me up. You are real kind and
soft when you touch me, Minnie. I think you try to be a mother to me."

To Rosanna's horror, Minnie burst into tears.

"Oh, the saints forgive me!" she sobbed. "To think you have thought of
that and me dressin' you half the time that rough and sudden! Oh, Miss
Rosanna dear, just you take notice of me after this!"

"Why, I don't need to," said Rosanna. "You _are_ good to me, and if you
will, just play you work for me and show me where my things are and how
to do things. Helen is going to teach me to cook if you will come sit in
the kitchen and I am going to see if Mrs. Culver will show me how to
sew."

Minnie sniffed. "If she can beat me sewin'," she said scornfully, "she's
beatin' me at my own game. I learned of the nuns in the convent school
where your stitches has to be that small you can't find 'em. You just
let me help with your sewin', dearie."

"That will be fine," said Rosanna, dancing up and down. "Oh, I do wish
grandmother was going to stay away longer than a week! That's such a
short time to learn everything in, I don't see how I can do it all."

"Nor I," said Minnie. "And I sure do wish the same for your grandmother,
that she will treat herself and Mr. Robert to a good long trip. She
don't stay away enough for her own good, I say. Well, wishing never does
much good. All we can do is just put in all the time we can, Miss
Rosanna, and we will do exactly what you say. We will make a play of it
and I will start this very minute. You will find your clean night dress
in the left hand end of the second drawer of your dresser."

"Here it is," said Rosanna a moment later. "What a lot of them I have!
Do I need such a big pile, Minnie?"

"Well, not really, Miss Rosanna. You outgrow them mostly."

"Then we won't get any more for a long, long time," said Rosanna.
"Minnie, what do you think about my hair?"

"I will have to comb that for you, dearie; it is so very long and
thick."

"I was thinking," said Rosanna slowly, "about docking it. It is a great
bother."

"Oh, my sufferin' soul!" cried Minnie, with a face of horror. "Oh me, oh
my! Don't you think of that ever again, Miss Rosanna! If anything in the
_world_ happened to your hair, well, I don't want to think what your
grandmother would do to me. Your hair is her pride and glory. It is the
only thing I ever heard her brag about. 'You can tell Rosanna in a crowd
as far as you can see her,' says she, 'by her hair; just that dark