'
'You mustn't answer me like that, child,' said Miss Ophelia sternly. 'I
am not playing with you. Tell me where you were born, and who your
father and mother were.'
'Never was born,' said Topsy again very decidedly. 'Never had no father,
nor mother, nor nothin!'
Miss Ophelia hardly knew what to make of her. 'How long have you lived
with your master and mistress, then?' she asked.
'Dunno, missis.'
'Is it a year, or more, or less?'
'Dunno, missis.'
'Have you ever heard anything about God, Topsy?' asked Miss Ophelia
next.
Topsy looked puzzled, but kept on grinning.
'Do you know who made you?'
'Nobody as I knows on,' replied Topsy, with a laugh. 'Spect I grow'd.
Don't think nobody ever made me.'
[Illustration]
'Do you know how to sew?' asked Miss Ophelia, quite shocked.
'No, missis.'
'What can you do? What did you do for your master and mistress?'
'Fetch water, and wash dishes, and clean knives, and wait on folks.'
'Well, now, Topsy, I'm going to show you just how my bed is to be made.
I am very particular about my bed. You must learn exactly how to do it.'
'Yes, missis,' said Topsy, with a deep sigh and a face of woeful
earnestness.
'Now, Topsy, look here. This is the hem of the sheet. This is the right
side of the sheet. This is the wrong.
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