would give one just a little pinch to see if that one was a real
sure-enough little girl, why that little girl would say, ``Don't.''
She would say ``Don't!'' just the same as a little girl in the row of
little girls all with blue checked aprons would say ``Don't,'' if you
pinched one of them ever so little.

There were no Sisters on that high mountain. Sister Helen Vincula
was the only Sister there. That seemed very strange to Bessie Bell.

One day the strangest thing of all so far happened.

One little girl called another little girl with whom she was
playing, ``Sister.''

Bessie Bell laughed at that.

``Oh, she is not a Sister!'' said Bessie Bell.

``Yes, she is; she is my sister!'' said the little girl.

``No,'' said Bessie Bell, just as great grown people said to her when
she remembered strange things, ``No, there never was in the world a
Sister like that!''

Then the smaller of the little girls who were playing together ran
to the larger one, and caught hold of her hand, and they stood
together in front of Bessie Bell--they both had long black curls,
but Bessie Bell had short golden curls--and the smaller girl said:
``Yes, she is my sister!''