"How old is your baby?"

"Eleven months old, ma'am."

"Is your husband living?"

"No, ma'am; he died more than a year ago."

"How many children have you?"

"Four."

"All young?"

"Yes, ma'am. The oldest is only in her tenth year, but she is a good
little girl, and takes care of the baby for me almost as well as a
grown person. I don't know what I would do without her."

"But ain't you afraid to leave them all at home alone, for so long a
time?"

"No, ma'am. Jane takes excellent care of them, and she is so kind
that they will obey her as well as they do me. I don't know what in
the world I would do without her. I am certainly blessed in having
so good a child."

"And only in her tenth year!" said I--the image of my Alice coming
before my mind, with the thought of the little use she would be as a
nurse and care-taker of her younger brothers and sisters.