书虫之《小公主》

2024年2月8日发(作者：加减法混合运算)

Chapter one ：School in England

One cold winter day，a little girl and her father arrived in London. Sara Crewel was

ven years old，and she had long black hair and green eyes. She sat in the cab next to

her father and looked out of the window at the tall hous and the dark sky.

“What are you thinking about, Sara?”Mr. Crewe asked. “You are very quiet.”

He put his arm round his daughter.

“I am thinking about our hous in India，” said Sara .“And the hot sun and the

blue sky. I don’t think I like England very much, father.”

“Yes，it’s very different from India, ” her father said. “But you must go to

school in London， and I must go back to India and work.”

“Yes， father，I know， ” said Sara. “But I want to be with you. Plea come

to school with me！I can help you with your lessons.”

Mr. Crewe smiled， but he was not happy. He loved his little Sara very much， and

he did not want to be without her. Sara’s mother was dead， and Sara was his only

child. Father and daughter were very good friends.

Soon they arrived at Miss Minchin’s School for girls and went into the big hou.

Miss Minchin was a tall woman in a black dress. She looked at Sara， and then

gave a very big smile.

“What a beautiful child！” She said to Mr. Crewel.

Sara stood quietly and watched Miss Minchin. “What does she say that？”she

thought.“I am not beautiful， so why does she say it？”

Sara was not beautiful， but her father was rich. And Miss Minchin liked girls with

rich fathers，becau it was good for the school（and good for Miss Minchin， too）.

“Sara is a good girl，” Mr. Crewe said to Miss Minchin. “Her mother was

French， so she speaks French well. She loves books， and she reads all the time. But

she must play with the other girls and make new friends，too.

“of cour，” said Miss Minchin. She smiled again. “Sara is going to Be very

happy here，Mr. Crewe.”

Mr. Crewe stayed in London for a week. He and Sara went to the shops， and

bought many beautiful， expensive dress for his daughter. He bought books， and

flowers for her room，and big doll with beautiful dresr，too.

Miss Minchin smiled， but she said to her sister Amelia. “All that money on

dress for a child of ven！ She looks like a little princess， not a schoolgirl！”

When Mr. Crewe left London， he was very sad. Sara was very sad， too. But she

did not cry. She sat in her room and thought about her father on the ship back to India.

“Father wants me to be happy，” she said to her new doll.“I love him very much

and I want to be a good daughter， so I must be happy.

It was a big，and very beautiful doll， but of cour it could not answer.

Sara soon made new friends in the school. Some little rich girls are not very nice

children. They think they are important becau they have money and lots of

expensive things. But Sara was different. She liked beautiful dress and dolls， but

she was more interested in people，and books，and telling stories.

She was very good at telling stories. She was a clever child，and the other girls

loved to listen to her. The stories were all about kings and queens and princess and

wonderful countries across the a.

“How do you think of all tho things？” asked her best friend， Ermengarde.

“I have all the pictures in my head，”said Sara.“So it is easy to tell stories about

them.”

Poor Eemengarde was not clever. She could never remember any of her school

lessons， and Miss Minchin was always angry with her.

Sara often helped Errnengarde with her lessons.“Listen，Ermie.”she said. “You

remember that French king，Louis the sixteenth. Well，this is a story about him. One

day in1972…”

And so Ermengarde learnt her lessons through Sara’s stories， and she loved her

friends very much. But not everybody was Sara’friend. Lavinia was an older girl.

Before Sara come， Lavinia was the richest and the most important girl in the school.

But Sara’s father was richer than Lavinia’s father. So now Sara was more important

than Lavinia， and Lavinia did not like that.

“On，Sara is so clever！”Lavinia often said.“Sara is so good at French！Her dress

are so beautiful， and she can sing so well！ And she is so rich！Of cour Miss

Minchin likes her best！”

Sara did not answer when Lavinia said the things. Sometimes， it was not easy，

but Sara was a kind， friendly girl，and she did not like to be angry with anyone.

Chapter Tow：The diamond mines

And so three years went by. Sara’s father wrote to her often， and Sara wrote

loving little letters back to him. One day a very exciting letter arrived. Everybody in

the school talked about it for days.

