2/21 She told Mrs.Bell the day that she went to live with her, that she did not even know any of the letters, except the round one and the crooked one. The round one she said she _always_ knew, and as for S she learned that, because it stood for Erskine. This shows how little she knew about spelling. As both the girls were named Mary, the people of the family and the neighbors gradually fell into the habit of calling each of them by her full name, in order to distinguish them from each other. Thus the baby was never called Mary, but always Mary Bell, and the little nursery maid was always known as Mary Erskine. |