The Mind Creative
If Mamzelle Aurélie's responsibilities might have begun and ended
there, they could easily have been dismissed; for her larder was
amply provided against an emergency of this nature. But little
children are not little pigs: they require and demand attentions
which were wholly unexpected by Mamzelle Aurélie, and which
she was ill prepared to give.
She was, indeed, very apt in her management of Odile's children
during the first few days. How could she know that Marcélette
always wept when spoken to in a loud and commanding tone of
voice? It was a peculiarity of Marcélette's. She became acquainted
with Ti Nomme's passion for flowers only when he had plucked all
the choicest gardenias and pinks for the apparent purpose of
critically studying their botanical construction.
"'T ain't enough to tell 'im, Mamzelle Aurélie," Marcéline instructed
her; "you got to tie 'im in a chair. It's w'at maman all time do w'en
he's bad: she tie 'im in a chair." The chair in which Mamzelle
Aurélie tied Ti Nomme was roomy and comfortable, and he seized
the opportunity to take a nap in it, the afternoon being warm.
At night, when she ordered them one
and all to bed as she would have
shooed the chickens into the henhouse, they stayed uncomprehend