what you have done for me! Please let me say just these
+     words. It seems as if I ought to say them. _Thank you--thank
+     you--thank you!_
+
+     "THE LITTLE GIRL IN THE ATTIC."
+
+The next morning she left this on the little table, and it was taken
+away with the other things; so she felt sure the magician had received
+it, and she was happier for the thought.
+
+A few nights later a very odd thing happened. She found something in the
+room which she certainly would never have expected. When she came in as
+usual she saw something small and dark in her chair,--an odd, tiny
+figure, which turned toward her a little, weird-looking, wistful face.
+
+"Why, it's the monkey!" she cried. "It is the Indian Gentleman's monkey!
+Where can he have come from?"
+
+It _was_ the monkey, sitting up and looking so like a mite of a child
+that it really was quite pathetic; and very soon Sara found out how he
+happened to be in her room. The skylight was open, and it was easy to
+guess that he had crept out of his master's garret-window, which was
+only a few feet away and perfectly easy to get in and out of, even for a
+climber less agile than a monkey. He had probably climbed to the garret
+on a tour of investigation, and getting out upon the roof, and being
+attracted by the light in Sara's attic, had crept in. At all events this
+seemed quite reasonable, and there he was; and when Sara went to him, he
+actually put out his queer, elfish little hands, caught her dress, and
+jumped into her arms.
+
+"Oh, you queer, poor, ugly, foreign little thing!" said Sara, caressing
+him. "I can't help liking you. You look like a sort of baby, but I am so
+glad you are not, because your mother could _not_ be proud of you, and
+nobody would dare to say you were like any of your relations. But I do
+like you; you have such a forlorn little look in your face. Perhaps you
+are sorry you are so ugly, and it's always on your mind. I wonder if you
+have a mind?"
+
+The monkey sat and looked at her while she talked, and seemed much
+interested in her remarks, if one could judge by his eyes and his
+forehead, and the way he moved his head up and down, and held it
+sideways and scratched it with his little hand. He examined Sara quite
+seriously, and anxiously, too. He felt the stuff of her dress, touched
+her hands, climbed up and examined her ears, and then sat on her
+shoulder holding a lock of her hair, looking mournful but not at all
+agitated. Upon the whole, he seemed pleased with Sara.
+
+[Illustration: "THE MONKEY SEEMED MUCH INTERESTED IN HER REMARKS."]
+
+"But I must take you back," she said to him, "though I'm sorry to have
+to do it. Oh, the company you _would_ be to a person!"
+
+She lifted him from her shoulder, set him on her knee, and gave him a
+bit of cake. He sat and nibbled it, and then put his head on one side,
+looked at her, wrinkled his forehead, and then nibbled again, in the
+most companionable manner.
+
+"But you must go home," said Sara at last; and she took him in her arms
+to carry him downstairs. Evidently he did not want to leave the room,
+for as they reached the door he clung to her neck and gave a little
+scream of anger.
+
+"You mustn't be an ungrateful monkey," said Sara. "You ought to be
+fondest of your own family. I am sure the Lascar is good to you."
+
+Nobody saw her on her way out, and very soon she was standing on the
+Indian Gentleman's front steps, and the Lascar had opened the door for
+her.
+
+"I found your monkey in my room," she said in Hindustani. "I think he
+got in through the window."
+
+The man began a rapid outpouring of thanks; but, just as he was in the
+midst of them, a fretful, hollow voice was heard through the open door
+of the nearest room. The instant he heard it the Lascar disappeared, and
+left Sara still holding the monkey.
+
+It was not many moments, however, before he came back bringing a
+message. His master had told him to bring Missy into the library. The
+Sahib was very ill, but he wished to see Missy.
+
+Sara thought this odd, but she remembered reading stories of Indian
+gentlemen who, having no constitutions, were extremely cross and full of
+whims, and who must have their own way. So she followed the Lascar.
+
+When she entered the room the Indian Gentleman was lying on an easy
+chair, propped up with pillows. He looked frightfully ill. His yellow
+face was thin, and his eyes were hollow. He gave Sara a rather curious
+look--it was as if she wakened in him some anxious interest.
+
+"You live next door?" he said.
+
+"Yes," answered Sara. "I live at Miss Minchin's."
+
+"She keeps a boarding-school?"
+
+"Yes," said Sara.
+
+"And you are one of her pupils?"
+
+Sara hesitated a moment.
+
+"I don't know exactly what I am," she replied.
+
+"Why not?" asked the Indian Gentleman.
+
+The monkey gave a tiny squeak, and Sara stroked him.
+
+"At first," she said, "I was a pupil and a parlor boarder; but now----"
+
+"What do you mean by 'at first'?" asked the Indian Gentleman.
+
+"When I was first taken there by my papa."
+
+"Well, what has happened since then?" said the invalid, staring at her
+and knitting his brows with a puzzled expression.
+
+"My papa died," said Sara. "He lost all his money, and there was none
+left for me--and there was no one to take care of me or pay Miss
+Minchin, so----"
+
+"So you were sent up into the garret and neglected, and made into a
+half-starved little drudge!" put in the Indian Gentleman. "That is about
+it, isn't it?"
+
+The color deepened on Sara's cheeks.
+
+"There was no one to take care of me, and no money," she said. "I belong
+to nobody."
+
+"What did your father mean by losing his money?" said the gentleman,
+fretfully.
+
+The red in Sara's cheeks grew deeper, and she fixed her odd eyes on the
+yellow face.
+
+"He did not lose it himself," she said. "He had a friend he was fond of,
+and it was his friend who took his money. I don't know how. I don't
+understand. He trusted his friend too much."
+
+She saw the invalid start--the strangest start--as if he had been
+suddenly frightened. Then he spoke nervously and excitedly:
+
+"That's an old story," he said. "It happens every day; but sometimes
+those who are blamed--those who do the wrong--don't intend it, and are
+not so bad. It may happen through a mistake--a miscalculation; they may
+not be so bad."
+
+"No," said Sara, "but the suffering is just as bad for the others. It
+killed my papa."
+
+The Indian Gentleman pushed aside some of the gorgeous wraps that
+covered him.
+
+"Come a little nearer, and let me look at you," he said.
+
+His voice sounded very strange; it had a more nervous and excited tone
+than before. Sara had an odd fancy that he was half afraid to look at
+her. She came and stood nearer, the monkey clinging to her and watching
+his master anxiously over his shoulder.
+
+The Indian Gentleman's hollow, restless eyes fixed themselves on her.
+
+"Yes," he said at last. "Yes; I can see it. Tell me your father's name."
+
+"His name was Ralph Crewe," said Sara. "Captain Crewe. Perhaps,"--a
+sudden thought flashing upon her,--"perhaps you may have heard of him?
+He died in India."
+
+The Indian Gentleman sank back upon his pillows. He looked very weak,
+and seemed out of breath.
+
+"Yes," he said, "I knew him. I was his friend. I meant no harm. If he
+had only lived he would have known. It turned out well after all. He was
+a fine young fellow. I was fond of him. I will make it right.
+Call--call the man."
+
+Sara thought he was going to die. But there was no need to call the
+Lascar. He must have been waiting at the door. He was in the room and by
+his master's side in an instant. He seemed to know what to do. He lifted
+the drooping head, and gave the invalid something in a small glass. The
+Indian Gentleman lay panting for a few minutes, and then he spoke in an
+exhausted but eager voice, addressing the Lascar in Hindustani:
+
+"Go for Carmichael," he said. "Tell him to come here at once. Tell him I
+have found the child!"
+
+When Mr. Carmichael arrived (which occurred in a very few minutes, for
+it turned out that he was no other than the father of the Large Family
+across the street), Sara went home, and was allowed to take the monkey
+with her. She certainly did not sleep very much that night, though the
+monkey behaved beautifully, and did not disturb her in the least. It was
+not the monkey that kept her awake--it was her thoughts, and her wonders
+as to what the Indian Gentleman had meant when he said, "Tell him I have
+found the child." "What child?" Sara kept asking herself. "I was the
+only child there; but how had he found me, and why did he want to find
+me? And what is he going to do, now I am found? Is it something about my
+papa? Do I belong to somebody? Is he one of my relations? Is something
+going to happen?"
