The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-05-10
SHE HAS NO HANDS.
A BRAVE LITTLE PEROINE WEO
LIVES IN CALICO MA.

A Pretty L tile SauCelitO Girl's Flucky
struggle Against Long Odds-aer
Feet Are as Good as Bands.
From the san Fraucisco Examiner.
There is a strange little girl over in Sau-
cslito. She lives in tiny house among the
green hills, and she's just as happy as the
day is long.
She has seven brothers and sisters, has
this strange little girl-four brothers and
three sisters-so she IS never lonely. The
older children go to school, hut tlere is
always a baby to keep her company.
She never goes to school herself, though
she is nearly s years old.
There are good many reasons why she
STAYS at home from school.
She could not hold her books very well if
she went, and she hates to think she cannot
do everything quite as well as any one else.
Besides, the children might tease her for
being so different from the rest, and she
would find out then that she ought to be
quite unhappy.
For the poor little thing has no arms. She
has never had any.
Her name is Maryan MaTcena, and her
father is a tinsmith.
The thing that Maryan most delights in
doing is TO help her little brothers and sis
tiers get ready for school.
She Is very quick and full of life, and she
hurries around at a great rate. She makes
them hurry, too. She washes their faces
and combs their hair, and if they don't
stand still she knows how to give them
lively little box on ahe ear.
How does she do it.
Why, with her feet, Of course. She laughs
when people are astonished az that.
Maryan does not believe that hands are
Ia ,10vs foo
ANY one who notices her for awhile is
usually convert to her way of thinking.
too.
She lust takes hold of towel between her
toes, and she throws it around her little
brothers. neck by dexterous twist of her
supple ankle Then she dips her feet in the
water and she rubs that youngsters face till
it shines again.
Then she sits back and looks at that
round little red face, Just exactly as an
artist looks at his picture to see if he has
achieved the correct effect.
When the face is as new looking and fresh
as G brand new tin pan Meryan gives a
queer little satisfied sigh and patters into
the next room as fast as she can-that's
pretty fast, too, by the way.
When she comes out she has something
between her first two toes. That something
is q comb. She goes up to her brother, and
then she sits down.
if it isn't come here" that she says it is
come here" that she means, for the little
fellow leans obediently near her.
Swish swish goes the little comb through
the thick black hair of little brother
Splash goes the comb in the water. Swish!
again, aud there's parting. Swishl once
more, and there's q beautiful parting.
There, now" she says, chesrily; that is,
if she doesn't say "there, now" she means
it. Surely she means it, And so the little
brother knows, for he rises hastily and pro-
ceeds in a business manner to follow the
fashion Of boykind and get rumply and
dirty-faced as soon as he conveniently can.
She can sew little, too, can this wonder
full child, and she likes to do it. 1t is a curl
Gus sight to see her thread & needle. She
does it in this way: She takes the needle in
one foot and the thread in the other. She
twists that thread and rolls it to make the
end stiff and pointed, and then she balances
herself in some marvellous way, and, presto!
her needle is threaded.
She can hold her knife and fork In her
toes, and she does it. How in the world she
manages to feed herself is a mystery. But
she does feed herself, and very easily, too, If
one judges from her appearance.
She hold a pencil between her intelligent
little toes and scribbles away finely.
She grasps the handle of q dusLer in her
firm, flexible clutches and my, how she
can make the dust fly. She can pick up a
pin, or anything else, for that matter, quite
as well as people who are blessed with ten
pckers and stealers. She almost talks with
those delicate toes, and they almost seem
endowed with n separate Intelligence Of
their own-an intelligence as quick aud
nervous as that Of the brain itself.
She is d sweet-faced child. with pair of
great blue eyes that look exactly like big
vIolets. They are never sad, though, those
big violet eyes. She's a light-hearted little
creature, and she apparently has not the
fGintest idea that her lot Is sad Her younger
II brothers are very fond of her, but she knows
what is good for them, and she is u strict
disciplnarian.
She has a good many things to make her
happy, she thinks. There's the bay, for ex-
ample. The bay is always laughing and
dancing in the sun or sulking in the shade.
1t is very amusing to see how it changes its
moods whenever the sun is behind a cloud.
Maryan thinks 1t is never dull when there
is the water to watch. From her tiny
house she can see the big ships sail past, and
she can see the queer little three cornered
sails Of the tiShermen'5 boats when they
bend and seem u touch the rough
waters. Sometimes she is frightened and
gasps tor breath when the sails go too far
over, but usually she loves to see
them After the first rains in the
spring the steep hill where she lives is
carpeted with vivid green grass. When
sprinkled with hundreds Of gay flowers.
Then the strange little creature is happier
than ever, for she knows how to make all
sorts of pretty chains and wreaths out OF
the wild blossoms, and she loves to run
about in the sunshine and feel the soft grass
under her slender toes.
Her quiet little face is sensitive and deli.
cate She is shy, not with the consciousness
OF her misfortune, but with the diffidence
OF a country child.
Some San Francisco people had a little
chat With her the other day. The Sau
francisco people did all the talking, but
Maryan's face was SO bright and her shining
eyes were SO pleasant that they scarcely
realzed that she had not spoken one wore
until they went away.
W hen the visitors went out the gate
soft, high-ptched voice called after them
=, Good-by," said the voice. It was
Maryan who spoke, standing in the doc
and looking after them. 1t was the frs
English word she had spoken. As the car
rage rolled down hill the visitors heard
Maryan laughing with her brothers. Sit
was evidently much amused that the visit
orS were SO much SURPRISED when sh
showed them how she could sew with hel
toes. She didn't see anything surprising