"
"I wouldn't have no boys in it," said Dumps; "they're always so
hateful: there's Cousin Frank broke up my tea-set, an' Johnnie Miller
tied er string so tight roun' Cherubim's neck till hit nyearly choked
'im. Ef I was writin' er book, I wouldn't have no boys in it."
"There's boun' ter be boys in it, Dumps; you can't write a book
without'n boys;" and Diddie seated herself, and opened the book before
her, while Dumps, with her elbows on the table and face in her hands,
looked on anxiously. "I'm not goin' ter write jes one straight book,"
said Diddie; "I'm goin' ter have little short stories, an' little
pieces of poetry, an' all kin' of things; an' I'll name one of the
stories 'Nettie Herbert:' don't you think that's a pretty name,
Dumps?"
"Jes' beautiful," replied Dumps; and Diddie wrote the name at the
beginning of the book.
"Don't you think two pages on this big paper will be long enough for
one story?" asked Diddie.
"Plenty," answered Dumps. So at the bottom of the second page Diddie
wrote "The END of Nettie Herbert."
"Now, what would you name the second story?" asked Diddie, biting her
pencil thoughtfully.
"I'd name it 'The Bad Little Girl,'" answered Dumps.
"Yes, that will do," said Diddie, and she wrote "The Bad Little Girl"
at the top of the third page; and, allowing two pages for the story,
she wrote "The END of The Bad Little Girl" at the bottom of the next
page.
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