now³³."

He worked and worked, and then he looked at the clock. It was late. He went to the kitchen, took some bread, butter and cheese and went to look for my sister. He looked in the garden. She was not there. He looked in the yard. She was not there. He could not find her. Then he went out into the street. He asked people:

"Have you seen³⁴ a little girl with red hair and brown eyes?"

But the people said, "No, we haven't³⁵."

My father went home. He did not know what to do. When we came home, my mother went to the kitchen and said:

"Why didn't you give Nancy her bread and butter?"

Father told her all about my naughty little sister.

And then my mother said:

"I know where she is. She is with old Mr. Smith."

We all went to Mr. Smith, and there we saw my naughty little sister. She was playing with little boxes.

"Come home," said my father.

"I don't want to," said my naughty little sister.

"Come home. It is late. You must drink your milk," said my mother.

"I don't want to."

Then Mr. Smith said, "Take this picture and give it to your doll. She will like it." And Mr. Smith took his beautiful picture from the wall and gave it to my naughty little sister.

My sister was very happy. She forgot to say Thank you to Mr. Smith and ran home very quickly.

And we all went home, too.

IX. My Naughty Little Sister Goes to School

One day when I was a little girl, my mother got a letter from my grandmother. She was ill, and she asked my mother to come to her.

"Take your sister to school with you," said my mother to me.

"She can't sit still for five minutes," I said.

"I can sit still," said my little sister.

My mother wrote a letter to my teacher. My teacher answered:

"Yes, Nancy may come to school if she is a good girl."

My sister was very happy. Do you know what she did? She found my father's old bag and put a pencil and a notebook into the bag. She went to bed very early. She was a very good girl.

In the morning she got up early. She washed her face and neck and dressed quickly. After breakfast my mother went to my grandmother, and we went to school.

Our lessons began at 9 o'clock. But we came to the schoolyard earlier. My sister said Good morning to everybody in the yard.

When we came into the classroom, the teacher said:

"Jack is ill. So your sister may sit at his desk."

My little sister did not talk. She looked and looked. She looked at the teacher, she looked at the schoolboys and schoolgirls. She looked at the blackboard and at the pictures on the wall.

The children opened their bags and took out their pencils and notebooks. My sister opened her bag, too. She took out her pencil and her notebook.

Then the teacher called all the children's names. The children said: "Present." But she did not call my sister's name, because she was not a pupil. Then my naughty little sister got up and said:

"I want a present, too."

Everybody laughed³⁶. Then the teacher gave her some plasticine³⁷. My little sister made a red flower, and the teacher said it was very nice.

The teacher read us a story, and my sister listened, too. When the teacher asked questions about this story, all the children put up their hands and my sister put up her hand. And she gave a good answer. The teacher said:

"Your little sister is very clever."

Then we drew pictures. I drew a house, a tree and a lake. But do you know what my little sister drew? She drew our teacher. Yes, she drew our nice teacher. She drew her with very little eyes and very long black hair, and a very big mouth.

"I like your picture," said our teacher. "I like it very much."

Then we all went to the schoolyard and played there. We played ball. My little sister played ball, too.

Then we went to the classroom again. We read a story in a book, but my little sister could not read, so she fell asleep³⁸. She slept till four o'clock when the lessons were over and we went home.

X. The Baby-Tooth³⁹

When I was a little girl and my little sister was a very little girl, we had an apple-tree behind our house. We liked to pick apples and eat them.

One day my little sister picked a very big green apple. When she began to eat it, one of her little teeth got loose⁴⁰. My little sister began to cry.

"Don't cry," said my mother. "It's a baby-tooth. All your little baby-teeth will get loose and new teeth will grow."

My little sister liked to show her tooth to everybody. She showed it to the postman and to her friend the shoe-mender.

"Come," said my mother. "I'll pull it out⁴¹."

"No, no! Don't pull it out!" said my naughty little sister. "I like my tooth."

Then the shoe-mender said, "You must show it to the doctor. The doctor likes to see nice baby-teeth."

"I want to go to the doctor," said my naughty little sister to my mother. "I want to show him my baby-tooth. He likes to see nice baby-teeth."

"All right!⁴²" said my mother.

So my little sister went to the doctor. She showed her tooth to the people who were there. Everybody liked her little tooth.

"You have a very nice tooth," said the doctor. "I collect nice teeth. Can you give me your tooth? I want to show it to the people who come to me."

And do you know what my little sister did? She pulled out her tooth and gave it to the doctor.

