Dumps, the second sister, was five, full of fun and mischief, and gave
Mammy a great deal of trouble on account of her wild tomboyish ways.

Tot, the baby, was a tiny, little blue-eyed child of three, with long
light curls, who was always amiable and sweet-tempered, and was petted
by everybody who knew her.

Now, you must not think that the little girls had been carried to the
font and baptized with such ridiculous names as Diddie, Dumps, and
Tot: these were only pet names that Mammy had given them; but they had
been called by them so long that many persons forgot that Diddie's
name was Madeleine, that Dumps had been baptized Elinor, and that Tot
bore her mother's name of Eugenia, for they were known as Diddie,
Dumps and Tot to all of their friends.

The little girls were very happy in their plantation home. 'Tis true
they lived 'way out in the country, and had no museums nor toy-shops
to visit, no fine parks to walk or ride in, nor did they have a very
great variety of toys. They had some dolls and books, and a baby-house
furnished with little beds and chairs and tables; and they had a big
Newfoundland dog, Old Bruno; and Dumps and Tot both had a little
kitten apiece; and there was "Old Billy," who once upon a time had
been a frisky little lamb, Diddie's special pet; but now he was a
vicious old sheep, who amused the children very much by running after
them whenever he could catch them out-of-doors. Sometimes, though, he
would butt them over and hurt them and Major Waldron had several times
had him turned into the pasture; but Diddie would always cry and beg
for him to be brought back and so Old Billy was nearly always in the
yard.