+
+But she found out the very next day, in the morning; and it seemed that
+she had been living in a story even more than she had imagined. First,
+Mr. Carmichael came and had an interview with Miss Minchin. And it
+appeared that Mr. Carmichael, besides occupying the important situation
+of father to the Large Family, was a lawyer, and had charge of the
+affairs of Mr. Carrisford--which was the real name of the Indian
+Gentleman--and, as Mr. Carrisford's lawyer, Mr. Carmichael had come to
+explain something curious to Miss Minchin regarding Sara. But, being the
+father of the Large Family, he had a very kind and fatherly feeling for
+children; and so, after seeing Miss Minchin alone, what did he do but go
+and bring across the square his rosy, motherly, warm-hearted wife, so
+that she herself might talk to the little lonely girl, and tell her
+everything in the best and most motherly way.
+
+And then Sara learned that she was to be a poor little drudge and
+outcast no more, and that a great change had come in her fortunes; for
+all the lost fortune had come back to her, and a great deal had even
+been added to it. It was Mr. Carrisford who had been her father's
+friend, and who had made the investments which had caused him the
+apparent loss of his money; but it had so happened that after poor young
+Captain Crewe's death one of the investments which had seemed at the
+time the very worst had taken a sudden turn, and proved to be such a
+success that it had been a mine of wealth, and had more than doubled the
+Captain's lost fortune, as well as making a fortune for Mr. Carrisford
+himself. But Mr. Carrisford had been very unhappy. He had truly loved
+his poor, handsome, generous young friend, and the knowledge that he had
+caused his death had weighed upon him always, and broken both his health
+and spirit. The worst of it had been that, when first he thought himself
+and Captain Crewe ruined, he had lost courage and gone away because he
+was not brave enough to face the consequences of what he had done, and
+so he had not even known where the young soldier's little girl had been
+placed. When he wanted to find her, and make restitution, he could
+discover no trace of her; and the certainty that she was poor and
+friendless somewhere had made him more miserable than ever. When he had
+taken the house next to Miss Minchin's he had been so ill and wretched
+that he had for the time given up the search. His troubles and the
+Indian climate had brought him almost to death's door--indeed, he had
+not expected to live more than a few months. And then one day the Lascar
+had told him about Sara's speaking Hindustani, and gradually he had
+begun to take a sort of interest in the forlorn child, though he had
+only caught a glimpse of her once or twice and he had not connected her
+with the child of his friend, perhaps because he was too languid to
+think much about anything. But the Lascar had found out something of
+Sara's unhappy little life, and about the garret. One evening he had
+actually crept out of his own garret-window and looked into hers, which
+was a very easy matter, because, as I have said, it was only a few feet
+away--and he had told his master what he had seen, and in a moment of
+compassion the Indian Gentleman had told him to take into the wretched
+little room such comforts as he could carry from the one window to the
+other. And the Lascar, who had developed an interest in, and an odd
+fondness for, the child who had spoken to him in his own tongue, had
+been pleased with the work; and, having the silent swiftness and agile
+movements of many of his race, he had made his evening journeys across
+the few feet of roof from garret-window to garret-window, without any
+trouble at all. He had watched Sara's movements until he knew exactly
+when she was absent from her room and when she returned to it, and so he
+had been able to calculate the best times for his work. Generally he had
+made them in the dusk of the evening; but once or twice, when he had
+seen her go out on errands, he had dared to go over in the daytime,
+being quite sure that the garret was never entered by any one but
+herself. His pleasure in the work and his reports of the results had
+added to the invalid's interest in it, and sometimes the master had
+found the planning gave him something to think of, which made him almost
+forget his weariness and pain. And at last, when Sara brought home the
+truant monkey, he had felt a wish to see her, and then her likeness to
+her father had done the rest.
+
+"And now, my dear," said good Mrs. Carmichael, patting Sara's hand, "all
+your troubles are over, I am sure, and you are to come home with me and
+be taken care of as if you were one of my own little girls; and we are
+so pleased to think of having you with us until everything is settled,
+and Mr. Carrisford is better. The excitement of last night has made him
+very weak, but we really think he will get well, now that such a load is
+taken from his mind. And when he is stronger, I am sure he will be as
+kind to you as your own papa would have been. He has a very good heart,
+and he is fond of children--and he has no family at all. But we must
+make you happy and rosy, and you must learn to play and run about, as my
+little girls do----"
+
+"As your little girls do?" said Sara. "I wonder if I could. I used to
+watch them and wonder what it was like. Shall I feel as if I belonged to
+somebody?"
+
+"Ah, my love, yes!--yes!" said Mrs. Carmichael; "dear me, yes!" And her
+motherly blue eyes grew quite moist, and she suddenly took Sara in her
+arms and kissed her. That very night, before she went to sleep, Sara had
+made the acquaintance of the entire Large Family, and such excitement as
+she and the monkey had caused in that joyous circle could hardly be
+described. There was not a child in the nursery, from the Eton boy who
+was the eldest, to the baby who was the youngest, who had not laid some
+offering on her shrine. All the older ones knew something of her
+wonderful story. She had been born in India; she had been poor and
+lonely and unhappy, and had lived in a garret and been treated unkindly;
+and now she was to be rich and happy, and be taken care of. They were so
+sorry for her, and so delighted and curious about her, all at once. The
+girls wished to be with her constantly, and the little boys wished to be
+told about India; the second baby, with the short round legs, simply
+sat and stared at her and the monkey, possibly wondering why she had not
+brought a hand-organ with her.
+
+"I shall certainly wake up presently," Sara kept saying to herself.
+"This one must be a dream. The other one turned out to be real; but this
+_couldn't_ be. But, oh! how happy it is!"
+
+And even when she went to bed, in the bright, pretty room not far from
+Mrs. Carmichael's own, and Mrs. Carmichael came and kissed her and
+patted her and tucked her in cozily, she was not sure that she would not
+wake up in the garret in the morning.
+
+"And oh, Charles, dear," Mrs. Carmichael said to her husband, when she
+went downstairs to him, "we must get that lonely look out of her eyes!
+It isn't a child's look at all. I couldn't bear to see it in one of my
+own children. What the poor little love must have had to bear in that
+dreadful woman's house! But, surely, she will forget it in time."
+
+But though the lonely look passed away from Sara's face, she never quite
+forgot the garret at Miss Minchin's; and, indeed, she always liked to
+remember the wonderful night when the tired princess crept upstairs,
+cold and wet, and opening the door found fairy-land waiting for her. And
+there was no one of the many stories she was always being called upon to
+tell in the nursery of the Large Family which was more popular than that
+particular one; and there was no one of whom the Large Family were so
+fond as of Sara. Mr. Carrisford did not die, but recovered, and Sara
+went to live with him; and no real princess could have been better taken
+care of than she was. It seemed that the Indian Gentleman could not do
+enough to make her happy, and to repay her for the past; and the Lascar
+was her devoted slave. As her odd little face grew brighter, it grew so
+pretty and interesting that Mr. Carrisford used to sit and watch it many
+an evening, as they sat by the fire together.
+
+They became great friends, and they used to spend hours reading and
+talking together; and, in a very short time, there was no pleasanter
+sight to the Indian Gentleman than Sara sitting in her big chair on the
+opposite side of the hearth, with a book on her knee and her soft, dark
+hair tumbling over her warm cheeks. She had a pretty habit of looking up
+at him suddenly, with a bright smile, and then he would often say to
+her:
+
+"Are you happy, Sara?"
+
+And then she would answer:
+
+"I feel like a real princess, Uncle Tom."
+
+He had told her to call him Uncle Tom.
+
+"There doesn't seem to be anything left to 'suppose,'" she added.