"Here it is," she said. "You may take it. You can show it to the people who come to you."

She was a funny little girl, wasn't she?

XI My Naughty Little Sister Goes to the Theatre

Once when my little sister was four, our mother took us to the theatre.

The theatre was very beautiful. My sister and I liked it very much.

When we were in the theatre, my little sister did not talk. She looked at the curtain and at the beautiful walls and the big lamps over our heads.

She looked at the boys and girls and at their mothers and fathers. But when the curtain went up⁴³ and a little funny man came out, she looked only at this funny man. His name was Humpty-Dumpty⁴⁴. He said:

"How do you do, little boys and girls?"

"How do you do?" we all said.

But my little sister cried:

"Hullo, Humpty-Dumpty!"

Everybody laughed, and Humpty-Dumpty said:

"Hullo, little girl!"

Then beautiful dolls came out and danced. They had very beautiful dresses on, all white and blue.

Humpty-Dumpty began to dance, too, but he fell on the floor.

And then Humpty-Dumpty said:

"Who wants to dance with me?"

You know that my little sister was very naughty, don't you?⁴⁵

Do you know what she did?

She ran to Humpty-Dumpty and said:

"I want to dance with you."

Everybody laughed. Humpty-Dumpty laughed, too. The other children ran to him, too, and they all began to dance.

"Now, children," he said, "go to you seats."

All the children went to their seats, but my little sister did not go to her seat.

Do you know why she did not go to her seat?

She ran away. Yes, she ran away. She wanted to see the dolls behind the curtain. She found the dolls. The beautiful dolls talked to my sister, and they gave her an ice.

Humpty-Dumpty found my little sister and took her to our mother. Everybody laughed, but my mother was very angry.

Do you know what my naughty little sister did then?

She jumped up on her seat and cried:

"I saw them. I saw the dolls. They are not dolls. They eat ices. They are little girls!"

My little sister was a very naughty girl, wasn't she?

XII. My Naughty Little Sister and a Good Girl

When I was a little girl, my mother said to my little sister:

"One of my friends will come to see us today, and her little daughter will come with her. The little girl's name is Winnie. She is a very good girl. You must be a good girl, too. You will take your toys and play with her in the garden."

My little sister put on her new blue dress and blue socks and white shoes. She took all her toys into the garden. She took her big doll out of the box. She wanted to play with Winnie and to show all her toys.

"I want to play with Winnie. I want to play with Winnie. When will she come?" said Nancy. At last Winnie and her mother came. Nancy ran to the door and opened it. Winnie had a blue dress and blue socks on. My little sister did not say How do you do? like a good girl, but she said:

"Blue socks, too."

Winnie's mother laughed. But Winnie did not laugh, she said:

"How do you do?"

She was a very good girl, wasn't she?

My mother and Winnie's mother sat down on a bench in the garden and talked, and Winnie and my little sister went to play. My little sister showed her all the toys and the big doll, too.

"Do you like my doll?" asked my little sister. But Winnie did not answer. She did not say a word.

"Can you talk?" asked my little sister.

"Yes, I can," answered Winnie.

"Do you want to play with my toys?" asked my sister.

"No, thank you," said Winnie.

"Do you want to run?" asked my sister.

"No, thank you. It is too hot," said Winnie.

"Do you want to play hide-and-seek?" asked my sister.

"No, thank you. I don't like hide-and-seek," said Winnie.

"Do you want to pick apples?" asked my little sister.

"No, I don't like to pick apples," said Winnie.

"What do you want to do?" asked my little sister.

"I want to read a book," said Winnie.

Winnie was six. She went to school. So she could read. The children went into the house.

Winnie-took one of my books and began to read it. But my little sister did not go to school. She could not read. So she ran into the garden, picked apples and flowers, and when tea-time came, her hands were dirty and her face was dirty, and her dress was dirty, too.

My mother put a big cake on the table. She said to Winnie:

"Have some cake, Winnie."

"Thank you," said Winnie, and she took a little piece of cake.

But my naughty little sister took a very big piece of cake. She liked cake very much.

After tea Winnie and her mother went home. Winnie said:

"Thank you. Good-bye."

When they went away, my naughty little sister said to my mother:

"I don't want to be a good girl."

"Why don't you want to be a good girl?" asked my mother.

"I like cake very much."

She was a funny little girl, wasn't she?

XIII. My Little Sister Is Five

When my little sister was five, she went to school⁴⁶. She went to school every day.

The lessons began at nine o'clock. At eleven o'clock the children had a short break. Then they had two more lessons. At