Well，I’lltellyou。JustnowIwantitforTommyDunn，andtheGreggorysifIcangetthem，andmaybeoneortwoothers。There’llalwaysbesomebody。Yousee，IhadthoughtI’dhavethemattheStrata。’
TommyDunn——attheStrata!’
Billylaughedagainruefully。
Odear!YousoundjustlikeBertram，’shepouted。Hedidn’twantTommy，either，noranyoftherestofthem。’
Therestofthem!’
Well，Icouldhavehadalotmore，youknow，theStrataissobig，especiallynowthatCyrilhasgone，andleftallthoseemptyrooms。_I_gotrealenthusiastic，butBertramdidn’t。Hejustlaughedandsaid`nonsense!’untilhefoundI
wasreallyinearnest；thenhe——well，hesaid`nonsense，’then，too——onlyhedidn’tlaugh，’
finishedBilly，withasigh。
AuntHannahregardedherwithfond，thoughslightlyexasperatedeyes。
Billy，youare，indeed，amostextraordinaryyoungwoman——attimes。Surely，withyou，abodyneverknowswhattoexpect——excepttheunexpected。’
Why，AuntHannah!——andfromyou，too!’
reproachedBilly，mischievously；butAuntHannahhadyetmoretosay。
OfcourseBertramthoughtitwasnonsense。
Theideaofyou，abride，fillingupyourhousewith——withpeoplelikethat!TommyDunn，indeed!’
Oh，BertramsaidhelikedTommyallright，’
sighedBilly；buthesaidthatthatdidn’tmeanhewantedhimforthreemealsaday。OnewouldthinkpoorTommywasabreakfastfood!SothatiswhenIthoughtofkeepingupthishouse，yousee，andthat’swhyIwantyouhere——totakechargeofit。Andyou’lldothat——forme，won’tyou？’
AuntHannahfellbackinherchair。
Why，y-yes，Billy，ofcourse，if——ifyouwantit。Butwhatanextraordinaryidea，child!’
Billyshookherhead。Adeepercolorcametohercheeks，andasofterglowtohereyes。
Idon’tthinkso，AuntHannah。It’sonlythatI’msohappythatsomeofithasjustgottooverflowsomewhere，andthisisgoingtobetheoverflowhouse——asortofsafetyvalveforme，yousee。I’mgoingtocallittheAnnex——itwillbeanannextoourhome。AndIwanttokeepitfull，always，ofpeoplewho——whocanmakethebestuseofallthatextrahappinessthatIcan’tpossiblyusemyself，’shefinishedalittletremulously。Don’tyousee？’
Oh，yes，I_see_，’repliedAuntHannah，withafondshakeofthehead。
But，really，listen——it’ssensible，’urgedBilly。First，there’sTommy。Hismotherdiedlastmonth。He’sataneighbor’snow，butthey’regoingtosendhimtoaHomeforCrippledChildren；
andhe’sgrievinghisheartoutoverit。
I’mgoingtobringhimheretoarealhome——
thekindthatdoesn’tbeginwithacapitalletter。
Headoresmusic，andhe’sgotrealtalent，Ithink。
Thenthere’stheGreggorys。’
AuntHannahlookeddubious。
Youcan’tgettheGreggorysto——touseanyofthathappiness，Billy。They’retooproud。’
Billysmiledradiantly。
IknowIcan’tgetthemto_use_it，AuntHannah，butIbelieveIcangetthemto_give_it，’
shedeclaredtriumphantly。IshallaskAliceGreggorytoteachTommymusic，andIshallaskMrs。Greggorytoteachhimbooks；andI
shalltellthemboththatIpositivelyneedthemtokeepyoucompany。’
Oh，butBilly，’bridledAuntHannah，withpromptobjection。
Tut，tut!——Iknowyou’llbewillingtobethrownasalittlebitofasoptotheGreggorys’
pride，’coaxedBilly。YoujustwaittillIgettheOverflowAnnexinrunningorder。Why，AuntHannah，youdon’tknowhowbusyyou’regoingtobehandingoutallthatextrahappinessthatIcan’tuse!’
