For an instant Betsy gazed into those
clear eyes and then ... why, gracious goodness! That was herself she was
looking at! How changed she was! How very, very different she looked
from the last time she had seen herself in a big mirror! She remembered
it well--out shopping with Aunt Frances in a department store, she had
caught sight of a pale little girl, with a thin neck, and spindling legs
half-hidden in the folds of Aunt Frances's skirts. But she didn't look
even like the sister of this browned, muscular, upstanding child who
held Molly's hand so firmly.
All this came into her mind and went out again in a moment, for Molly
caught sight of a big doll in the next aisle and they hurried over to
inspect her clothing. The mirror was forgotten in the many exciting
sights and sounds and smells of their first county fair.
The two little girls were to wander about as they pleased until noon,
when they were to meet the Wendells in the shadow of Industrial Hall and
eat their picnic lunch together. The two parties arrived together from
different directions, having seen very different sides of the Fair. The
children were full of the merry-go-rounds, the balloon-seller, the toy-
venders, and the pop-corn stands, while the Wendells exchanged views on
the shortness of a hog's legs, the dip in a cow's back, and the
thickness of a sheep's wool. The Wendells, it seemed, had met some
cousins they didn't expect to see, who, not knowing about Betsy and
Molly, had hoped that they might ride home with the Wendells.
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