[Illustration]
At Christmas Jessie had a pretty French doll given to her by her aunt
Amy. For weeks Jessie thought she had nothing more to wish for, but in
the spring, however, when the days were warm and sunny, and nature
called her out-of-doors, she found it rather inconvenient to take her
dolly with her every time. She couldn't use her arms for anything else,
you see, and like every other child, she liked to run and jump, and pick
flowers and other things that caught her eye. But, like a good little
mother, she thought her dolly needed the fresh air quite as much as
herself; so one night, at the supper-table, she said: "I wish I had a
carriage for Bella, then I could leave her in that when I went for
buttercups and violets."
Papa was present, and he heard her remark. In a few days Jessie's
birthday would come, and both he and her mamma had been thinking of what
they would give her then; for Jessie was such a good, gentle child,
seldom teasing for what she could not have, that they always took
especial care to remember her on such holidays.
The innocent hint was just what he wanted. So on the birthday morn,
Jessie found Bella seated in a beautiful little carriage, close beside
her chair at the breakfast-table. You may be sure she was a very happy
little girl then, and that she gave mamma and papa many loving hugs and
kisses for their thoughtfulness and love.