As she looked at it she saw for the first time that its head had a tiny face , with silvery hair , two merry eyes , and a wee mouth out of which came the metallic little voice that pierced her ear , small as it was . `` Dear me ! '' she said ; then added politely , `` if you can tell I should be very happy to hear , for it has long been a great mystery , and no one could explain it . '' The old pin tried to sit erect , and the merry eye twinkled as it went on like a garrulous creature , glad to talk after long silence : -- `` Men make many wonderful discoveries , my dear , but they have never found that out , and never will , because we belong to women , and only a feminine ear can hear us , a feminine mind understand our mission , or sympathize with our trials , experiences , and triumphs . For we have all these as well as human beings , and there really is not much difference between us when we come to look into the matter . '' This was such a curious statement that Miss Ellen forgot her work to listen intently , and all the needles fixed their eyes on the audacious pin . Not a whit abashed it thus continued : -- `` I am called ` Granny ' among my friends , because I have had a long and eventful life . I am hearty and well , however , in spite of this crick in my back , and hope to serve you a good while yet , for you seem to appreciate me , stout and ordinary as I look . `` Yes , my dear , pins and people are alike , and that rusty darning-needle need not stare so rudely , for I shall prove what I say . We are divided into classes by birth and constitution , and each can do much in its own sphere . I am a shawl pin , and it would be foolish in me to aspire to the duties of those dainty lace pins made to fasten a collar . I am contented with my lot , however , and , being of a strong make and enterprising spirit , have had many adventures , some perils , and great satisfactions since I left the factory long ago . I well remember how eagerly I looked about me when the paper in which I lived , with some hundreds of relations , was hung up in a shop window , to display our glittering ranks and tempt people to buy . At last a purchaser came , a dashing young lady who bought us with several other fancy articles , and carried us away in a smart little bag , humming and talking to herself , in what I thought a very curious way . `` When we were taken out I was all in a flutter to see where I was and what would happen next . There were so many of us , I could hardly hope to go first , for I was in the third row , and most people take us in order . But Cora was a hasty , careless soul , and pulled us out at random , so I soon found myself stuck up in a big untidy cushion , with every sort of pin you can imagine . Such a gay and giddy set I never saw , and really , my dear , their ways and conversation were quite startling to an ignorant young thing like me . Pearl , coral , diamond , jet , gold , and silver heads , were all around me as well as vulgar brass knobs , jaunty black pins , good for nothing as they snap at the least strain , and my own relations , looking eminently neat and respectable among this theatrical rabble . For I will not disguise from you , Miss Ellen , that my first mistress was an actress , and my life a very gay one at the beginning .
Merry , kind , and careless was the pretty XXXXX , and I am bound to confess I enjoyed myself immensely , for I was taken by chance with half a dozen friends to pin up the folds of her velvet train and mantle , in a fairy spectacle where she played the queen .
Cora Ellen Pearl actress crick cushion first left purchaser third