`` I was an only child for eight years and I did long for a brother and sister . Mother told me to pray for one -- and pray I did , believe ME . Well , one day Aunt Nellie came to me and said , ` Cornelia , there is a little brother for you upstairs in your ma 's room . You can go up and see him . ' I was so excited and delighted I just flew upstairs . And old Mrs. Flagg lifted up the baby for me to see . Lord , Anne , dearie , I never was so disappointed in my life . You see , I 'd been praying for A BROTHER TWO YEARS OLDER THAN MYSELF . '' `` How long did it take you to get over your disappointment ? '' asked Anne , amid her laughter . `` Well , I had a spite at Providence for a good spell , and for weeks I would n't even look at the baby . Nobody knew why , for I never told . Then he began to get real cute , and held out his wee hands to me and I began to get fond of him . But I did n't get really reconciled to him until one day a school chum came to see him and said she thought he was awful small for his age . I just got boiling mad , and I sailed right into her , and told her she did n't know a nice baby when she saw one , and ours was the nicest baby in the world . And after that I just worshipped him . Mother died before he was three years old and I was sister and mother to him both . Poor little lad , he was never strong , and he died when he was n't much over twenty . Seems to me I 'd have given anything on earth , Anne , dearie , if he 'd only lived . '' Miss Cornelia sighed .
Gilbert had gone down and Leslie , who had been crooning over the small James Matthew XXXXX the dormer window , laid him asleep in his basket and went her way .
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