+
+There was a little joke between them that he was a magician, and so
+could do anything he liked; and it was one of his pleasures to invent
+plans to surprise her with enjoyments she had not thought of. Scarcely a
+day passed in which he did not do something new for her. Sometimes she
+found new flowers in her room; sometimes a fanciful little gift tucked
+into some odd corner; sometimes a new book on her pillow;--once as they
+sat together in the evening they heard the scratch of a heavy paw on the
+door of the room, and when Sara went to find out what it was, there
+stood a great dog--a splendid Russian boar-hound with a grand silver and
+gold collar. Stooping to read the inscription upon the collar, Sara was
+delighted to read the words: "I am Boris; I serve the Princess Sara."
+
+Then there was a sort of fairy nursery arranged for the entertainment of
+the juvenile members of the Large Family, who were always coming to see
+Sara and the Lascar and the monkey. Sara was as fond of the Large Family
+as they were of her. She soon felt as if she were a member of it, and
+the companionship of the healthy, happy children was very good for her.
+All the children rather looked up to her and regarded her as the
+cleverest and most brilliant of creatures--particularly after it was
+discovered that she not only knew stories of every kind, and could
+invent new ones at a moment's notice, but that she could help with
+lessons, and speak French and German, and discourse with the Lascar in
+Hindustani.
+
+It was rather a painful experience for Miss Minchin to watch her
+ex-pupil's fortunes, as she had the daily opportunity to do, and to feel
+that she had made a serious mistake, from a business point of view. She
+had even tried to retrieve it by suggesting that Sara's education should
+be continued under her care, and had gone to the length of making an
+appeal to the child herself.
+
+"I have always been very fond of you," she said.
+
+Then Sara fixed her eyes upon her and gave her one of her odd looks.
+
+"Have you?" she answered.
+
+"Yes," said Miss Minchin. "Amelia and I have always said you were the
+cleverest child we had with us, and I am sure we could make you
+happy--as a parlor boarder."
+
+Sara thought of the garret and the day her ears were boxed,--and of that
+other day, that dreadful, desolate day when she had been told that she
+belonged to nobody; that she had no home and no friends,--and she kept
+her eyes fixed on Miss Minchin's face.
+
+"You know why I would not stay with you," she said.
+
+And it seems probable that Miss Minchin did, for after that simple
+answer she had not the boldness to pursue the subject. She merely sent
+in a bill for the expense of Sara's education and support, and she made
+it quite large enough. And because Mr. Carrisford thought Sara would
+wish it paid, it was paid. When Mr. Carmichael paid it he had a brief
+interview with Miss Minchin in which he expressed his opinion with much
+clearness and force; and it is quite certain that Miss Minchin did not
+enjoy the conversation.
+
+Sara had been about a month with Mr. Carrisford, and had begun to
+realize that her happiness was not a dream, when one night the Indian
+Gentleman saw that she sat a long time with her cheek on her hand
+looking at the fire.
+
+"What are you 'supposing,' Sara?" he asked. Sara looked up with a bright
+color on her cheeks.
+
+"I _was_ 'supposing,'" she said; "I was remembering that hungry day, and
+a child I saw."
+
+"But there were a great many hungry days," said the Indian Gentleman,
+with a rather sad tone in his voice. "Which hungry day was it?"
+
+"I forgot you didn't know," said Sara. "It was the day I found the
+things in my garret."
+
+And then she told him the story of the bun-shop, and the fourpence, and
+the child who was hungrier than herself; and somehow as she told it,
+though she told it very simply indeed, the Indian Gentleman found it
+necessary to shade his eyes with his hand and look down at the floor.
+
+"And I was 'supposing' a kind of plan," said Sara, when she had
+finished; "I was thinking I would like to do something."
+
+"What is it?" said her guardian in a low tone. "You may do anything you
+like to do, Princess."
+
+"I was wondering," said Sara,--"you know you say I have a great deal of
+money--and I was wondering if I could go and see the bun-woman and tell
+her that if, when hungry children--particularly on those dreadful
+days--come and sit on the steps or look in at the window, she would just
+call them in and give them something to eat, she might send the bills to
+me and I would pay them--could I do that?"
+
+"You shall do it to-morrow morning," said the Indian Gentleman.
+
+"Thank you," said Sara; "you see I know what it is to be hungry, and it
+is very hard when one can't even _pretend_ it away."
+
+"Yes, yes, my dear," said the Indian Gentleman. "Yes, it must be. Try to
+forget it. Come and sit on this footstool near my knee, and only
+remember you are a princess."
+
+"Yes," said Sara, "and I can give buns and bread to the Populace." And
+she went and sat on the stool, and the Indian Gentleman (he used to like
+her to call him that, too, sometimes,--in fact very often) drew her
+small, dark head down upon his knee and stroked her hair.
+
+[Illustration: "HE DREW HER SMALL DARK HEAD DOWN UPON HIS KNEE AND
+STROKED HER HAIR."]
+
+The next morning a carriage drew up before the door of the baker's shop,
+and a gentleman and a little girl got out,--oddly enough, just as the
+bun-woman was putting a tray of smoking hot buns into the window. When
+Sara entered the shop the woman turned and looked at her and, leaving
+the buns, came and stood behind the counter. For a moment she looked at
+Sara very hard indeed, and then her good-natured face lighted up.
+
+"I'm that sure I remember you, miss," she said. "And yet----"
+
+"Yes," said Sara, "once you gave me six buns for fourpence, and----"
+
+"And you gave five of 'em to a beggar-child," said the woman. "I've
+always remembered it. I couldn't make it out at first. I beg pardon,
+sir, but there's not many young people that notices a hungry face in
+that way, and I've thought of it many a time. Excuse the liberty, miss,
+but you look rosier and better than you did that day."
+
+"I am better, thank you," said Sara, "and--and I am happier, and I have
+come to ask you to do something for me."
+
+"Me, miss!" exclaimed the woman, "why, bless you, yes, miss! What can I
+do?"
+
+And then Sara made her little proposal, and the woman listened to it
+with an astonished face.
+
+"Why, bless me!" she said, when she had heard it all. "Yes, miss, it'll
+be a pleasure to me to do it. I am a working woman, myself, and can't
+afford to do much on my own account, and there's sights of trouble on
+every side; but if you'll excuse me, I'm bound to say I've given many a
+bit of bread away since that wet afternoon, just along o' thinkin' of
+you. An' how wet an' cold you was, an' how you looked,--an' yet you give
+away your hot buns as if you was a princess."
+
+The Indian Gentleman smiled involuntarily, and Sara smiled a little too.
+"She looked so hungry," she said. "She was hungrier than I was."
+
+"She was starving," said the woman. "Many's the time she's told me of it
+since--how she sat there in the wet, and felt as if a wolf was a-tearing
+at her poor young insides."
+
+"Oh, have you seen her since then?" exclaimed Sara. "Do you know where
+she is?"
+
+"I know!" said the woman. "Why, she's in that there back room now, miss,
+an' has been for a month, an' a decent, well-meaning girl she's going to
+turn out, an' such a help to me in the day shop, an' in the kitchen, as
+you'd scarce believe, knowing how she's lived."
+
+She stepped to the door of the little back parlor and spoke; and the
+next minute a girl came out and followed her behind the counter. And
+actually it was the beggar-child, clean and neatly clothed, and looking
+as if she had not been hungry for a long time. She looked shy, but she
+had a nice face, now that she was no longer a savage; and the wild look
+had gone from her eyes. And she knew Sara in an instant, and stood and
+looked at her as if she could never look enough.
+
+"You see," said the woman, "I told her to come here when she was hungry,
+and when she'd come I'd give her odd jobs to do, an' I found she was
+willing, an' somehow I got to like her; an' the end of it was I've given
+her a place an' a home, an' she helps me, an' behaves as well, an' is as
+thankful as a girl can be. Her name's Anne--she has no other."
+
+The two children stood and looked at each other a few moments. In Sara's
+eyes a new thought was growing.
+
+"I'm glad you have such a good home," she said. "Perhaps Mrs. Brown will
+let you give the buns and bread to the children--perhaps you would like
+to do it--because you know what it is to be hungry, too."
