andleaveoutthatdreadful`ickeywickey’？
Ofcoursehecan’tunderstandthingsnow，really，butweneverknowwhenhe’llbeginto，andwearen’tevergoingtolethimhearbaby-talkatall，ifwecanhelpit。Andtruly，whenyoucometothinkofit，itisabsurdtoexpectachildtotalksensiblyandrationallyonthementaldietof`moo-moos’and`choo-choos’servedouttothem。OurProfessorofMetaphysicsandIdeologyinourChildStudyCoursesaysthatnothingissoreceptiveandplasticastheMindofaLittleChild，andthatitisperfectlyappallinghowwefillitwithtrivialabsurditiesthathaven’teventhevirtueofbeingaccurate。Sothat’swhywe’retryingtobesocarefulwithBaby。Youdidn’tmindmyspeaking，Iknow，AuntHannah。’
Oh，no，ofcoursenot，Billy，’retortedAuntHannah，alittletartly，andwithatouchofsarcasmmostunlikehergentleself。I’msureI
shouldn’twishtofillthisinfant’splasticmindwithanythingsoappallingastrivialinaccuracies。
MayIbepardonedforsuggesting，however，’
shewentonasthebaby’swhimperthreatenedtobecomealustywail，thatthisyounggentlemancriesasifheweresleepyandhungry？’
Yes，heis，’admittedBilly。
Well，doesn’tyoursystemofscientifictrainingallowhimtobegivensuchtrivialabsurditiesasfoodandnaps？’inquiredthelady，mildly。
Ofcourseitdoes，AuntHannah，’retortedBilly，laughinginspiteofherself。Andit’salmosttimenow。Thereareonlyafewmoreminutestowait。’
Fewmoreminutestowait，indeed!’scornedAuntHannah。Isupposethepoorlittlefellowmightcryandcry，andyouwouldn’tsetthatclockaheadbyateenyweenyminute!’
Certainlynot，’saidtheyoungmother，decisively。My`DailyGuideforMothers’saysthatatimeforeverythingandeverythinginitstime，istheveryABCandwholealphabetofRightTraining。Hedoeseverythingbytheclock，andtotheminute，’declaredBilly，proudly。
AuntHannahsniffed，obviouslyskepticalandrebellious。AliceGreggorylaughed。
AuntHannahlooksasifshe’dliketobringdownherclockthatstrikeshalfanhourahead，’
shesaidmischievously；butAuntHannahdidnotdeigntoanswerthis。
Howlongdoyourockhim？’shedemandedofBilly。IsupposeImaydothat，mayn’tI？’
Mercy，Idon’trockhimatall，AuntHannah，’exclaimedBilly。
Norsingtohim？’
Certainlynot。’
Butyoudid——beforeIwentaway。I
rememberthatyoudid。’
Yes，IknowIdid，’admittedBilly，andI
hadanawfultime，too。Someevenings，everysingleoneofus，eventoUncleWilliam，hadtotrybeforewecouldgethimofftosleep。ButthatwasbeforeIgotmy`EfficiencyofMotherandChild，’ormy`ScientificTraining，’and，oh，lotsofothers。Yousee，Ididn’tknowathingthen，andIlovedtorockhim，soIdidit——thoughthenursesaiditwasn’tgoodforhim；butIdidn’tbelieve_her_。I’vehadanawfultimechanging；butI’vedoneit。Ijustputhiminhislittlecrib，orhiscarriage，andafterawhilehegoestosleep。
Sometimes，now，hedoesn’tcryhardlyany。I’mafraid，to-day，though，hewill，’sheworried。
Yes，I’mafraidhewill，’almostscreamedAuntHannah，inordertomakeherselfheardaboveBertram，Jr。，who，bythistime，wasvoicinghisopinionofmattersandthingsinnouncertainmanner。
Itwasnot，afterall，soverylongbeforepeaceandorderreigned；and，induecourse，Bertram，Jr。，inhiscarriage，layfastasleep。Then，whileAuntHannahwenttoBilly’sroomforashortrest，BillyandAlicewentoutontothewideverandawhichfacedthewonderfulexpanseofskyandsea。
Nowtellmeofyourself，’commandedBilly，almostatonce。It’sbeenagessinceI’veheardorseenathingofyou。’
There’snothingtotell。’
Nonsense!Buttheremustbe，’insistedBilly。Youknowit’smonthssinceI’veseenanythingofyou，hardly。’
Iknow。WefeelquiteneglectedattheAnnex，’saidAlice。
ButIdon’tgoanywhere，’defendedBilly。
Ican’t。Thereisn’ttime。’
Eventobringustheextrahappiness？’
smiledAlice。
AquickchangecametoBilly’sface。Hereyesgloweddeeply。
No；thoughI’vehadsomuchthatoughttohavegone——suchloadsandloadsofextrahappiness，whichIcouldn’tpossiblyusemyself!
