LITTLE TRUDY 19 



I shouldn't at all wonder if that was the very place 

 where Tommy learned to say spring flowers were 

 like fairies. When many of the little bells are 

 open, the patch seems more like a playground for 

 elves than for the feet of real people; and when 

 I am with them there I can quite forgive them 

 for being Lilies instead of Violets. 



Even Grandmother could not tell me why the 

 plant Is named Violet, although she thought it 

 was on account of Its root being pointed and 

 sharp that it was called Dog's-tooth Violet. The 

 few blossoms that I carried home closed up 

 tightly on the way, and although we tried to 

 coax them open by putting their stems in hot 

 water, it was of no use. I felt sorry that I did 

 not leave them out under the great tree. 



I have not told you yet that Tommy has a 

 sister. She Is only four years old, and her hair 

 is straight and black. She looks like no other lit- 

 tle girl I have ever seen, and not a bit like Tommy, 

 whose hair is red. She wants to do just what 

 Tommy does, although he is a boy, and so much 

 older. Some days she will sing for us, and be 

 very good; but at other times she stamps her 

 little foot, and shakes her black hair, and runs 

 and hides just when we want her most. Every 

 one calls her Little Trudy. 



Tommy is very proud of Little Trudy, and last 

 Saturday he was going to take her to a boys' party 

 in the village, only when it was time for her to 