“My friend，” wrote Mr. Crewe，“has some mines in northern India， and a

month ago， his workers found diamonds there. There are thousands of diamonds in

the mines， but it is expensive work to get them out. My friend needs my help. So，

little Missus（this was Mr. Crewe’s special name for Sara），I am putting all my

money into my friend’s diamond mines， and one day you and I are going to be very

rich.”

Sara was not interested in money， but a story about diamond mines in India was

exciting. Nearly everybody was very plead for Sara， but not Lavinia， of cour.

“Huh！” she said.“My mother has a diamond. Lots of people have diamonds.

What is so interesting about diamond mines？”

“But there are thousands of diamonds in the mines.”said Ermengarde. “Perhaps

million

of them!”

Lavinia laughed，“Is Sara going to wear diamond in her hair at breakfast， then？

Or is it‘Princess Sara’now？”

Sara’s face went red. She looked at Lavinia angrily， but said quietly，“Some

people call me‘princess’. I know that. But princess do not get angry or say unkind

things， so I’m not going to say anything to you， Lavinia.”

“To me，you are a princess，” Ermengarde said to Sara later.“And you always

look like a princess，in your beautiful dress.”

Sara was a princess to another girl，too. This was Becky. She was a rvant in Miss

Minchin’s school，and she was only fourteen years old，but she worked all day and

sometimes half the night. She carried things upstairs and downstairs，she cleaned the

floors，she made the fires，and she was always tired and hungry and dirty. She and

Sara had very different lives.

But one day Sara came into her bedroom，and there was Becky，sleeping in a chair.

“Oh， you poor things！”Sara said.

Then Becky opened her eyes and saw Sara. She got up at once.“Oh，Miss！”she

said.“I am very sorry，Miss！I just sat down for a minute and…”

“Don’t be afraid！” Said Sara. She gave Becky a friend smile. “You were tired. That

is all.”

“Are you，are you going to tell Miss Minchin？” asked Becky. She began to move

to the door.

“Of cour not，”said Sara. “Plea do not run away. Sit down again for a minute.

You look so tired.”

“Oh，Miss，I can not！”Becky said. “You are very kind，Miss，but Miss Minchin.”

“Plea，”said Sara. She took Becky’s hand. “You are only a little girl，like me. Let

us be friends.”

And so Becky sat down again，and soon she and Sara were friends. Nobody knew

about this，of cour. Rich little girls at Miss Minchin’s school did not make friends

with rvant-girls，and it was a wonderful thing for Becky.

Nearly every day she and Sara met in Sara’bedroom， just for five or ten minutes.

Becky was always hungry，and Sara often bought nice things for her to eat. They sat

and talked，and sometimes Sara told Becky some of her stories. Becky loved that.

“Oh，Miss，”she said.“You tell them so beautifully！ Sometimes I like your stories

better than things to eat.”

And after tho visits to Sara’s room，Becky always felt better not so tired， and

not so hungry.

Some months later Sara had her eleventh birthday. Lessons stopped for the

afternoon and there was a big party for all the girls in the school.

“This party is expensive for us，”Miss Minchin said to her sister Amelia.“But it

looks good for the school.”

That afternoon there was a visitor to the school，Miss Minchin’s lawyer. He went

with Miss Minchin into her office and they clod the door. In the schoolroom next

door there was a lot of noi from Sara’s party. Everybody in there was very happy.

But in the office Miss Minchin was not happy. She looked at the lawyer angrily.“What are you saying？Mr. Crewe has no money？What about the diamond

mines？”

“There are no diamond mines.”Said the lawyer.“Well，there are mines，but there

are no diamond in them.”

“But Mr. Crewe’s good friend.”Began Miss Minchin.

“Mr. Crewe’s good friend，”said the lawyer，“ran away with all Mr. Crewe’s money. Ralph Crewe was ill with a fever，and when he heard about this，he got

wor. A week later，he was dead.

“Dead！”cried Miss Minchin.“But what about his daughter Sara？And this

expensive birthday party？”

“Sara Crewe has no money，”said the lawyer.“Not a penny in the world，Miss

Minchin. Not a penny.”

“She must leave my school at once，”Miss Minchin said angrily.“She must go

this afternoon！”

“Where？”said the lawyer.“Out into the streets？An eleven-year-old girl？that

is not going to look very good for your school，Miss Minchin.”