+
+"Yes, miss," said the girl.
+
+And somehow Sara felt as if she understood her, though the girl said
+nothing more, and only stood still and looked, and looked after her as
+she went out of the shop and got into the carriage and drove away.
+
+
+                               THE END.
+
+
+
+
+                        _BY THE SAME AUTHOR._
+
+
+                       LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
+
+                          SQUARE 8vo, $2.00.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"_In 'Little Lord Fauntleroy' we gain another charming child to add to
+our gallery of juvenile heroes and heroines; one who teaches a great
+lesson with such truth and sweetness, that we part with him with real
+regret when the episode is over._"
+--LOUISA M. ALCOTT.
+
+                          *       *       *
+
+                             SARA CREWE.
+
+                          SQUARE 8vo, $1.00.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"_Everybody was in love with 'Little Lord Fauntleroy,' and I think all
+the world and the rest of mankind will be in love with 'Sara Crewe.' The
+tale is so tender, so wise, so human, that I wish every girl in America
+could read it, for I think every one would be made better by it._"
+--LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON.
+
+                          *       *       *
+
+              LITTLE SAINT ELIZABETH, AND OTHER STORIES.
+
+                          SQUARE 8vo, $1.50.
+
+"_The pretty tale has for its heroine a little French girl brought up in
+an old chateau in Normandy by an aunt who is a recluse and devote. A
+child of this type transplanted suddenly to the realistic atmosphere of
+New York must inevitably have much to suffer. The quaint little figure
+blindly trying to guess the riddle of duty under these unfamiliar
+conditions is pathetic, and Mrs. Burnett touches it in with delicate
+strokes._"
+--SUSAN COOLIDGE.
+
+_Illustrated by REGINALD B. BIRCH._
+
+
+
+
+
+                  _SCRIBNER'S BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG._
+
+
+
+
+                MRS. BURNETT'S THREE FAMOUS JUVENILES.
+
+          =Uniform in style and Illustrated by R. B. Birch.=
+
+                _A NEW BOOK FOR THE CHRISTMAS SEASON._
+
+              LITTLE SAINT ELIZABETH AND OTHER STORIES.
+
+                     BY FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT.
+
+                            [Illustration]
+
+        =With 12 new full-page Drawings by Reginald B. Birch.=
+
+                 _One volume, square 8vo,     $1.50._
+
+_FROM SUSAN COOLIDGE:_
+
+"The pretty tale from which the book borrows its name has for its
+heroine a little French girl brought up in an old chateau in Normandy,
+by an aunt who is a recluse and _devote_. A child of this type,
+transplanted suddenly while still in childhood to the realistic
+atmosphere of prosperous New York, must inevitably have much to suffer.
+She is puzzled; she is lonely; she has no one to direct her conscience.
+The quaint little figure, blindly trying to guess the riddle of duty
+under these unfamiliar conditions, is pathetic, and Mrs. Burnett touches
+it in with delicate strokes. The stories are prettily illustrated by
+Birch."
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                       LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
+
+                            [Illustration]
+
+           =Beautifully Illustrated by Reginald B. Birch.=
+
+                  _One volume, square 8vo,  $2.00._
+
+                       _FROM LOUISA M. ALCOTT:_
+
+"In 'Little Lord Fauntleroy' we gain another charming child to add to
+our gallery of juvenile heroes and heroines; one who teaches a great
+lesson with such truth and sweetness that we part with him with real
+regret when the episode is over."
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                             SARA CREWE;
+
+                _OR, WHAT HAPPENED AT MISS MINCHIN'S._
+
+                            [Illustration]
+
+            =Richly and Fully Illustrated by R. B. Birch.=
+
+                  _One volume, square 8vo,   $1.00._
+
+                   _FROM LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON:_
+
+"Everybody was in love with 'Little Lord Fauntleroy,' and I think all
+the world and the rest of mankind will be in love with 'Sara Crewe.' I
+wish every girl in America could read it."
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                    TWO BOOKS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS.
+
+Mr. Beard has added sixty new drawings to his "American Boy's Handy
+Book," to illustrate the new games, sports, and mechanical contrivances
+which he has incorporated in this latest edition. The Misses Beard's
+companion volume, "The American Girl's Handy Book," is reduced in price,
+all the features being retained. Both are profusely illustrated with
+hundreds of pictures and designs, and in their new dress will be prime
+favorites with holiday buyers.
+
+                          *       *       *
+
+                    THE AMERICAN BOY'S HANDY BOOK;
+
+                  _OR, WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT_.
+
+                         BY DANIEL C. BEARD.
+
+             =With over 360 Illustrations by the Author.=
+
+                 _One volume, square 8vo,      $2.00_
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"The book has this great advantage over its predecessors, that most of
+the games, tricks, and other amusements described in it are new. It
+treats of sports adapted to all seasons of the year; it is practical,
+and it is well illustrated."
+--_The New York Tribune._
+
+"It tells boys how to make all kinds of things--boats, traps, toys,
+puzzles, aquariums, fishing tackle; how to tie knots, splice ropes, to
+make bird-calls, sleds, blow-guns, balloons; how to rear wild birds, to
+train dogs, and do the thousand and one things that boys take delight
+in. The book is illustrated in such a way that no mistake can be made."
+--_The Indianapolis Journal._
+
+                          *       *       *
+
+                   THE AMERICAN GIRL'S HANDY BOOK;
+
+               _OR, HOW TO AMUSE YOURSELF AND OTHERS_.
+
+                     BY LENA AND ADELIA B. BEARD.
+
+            =With over 500 Illustrations by the Authors.=
+
+                 _One volume, square 8vo,      $2.00_
+
+[Illustration]
+
+_LOUISA M. ALCOTT WROTE:_
+
+"I have put it in my list of good and useful books for young people, as
+I have many requests for advice from my little friends and their anxious
+mothers. I am most happy to commend your very ingenious and entertaining
+book."
+
+_GRACE GREENWOOD WROTE:_
+
+"It is a treasure which, once possessed, no practical girl would
+willingly part with. It is an invaluable aid in making a home
+attractive, comfortable, artistic and refined. The book preaches the
+gospel of cheerfulness, industry, economy and comfort."
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                "_Most delightful._"--NEW YORK TIMES.
+
+                       TWO LITTLE CONFEDERATES.
+
+                        BY THOMAS NELSON PAGE.
+
+ =With Eight full-page Illustrations by E. W. Kemble and A. C. Redwood.=
+
+                 _One volume, square 8vo,    $1.50._
+
+"_There is both humor and pathos in the book, and its literary qualities
+are as high as any book for young folks printed since 'Little Lord
+Fauntleroy.'_"
+--CHRISTIAN UNION.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"The story is crisp, fresh and pleasing, and handsomely printed and
+aptly illustrated by Kemble and Redwood."
+--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._
+
+"A true picture of Virginia life at home during the mighty conflict full
+of the pathos and humor of those days."
+--_Charleston News and Courier._
+
+"The story is beautifully told, fun and pathos being equally mingled in
+its ingenious threads. The book is a handsome octavo and is fully
+illustrated."
+--_Newark Advertiser._
+
+"It tells the story of two Virginia lads left at home on a plantation
+while the men went to fight. The youngsters have many adventures,
+serious and humorous, and get into trouble and out of it again. The
+story abounds in stirring incidents, and gives a very picturesque view
+of home life in Virginia during the rebellion. It is _an admirable
+juvenile book_, teaching an excellent moral of self-reliance."
+--_The Boston Saturday Gazette._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                            LITTLE PEOPLE:
+
+           _And Their Homes in Meadows, Woods and Waters_.
+
+                        BY STELLA LOUISE HOOK.
+
+       =Beautifully Illustrated by Dan Beard and Harry Beard.=
+
+                 _One volume, square 8vo,    $1.50._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"_A beautifully illustrated volume for young people, in which the
+habits, humors, and eccentricities of insects are delightfully
+described. The secrets and charms of insect-land are laid open by her
+vivacious pen, and the astonishing insects are described in a manner
+that makes them personal acquaintances._"
+--CAMBRIDGE TRIBUNE.
