Dear Miss Helen, who is so sweet and good to the children, I love
her,' and she kissed her fondly on each cheek.
Marm Lisa did not attempt to rebel but she was sullen, and refused
her work when it was offered her later.
Such occurrences were rare, however, for her obliquity always seemed
mental rather than moral.
Straws and bright papers, beads and pretty forms to thread on stout
laces, were given her to wean her from her favourite but aimless
string-play. There were days of restlessness which she wandered up
and down stairs, and could not be kept in her chair nor persuaded to
stand in her place in the circle. There were days, too, when she
tore the bright cardboards and glossy weaving-mats that ordinarily
gave her such keen pleasure; but this carelessness grew more and more
infrequent, until it ceased altogether, so that it had probably come
more from her inability to hold and move the materials and needles
properly than from a wanton instinct of destruction; for they would
often see the tears drop from her eyes upon her clumsy fingers as she
strove to make them obey her feeble behests. At such a moment there
was always some one to fling herself with passionate ardour and
sympathy into this latest difficulty. A stouter weaving-needle was
invented, and a mat of pretty coloured morocco substituted for the
fragile paper; while the poor inert hands were held and coaxed and
strengthened every day by finger gymnastics.
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