Miss Minchin’s face went red.

“You can not put her out in the streets，”said the lawyer. He stood up.“But

perhaps she can work for you.”

The lawyer left，and Miss Minchin called her sister Amelia.“Bring Sara Crewe

here at once.”she said.

Two minutes later，Sara in her beautiful blue party dress，stood in front of Miss

Minchin.

“Have you a black dress，Sara？”Miss Minchin said coldly.

“Yes，Miss Minchin，”said Sara.“But it is very small.”

“Go and put it on at once，”said Miss Minchin.“Your father is dead. There were

no diamond mines，and your father’s friend ran away with all his money. You have

nothing. Not a I am going to be very kind to you. You can stay in my

hou，but now you must be a rvant and work for your bread. You can sleep in a

rvant’s room upstairs，next to Becky’s room.

Chapter Three：The new rvant-girl

That evening，in the attic room，Sara sat on the bed in the old black dress. She did

not cry，but her face was white and she did not move or speak for hours.

Late at night the door opened quietly，and Becky looked in. Her eyes were red

from crying.“Oh，Miss，”she said.“All the rvant are talking about it. I am so sorry！”She looked at Sara’s white face，and began to cry again. Then she ran to Sara，and

took her hand.

At last Sara moved. Slowly，she turned her head and looked at Becky.“Oh，Becky.”she that was all.

That first night in the attic was very did not sleep.“Father is dead.”she

whispered，again and again.“Father is dead. I am never going to e him again.”

The next morning，Sara’s new life began. She learnt to clean flowers and to make

fires. She ran upstairs and down-stairs and she worked in the kitchen.

The cook was a big woman with a red，angry face.“So，”she said，“the little

rich girl with the diamond mines is now a rvant，eh？”She looked at Sara.“Now，I am making apple pies this morning. Run down to the shops and get me some apple，And be quick！”

So Sara ran to the shops，and carried a big bag of apples back to the hou. Then

she cleaned the kitchen floor，and carried hot water up to all the bedrooms.

She worked every day，from early in the morning to late at night. She helped in

the school，too.

“You speak French well，”Miss Minchin said to her coldly. “So you can teach

French to the younger children. But you are only a rvant. Dot not forget that.”

The first months of Sara’s new life were very hard. She was always tired and

hungry，but she never cried. At night，in her little attic，she thought about her father，dead in India all tho miles away.

“I must be brave，”she said.“Father always wanted me to be brave. And I have

a bed to sleep in，and something to eat every day. Lots of people do not have that.”

At first Sara’s only friend was Becky. Every day Becky came into Sara’s room.

They did not talk much，but it helped Sara a lot to e Becky’s friendly，smiling face.

The girls in the school were sorry for Sara，but Sara was a rvant now，and they

could not be friendly with a rvant. Lavinia，of cour，was plead.“I never liked

Sara Crewe，”she told her friends.“And I was right about the diamonds there were not

any.”

Ermengarde was very unhappy. When she saw Sara in the school，Sara walked

past her and did not speak. Poor Ermengarde loved Sara and wanted to be friendly，but she was not clever，and she did not understand.

One morning，very early，she got quietly out of bed，went upstairs to the attic，and opened Sara’s door.

“Ermengarde！”Sara said.“What are you doing here？”

Ermengarde began to cry.“Oh，Sara，plea tell me. What is the matter？”“Why

don’t you like me now？”

“I do like you，”Sara said.“Of cour I you e，everything is different

Minchin doesn’t want me to talk to the girls. Most of them don’t want to

talk to me. And I thought，perhaps，you did not want to…”

“But I’m your friend！” cried Ermengarde.“I am always going to be your

friend and nobody can stop me！”

Sara took Ermengarde’hands. She suddenly felt very happy. Perhaps she cried a

little，too. Who can say？

There was only one chair，so the two friends sat on the bed. Ermengarde looked

round the attic.“Oh，Sara，how can you live in this room？It is so cold and…and

dirty.”

“It’s not so bad，”said Sara，“And I have got lots of friends. There is Becky in

the next room，and come and e.”

