As Lisa grew in power Rhoda grew in ingenuity, and failure in any one
particular only stimulated her genius of invention the more. Did she
spill paste, mucilage, water on her gingham aprons, and wipe anything
and everything on them that came in her way, Rhoda dressed her in
daintier ones of white cambric, with a ruffle at the neck and
sleeves; the child's pleasure knew no bounds, and she kept the aprons
clean. With Mrs. Grubb's permission her hair was cut shorter, and
brushed back under a round comb. No regiment of soldiers could have
kept the comb in place. It was taken away and a blue ribbon
substituted. She untied the ribbon every five minutes for two days,
when Mary circumvented her by sewing a blue ribbon on each sleeve.
This seemed to divert her attention from the head-band, and after a
week or two she allowed it to remain without interference. Mary gave
her low shoes, hoping that the lessened trouble of lacing them would
make the task a possibility. There was no improvement. If she laced
them, it was only under supervision, and they were always untied
within the hour, the dangling laces tripping her awkward feet.
Slippers or old-fashioned shoes with elastic at the side would have
been an easy way out of the difficulty, but to Rhoda's mind that
would have been a humiliating confession of failure.
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