+
+"These stories of real fairies are charmingly written and beautifully
+illustrated."
+--_Boston Post._
+
+"The author traces the life of the different insects that are familiar
+to all. A fascinating narrative."
+--_Christian Inquirer._
+
+"A splendid holiday book."
+--_Christian at Work._
+
+"The narrative is not only instructive but is made pleasant reading."
+--_Boston Journal._
+
+"The author has a true eye, a quick imagination, and a fascinating
+pen."
+--_The Independent._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+               CHILDREN'S STORIES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE
+
+                      _TALIESIN TO SHAKESPEARE._
+
+                    BY HENRIETTA CHRISTIAN WRIGHT.
+
+                     _One Volume, 12mo,    $1.25_
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Miss Wright's aim in this new volume has been to bring to the attention
+of young readers a summary, set forth in simple, attractive language, of
+the lives and works of the great men of English Literature. Especial
+stress is laid upon popular literature, the old British and Saxon Songs,
+the romantic episodes of King Arthur's reign in its relation to
+learning, Robin Hood, etc. The book is written in a charmingly winning
+style, and is both entertaining and valuable as a first book of English
+literature.
+
+     CONTENTS.--OLD BRITISH SONGS; OLD SAXON SONGS; CAEDMON; THE
+     VENERABLE BEDE; KING ALFRED; THE ROMANCE OF KING ARTHUR; ROBIN
+     HOOD; THE HERO OF THE PEOPLE; LANGLANDE AND GOWER; SIR JOHN
+     MANDEVILLE; GEOFFREY CHAUCER; WICKLIFFE; CAXTON; THE FAERY QUEEN;
+     SIR PHILIP SIDNEY; THE RISE OF THE DRAMA.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                        _BY THE SAME AUTHOR._
+
+                          CHILDREN'S STORIES
+
+                       OF THE GREAT SCIENTISTS.
+
+              _With numerous Portraits.    12mo, $1.25_
+
+"The author has succeeded in making her pen pictures of the great
+scientists as graphic as the excellent portraits that illustrate the
+work. Around each name she has picturesquely grouped the essential
+features of scientific achievement."
+--_Brooklyn Times._
+
+                          *       *       *
+
+                        OF AMERICAN PROGRESS.
+
+                    _Illustrated.    12mo, $1.25_
+
+"Miss Wright is favorably known by her volume of well-told 'Stories in
+American History,' and her 'Stories of American Progress' is equally
+worthy of commendation. Taken together they present a series of pictures
+of great graphic interest. The illustrations are excellent."
+--_The Nation._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+                          *       *       *
+
+                         IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
+
+                    _Illustrated.    12mo, $1.25_
+
+"A most delightful and instructive collection of historical events, told
+in a simple and pleasant manner. Almost every occurrence in the gradual
+development of our country is woven into an attractive story for young
+people."
+--_San Francisco Evening Post._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                        PERSONALLY CONDUCTED.
+
+                        BY FRANK R. STOCKTON,
+
+ With Forty-Six Illustrations by Joseph Pennell, Alfred Parsons and others.
+
+                _One volume, square 8vo,      =$2.00=_
+
+[Illustration]
+
+A fascinating volume of travel by the famous story-teller, whose route
+is outlined with characteristic quaintness in the table of contents
+given below. The chapters are a series of pleasant, informal talks with
+an imaginary party of young people to whom the author is showing the
+curious and interesting sights of the old world;--a fancy that Mr.
+Stockton works out with his customary ingenuity and cleverness.
+
+The two-score and more of illustrations by Joseph Pennell, Alfred
+Parsons, and others, enriching the pages with many beautiful old-world
+views, give the book a high artistic quality and make it a volume
+admirably suited for a holiday gift.
+
+     CONTENTS.--THE ROMANS, BUT NOT ROME; THE CITY OF THE BENDED KNEE;
+     LITTLE PISA AND GREAT ROME; GREAT ROME AGAIN; AROUND THE BAY OF
+     NAPLES; IN FLORENCE AND VENICE; A MOUNTAIN TOP, AND HOW WE GET
+     THERE; QUEEN PARIS; KING LONDON; IN ENGLISH COUNTRY; THE LOW
+     COUNTRIES AND THE RHINE; THE PEOPLE WE MEET.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                       STOCKTON'S OTHER BOOKS.
+
+                        =THE STORY OF VITEAU.=
+
+           _With 16 Full-Page Illustrations by R. B. BIRCH._
+
+                      _12mo, extra Cloth, $1.50_
+
+"It is as romantic and absorbing as any boy could wish for, full of
+adventure and daring, and yet told in excellent spirit and with a true
+literary instinct."
+--_Christian Union._
+
+
+                        =A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP.=
+
+            _With Twenty Illustrations.      12mo, $1.50_
+
+"We can think of no book published the present season which will more
+delight the wide-awake, adventure-loving boy. It is, to borrow the
+adjective from the title, just 'jolly.'"
+--_Boston Transcript._
+
+
+             =The Floating Prince and Other Fairy Tales.=
+
+             _With Illustrations.      Square 8vo, $1.50_
+
+"These tales are full of the quaintest conceits and the oddest fancies,
+and the strange adventures in which the different characters engage are
+just the kind to excite the intense interest of children."
+--_Phila. Bulletin._
+
+
+                       =THE TING-A-LING TALES.=
+
+           _With numerous Illustrations.      12mo, $1.00_
+
+"It would be difficult to find anything more dainty, fanciful and
+humorous than these tales of magic, fairies, dwarfs and Giants. There is
+a vein of satire in them too which adult readers will enjoy."
+--_N. Y. Herald._
+
+
+          =Roundabout Rambles in Lands of Fact and Fiction.=
+
+          _With 200 Illustrations.        Square 8vo, $1.50_
+
+
+
+
+                        =TALES OUT OF SCHOOL.=
+
+       _With nearly 200 Illustrations.      Square 8vo, $1.50_
+
+"The volumes are profusely illustrated and contain the most entertaining
+sketches in Mr. Stockton's _most entertaining_ manner."
+--_Christian Union._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                   THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MAGO;
+
+              _OR, A PHOENICIAN EXPEDITION, B.C. 1000._
+
+                            BY LEON CAHUN.
+
+  _With 73 Illustrations. New Edition.       One Volume, 8vo, $1.50_
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Here we have one of those audacious stories which Frenchmen alone seem
+to have enough originality to invent. Captain Mago is sent by Hiram King
+of Tyre, on a voyage to Tarshish (Spain) to procure a supply of silver
+and other treasure with which to embellish the temple of David, King of
+the Jews, which was to be erected at Jerusalem. During his absence of
+several years, he met with innumerable strange and perilous adventures
+by land and sea. In itself the narrative of his exploits is of thrilling
+interest, but the real value of the book consists in the graphic and
+accurate picture which it gives of the world as it was a thousand years
+before the Christian Era. King David, King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba,
+and even Homer are among the characters Captain Mago meets in his
+journeys and adventures.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                    =A TALE OF THE INDIAN MUTINY;=
+
+                      _OR, THE SERPENT-CHARMER._
+
+                         BY LOUIS ROUSSELET.
+
+     _New Edition, Fully Illustrated.    One Volume, 12mo, $1.50_
+
+A book of exciting adventures, the scene being laid in India during the
+Mutiny of 1857, and the story describing the fortunes of a Franco-Indian
+family.
+
+"The book, the plot of which appears to be founded on fact, is rather a
+boy's book than a novel, and is filled with an uninterrupted series of
+wild adventures, told in an agreeable and interesting way."
+--_The Nation._
+
+"Besides the interest in the romance, much information is conveyed
+concerning Indian manners and customs, as well as delightful
+descriptions of the wild country and the animals that abound there."
+--_Providence Journal._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                     =WILD MEN AND WILD BEASTS;=
+
+                   _OR, SCENES IN CAMP AND JUNGLE._
+
+                    BY LIEUT.-COL. GORDON CUMMING.
