ic, as one gathered from it
that the child felt she would no longer be allowed to keep her one
cherished possession, if any idea of its pecuniary value were suggested
to her mother.

"Nein, nein," answered Johnny, shaking his head and speaking with
emphasis, as if to say that this was a secret he would carefully guard
from the unnatural parent. "Nein, nein," he repeated. "If I tells dat
mutter any tings, 'tis as dat head is so pad as is not vort notings."

"But you would not say what is not true, even to save Matty's hair,
would you?" said Miss Craven, unable to allow this more than doubtful
morality to pass.

Again Johnny wagged his head, this time as one quite convinced that he
was in the right, and answered: "If I tells shust one nice, leetle pit
of a lie" (Johnny did not mince matters, even to his own conscience),
"'tis for to keep away a great pig wrong; for if I tells dat mutter de
shild's head is vort so moosh, she put dat head in de scissors de negst
minit."

The kindly old Dutchman was plainly convinced that the end justified
the means, and cousin Serena felt that any further discussion of the
question was useless, and that it would not tend to improve Matty's
moral views or those of her brother Tony, who had just come in, as both
were sure to side with their friend and benefactor.

"We will hope that no one will ever touch Matty's pretty hair," she
said; and I, seized with a sudden inspiration, and still appealing to
Matty's vanity, said,--

"I would like to see Matty's hair flowing over a dark-blue dress. How
it would set it off! Would you like a blue dress, Matty? Your hair will
look so pretty over it if you wear it down."

Matty looked rather askance at me. She evidently regarded me as a rival
in the matter of hair, and was not inclined to accept any advances on
my part; but friendly, jolly little Tony answered for her; while she
hesitated, evidently meditating some ungracious answer.

"Oh, wouldn't she though, miss! I guess she would like it, an' her hair
would look awful pooty on it, an' when we goes to the Sunday-school
festival,--when it's Easter, ye know,--Matty'll wear the blue dress,
an' her hair down on it, an' she'll look as good as any of the girls
there, an' better, 'cause there isn't one of 'em has hair like
Matty's.--An' I'll tell ye, Matty, if the lady,--she's one of Jim's
young ladies,--if she gives ye the blue dress, we'll keep it to Mrs.
Petersen's if she'll let us, so ma can't ge