Youdearchild!’AuntHannahsmiledmistily。Theblackshawlhadfallenunheededtothefloornow。Asifanybodyeverhadanymorehappinessthanone’sselfcoulduse!’
Ihave，’avowedBilly，promptly，andit’sgoingtokeepgrowingandgrowing，Iknow。’
Oh，mygriefandconscience，Billy，don’t!’
exclaimedAuntHannah，liftingshockedhandsofremonstrance。Raponwood——do!Howcanyouboastlikethat？’
Billydimpledroguishlyandsprangtoherfeet{。？？}
Why，AuntHannah，I’mashamedofyou!
Tobesuperstitiouslikethat——you，agoodPresbyterian!’
AuntHannahsubsidedshamefacedly。
Yes，Iknow，Billy，itissilly；butIjustcan’thelpit。’
Oh，butit’sworsethansilly，AuntHannah，’
teasedBilly，witharemorselesschuckle。It’sreally_heathen!_Bertramtoldmeoncethatitdates’waybacktothetimeoftheDruids——
appealingtothegodoftrees，orsomethinglikethat——whenyouraponwood，youknow。’
Ugh!’shudderedAuntHannah。AsifIwould，Billy!HowisBertram，bytheby？’
AswiftshadowcrossedBilly’sbrightface。
He’slovely——onlyhisarm。’
Hisarm!ButIthoughtthatwasbetter。’
Oh，itis，’droopedBilly，butitgetsalongsoslowly，anditfretshimdreadfully。Youknowhenevercandoanythingwithhislefthand，hesays，andhejusthatestohavethingsdoneforhim——thoughPeteandDongLingarequarrelingwitheachotherallthetimetodothingsforhim，andI’mquarrelingwithbothofthemtodothemforhimmyself!Bytheway，DongLingisgoingtoleaveusnextweek。Didyouknowit？’
DongLing——leave!’
Yes。Oh，hetoldBertramlongagoheshouldgowhenweweremarried；thathehadplentymuchmoney，andwasgoingbacktoChina，andnotbeMelicanmananylonger。ButIdon’tthinkBertramthoughthe’ddoit。WilliamsaysDongLingwenttoPete，however，afterweleft，andtoldhimhewantedtogo；thathelikedthelittleMisseeplentywell，butthatthere’dbetoomuchhen-talkwhenshegotback，and——’
Why，theimpudentcreature!’
Billylaughedmerrily。
Yes；Petewasfurious，Williamsays，butDongLingdidn’tmeananydisrespect，I’msure。
Hejustwasn’tusedtohavingpetticoatsaround，anddidn’twanttotakeordersfromthem；that’sall。’
But，Billy，whatwillyoudo？’
Oh，Pete’sfixedallthatlovely，’returnedBilly，nonchalantly。YouknowhisniecelivesoverinSouthBoston，anditseemsshe’sgotadaughterwho’safinecookandwillbegladtocome。Mercy!Lookatthetime，’shebrokeoff，glancingattheclock。Ishallbelatetodinner，andDongLingloathesanybodywho’slatetohismeals——asIfoundouttomysorrowthenightwegothome。Good-by，dear。I’llbeoutsoonagainandfixitallup——abouttheAnnex，youknow。’Andwithabrightsmileshewasgone。
Dearme，’sighedAuntHannah，stoopingtopickuptheblackshawl；dearme!Ofcourseeverythingwillbeallright——there’sagirlcoming，evenifDongLingisgoing。But——but——
Oh，mygriefandconscience，whatanextraordinarychildBillyis，tobesure——butwhatadearone!’sheadded，wipingaquicktearfromhereye。AnOverflowAnnex，indeed，forher`extrahappiness’!Nowisn’tthatjustlikeBilly？’
SeptemberpassedandOctobercame，bringingwithitcooldaysandclear，crispeveningsroyallyruledoverbyagorgeousharvestmoon。AccordingtoBillyeverythingwasjustperfect——except，ofcourse，poorBertram’sarm；andeventhefactthatthatgainedsoslowlywasnotwithoutitsadvantage(againaccordingtoBilly)，foritgaveBertrammoretimetobewithher。
