Lottie and Ermengarde liked to visit Sara in the attic, but it was risky to go up there.
They were afraid that Miss Minchin would catch them.
So their visits were rare, and Sara was often lonely.
When Sara went outdoors on an errand, she usually felt even worse.
She had to hold onto her hat when the wind blew.
The water soaked through her shoes when it was raining.
When she had been Princess Sara, walking with her maid through the streets, people often admired her.
They'd liked her lovely clothes and charming manners.
But Sara had begun to grow very fast, and her clothes no longer fit her well.
She learned quickly that no one on the street looked at shabby, poorly dressed children.
There was only one thing that made Sara happy when she was outdoors.
In the evenings she liked to look in the windows of the houses she passed.
She started to make up stories about the families inside.
She especially liked the Large family, who lived on the same street as Miss Minchin's school.
They were not big people.
She called them the Large family because there were eight children.
The family had friendly-looking parents and many servants.
It seemed that the Large children always had things to do.
They played with one another, and went out for rides in their carriage with their mother and grandmother.
When Mr. Large came home from work, there was great excitement.
The children ran to meet him, kissing him and dancing around him.
Sometimes they pulled off his overcoat and checked his pockets for coins or small packages.
One evening several Large children were going to a party.
While Sara was returning from an errand, she stopped on the sidewalk to watch them.
Two of the older girls, Janet and Nora, stepped into the family's carriage.
The girls were dressed in white lace dresses with lovely sashes.
Their brother Donald, who was only five, was following them.
Donald had sweet rosy cheeks and curly blond hair.
It was the Christmas season, and the Large children had been hearing many stories about poor children.
In these stories kind people gave money to the children.
That afternoon Donald had been moved to tears by just such a story.
He vowed to give a poor child some coins.
As he crossed the sidewalk, he spotted Sara.
She was wearing a shabby dress and hat, and holding an old basket.
Donald thought she looked hungry.
Sara was hungry, but not for food.
She was hungry for the warm family life that he had.
Donald walked over to the girl with the big eyes and thin face.
"Here, poor little girl." He took a coin from his pocket. "Take this."
Sara's face turned red.
For a second she felt that she couldn't take the money.
"Oh, no thank you!" she said. "I don't need that."
Sara's voice sounded nothing like a beggar's voice.
Janet and Nora peeked from the carriage to get a better look at the poor girl in the street.
"You must take the coin," Donald insisted. "You can buy food with it."
He looked so kind and honest.
Sara knew he would be disappointed if she refused.
"Thank you." Sara tried to smile even though her cheeks were still burning.
"You're a kind, darling boy."
Donald scrambled joyfully into the carriage.
As it drove away, tears came to Sara's eyes.
She knew that she looked odd and shabby.
But until now she hadn't realized she looked like a beggar.
Meanwhile the Large children were talking excitedly about Sara.
"Oh, Donald!" exclaimed Janet. "Why did you offer that girl your money?"
"Her face didn't look like a beggar's face," said Nora.
"And she doesn't talk like one."
"Besides, she didn't beg," said Janet.
"I was afraid she might be angry with you.
It makes people angry to be mistaken for beggars when they aren't."
Donald frowned at his sisters. "She wasn't angry," he said firmly.
"She said I was a kind, darling boy."
Janet and Nora exchanged glances.
"A beggar girl never would have said that," said Nora.
"She'd have said, 'Thank you, little gentleman,' and curtsied."
Sara didn't know it, but the Large children were now very interested in her.
Their faces started to appear at the windows whenever she passed their house.
They held many discussions about her around the fire.
"She's some sort of servant at Miss Minchin's school," said Janet.
"I don't think she belongs to anybody. I think she's an orphan."
"She's not a beggar, no matter how shabby she looks," said Nora.
And from then on they called Sara "The Little Girl Who Is Not a Beggar."