Family life -- Juvenile fiction; Voyages and travels -- Juvenile fiction
While Miss Smith was out, there came a ring to the door bell, and the
little fresh-colored English servant brought in a letter, and laid it
beside the purse which Cecile stood near, but did not offer to touch.
In about twenty minutes Miss Smith reappeared. She looked excited, and
even cheerful.
"It does me good to help one of the Lord's little ones," she said, "and
it does me good to hear the English tongue; except from Molly, I never
hear it now, and Molly goes to-morrow. Well, never mind. Now, Cecile,
listen to me. Do you see this bag? It is big, and heavy, it is full of
your money; twenty-five francs for every sovereign--two hundred and
seventy-five francs in all. You could not carry that heavy bag about
with you; it would be discovered, and you would be robbed at once.
"But I have hit on a plan. See! I have brought in another parcel--this
parcel contains cotton wool. I perceive that little frock you have on
has three tucks in it. I am going to unpick those tucks, and line them
softly with cotton wool, and lay the francs in the cotton wool. I will
do it cleverly, and no one will guess that any money could be hidden in
that common little winsey frock. Now, child, you slip it off, and I
will put the money in, and I will give you a needle and thread and a
nice little sharp scissors, and every night when folks are quite sound
asleep, and you are sure no one is looking, you must unpick enough of
one of the tucks to take out one franc, or two francs, according as you
want them; only be sure you sew the tuck up again. The money will make
the frock a trifle heavy, and you must never take it off your back
whatever happens until you get to the English girl; but I can hit on no
better plan."
"I think it is a lovely, lovely plan," said Cecile, and then she
slipped off the little frock, and Miss Smith wrapped her carefully in
an old shawl of her own; and the next two hours were spent in
skillfully lining the tucks with their precious contents.
When this was finished Miss Smith got a hot iron, and ironed the tucks
so skillfully that they looked as flat as they had done before. Some of
the money, also, she inserted in the body of the frock, and thus
enriched, it was once more put on by Cecile.
"Now, Cecile," said Miss Smith, "I feel conceited, for I don't believe
anyone will ever think of looking there for your money; and I am to
keep the Russia-leather purse and the forty pounds and they are for an
English girl called Lovedy. How shall I know her when she comes, or
will you only return to fetch them yourself, little one?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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