n her back. This Mrs. Holiday could easily do, even from the brief
glimpse which she had of the woman as she went by; for the outlines of
the figure and dress of the woman and of the basket and child were very
simple. Mrs. Holiday afterwards put in some of the scenery for a
background.

When the drawing was finished, Rollo told his mother that he calculated
that they had come one third of the way, and asked her if she felt
tired; and she said she did not feel tired at all, and so they rose and
went on.

In a short time they came to a village. It consisted of a narrow street,
with stone houses on each side of it. The houses were close together and
close to the street. In one place several people were sitting out before
the door, and among them was a poor, sickly child, such as are found
very often in the low valleys of Switzerland, of the kind called
_cretins_. These children are entirely helpless, and they have no
reason, or at least very little. The one which Rollo saw was a girl,
and appeared to be about ten years old; but it did not seem to have
strength enough to sit up in its chair. It was continually lolling and
falling about on this side and that, and trying to look up. The mother
of the child sat by her, and kept her from falling out of the chair. She
was talking, the mean while, with the neighbors, who were sitting there
on a bench, knitting or sewing.

The face of the child was deformed, and had scarcely a human expression.
Both Rollo and his mother were much shocked at the spectacle.

"It is a _cretin_--is it not?" said Mrs. Holiday to her husband, in a
whisper, as soon as they had passed by.

"Yes," said Mr. Holiday.

"Mother," said Rollo, "would you give that poor little thing a cake?"

"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "I would."

"Do you think she will understand?" asked Rollo.

"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "I think she will; and at any rate her mother
will."

Rollo had by this time taken out his cake. He went back with it to the
place where the women were sitting, and held it out, half, as it were,
to the mother, and half to the child, so that either of them might take
it, saying, at the same time, to the mother, in French,--

"For this poor little child."

The mother smiled, and looked very much pleased. The cretin, whose eyes
caught a glimpse of the cake, laughed, and began to try to reach out her
hand to take it. It seemed hard for her to guide her hand to the place,
and she fell over from side to