"You've hit it
square on the head, and we'll do it. I'll move to-morrow. The light down
here is just as good as it is up-stairs--if you let it in!"
"Thank you, Bertram, and you, too, Kate," breathed William, fervently.
"Now, if you don't mind, I believe I'll go to bed. I am tired!"
CHAPTER X
AUNT HANNAH
As soon as possible after breakfast William went to see Aunt Hannah.
Hannah Stetson was not really William's aunt, though she had been called
Aunt Hannah for years. She was the widow of a distant cousin, and she
lived in a snug little room in a Back Bay boarding-house. She was a
slender, white-haired woman with kind blue eyes, and a lovable smile.
Her cheeks were still faintly pink, and her fine silver-white hair broke
into little kinks and curls about her ears. According to Bertram she
always made one think of "lavender and old lace."
She welcomed William cordially this morning, though with faint surprise
in her eyes.
"Yes, I know I'm an early caller, and an unexpected one," began William,
hurriedly. "And I shall have to plunge straight into the matter, too,
for there isn't time to preamble. I've taken an eighteen-year-old girl
to bring up, Aunt Hannah, and I want you to come down and live with us
to chaperon her."
"My grief and conscience, WILLIAM!" gasped the little woman, agitatedly.
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