If they had walked heel or tiptoe I
should not have scolded to myself about the ugly issue shoes, and called
them shovel-feeted, and wished they had to lie in bed. But I did not
wish them to be cripples--only have a good long rest till I was through
scrubbing. But Hannah was mean to go and tell. I can find no verse
that will excuse her and the dormitory girls."
Here Cordelia Running Bird fell to pitying herself anew.
"I shall now read Annie's best verse, but it will be very hard to mind
those words that Jesus spoke."
Cordelia Running Bird wound the ribbon round the little Bible, tying it
with care, and laid the book close by her on the bed; then she ate her
dinner with a hearty relish. She had hardly finished when the door from
the front hall was opened, and the young white mother, rosy from her
sleigh-ride, looked into the dormitory. She saw the little Bible lying
near Cordelia, glanced inquiringly at the dark-faced girl, and then
smiled and nodded, to receive a cheerful smile in answer.
"Jump up quickly, dear, and dress," she said. "Some little girls are
going up the river to the store, and one of the girls is Cordelia
Running Bird."
Cordelia started out of bed in joyful haste.
"Are you ready to give back the Bible?" asked the white mother, coming
to the bed.
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