She'd take her picture away from him if
she could."
"She wouldn't," said Miss Lansdale, with a gesture of her foot that
disconcerted me.
"Miss Kate," I said, "I have lived my life in terror of seeing one of
those squashy green worms meet a fearful disaster in my presence. Would
you mind--"
With a fillip of the bronzed toe she sent the amazed worm into a country
that must have been utterly strange to it,
"She'd take it back quickly enough if she knew what he makes of it," I
said, returning to the picture; "if she knew that he had kept it ever
since he learned that agriculture, mining, and ship-building are
principal industries--only at first it had two long yellow braids, and
tassels dangling from its boot tops."
"My mother had beautiful long golden hair," said the woman child, adding
simply, "papa says mine is just like it."
Miss Lansdale regarded me narrowly.
"You get me all mixed up," she said.
"I like to. You're heady then--like your mother's punch when it's 'all
mixed up.'"
"I must put in more ice," remarked Miss Lansdale, calmly.
"Fatty Budlow is so serious," said the woman child, suspecting that the
talk had drifted away from her.
"It's his curse," I admitted.
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