Yousee，dear，aslongasyou_can’t_paint，’shetoldhimearnestly，oneday，why，I’mnotreallyhinderingyoubykeepingyouwithmesomuch。’
Youcertainlyarenot，’heretorted，withasmile。
ThenImaybejustashappyasIlikeoverit，’settledBilly，comfortably。
Asifyouevercouldhinderme，’heridiculed。
Oh，yes，Icould，’noddedBilly，emphatically。
Youforget，sir。Thatwaswhatworriedmeso。Everybody，eventhenewspapersandmagazines，saidI_would_doit，too。TheysaidI’dslayyourArt，stifleyourAmbition，destroyyourInspiration，andbeanuisancegenerally。AndKatesaid——’
Yes。Well，nevermindwhatKatesaid，’
interruptedtheman，savagely。
Billylaughed，andgavehisearaplayfultweak。
Allright；butI’mnotgoingtodoit，youknow——spoilyourcareer，sir。Youjustwait，’
shecontinueddramatically。Theminuteyourarmgetssoyoucanpaint，Imyselfshallconductyoutoyourstudio，thrustthebrushesintoyourhand，fillyourpalettewithallthecolorsoftherainbow，andorderyoutopaint，mylord，paint!
But——untilthenI’mgoingtohaveyouallI
like，’shefinished，withacompletechangeofmanner，nestlingintothereadycurveofhisgoodleftarm。
Youwitch!’laughedtheman，fondly。
Why，Billy，youcouldn’thinderme。You’ll_be_
myinspiration，dear，insteadofslayingit。You’llsee。_This_timeMargueriteWinthrop’sportraitisgoingtobeasuccess。’
Billyturnedquickly。
Thenyouare——thatis，youhaven’t——I
mean，you’regoingto——paintit？’
Ijustam，’avowedtheartist。Andthistimeit’llbeasuccess，too，withyoutohelp。’
Billydrewinherbreathtremulously。
Ididn’tknowbutyou’dalreadystartedit，’
shefaltered。
Heshookhishead。
No。Aftertheotheronefailed，andMr。
Winthropaskedmetotryagain，Icouldn’t_then_。
Iwassotroubledoveryou。That’sthetimeyoudidhinderme，’hesmiled。Thencameyournotebreakingtheengagement。OfcourseIknewtoomuchtoattemptathinglikethatportraitthen。Butnow——_now_——!’Thepauseandtheemphasiswereeloquent。
Ofcourse，_now_，’noddedBilly，brightly，butalittlefeverishly。Andwhendoyoubegin？’
NottillJanuary。MissWinthropwon’tbebacktillthen。IsawJ。G。lastweek，andItoldhimI’daccepthisoffertotryagain。’
Whatdidhesay？’
Hegavemylefthandabiggripandsaid：
`Good!——andyou’llwinoutthistime。’’
Ofcourseyouwill，’noddedBilly，again，thoughstillalittlefeverishly。AndthistimeIsha’n’tmindabitifyoudostaytoluncheon，andbreakengagementswithme，sir，’shewenton，tiltingherchinarchly，forIshallknowit’stheportraitandnotthesitterthat’sreallykeepingyou。Oh，you’llseewhatafineartist’swifeI’llmake!’
Theverybest，’declaredBertramsoardentlythatBillyblushed，andshookherheadinreproof。
Nonsense!Iwasn’tfishing。Ididn’tmeanitthatway，’sheprotested。Then，ashetriedtocatchher，shelaughedanddancedteasinglyoutofhisreach。
BecauseBertramcouldnotpaint，therefore，BillyhadhimquitetoherselftheseOctoberdays；
nordidshehesitatetoappropriatehim。Neither，onhispart，wasBertramloathtobeappropriated。
