"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 one o'clock in the afternoon the children had dinner at school. Some children went home for dinner, but my little sister did not go home for dinner, because our house was not near the school.
After dinner we played in the yard and had two more lessons. The lessons were over at four o'clock, and Mother came to take my sister home.
Nancy learned many things at school. She learned to read, to write and to count. She could spell her name very well now.
She learned many things about animal. She learned about animals that give us milk and about animals that give us wool.
One evening when she put her school-books and her pens and pencils into her bag, she put her doll into her bag, too. Yes, she took her doll to school. When the first lesson began, she put her doll on her desk.
"You must not bring your doll to school," said the teacher. "You are a big girl now. You must learn to read, to write and to count. You can play with your doll at home."
The teacher told her again and again that she must not take her doll to school. But my little sister was very naughty.
"I do not play with my doll in school," she said. "My doll is five, too, and she must go to school, too."
My sister learned not only to read and to write. She also learned how to answer the telephone47. She said, "Hullo!" and then she said, "I'll call Mother." When Mother was not at home, she said, "May I take your message?48"
One day our mother was not at home when the telephone bell rang.
"Mrs. Brown is not at home," said my little sister. "May I take your message?"
"I am Nancy's teacher. Please tell Mrs. Brown that Nancy must not take her doll to school."
And do you know what my naughty sister did?
She did not tell our mother about it.
The next day she took her doll to school again.
The teacher wrote a letter to our mother and gave it to me. She said:
"Don't forget to give this letter to your mother today."
My mother put my naughty sister's doll into a box and put the box into the wardrobe. And my little sister did not get any cake for supper.
XIV. My Naughty Little Sister Learns to Knit
When my sister was five and she went to school, a nice woman and her husband came to live near our house. The woman's name was Mrs. Jones. But my little sister called her Mrs. Cocoa Jones.
Do you know why my sister called her so?
In summer, when we had our school vacation, Nancy went to Mrs. Jones every morning at eleven o'clock to drink cocoa. Mrs. Jones had no children, and she did not like to drink her cocoa alone. She liked to talk to my little sister. They were good friends. That is why49 my little sister called her Mrs. Cocoa Jones.
Mrs. Cocoa Jones liked to knit. She knitted in the morning and in the afternoon, and she knitted at tea-time when her friends came to see her. She talked and knitted. She knitted many nice things for my sister and me and for our dolls, too.
One day Mrs. Cocoa Jones said to my sister:
"Do you want to learn to knit?"
"Not very much,'' said my sister.
"But you can make presents for your mother, father and sister's said Mrs. Jones.
"I like to make presents. Teach me to knitted said my little sister.
Mrs. Jones gave my little sister some wool and two needles and showed her how to knit. But my little sister did not learn to knit well. She did not like to sit in one place, she liked to run and to play.
Mrs. Jones's husband was very nice, too. He liked to talk to my little sister. She was so funny.
"Next month Mr. Jones will have a birthday's" said Mrs. Jones. "So I want to knit a present for him."
My little sister did not say a word, but she took some wool. She wanted to make a present for Mr. Jones, too. She wanted to knit a long scarf for him. She took yellow, green, red and blue wool and knitted a scarf. Her scarf was yellow and green, red and blue, but it was not long. It was short, because my little sister could not knit very well.