CHAPTER VIII 62
" You just try it," urged Martha, handing her the skipping-rope. " You can ' t skip a hundred at first, but if you practise you ' ll mount up. That ' s what mother said. She says, ' Nothin ' will do her more good than skippin ' rope. It ' s th ' sensiblest toy a child can have. Let her play out in th ' fresh air skippin ' an ' it ' ll stretch her legs an ' arms an ' give her some strength in ' em.'"
It was plain that there was not a great deal of strength in Mistress Mary ' s arms and legs when she first began to skip. She was not very clever at it, but she liked it so much that she did not want to stop.
" Put on tha ' things and run an ' skip out o ' doors," said Martha. " Mother said I must tell you to keep out o ' doors as much as you could, even when it rains a bit, so as tha ' wrap up warm."
Mary put on her coat and hat and took her skipping-rope over her arm. She opened the door to go out, and then suddenly thought of something and turned back rather slowly.
" Martha," she said, " they were your wages. It was your twopence really. Thank you." She said it stiffly because she was not used to thanking people or noticing that they did things for her. " Thank you," she said, and held out her hand because she did not know what else to do.
Martha gave her hand a clumsy little shake, as if she was not accustomed to this sort of thing either. Then she laughed.
" Eh! tha ' art a queer, old-womanish thing," she said. " If tha ' d been our ' Lizabeth Ellen tha ' d have give me a kiss."
Mary looked stiffer than ever. " Do you want me to kiss you?" Martha laughed again.