+
+        _New Edition, Illustrated.    One Volume, 12mo, $1.50_
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The author of this book is famous for his hunting exploits in Africa and
+in Asia. His narrative has an autobiographical basis and contains some
+of the most marvelous stories of adventure ever published. Col. Gordon's
+accounts of his various expeditions are records of bravery and endurance
+seldom paralleled; and the tales of bloodshed are alleviated by pleasant
+anecdote--the humors of the camp and chase.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                THE BOY'S LIBRARY OF PLUCK AND ACTION.
+
+        =Four volumes, 12mo, in a box, illustrated,      $5.00
+
+        Sold separately, price per volume,               1.50=
+
+                            [Illustration]
+
+
+                         A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP.
+
+                        BY FRANK R. STOCKTON.
+
+
+                            HANS BRINKER;
+
+                       =OR, THE SILVER SKATES.=
+
+                     A Story of Life in Holland.
+
+                      BY MRS. MARY MAPES DODGE.
+
+
+                          THE BOY EMIGRANTS.
+
+                           BY NOAH BROOKS.
+
+
+                           PHAETON ROGERS.
+
+                         BY ROSSITER JOHNSON.
+
+In the "_Boy's Library of Pluck and Action_," the design was to bring
+together the representative and most popular books of four of the best
+known writers for young people. The volumes are beautifully illustrated
+and uniformly bound in a most attractive form.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                    ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY OF TRAVEL.
+
+                          BY BAYARD TAYLOR.
+
+ =Per set, six volumes, 12mo, $6.00.   Each with many illustrations.
+
+                Sold separately, per volume,  $1.25.=
+
+[Illustration]
+
+JAPAN IN OUR DAY.
+TRAVELS IN ARABIA.
+TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA.
+CENTRAL ASIA.
+THE LAKE REGION OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
+SIAM, THE LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT.
+
+Each volume is complete in itself, and contains, first, a brief
+preliminary sketch of the country to which it is devoted; next, such an
+outline of previous explorations as may be necessary to explain what has
+been achieved by later ones; and finally, a condensation of one or more
+of the most important narratives of recent travel, accompanied with
+illustrations of the scenery, architecture, and life of the races, drawn
+only from the most authentic sources.
+
+"Authenticated accounts of countries, peoples, modes of living and
+being, curiosities in natural history, and personal adventure in travels
+and explorations, suggest a rich fund of solid instruction combined with
+delightful entertainment. The editorship by one of the most observant
+and well-travelled men of modern times, at once secures the high
+character of the 'Library' in every particular."
+--_The Sunday School Times._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                 HANS BRINKER; OR, THE SILVER SKATES.
+
+                     A STORY OF LIFE IN HOLLAND.
+
+                         By MARY MAPES DODGE.
+
+ =One volume, 12mo, with sixty beautiful illustrations,      $1.50.=
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"For children, what could be better as a gift than a copy of Mrs.
+Dodge's 'Hans Brinker; or, the Silver Skates'? This is one of the most
+charming of juvenile stories, dealing with fresh scenes and a strange
+life, and told with sweet simplicity and great beauty."
+--_The Congregationalist._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                         RHYMES AND JINGLES.
+
+                      By Mrs. MARY MAPES DODGE.
+
+                      EDITOR OF "ST. NICHOLAS."
+
+                       _Profusely illustrated._
+
+                 =One vol., 12mo. New edition, $1.50=
+
+Mrs. Dodge's "Rhymes and Jingles" is a collection of her child's
+poems--a department of literature in which she has no equal. Some of
+these poems have been pronounced "without rivals in our language."
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                           PRINCE PEERLESS.
+
+                       A FAIRY FOLK STORY BOOK.
+
+                         By MARGARET COLLIER.
+
+                    (Madame Gelletti Di Cadilhac).
+
+                     ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN COLLIER.
+
+                    =One volume, 12mo,      $1.25=
+
+"More admirable and fascinating a fairy story book we have not lately
+set eyes upon. The stories are most airily conceived and most gracefully
+executed."
+--_The Hartford Post._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                           PHAETON ROGERS.
+
+                         A NOVEL OF BOY LIFE.
+
+                         By ROSSITER JOHNSON.
+
+                            _Illustrated._
+
+                    =One volume, 12mo,      $1.50=
+
+"One of the funniest, liveliest juvenile stories of the year is 'Phaeton
+Rogers,' by Rossiter Johnson. The writer shows as much ingenuity in
+inventing comical adventures and situations as Phaeton does with his
+kite-teams, fire ladders, and comets."
+--_The Holyoke Transcript._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                          THE BOY EMIGRANTS.
+
+                           By NOAH BROOKS.
+
+                            _Illustrated._
+
+                    =One volume, 12mo,      $1.50=
+
+"It is one of the best boy's stories we have ever read. There is nothing
+morbid or unhealthy about it. His heroes are thorough boys, with all the
+faults of their age."
+--_The Christian at Work._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                          THE FAIRPORT NINE.
+
+                           By NOAH BROOKS.
+
+                    =One volume, 12mo,      $1.25=
+
+"As a thoroughly wholesome and delightful book for boys, 'The Fairport
+Nine' is not likely to have its superior this season."
+--_The N. Y. Evening Mail._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                       ABOUT OLD STORY TELLERS.
+
+       OF HOW AND WHEN THEY LIVED, AND WHAT STORIES THEY TOLD.
+
+                        By DONALD G. MITCHELL.
+
+                    _With numerous illustrations._
+
+                    =One volume, 12mo,      $1.25=
+
+"'About Old Story Tellers' is made up of the best of the old stories,
+gathered from all sources, re-told in Mr. Mitchell's inimitable manner,
+and interwoven with lively sketches of the original writers and the
+times in which they flourished."
+--_The New Haven Journal and Courier._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                      HEROES OF THE OLDEN TIME.
+
+                          By JAMES BALDWIN.
+
+          _Three vols., 12mo, each beautifully illustrated,
+                   Singly, $1.50; The Set, $4.00._
+
+In these three volumes, Mr. Baldwin presents in consecutive narrative
+forms the Legends relating to the Trojan War, the great Siegfried myth
+of Northern Europe, and the mediaeval romance of Roland and Charlemange;
+bringing before the reader, with great spirit, with scholarly accuracy
+and with unfailing taste these heroic figures and the times in which
+their adventures are supposed to have occurred.
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                     =A STORY OF THE GOLDEN AGE.=
+
+   With a series of superb Full-page Illustrations by HOWARD PYLE.
+
+                   =One volume, 12mo,      $1.50.=
+
+"Mr. Baldwin's book is redolent with the spirit of the Odyssey, that
+glorious primitive epic, fresh with the dew of the morning of time. It
+is an unalloyed pleasure to read his recital of the adventures of the
+wily Odysseus, slightly expurgated though it be, and adapted for the
+intelligence of youthful minds. Howard Pyle's illustrations render the
+spirit of the Homeric age with admirable felicity."
+--_Prof. H. H. Boyesen._
+
+"Mr. Baldwin's work here as in 'Siegfried' and 'Roland' is of
+exceptional merit, and is to be classed with the 'Tanglewood Tales' of
+Hawthorne rather than with the average story for the young. Mr. Pyle has
+furnished the volume with a dozen drawings of great artistic excellence
+and of genuinely illustrative character."
+--_The Providence Journal._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                      =THE STORY OF SIEGFRIED.=
+
+       With a series of Full-page Illustrations by HOWARD PYLE.
+
+                   =One volume, 12mo,      $1.50.=
+
+"It is told with spirit and is beautifully illustrated."
+--_The New York Sun._
+
+"'The Story of Siegfried' is charmingly told. The author makes up the
+story from the various myths in a fascinating way which cannot fail to
+interest the reader. It is as enjoyable as any fairy tale. The writer's
+style is simple and very attractive, and the book is in every way an
+excellent one for young readers."
+--_The Hartford Courant._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                        =THE STORY OF ROLAND.=
+
+       With a Series of Full-page Illustrations by R. B. BIRCH.
