One day she made her way down to Mrs. Rushton's
bed-room; that lady had gone out and the servants were all downstairs.
Hetty contrived to pull out several drawers and played with ribbons and
trinkets. At last she opened a case in which was her foster-mother's
watch, and as this ticking bit of gold was like a living companion,
Hetty pounced upon it at once.
She played all sorts of tricks with the watch, dressed it up in a towel
and called it a baby; and making up her mind that baby wanted a bath,
popped the watch into a basin of water and set about washing it
thoroughly.
Just as she was working away with great energy the door opened and Mrs.
Rushton came in. Seeing what the child was doing she flew at her,
snatched the watch from her hands, and slapped her violently on the arms
and neck. Hetty screamed, beat Mrs. Rushton on the face with both her
little palms, and then was whirled away shrieking into the hands of the
negligent maid, who shook her roughly as she carried her off to the
miscalled "nursery."
The little girl, who had never been instructed or talked to sensibly by
any one, was quite unconscious of the mischief she had done; and only
felt that big people were hateful to-day, as she lay kicking and
screaming on the floor upstairs.
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