"Mamma read me all of them and several of the Prudy books, and I have read half of 'Flaxie Frizzle' my own self." "_Oh!_" exclaimed Mary, in a tone expressing enlightenment.

"I _see_! Nothing but juvenile books! No wonder that, with such mental pabulum, you don't care for anything but dolls! Now when I was your age, I had read 'The Vicar of Wakefield' and 'Pride and Prejudice' and Leather-stocking Tales, and all sorts of things.

Probably that is why I lost my taste for dolls so early.

Wouldn't you like me to read to you awhile every morning ?" The offer was graciousness itself, but it implied such a lack on Girlie's part that she felt vaguely uncomfortable.

She sat digging the toe of her slipper against the leg of the bench.
"I don't know," she stammered finally.