came from heaven, and
heaven is the place all the angels come from, and they are white and
shining, so I think it will be white and shining like an angel." The
doll in question is a negress with a woolly head and a scarlet-striped
pinafore. It had not struck me as angelic. It is an experiment in dolls.
Will it "take"? Ki-rismas came at last, and the heavenly doll with it,
but it did not "take." Grievous were the tears and sobs, and the
bitterest wail of all was, "I thought God would have sent me a nicer
doll!" We changed it for a "nicer doll," for the poor Elf was not
wicked, only broken-hearted, and Star, who is supposed to be much too
old for dolls, begged for the despised black beauty; because, as the Elf
maliciously remarked as she hugged her white dolly contentedly, "That
black thing has a curly head, just like Star's!"

The habit of praying about everything is characteristic of the Elf, and
more than once her uninstructed little soul has grieved over the strange
way our prayers are sometimes answered. One day she came rushing in full
of excitement. "Oh, may I go and be examined? The Government Missie
Ammal is going to examine our school! Please let me go!" The Government
Missie Ammal, a great celebrity who only comes round once a year, was
staying with us, and I asked her if the child might have the joy of
being examined even though she had not had nearly her year at school.
She agreed, for the sake of the little one's delight--for an Indian
child likes nothing better than a fuss of any kind--to let her come into
the examination room, and take her examination informally. We knew she
was sure of a pass. An hour or two afterwards a scout came flying over
to tell us the awful news. The Elf had failed, utterly failed, and she
was so ashamed she wouldn't come back, "wouldn't come back any more." I
went for her, and found her a little heap of sobs and tears, outside the
schoolroom. I gathered her up in my arms and carried her home, and tried
to comfort her, but she was crushed. "I asked God so earnestly to let me
pass, and I didn't pass! And I thought He had listened, but now I know
He didn't listen at all!"

I was puzzled too, though for a different reason. I knew she should
easily have passed, and I could only conclude her wild excitement had
made her nervous, for with many tears she told me, "I did not know one
answer! not even one!" And again she came back to the first and sorest,
"Oh, I did think God was listenin