Adopted children -- Juvenile fiction; Girls -- Juvenile fiction
The extent of Marian's knowledge was the only limit to the games
she played. Pictures in the family Bible had given her many an hour
of entertainment in the little room, thanks to the fact that Uncle
George allowed Marian to look at the pictures on an occasional Sunday
afternoon. The doll almost broke her nose the day before playing
"Rebecca at the Well." The "Marriage at Cana" was a safer game for a
wax doll that could not stand, especially as the doll made a beautiful
bride. Turning from her piano, Marian saw something that made her
laugh. The robin's head and the duck's feet had fallen one above the
other.
"Poor robin," she said, "I guess you would rather have your own feet.
R-o-b-i-n, I know how to spell you, and I'll put you on your own feet
and I'll give the duck his own head so he can quack." When the robin
was put together it looked like an old friend. "You're nicer than the
bird of paradise, after all," declared Marian, "because I know you so
well. You and I used to be chums because I didn't have any little
girls to play with."
It was something of a puzzle to put all of the birds together, but
when the work was finished Marian was pleased. "You're all so nice and
common looking," she said. "I never saw the owl bird, but we used to
hear him in the woods at night, didn't we, blue jay? He used to go,
'Who--who--whoo--whoo!' We used to see you, old black crow, you always
said 'Caw--caw--caw,' and you dear little wren, how I would like to
hear you sing once more. Where are you all now? Somewhere way down
South, because our teacher says so and when the snow is gone, you'll
come flying back.
"Oh, now we'll play something. It is autumn over here on the rug, the
rug's the orchard, and the leaves are falling and all the flowers are
fading and winter is coming. You see that sunshiny spot on the floor
over there under the windows, birdies? Well, that is down South where
you are going. I don't remember who goes first but I guess the little
wren better fly away now, and we'll have lots of fun." One by one the
birds went south, owl and all, and one by one they flew back to the
orchard in the spring-time, where the wax doll welcomed them, listened
to their songs and scattered strings about for them to use in building
their nests.
It was a pleasant game and Marian was called to the dining-room before
she thought of putting the birds away.
"I wonder if I didn't get the best half of the game after all," she
suggested to the wax doll as she threw it a parting kiss.
Had Marian known that the bird of paradise, the peacock and the other
bright ones were laid upon a shelf as birds of no consequence and that
Ella had complained all the forenoon of having nothing to do, she would
have understood why Aunt Hester not only greeted her with a smile, but
said at the same time, "You dear, happy child."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account