The Ordway new era., 1906-11-09
BERsAMO
Stay Il o. Snail AsspliaI Patient
By oRAog LOIS RUARc

She waddled into the ward like q
little fat goose. clinging to the visit,
Ing nurse with one hand and clutch,
Ing banana with the other. She
.gazed on US with eyes Of suspicion.
|: She was only four years old, and
alone among strangers. 30 she felt
that she must be on the defensive.
Her great black eyes peered out from
beneath a tangled mop of hair and she
threatened to burst into tears. The
visiting nurse departed and Bersamo
stood alone with her banana.
Her costume was striking, II not
beautiful. In her dress her Syrian
mother had expressed. her love .oY
color. The BODY OF 1t was of dark
blue velvet, with n strip Of scarlet
| down the front. The collar was OF
yellow. finished with pink lace. The
ward nurse started to remove this
gorgeous creation. whereupon q
stream Of foreign invective burst from
those baby lips. We started In aston.
ishment.
1t took two nurses to undress her
and put her in her little crib. There
! SD sat bolt upright. a veritable thun
dercloud. Her screams could be heard
all over the hospital. The instant the
nurses back was turned, out she
would climb. agile as a monkey, and
start for the door. Her sole idea
seemed to be to get out-anywhere
away from the ward.
/ For two days she kept 1t up every
waking moment. Then she suddenly
became as silent as she had been
noisy. She still sat up In bed, per.
fectly mute. scowling at every one
her eyes constantly shifting. watching
every movement made In the room
She looked like n Gagged animal. ]
wonder what she made OF 1t all and
what revenge her infantile mind was
planning. for she had the most malig.
nant expression imaginable.
Having an affection of the mouth
she was put on a liquid diet and how
she hated 1t! Disgust was written on
her face every time her food was
brought in. One day she smelled
coffee. In an instant she was on the
alert. and for the first time In several
days she started to climb out of bed
The nurse hurried over to her.
What is 1t. Bersamo?" she asked.
Coffee" she exclaimed. excitedly.
Overjoyed at hearing her speak
after her long silence. the nurse went
/ 10 get her some. She filled cup with
hot milk and put In just enough cof
fee to color 1t. Bersamo looked at II
n moment. 1t was too much for her
outraged dignity.
BAH" she screamed. Then. with
n quick sweep of her hand. cup and
coffee went crashing to the floor.
After she had been with us week
her mother brought her brothers and
sisters to see her. And Solomon in all
his glory was not arrayed as one OF
these.
First came boy about seven,
waddling In just as Bersamo had done,
with his bright black eyes rowing
everywhere. He had on pair OF
scarlet trousers reaching halfway be.
tween his knees and shoe tops, pink
silk shirt and a pale blue tie. Follow.
ing him was a little girl older than
Bersamo. in n pink dress draped with
n fish net. Then came the mother,
isypsy-like woman. carrying baby
wrapped in yellow shawl. Peeping
from behind, her skirts was a little
boy about three.
What a babel arose when they saw
Bersamo! All the children crowded
| around her as she related her ad-
ventures in her native tongue. Her
eyes shone and she punctuated her re.
cital with dramatic gestures. She un-
derstcod that she was heroine of the
occasion and she took advantage of
her hour of glory. Then her mother
produced bundle from her shawl;
she took out big. evil-smelling sa,,.
sage. How that child's eyes glistened
when she saw the meat! Besides.
there were pink popcorn balls. sticks
of red candy and bottle of pop--all
them all. Bersamo only shrugged her
shoulders and looked resigned; every
thing disagreeable was becoming a
matter of course to her.
We all expected Bersamo to have
another crying spell after her peo-
pie went. but she didn't seem to miss
them at all. She grew more friendly
day by day. and one morning when I
was looking over her record saw the
astonishing announcement: Patient
smiled" After being with us three
weeks she had smiled for the first
time.
went over and played with her
awhile and said: Smile. Bersamo!"
A self-cohscious look came over her
face and then she gave a sheepish
grin. After that brave beginning the
nurses taught her to laugh. SO that
on request she would calculate. with
a grave smile, "Ha. hal" 1t was the
most mirthless laugh ever heard.
Still. Bersamo enjoyed life in her