Stranica 25 [25]
LITILE LORD FAUNTLEROY. 5
boy was born there, and everything was so gay and cheerful, in a
simple way, that he was never sorry for a moment that he had mar¬
ried the rich old lady’s pretty companion just because she was so
sweet and he loved her and she loved him. She was very sweet,
indeed, and her little boy was like both her and his father. Though
he was born in so quiet and cheap a little home, it seemed as if there
never had been a more fortunate baby. In the first place, he was
always well, and so he never gave any one trouble; in the second
place, he had so sweet a temper and ways so charming that he was
a pleasure to every one; and in the third place, he was so beautiful
to look at that he was quite a picture. Instead of being a bald¬
headed baby, he started in life with a quantity of soft, fine, gold¬
colored hair, which curled up at the ends, and went into loose rings
by the time he was six months old; he had big brown eyes and long
eyelashes and a darling little face; he had so strong a back and
such splendid sturdy legs, that at nine months he learned suddenly to
walk; his manners were so good, for a baby, that it was delightful
to make his acquaintance. He seemed to feel that every one was
his friend, and when any one spoke to him, when he was in his car¬
riage in the street, he would give the stranger one sweet, serious
look with the brown eyes, and then follow it with a lovely, friendly
smile ; and the consequence was, that there was not a person in the
neighborhood of the quiet street where he lived — even to the gro¬
ceryman at the corner, who was considered the crossest creature
alive — who was not pleased to see him and speak to him. And
every month of his life he grew handsomer and more interesting.
When he was old enough to walk out with his nurse, dragging
a small wagon and wearing a short white kilt skirt, and a big white
hat set back on his curly yellow hair, he was so handsome and
strong and rosy that he attracted every one’s attention, and his nurse
would come home and tell his mamma stories of the ladies who had