osom of her frock and pulling out an ivory needle-case. "I keep it here
for fear it'll get lost. There's always such a confusion when we only
stop one night in a place."

"Isn't it pretty," said Alice admiringly. "I'm glad Jerry gave it to
you. But I wish you had an Aunty, because mine is so nice."

"Or a Mamma," said Mignon thoughtfully. "If I only had a Mamma of my
own, and music which would play _all the time_ and never stop, I should
be just happy. I wouldn't mind the Enchanted Steed then,--or any
thing."

"What's the Enchanted Steed?" asked Alice.

"Oh,--one of the things I do. It's harder than the rest, so I don't like
it quite so well. You'll see--it's the grand _finale_ to-night."

A sharp little bell tinkled.

"That's to ring up the curtain," said Mignon. "I must go. Thank you so
much for coming to see me."

"Oh, wait one minute!" cried Alice, diving into her pocket. "Yes, I
thought so. Here's my silver thimble. Won't you take it for a keepsake,
dear, to go with your needle-book, you know? And don't forget me,
because I never, never shall forget you. My name's Alice,--Alice
Flower."

"How pretty!" cried Mignon, looking admiringly at the thimble. "How kind
you are! Good-by."

"Kiss your hand to me from the back of the horse, won't you, please?"
said Alice. "That will be splendid! Good-by, dear, good-by."

The two children kissed each other; then Mignon ran away, tucking the
thimble into her bosom as she went.

"O Aunty! you never saw such a darling little thing as she is!" cried
Alice, when they had got back to the box. "So sweet, and so pretty,
prettier than any of the little girls we know, Aunty. I'm sure you'd
think so if you saw her near. She hasn't any Mamma either, and no Aunty
or any thing. She wishes so much she had. But she says all the circus
people are real kind to her. You can't think how much she loves music.
If the band would play all the time, she could fly, she says, or do any
thing else that was hard. It was so queer to hear her talk about it. I
never saw any little girl that I liked so much. I wish she was my
sister, my own true sister; really I do, Aunty."

"Why, Alice, I never knew you so excited about anybody before," remarked
Miss Flower.

"O Aunty! she isn't _anybody_; she's quite different from common people.
How I wish she'd hurry and come out again. She promised to kiss her
hand to me from the horse's back, Papa. Won't that be splendid?"

The whole performance was more