She moved the table under the window，and then she and Ermengarde stood on it

and looked out of the window，over the roofs of hous. In her pocket Sara had some

small pieces of bread. She put her hand out of the window，with the bread on it.“Watch.”she said.

After a minute a little brown bird flew down to Sara’s hand and began to eat the

bread. Then a cond bird came，and the third，and a fourth.

“Oh，Sara. How wonderful！”said Ermengarde.

“They know I am their friend，”said Sara.“So they are not afraid. Sometimes

they come into，too.”

Ermengarde looked across the roof to the next attic window.“Who lives in that

hou？”she asked.

“Nobody，”said Sara sadly.“So I never e anybody at the window，and I can

only talk to the birds.”

But one night，two or three weeks later，Becky came into Sara’s room. She was

very excited.

“Oh，Miss！”she said.“An Indian gentleman is moving into the hou next door.

Well，he is English，but he lived in India for years and years. And now he is going to

live next door. He is very rich，and he is ill. Something bad happened to him，but I

don’t know what.”

Sara laughed.“How do you know all this？”she said.

“well，Miss，you know the Carmichael family across the street？”Becky said.“I am friendly with their kitchen-girl，and she told me. Mr. Carmichael is the Indian

gentleman’s lawyer，so they know all about him.”

Chapter Four：Ram Dass and the money

Every morning，when Sara gave the birds their bread，she looked across to the

attic window next door. But nobody opened it. Nobody called out“Good morning！”across the roof，or gave Sara a friendly smile.

“Perhaps the Indian gentleman’rvants all sleep down-stairs.”she thought

sadly.

Her life were very lonely now. She saw Becky every day，of cour，but they did

not have much time for talking. The cook and the other rvants were not friendly.

Sometimes，at night，Ermengarde came up to Sara’s room，but it was not easy for

her to come often.

Then one evening，Sara was in her attic when she heard a noi on the roof. She

looked up and there at the open window was a small monkey.

“Oh，you dear little thing！”cried Sara.

At once，the monkey jumped down and began to run round the

laughed. She got up on the table and looked out of her window，and at the next

window she saw a face the smiling face of an Indian lascar.

“Oh，”cried Sara，“have you got a monkey？He is in my room.”

The lascar’s name was Ram Dass，and yes，it was his monkey. He gave Sara a

big smile.

“I am so sorry，”he said.“Can I come and get him？”

“Oh yes，plea，”said Sara.“I think he is afraid of me. And he runs so fast. But

can you get across the roof？”

Yes，Ram Dass could，and a minute later he was in Sara’s room. Soon the

monkey jumped into his arms，and Ram Dass thanked Sara again and again. Then he

went away，across the roof，back into the hou next door.

Sara went to the shops five or six times a day，and when she walked pass the

hou next door，she often thought about the Indian gentleman. She felt sorry for him.

He had no wife or family，and the doctor visited the hou every day. Mr.

Carmichael，the lawyer often visited，too，and sometimes the Carmichael children

went with him.

Sara was plead about that.“It is nice to e friendly faces when you are ill.”she

thought.

The Indian gentleman thought that，too. He liked children very much，but he was

a very unhappy . Carmichael was his friend，and he talked to him a lot. But

they talked about only one thing.

“I must find the child，”said the Indian gentleman （his name was Mr.

Carrrisford）“.I must find her and take care of her. But where is she？Here I am，with

all this money from the diamond mines，and half of it is Ralph Crewe’s ，Carmichael，why did I leave my friend and run away when things looked bad？Why？

“You ran away becau you were ill with a fever，”said Mr. Carmichael.“It

nearly killed you，remember？”

“And it did kill poor Ralph，”said Mr. Carrisford.“He put all his money into the

mines becau I was his friend. But at first we did not find any diamonds，and all

Ralph’s money was gone. I was afraid to tell him，so I ran away. And later，when we

did find diamonds，Ralph was dead.”He laughed，angrily.“What a brave friend I

was！”

“It is not easy to be brave，”Mr. Carmichael said quietly，“when you are ill with

a fever.”

Mr. Carrisford looked into the fire.“Ram Dass tells me，”he said，“about a little

rvant-girl next door. The monkey ran away，and Ram Dass went across the roof to

get him back from her room. The poor child sleep in a cold ，dirty attic，and works

about sixteen hours a day. Is Ralph’s daughter living like that？I can’t stop thinking

about it.”

