"He wants me to dress as you do," said Tato, simply; "and because you
will know what is fitting my station and will be required in my future
life, he has burdened you with my society. It was selfish in my father,
was it not? But but--I wanted so much to be with you--because you are
good to me!"
"And we're mighty glad to have you with us," answered Patsy. "It's no
end of fun getting a girl a whole new outfit, from top to toe; and,
aside from that, we already love you as if you were our little sister."
Beth and Louise equally endorsed this statement; and indeed the child
was so sweet and pretty and so grateful for the least kindness bestowed
upon her that it was a pleasure to assist and counsel her.
Tato looked even smaller in girls' clothing than in boys', and she
improved so rapidly in her manners by constantly watching the nieces
that it was hard to imagine she had until now been all unused to polite
society. Already they began to dread the day when her father would come
to claim her, and the girls and Uncle John had conceived a clever plan
to induce the Duke to let his daughter travel with them on the continent
and then go for a brief visit to them in America.
"By that time," declared Louise, "Tato's education will be
accomplished, and she will be as refined and ladylike as any girl of her
age we know.
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