Boo lay with his round face turned up to hers , stroking her cheek while the sleepy blue eyes blinked lovingly at her as she sang her lullaby with a motherly patience sweet to see . They made a pretty little picture , and Mr. Bemis looked at it with pleasure , having a leisure moment in which to discover , as all parents do sooner or later , that his children were growing up . `` Molly is getting to be quite a woman , and very like her mother , '' thought papa , wiping the eye that peeped , for he had been fond of the pretty wife who died when Boo was born . `` Sad loss to them , poor things ! But Miss Bat seems to have done well by them . Molly is much improved , and the boy looks finely . She 's a good soul , after all ; '' and Mr. Bemis began to think he had been hasty when he half made up his mind to get a new housekeeper , feeling that burnt steak , weak coffee , and ragged wristbands were sure signs that Miss Bat 's days of usefulness were over . Molly was singing the lullaby her mother used to sing to her , and her father listened to it silently till Boo was carried away too sleepy for anything but bed . When she came back she sat down to her work , fancying her father still asleep . She had a crimson bow at her throat and one on the newly braided hair , her cuffs were clean , and a white apron hid the shabbiness of the old dress . She looked like a thrifty little housewife as she sat with her basket beside her full of neat white rolls , her spools set forth , and a new pair of scissors shining on the table . There was a sort of charm in watching the busy needle flash to and fro , the anxious pucker of the forehead as she looked to see if the stitches were even , and the expression of intense relief upon her face as she surveyed the finished button-hole with girlish satisfaction . Her father was wide awake and looking at her , thinking , as he did so , -- `` Really the old lady has worked well to change my tomboy into that nice little girl : I wonder how she did it . '' Then he gave a yawn , pulled off the handkerchief , and said aloud , `` What are you making , Molly ? '' for it struck him that sewing was a new amusement . `` Shirts for Boo , sir . Four , and this is the last , '' she answered , with pardonable pride , as she held it up and nodded toward the pile in her basket . `` Is n't that a new notion ? I thought Miss Bat did the sewing , '' said Mr. Bemis , as he smiled at the funny little garment , it looked so like Boo himself . `` No , sir ; only yours .
I do mine and XXXXX 's .
Bemis Boo Molly button-hole days fro pucker shabbiness tomboy wristbands