“ We are going to find her one day.” said Mr. Carmichael.

“But how？”said Mr. Carrisford. He put his head in his hands.“I never saw her. I

don’t know her name！Ralph always called her his‘Little Missus’. We talked all the

time about the mines. He never told me the name of her school. Her mother was

French，so did he take her to a school in France？Or was in English？”

“Well，we know there was a child at a school in Paris，”said Mr. Carmichael，“with the name of Carew or Crewe. Her father died suddenly，and a Russian family

took her away with them，becau she was a friend of their daughter. Perhaps the girl

is Ralph Crewe’s child. Next week I am going to Moscow to look for her.”

“I want to go with you，but I am not well，”said Mr. Carrisford.“I must find her，Carmichael. I must. Every night，in my dreams，I e Ralph Crewe’s face，and he says‘Tom，Tom，where is my little Missus？’And I have no answer for him.”Mr.

Carrisford took his friend’s hand.“Help me to find me.”

Winter came，with its short，dark days，and the attic rooms were very cold. There

were no fires for rvant girls，and often Sara and Becky could not sleep becau of

the cold. Sara was taller now，and her old black dress was very short. Her shoes were

old，and she had no warm coat for the winter weather. She was thin，too. She did not

get very much to eat，and she was always hungry.

She carried big baskets of shopping through the rain and the snow. One day she

found a sixpence in the snow，and she bought some hot new bread with it. Then she

saw a child by the door of the shop. The child had no-shoes and no coat，and her face

was blue with cold.

“She is hungrier than I am.”thought Sara. And she gave her hot new bread to the

child.

When she got back to the school，Miss Minchin was angry.“Cook is waiting for

you，Sara. Why are you late？”

“I can’t walk quickly through the snow，”said Sara.“My shoes are old，Miss

Minchin，and my feet get very cold.”

Miss Minchin did not like to hear this.“Don’t speak to me like that！”she said.“I

am kind to you.I am giving you a home，but you never say ‘thank you’to me.

Sara looked at her.“You are not kind，”she said quietly.“And this is not a home.”

On the stairs Sara met Lavinia. Lavinia looked at her and gave a little laugh.“Oh，here is Princess Sara，”she said，“in her old dress and her dirty shoes！”

In the attic，Sara sat sown on the chair by her table.

“I must be brave，”she whispered.“A princess is always brave，so I must be，too. But it is not easy.”She put her head down on her arms.“Oh，father，do you

remember your Little Missus？Can you e me now？”

And in the hou next door，Mr. Carrisford sat by a warm fire. Moscow is a long

way from London，and he could only wait，but he thought about Ralph Crewe’s child

every day. He thought about other children，too.

“Ram Dass，”he said.“How is that poor little rvant-girl next door？Can we do

something for her？

“I e her in the street every day，”said Ram Dass.“ In the rain，in the snow. She

looks thin and hungry. But we can help her. I can easily get in through her attic

…”And he talked for some minutes.

Mr. Carrisford smiled.“Yes，”he said to Ram Dass.“Yes，I like it. Let us do it.”

Chapter Five：The magic

One night，a week later，Ermengarde got quietly out of bed and went upstairs to the

attic. Sara was not there，so Ermengarde sat on the bed and waited. At ten o’clock

Sara came slowly up the stairs and into the room.

Ermengarde looked at her.“Oh，Sara！”she cried.“Are you ill？your face is white，and you look so tired！”

“It was a hard day，Ermie，”said sat down.

“Miss Minchin was angry with cook. Then cook was angry with us. Becky and I

had no dinner and no tea.”

“Does that happen often？”said Ermengarde unhappily.“You never told me. Are

you…are you hungry now？”

Sara looked at her.“Yes，”she whispered.“Yes，I am. I would like to eat that table.

I would like to eat you.”

Ermengarde jumped up.“Sara，”she cried.“I had a box of things from home today.

There is a big cake in it. I am going to get it now！You and Becky can eat it all！”

Soon，Ermengarde was back. The three girls sat on Sara’s bed，and there were some

happy smiles when Ermengarde opened her box and took out the cake.

