the answer was, 'He was the son of er extinguished alligator;' an' Miss
Carrie laughed, an' said that wan't it."

"And I rather think Miss Carrie was right," said the father. "Go and
bring me the book."

Diddie soon returned with her little history, and, showing the passage
to her father, said, eagerly,

"Now don't you see here, papa?"

And Major Waldron read, "He was the son of a _distinguished
navigator_." Then, making Diddie spell the words in the book, he
explained to her her mistake, and said he would like to have her
apologize to Miss Carrie for being so rude to her.

This Diddie was very willing to do, and her father went with her to the
sitting-room to find Miss Carrie, who readily forgave Diddie for her
rebellion, and Dumps and Tot for interfering with her discipline. And
that was a great deal more than Mammy did, when she saw the state of
their shoes and stockings, and found that they had been wading in the
ditch.

She slapped the little darkies, and tied red-flannel rags wet with
turpentine round the children's necks to keep them from taking cold, and
scolded and fussed so that the little girls pulled the cover over their
heads and went to sleep, and left her quarrelling.