done enough, she sat down and cried
for vexation, she had done so badly. Again came the whimsical little
smile on the Motherkin's face, and, opening the door, she said,

"Come, Laura, and see my cow and my pig, and let me show you my
garden."

Laura rose, but scorned the amusement, and soon found herself admiring
both cow and pig, for both were white and clean as two roses; and when
the Motherkin showed her a corner which was to be her own garden, to dig
in as she pleased, she no longer felt contemptuously as she had done.
But the novelty of having a garden and being allowed to dig in it did
not make her less homesick and dreary when bedtime came, and she had to
creep off alone to the clean but hard little bed. She slept, though,
soundly and well.

CHAPTER III.

The rushing of the brook wakened Laura, and she gazed about her; slowly
and dimly the sense of where she was came upon her, and she resolved
that she would stay in bed. There was no nurse to dress her, no elegant
toilet arrangements such as she was always in the habit of using: a
little earthenware bowl and jug in the place of her luxurious bath, a
good coarse towel instead of the snowy damask linen, and over the foot
of the bed a common print dress and a checked apron, both spotlessly
clean, had been placed. She looked at them and buried her face in her
pillow. The Motherkin called her in vain. After waiting a long while,
she came up to her.

"Why are you not out of bed, my child?" she asked, most kindly. "It is
a bright, clear morning. Are you not well?"

Laura said nothing; ashamed of her own sulkiness, she yet was not
prepared to acknowledge it.

"Come, shall I help you dress? Do you need assistance?"

Still no reply.

"Ah, what a pity you are ill!" said the Motherkin. "I had some nice
chocolate ready for your breakfast, but I will have to go make some
gruel. Poor child! poor child!" And away she went, leaving Laura with
her head still buried in her pillow. In a short time she returned,
bearing a large cup of gruel and a slice of bread, which she placed
beside Laura. Then she bathed the child's face and brushed her hair,
Laura submitting in silence. When she had rearranged the bed and made it
comfortable, she kissed her and left her.

After a while Laura tasted the gruel, making faces over it; but she
emptied the cup. In the same way the bread disappeared; and then,
getting very tired of lying in bed, she rose and went to the window.