As to you--you know how much she's in your rooms, spending evening after
evening fussing over your collections."
"I know; but we're--we're sorting them and making a catalogue," defended
the man, anxiously. "Besides, I--I like to have her there. She doesn't
bother me a bit."
"No; I know she doesn't," replied Aunt Hannah, with a curious
inflection. "But don't you see, William, that all this isn't going to
quite do? Billy's too young--and too old."
"Come, come, Aunt Hannah, is that exactly logical?"
"It's true, at least."
"But, after all, where's the harm? Don't you think that you are just a
little bit too--fastidious? Billy's nothing but a care-free child."
"It's the 'free' part that I object to, William. She has taken every one
of you into intimate companionship--even Pete and Dong Ling."
"Pete and Dong Ling!"
"Yes." Mrs. Stetson's chin came up, and her nostrils dilated a little.
"Billy went to Pete the other day to have him button her shirt-waist
up in the back; and yesterday I found her down-stairs in the kitchen
instructing Dong Ling how to make chocolate fudge!"
William fell back in his chair.
"Well, well," he muttered, "well, well! She is a child, and no mistake!"
He paused, his brows drawn into a troubled frown. "But, Aunt Hannah,
what CAN I do? Of course you could talk to her, but--I don't seem to
quite like that idea.
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