She fastened it; she put a belt round her
waist. She curtsied before her little glass. She bobbed here; she
bobbed there. She looked at herself front view, then over her shoulder,
then, with a morsel of glass, at her back; she surveyed herself, as far
as the limited accommodation of her room afforded, from every point of
view. Finally, with flushed cheeks and a very proud expression on her
face, she tripped downstairs. The pale-blue cashmere blouse, with its
real lace and embroidered trimmings, might have been worn by any girl,
even in the highest station of life.
Mrs. Hopkins was busy in the kitchen. She called to Susy:
"Come and hold the vegetable dish, child. I hear Tom pushing Aunt Church
in at the gate; I know he is doing it by the creak of the bath-chair.
There never was a bath-chair that creaked like that. Hold this while
I--Why, sakes alive, Susy! wherever did you get--"
"Oh, it's my new blouse, mother."
"Your new what?"
"What you see, mother--my new blouse. Don't you admire it?"
Mrs. Hopkins was so stunned that she could not speak for a moment. Her
face, which had been quite florid, turned pale. She suddenly put up her
hand and caught Susy by the arm.
"Oh, mother, don't!" said the little girl. "Your hand isn't clean. Oh,
you have made a stain! Oh, mother, how could you?"
"Run upstairs at once, child, and take it off. For the life of you don't
let _her_ see it; she'd never forgive me.
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