` Oh , well , do as you think best . Only , I have seen this child beaten with a poker , knocked down with the shovel or tongs , or anything that came handy . So I do n't think your beatings will have much effect . ' ` What is to be done with her , then ? ' said Miss Ophelia . ' I never saw such a child as this . ' But Mr. St. Clare could not answer her question . So Miss Ophelia had to go on , as best she could , trying to make Topsy a good girl . She taught her to read and to sew . Topsy liked reading , and learned her letters like magic . But she could not bear sewing . So she broke her needles or threw them away . She tangled , broke , and dirtied her cotton and hid her reels . Miss Ophelia felt sure all these things could not be accidents . Yet she could never catch Topsy doing them . In a very few days Topsy had learned how to do Miss Ophelia 's room perfectly , for she was very quick and clever . But if Miss Ophelia ever left her to do it by herself there was sure to be dreadful confusion . Instead of making the bed , she would amuse herself with pulling off the pillow-cases . Then she would butt her woolly head among the pillows , until it was covered with feathers sticking out in all directions . She would climb the bedpost , and hang head downwards from the top ; wave the sheets and covers all over the room ; dress the bolster up in Miss Ophelia 's nightgown and act scenes with it , singing , whistling , and making faces at herself in the looking-glass all the time .
` XXXXX , ' Miss Ophelia would say , when her patience was at an end , ` what makes you behave so badly ? '
Clare Ophelia Topsy accidents downwards dress head left nightgown pillow-cases