“Oh，miss，look at that！”said Becky.

“You are kind，Ermie，”said Sara. She laughed.“It is magic，you know？When

things are very bad，something nice always happens. Have we are，having a party！

Ermengarde gave Sara and Becky some cake，and they began to eat. Suddenly，they

stopped. There was a noi of feet on the stairs. They listened.“Oh no！”whispered

Becky.“It is…it is Miss Minchin！“

“Yes，”said face was white again.

Then the door opened，and Miss Minchin came in.

“So Lavinia was right，”she said angrily，“Tea with Princess Sara！Becky，get back to your attic at once！”

“Oh，plea，Miss Minchin！”cried Ermengarde，“It was my cake，from home.

We are only having a party.”

“Go back to your room，Ermengarde，”Miss Minchin said coldly，“and take the

things with you. And tomorrow”she looked at Sara，“there is no breakfast，no dinner，and no tea for you. Remember that！”

Soon the attic were quiet again. Tired and hungry，the two rvant-girls went to

sleep. But after an hour or two Sara opened her eyes. Was it a noi from the window

perhaps？

“Something is different，”Sara whispered.“What is it？”She sat up in bed and

looked round the room. She looked again and again，and her eyes were very big.

The room was different very different. There was wonderful hot fire. There were

new，warm blankets on her bed，and beautiful pictures on the walls.

Sara slowly got out of bed.“Is this a dream？”she said.“Where did all the things

come from？”She put out her hand to the fire.“No，it is not a dream. The fire is hot

I can feel it. And oh！Look at the table！”

There was a red cloth on the table，and cups and plates. There was hot tea，and

wonderful things to eat，hot meat pies and sandwiches and cake，oranges and apples.

Sara ran to Becky’s room.“Becky，”she whispered.“come quickly. The magic is

here again. Come and look.”

When Becky saw the room，she could not speak at first. Then she said，“Oh，Miss！What is it？How did all the things get here？”

“I don’t know.”said Sara.“It’s magic. At first I thought it was a dream，but it isn’t.

Look，the pies are hot. Let us eat them. Hot meat pies aren’t dream！”

They sat down by the fire，and ate and drank.

“Oh，the pies were good，Miss！”Becky said.“And the tea and the cake. I don’t

understand magic，but I like it！”

Sara looked round the room.“Oh，Becky，look！There are some books，too. I didn’t

e them before.”

She ran to look at them，and opened the top book.

“There is some writing here！Listen. It says，‘To the little girl in the attic. From

a friend.’Oh，Becky！”Sara clod the book and looked up. “I have a friend，Becky，”she said slowly.“Someone is my friend.”

The next morning Becky met Sara in the kitchen.

“Oh，Miss，”she whispered.“Was the magic there this morning？Or did it go

away in the night？”

“No，it’s still there，”Sara whispered back.“I ate some cold meat pie for breakfast.

And the fire was still warm！”

Becky laughed happily.“Oh my！Oh my！”she said.

Miss Minchin could not understand it. When Sara came into the schoolroom，she

looked happy and well. Miss Minchin wanted to e a white，unhappy face，and eyes

red from crying.“How can that child smile？”she though angrily. But of cour，she

did not know about the magic.

And the magic did not go away. Every evening，when Sara went up to bed，she

found new things in the attic. There were more warm blankets，for her and for Becky.

There were pictures on the walls；there were books，new shoes，and a winter coat. And

beat of all，there was always a fire，and a wonderful hot dinner on table.

“But where does it all come from？”Becky said one night when they sat by the

fire.“Who does it，Miss？”

“A friend does it，”said Sara.“A kind，wonderful friend. But he doesn’t want us

to know his name.”

They began to look at one of the new books，and then Becky looked up.

“Oh，Miss，”she whispered.“There’s something at the window. What is it？”

Sara got up to look. “It’s the monkey！”she said.“The monkey from next door.”She opened the window，and the monkey jumped down into her arms.“Oh，you poor

little thing，”Sara said.“You are so cold！”

Becky was very interested.“I never saw a monkey before，”she said.“He’s not very

beautiful，Miss！What are you going to do with him？”

“It’s very late now，”said Sara.“He can stay in my room tonight，and I can take

him home in the morning.”

