"My
dear daughters will have all this, and more also, when they marry," she
would remark. The housewives would go home and mention it to their sons,
for they themselves were tempted by the beautiful linen; but there it
would end. The sons would not go to woo Dame Betsy's homely, ill-natured
daughters.
Dorothy spun as fast as she was able; Dame Betsy kept a sharp watch upon
her as she stirred the stew. Dorothy wanted some of the stew for her
supper. It had a delicious odor, and she was very faint and hungry. She
did not have a great deal to eat at any time, as she lived principally
upon the scraps from the table, and the daughters were all large eaters.
She also worked very hard, and never had any time to play. She was a
poor child whom Dame Betsy had taken from the almshouse, and she had no
relatives but an old grandmother. She had very few kind words said to
her during the day, and she used often to cry herself to sleep at night.
Presently Dame Betsy went down to the store to buy some pepper to put in
the stew, but as she went out of the door she spoke to the eldest
daughter, and told her to go into the house and mend a rent in her
apron. "Since you were too lazy to go to walk with your sisters you must
go into the house and mend your apron," said she. The eldest daughter
pouted, but she made no reply. Just as soon as her mother was out of
hearing she called Dorothy.
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