+
+                   =One volume, 12mo,      $1.50.=
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Finely written, beautifully bound and excellently illustrated, it is a
+charming gift-book for either a boy or a girl."
+--_The Critic._
+
+"The old romance is thus told in English for the first time in a
+connected form, and is admirably told in the true spirit of chivalry."
+--_The Boston Traveler._
+
+"Mr. Baldwin has culled from a wide range of epics, French, Italian and
+German, and has once more proved his aptitude as a story teller for the
+young, while conveying information for which many of their elders will
+be thankful."
+--_The Nation._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                           THE BLACK ARROW.
+
+                      _A TALE OF THE TWO ROSES_.
+
+                      BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.
+
+ =With 12 full-page Illustrations by Will H. Low and Alfred Brennan.=
+
+          _One volume, 12mo, paper, 50 cents; cloth, $1.00._
+
+"We have devoured the book at a sitting; and were the question to arise
+which of the author's two books, 'Treasure Island' or 'The Black Arrow,'
+should be preserved, if only one of them could escape destruction, we
+should hesitate not a moment to cry out for 'The Black Arrow.' It has
+all the charm of the other book and something more."
+--_The Critic._
+
+"The Black Arrows are a kind of Robin Hoods, who forgather in the
+greenwood, kill the King's venison, waylay the King's subjects, and
+exercise a simple and primitive injustice by killing everybody in any
+way connected with the objects of their special animosity. Mr. Stevenson
+has made a striking series of dramatic pictures. The action is vigorous
+and incessant. The lawless condition of the time is kept in evidence.
+Everybody is fighting or flying, plotting or baffling plots, doing or
+hindering overt wrong. The tale sweeps on to its close with plenty of
+elan."
+--_The New York Tribune._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                              KIDNAPPED.
+
+ _Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751._
+
+                      BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.
+
+          _One volume, 12mo, paper, 50 cents; cloth, $1.00._
+
+              =With 16 full-page Illustrations, $1.25.=
+
+"Mr. Stevenson has never appeared to greater advantage than in
+'Kidnapped.'"
+--_The Nation._
+
+"He brings back old chivalries and piracies, and talks to the boyhood of
+to-day of shipwrecks and highwaymen, as if these venerable objects of
+worship had not been superseded long ago by mercantile heroes and
+dollar-coining newsboys."
+--_The Atlantic Monthly._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                     A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES.
+
+                      BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.
+
+              _One volume, 12mo, gilt top,       $1.00._
+
+"These verses are simply exquisite. They are the child's thought in the
+child's language, and yet altogether, poetical. We do not know anything
+in the whole range of English literature to equal them in their own
+peculiar charm. There is a subtle beauty in them which is indescribable
+and unequalled."
+--_The Churchman._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                         POETRY FOR CHILDREN.
+
+                      BY MARY AND CHARLES LAMB.
+
+                With Prince Dorus and Some Uncollected
+                  Poems by CHARLES LAMB.  Edited by
+                     R. H. SHEPHERD. 16mo, $1.00.
+
+"The book will be very welcome to thousands of admirers and lovers of
+Charles Lamb. The verses are certainly far superior to most of the poems
+written for the young."
+--_Springfield Republican._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                        SERMONS FOR CHILDREN.
+
+                    Preached in Westminster Abbey.
+  By ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, late Dean of Westminster. 12mo, $1.00.
+
+"They are simple, beautiful, and forcible in the presentation of
+practical religious truth, and no intelligent child can begin the
+perusal of one of them without finishing it and deriving wholesome and
+lasting impressions from it."
+--_The Interior._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                    MARVELS OF ANIMAL LIFE SERIES.
+
+                        By CHARLES F. HOLDER.
+
+            _Three vols., 8vo, each profusely illustrated,
+                   Singly, $1.75; The Set, $5.00._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The marvellously strange forms of animal life that exist or have existed
+in the earth, air or sea, supply Mr. Holder with a theme of entrancing
+interest for every boy. The style is popular; there is a mass of
+accurate information, much of which is based upon the personal
+observation of the author and the illustrations are numerous and of
+substantial help to the reader.
+
+                          *       *       *
+
+                            LIVING LIGHTS.
+
+     A POPULAR ACCOUNT OF PHOSPHORESCENT ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES.
+
+              =With 27 Full-page Illustrations, $1.75.=
+
+"We have read more books of the class of the one before us than we can
+remember, but none that has attracted us so much as this thick little
+quarto. There is a world of entertainment in Mr. Holder's book."
+--_R. H. Stoddard._
+
+"A very curious branch of natural history is expounded in most agreeable
+style by this delightful book. Mr. Holder furnishes a great mass of
+information concerning fire-flies, luminous beetles and other insects,
+the phosphorescent animals and animalculae of the sea, and even of
+plants and flowers that give light. He has revealed a world of new
+wonders to those who are inquisitive about certain mysteries of great
+interest, concerning which no other naturalist has written."
+--_The Philadelphia Bulletin._
+
+                          *       *       *
+
+                       MARVELS OF ANIMAL LIFE.
+
+              =With 24 Full-page Illustrations,--$1.75.=
+
+"Mr. Holder combines his descriptions of these odd creatures with
+stories of his own adventures in pursuit of them in many parts of the
+world. These are told with much spirit and humor, and add greatly to the
+fascination of the book."
+--_The Worcester Spy._
+
+                          *       *       *
+
+                           THE IVORY KING.
+
+          A POPULAR HISTORY OF THE ELEPHANT AND ITS ALLIES.
+
+              =With 24 Full-page Illustrations,--$1.75.=
+
+"The author also talks in a lively and pleasant way about white
+elephants, rogue elephants, baby elephants, trick elephants, of the
+elephant in war, pageantry, sports and games. A charming accession to
+books for young people."
+--_The Chicago Interior._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                THE BOY'S LIBRARY OF LEGEND & CHIVALRY
+
+                       EDITED BY SIDNEY LANIER,
+
+     _And Richly Illustrated by Fredericks, Bensell, and Kappes._
+
+   =Four volumes, cloth, uniform binding, price, per set,  $7.00.=
+
+   =Sold separately, price, per volume,                    $2.00.=
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Mr. Lanier's books, in which he presents to boy readers the old English
+classics of history and legend in such attractive form, are now issued
+in four uniform volumes, well made and well illustrated. While they are
+stories of action and stirring incident, which make them extremely
+exciting, they teach those lessons which manly, honest boys ought to
+learn. The oath of the young fourteenth century knight made him vow to
+speak the truth, to perform a promise to the utmost, to reverence all
+women to maintain right and honesty, to help the weak, to treat high and
+low with courtesy, to be fair to a bitter foe, and to pursue simplicity,
+modesty and gentleness of heart and bearing; and the nineteenth century
+knight is he who takes the same oath of fidelity to truth, honesty and
+purity of heart. The illustrations are full of fire and spirit, and add
+very much to one's enjoyment of the book.
+
+
+                        THE BOY'S KING ARTHUR.
+
+          BEING SIR THOMAS MALLORY'S HISTORY OF KING ARTHUR
+                 AND HIS KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE.
+
+
+                         THE BOY'S FROISSART.
+
+         BEING SIR JOHN FROISSART'S CHRONICLES OF ADVENTURE,
+          BATTLE, AND CUSTOM IN ENGLAND, FRANCE, SPAIN, ETC.
+
+
+                           THE BOY'S PERCY.
+
+                    THE KNIGHTLY LEGENDS OF WALES;
+
+                      OR, THE BOY'S MABINOGION.
+
+"Amid all the strange and fanciful scenery of these stories, character
+and the ideals of character remain at the simplest and purest. The
+romantic history transpires in the healthy atmosphere of the open air on
+the green earth beneath the open sky. * * * The figures of Right, Truth,
+Justice, Honor, Purity, Courage, Reverence for Law, are always in the
+background; and the grand passion inspired by the book is for strength
+to do well and nobly in the world."
+--_The Independent._
+
+"It is quite the beau ideal of a book for a present to an intelligent
+boy or girl."
