Page:What Katy Did.djvu/192

180 like dust and darkness. I like to see flowers on the table, and sunshine in at the window. Will you do this to please me?'

Yes,' said the girl, but she gave a sigh, and I am afraid she felt as if it was going to be a dreadful trouble.

Then, another thing,' continued her father, 'I want you to look pretty. Can't night-gowns and wrappers be trimmed and made becoming just as much as dresses? A sick woman who isn't neat is a disagreeable object. Do, to please me, send for something pretty, and let me see you looking nice again. I can't bear to have my Helen turn into a slattern.

"Helen!" exclaimed Katy, with wide-open eyes, "was it you?"

"Yes," said her cousin, smiling. "It was I, though I didn't mean to let the name slip out so soon. So, after my father was gone away, I sent for a looking-glass. Such a sight, Katy! My hair was a perfect mouse's nest, and I had frowned so much that my forehead was all criss-crossed with lines of pain, till it looked like an old woman's."