Betty Goodman had a good strong body, red cheeks, hair that was changing from brown to gray, and a determined eye. She wore a man's hat on the farm and an old blue overcoat when it was cold. Sometimes she wore boots.

Betty Goodman had never thought of marrying. She had never been in love. At the age of twenty she had received a proposal [someone asking to marry], which she had promptly declined [said no]. Now at the age of fifty she did not regret [] it.

So she was quite alone in the world, except for her dog Ponto, the servants who worked on her farm, the hens, a few cows and a couple of donkeys.

One morning, Betty Goodman stood in front of her house, looking at a small group of very small children. Their coming was so unexpected, confusing and unwelcome that they seemed to have fallen from the clouds. They were the children of her nearest neighbor, Helen.

The young woman and the four children had appeared only five minutes before. In her arms she carried little Cathy. She dragged Demi by an unwilling hand, while Mary and Beth followed with wandering [] steps.

Helen's face was red and ugly from tears and excitement. She had been called to a neighboring village because her mother was very ill. Her husband was away in Texas and Thomas was waiting with the donkey-cart to drive her to the station.

"There's no question, Betty Goodman. You have to keep these children till I come back. I wouldn't bother you with them if there was another way! Be strict with them, Betty Goodman. Don't spare them. I am half crazy between the children, Leon being away and now my mother's illness!"

She left them in the narrow shade of the long, low house. The white sunlight was beating down on the old house. Some chickens were scratching in the grass at the foot of the steps and one had boldly climbed up and was stepping heavily and aimlessly across the floor. There was a pleasant smell of roses in the air and the sound of the servants' laughter was coming across the flowering cotton-field.

Betty Goodman stood looking at the children. She looked carefully at Mary, who was struggling with the weight of the chubby Cathy. She looked carefully at Beth who had silent tears and at Demi who seemed to be rebellious []. During those few thought filled moments she was deciding what to do. She began by feeding them.

If Betty Goodman's responsibilities had begun and ended there, it would be nothing. Her kitchen was well stocked for such an emergency. But little children are not little pigs - they require and demand attentions which were wholly unexpected by Betty Goodman and which she was not prepared to give.

She was very poor in the management of Helen's children during the first few days. How could she know that Beth always wept when spoken to in a loud and commanding voice? She came to know Demi's love for flowers only when she had plucked all the best roses and violets to study how they were constructed [made].

"It's not enough to tell her - I'm, Betty Goodman," Mary told her. "You have to tie her in a chair. It's what mama does when she's bad. She ties him in a chair." The chair in which Betty Goodman tied Demi was roomy [big] and comfortable and she used the chance to take a nap [sleep] in it because the afternoon was warm.