Chapter Six：Lost and found

The next morning，the first visitor to the hou next door was Mr. Carmichael，back

from Russia. But when he came into the hou，his face was sad. Mr. Carrisford knew

the answer at once.

“You did not find her，”he said.

“I found her，”Mr. Carmichael said.“But it was the wrong girl. Her name is Emily

Crewe，and she is much younger than Ralph Crewe’s daughter. I’m very sorry.”

“We must begin again，”said Mr. Carrisford unhappily.“But where？It is two

years now. Two years！”

“Well，she isn’t at a school in know that.”Mr. Carmichael said.“Let’s

look at the school in English now.”

“Yes，”said Mr. Carrisford.“Yes，we can begin in London. There is a school next

door，Carmichael.”

“The little rvant-girl from the attic is here，”he said to Mr. Carrisford.“With the

monkey. He ran away again last night to her room. Would you like to e her？”

“Yes，”said Mr. Carrisford.“Yes，I would. Bring her in.”

And so Sara came into the room and stood in front of the Indian gentleman. She

smiled at him.“Your monkey came to my room last night，”she said，“and I took

him in becau it was so cold.”

Mr. Carrisford watched her face with interest.“That was kind of you.”he said.

Sara looked at Ram Dass by the door.“Shall I give him to the lascar？”she asked.

“How do you know he is a lascar？”said Mr. Carrisford.

“Oh，I know lascar，”Sara said.“I was born in India.”

Mr. Carrisford sat up suddenly.“In India？”he said.“But you are a rvant at the

school next door.”

“Yes，I am now，”said Sara.“But I wasn’t at first.”

The Indian gentleman looked at Mr. Carmichael，and then Mr. Carmichael looked

at Sara.

“What do you mean‘at first’，child？”he asked.

“When father first took me to the school.”

“where is your father？”said Mr. Carmichael.

“He died，”said Sara very quietly.“His friend ran away with all his money，and

there was no money for me. There was nobody to take care of me. So Miss Minchin

put me in the attic and said I must work for my bread.”

The Indian gentleman moved in his chair.“What was your father’s name？”he said.“Tell me.”

Sara looked at him sadly .“Ralph Crewe，”she said.“He died in India from a fever，two years ago.”

Mr. Carrisford’s face went very white.“Carmichael，”he whispered，“it is the

child！the child！”

That was an exciting day for many people. At first poor Sara did not understand.

But Mr. Carmichael talked to her quietly and told her everything the true story about

her father’s friend and the diamond mines，and the two years of looking for Ralph

Crewe’s daughter.

“And all the time，”she said later to Mr. Carrisford，when they sat by his fire，“I was in the hou next door.”

Tom Carrisford took her hand.“Yes，”he said.“And you are never going back there.

Your home is with me now. I’m going to take care of Ralph’s Little Missus.”

Sara laughed，happily.“And you were the friend，too. All tho beautiful things in

my attic came from you and Ram Dass，Becky and I thought it was magic！”

The Indian gentleman smiled at her.“We were sorry for you，”he said.“Ram Dass

can move very quietly，and he carried the things across the roof when you were out. I

could not find Ralph’s daughter，but I wanted to help somebody. And then Ram Dass

told me about this sad，lonely little rvant-girl in the attic next door.”

And so the story ended happily for everybody but not for Miss Minchin. Sara was

very rich now，and Miss Minchin wanted her to come back to the school. She came to

e Mr. Carrisford，but he said some very angry things to her，and she went away with

a red face.

Becky came to live in Mr. Carrisford’s hou，too. She was Sara’s rvant，and she

was very happy. She had a warm room，nice dress，and good things to eat every day.

And she loved Sara very much.

Ermengarde often came to visit Sara，and Sara helped her with her school lessons

again. Ermengarde was not clever，but she was a true friend. On the first day in the

Indian gentleman’s hou，Sara wrote a letter to her，and Ermengarde carried the letter

into the schoolroom.

“There were diamond mines，”she told Lavinia and the other girls.“There were！There were millions and millions of diamonds in the mines，and half of them are

Sara’s. And they were her diamonds all the time when she was cold and hungry in the

attic. And she was a princess then，and she is a princess now！”