+--_Baltimore Gazette._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+               STANLEY'S GREAT AFRICAN STORY FOR BOYS.
+
+                              MY KALULU.
+
+         _PRINCE, KING AND SLAVE. A STORY OF CENTRAL AFRICA._
+
+                         BY HENRY M. STANLEY.
+
+   _One volume, 12mo, New Edition, with many Illustrations,  $1.50_
+
+Mr. Stanley's African romance for boys is based upon knowledge acquired
+during his journey in search of Dr. Livingstone, which began in 1871 and
+ended in 1872. It is a fascinating story of strange scenes, incidents
+and adventures among the tribes of Central Africa, and of encounters
+with the wild animals that make their home there. One feature of the
+book is its vivid description of the evils of the slave trade. The
+popularity of the story was great, and as it has been out of print, the
+publishers have issued a new and cheaper edition, which will no doubt
+meet with the same hearty reception accorded to the first.
+
+[Illustration: "YOUNG KALULU IS HERE!"]
+
+"A fresh, breezy, stirring story for youths, interesting in itself and
+full of information regarding life in the interior of the continent in
+which its scenes are laid."
+--_The New York Times._
+
+"If the young reader is fond of strange adventures, he will find enough
+in this volume to delight him all winter, and he will be hard to please
+who is not charmed by its graphic pages."
+--_The Boston Journal._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                       OTTO OF THE SILVER HAND.
+
+               WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY HOWARD PYLE.
+
+      =With Twenty-five Full-Page and many other Illustrations.=
+
+            _One volume, royal 8vo, half leather,  $2.00_
+
+"The scene of the story is mediaeval Germany in the time of feuds and
+robber barons and romance. The kidnapping of Otto, his adventures among
+rough soldiers, and his daring rescue, make up a spirited and thrilling
+story. The drawings are in keeping with the text, and in mechanical and
+artistic qualities as well as in literary execution the book must be
+greeted as one of the very best juveniles of the year, quite worthy to
+succeed to the remarkable popularity of Mr. Pyle's 'Robin Hood.'"
+--_Christian Union._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Told with vividness and uncommon spirit."
+--_Troy Press._
+
+"Far above the common run of juvenile tales."
+--_Pittsburg Post._
+
+"Handsome and attractive in every respect."
+--_New York Herald._
+
+"An addition of the highest character to juvenile literature."
+--_Boston Times._
+
+"The decorative head and tail pieces, etc., add much to the
+embellishment and rich holiday appearance of the book."
+--_Portland Argus._
+
+"Far above the average quality of stories for the young. Mr. Pyle is
+seen in his most brilliant light in both the text and illustrations. The
+volume is a handsome specimen of a holiday book."
+--_Boston Saturday Gazette._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                  THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD
+
+                 OF GREAT RENOWN IN NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.
+
+         WRITTEN AND ELABORATELY ILLUSTRATED BY HOWARD PYLE.
+
+                  _One volume, royal 8vo,    $3.00_
+
+"A superb book."
+--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._
+
+"A very original work."
+--_Boston Post._
+
+"A captivating book."
+--_London Daily News._
+
+"An excellent piece of literary, artistic and mechanical work."
+--_Louisville Commercial._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"This superb book is unquestionably the most original and elaborate ever
+produced by any American artist. Mr. Pyle has told, with pencil and pen,
+the complete and consecutive story of Robin Hood and his merry men in
+their haunts in Sherwood Forest, gathered from the old ballads and
+legends. Mr. Pyle's admirable illustrations are strewn profusely through
+the book."
+--_Boston Transcript._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                         AGAINST HEAVY ODDS.
+
+                      _A TALE OF NORSE HEROISM._
+
+                      BY HJALMAR HJORTH BOYESEN.
+
+          =With 13 full-page Illustrations by W. L. Taylor.=
+
+                   _One volume, 12mo,        $1.00_
+
+The narrative of how the indomitable pluck and perseverance of Ingomar
+Vang, the young Norwegian inventor and whaler, enabled him to triumph
+against heavy odds will stir the blood in every boy's veins. The tragic
+fate of Prebensen, the rich, cruel and selfish oppressor of everyone in
+the little northern whaling village, is pictured with much dramatic
+force. A healthy, honest, manly tone pervades this story of a young
+man's trials and final successes. The illustrations are in Mr. Taylor's
+best style, full of character and color, and faultlessly drawn.
+
+[Illustration: RAGNA IN TRULSON'S COTTAGE.]
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                         THE MODERN VIKINGS:
+
+            _STORIES OF LIFE AND SPORT IN THE NORSELAND._
+
+                        BY HJALMAR H. BOYESEN.
+
+                 =With many full-page Illustrations.=
+
+                     _One volume, 12mo,    $2.00_
+
+"About Professor Boyesen's writings there is a freshness which, while it
+retains the Norse flavor of Andersen, is modern rather than antiquely
+quaint. One readily recognizes the fact that the author is a Norseman
+reciting in English the tales and legends of his land, and not
+addressing the children of his own country in their own language. Every
+page is full of vigor and spirit. The boys and girls are not myths, but
+are full of life and action. While the stories are addressed to the
+young, their character is such that older people will not fail to be
+interested in them."
+--_The Boston Advertiser._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                         BRIC-A-BRAC STORIES.
+
+                       BY MRS. BURTON HARRISON.
+
+          =With 24 full-page Illustrations by Walter Crane.=
+
+          _One volume, 12mo, new and cheaper edition, $1.50_
+
+"It would be difficult to find a more delightful collection of fairy
+tales. The children who are fortunate enough to possess 'Bric-a-Brac
+Stories' will pass their holidays as pleasantly and as profitably as
+Rigi passed his. The book is illustrated with twenty-four fascinating
+drawings by Walter Crane."
+--_Boston Herald._
+
+[Illustration: _Specimen Illustration, Reduced._]
+
+"When the little boy, for whose benefit the various articles of
+bric-a-brac in his father's drawing room relate stories appropriate to
+their several native countries, exclaims, at the conclusion of one of
+them: 'I almost think there can't be a better one than that!' the
+reader, of whatever age, will probably feel inclined to agree with him.
+Upon the whole, it is to be wished that every boy and girl in America,
+or anywhere else, might become intimately acquainted with the contents
+of this book. There is more virtue in one of these stories than in the
+entire library of modern juvenile literature."
+--_Julian Hawthorne._
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+                    THE OLD-FASHIONED FAIRY BOOK.
+
+                       BY MRS. BURTON HARRISON.
+
+        =With many Quaint Illustrations by Miss Rosina Emmet.=
+
+                 _One volume, square 16mo,     $1.25_
+
+"The little ones, who so willingly go back with us to 'Jack the
+Giant-Killer,' 'Bluebeard,' and the kindred stories of our childhood,
+will gladly welcome Mrs. Burton Harrison's 'Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales,'
+where the giant, the dwarf, the fairy, the wicked princess, the ogre,
+the metamorphosed prince, and all the heroes of that line come into play
+and action. As they read the stories which compose this book they will
+meet with all the familiar actors of the fairy world in different scenes
+indeed, and with new deeds of daring, witchcraft, or charming
+benevolence, but still the same characters of the old-fashioned fairy
+lore. The graceful pencil of Miss Rosina Emmet has given a pictorial
+interest to the book, and the many pictures scattered through its pages
+accord well with the good old-fashioned character of the tales."
+--_Frank R Stockton._
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+In this the ASCII version, accents have been dropped.
+
+The advert ("BY THE SAME AUTHOR") was originally at the
+front of the book, but has been moved to the end.
+
+The fourth illustration appears on page 49, not 47. The List of
+Illustrations has been accordingly corrected.
+
+The following typographical corrections have been made:
+
+(Page 63) Quotation mark added to the end of the illustration caption.
+(Page 85) Quotation mark added after "episode is over."
+(Page 96) Changed a semi-colon to a comma after "Courage".
+
+(Page 39) "thought 'd ask you" is as originally printed.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sara Crewe, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SARA CREWE ***
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