little silly. The littler they came in her family the brighter they
all were. The brightest of them all was a little girl of ten. She did
a good day's work washing dishes for a man and wife in a saloon, and
she earned a fair day's wage, and then there was one littler still.
She only worked for half the day. She did the house work for a
bachelor doctor. She did it all, all of the housework and received
each week her eight cents for her wage. Anna was always indignant when
she told that story.

"I think he ought to give her ten cents Miss Mathilda any way. Eight
cents is so mean when she does all his work and she is such a bright
little thing too, not stupid like our Sallie. Sallie would never learn
to do a thing if I didn't scold her all the time, but Sallie is a good
girl, and I take care and she will do all right."

Sallie was a good, obedient german child. She never answered Anna
back, no more did Peter, old Baby and little Rags and so though
always Anna's voice was sharply raised in strong rebuke and worn
expostulation, they were a happy family all there together in the
kitchen.

Anna was a mother now to Sallie, a good incessant german mother who
watched and scolded hard to keep the girl from any evil step. Sallie's
temptations and transgressions were much like those of naughty Peter
and jolly little Rags, and Anna took the same way to keep all three
from doing what was bad.

Sallie's chief badness besides forgetting all the time and never
washing her hands clean to serve at table, was the butcher boy.