SometimesI’msohappy，Alice，that——thatI’mjustfrightened。Itdoesn’tseemasifanybodyoughttobesohappy。’
Oh，Billy，dear，’demurredAlice，hereyesfillingsuddenlywithtears。
Well，I’vegottheAnnex。I’mgladI’vegotthatfortheoverflow，anyway，’resumedBilly，tryingtosteadyhervoice。I’vesentawholelotofhappinessuptherementally，ifIhaven’tactuallycarriedit；soI’msureyoumusthavegotit。Nowtellmeofyourself。’
There’snothingtotell，’insistedAlice，asbefore。
You’reworkingashardasever？’
Yes——harder。’
Newpupils？’
Yes，andsomeconcertengagements——goodones，fornextseason。Accompaniments，youknow。’
Billynodded。
Yes；I’veheardofyoualreadytwice，lately，inthatline，andveryflatteringly，too。’
Haveyou？Well，that’sgood。’
Hm-m。’Therewasamoment’ssilence，then，abruptly，Billychangedthesubject。I
hadaletterfromBelleCalderwell，yesterday。’
Shepausedexpectantly，buttherewasnocomment。
Youdon’tseeminterested，’shefrowned，afteraminute。
Alicelaughed。
Pardonme，but——Idon’tknowtheLady，yousee。Wasitagoodletter？’
Youknowherbrother。’
Verytrue。’Alice’scheeksshowedadeepercolor。Didshesayanythingofhim？’
Yes。ShesaidhewascomingbacktoBostonnextwinter。’
Indeed!’
Yes。Shesaysthatthistimehedeclareshereally_is_goingtosettledowntowork，’murmuredBilly，demurely，withasidelongglanceathercompanion。Shesayshe’sengagedtobemarried——oneofherfriendsoverthere。’
Therewasnoreply。Aliceappearedtobeabsorbedinwatchingatinywhitesailfaroutatsea。
AgainBillywassilent。Then，withstudiedcarelessness，shesaid：
Yes，andyouknowMr。Arkwright，too。Shetoldofhim。’
Yes？Well，whatofhim？’Alice’svoicewasstudiedlyindifferent。
Oh，therewasquitealotofhim。Bellehadjustbeentohearhimsing，andthenherbrotherhadintroducedhimtoher。Shethinkshe’sperfectlywonderful，ineveryway，Ishouldjudge。
Infact，shesimplyravedoverhim。Itseemsthatwhilewe’vebeenhearingnothingfromhimallwinter，he’sbeenwinningnoendoflaurelsforhimselfinParisandBerlin。He’sbeenstudying，too，ofcourse，aswellassinging；andnowhe’sgotachancetosingsomewhere——createarle，orsomething——Bellesaidshewasn’tquiteclearonthematterherself，butitwasaperfectlysplendidchance，andonethatwasafinefeatherinhiscap。’
Thenhewon’tbecominghome——thatis，toBoston——atallthiswinter，probably，’saidAlice，withacheerfulnessthatsoundedjustalittleforced。
NotuntilFebruary。Butheiscomingthen。
He’sbeenengagedforsixperformanceswiththeBostonOperaCompany——asastartenor，mindyou!Isn’tthatsplendid？’
Indeeditis，’murmuredAlice。
BellewritesthatHughsayshe’simprovedwonderfully，andthatevenhecanseethathissingingismarvelous。HesaysParisiswildoverhim；but——formypart，Iwishhe’dcomehomeandstayherewherehebelongs，’finishedBilly，abitpetulantly。
Why，why，Billy!’murmuredherfriend，acuriouslystartledlookcomingintohereyes。
Well，Ido，’maintainedBilly；then，recklessly，sheadded：Ihadsuchbeautifulplansforhim，once，Alice。Oh，ifyouonlycouldhavecaredforhim，you’dhavemadesuchasplendidcouple!’
AvividscarletflewtoAlice’sface。
Nonsense!’shecried，gettingquicklytoherfeetandbendingoveroneoftheflowerboxesalongtheverandarailing。Mr。Arkwrightneverthoughtofmarryingme——andI’mnotgoingtomarryanybodybutmymusic。’
Billysigheddespairingly。
Iknowthat’swhatyousaynow；butif——’
Shestoppedabruptly。AroundtheturnoftheverandahadappearedAuntHannah，wheelingBertram，Jr。，stillasleepinhiscarriage。
Icameouttheotherdoor，’sheexplainedsoftly。AnditwassolovelyIjusthadtogoinandgetthebaby。Ithoughtitwouldbesoniceforhimtofinishhisnapouthere。’
Billyarosewithatroubledfrown。
But，AuntHannah，hemustn’t——hecan’tstayouthere。I’msorry，butwe’llhavetotakehimback。’
AuntHannah’seyesgrewmutinous。
ButIthoughttheoutdoorairwasjustthethingforhim。I’msureyourscientifichygienicnonsensesays_that!_’
Theydo——theydid——thatis，someofthemdo，’acknowledgedBilly，worriedly；buttheydiffer，so!AndtheoneI’mgoingbynowsaysthatBabyshouldalwayssleepinan_even_
temperature——seventydegrees，ifpossible；andthat’sexactlywhattheroomintherewas，whenIlefthim。It’snotthesameouthere，I’msure。InfactIlookedatthethermometertosee，justbeforeIcameoutmyself。So，AuntHannah，I’mafraidI’llhavetotakehimback。’
Butyouusedtohavehimsleepoutofdoorsallthetime，onthatlittlebalconyoutofyourroom，’arguedAuntHannah，stillplainlyunconvinced。
Yes，IknowIdid。Iwasfollowingtheotherman’srules，then。AsIsaid，ifonlytheywouldn’tdifferso!OfcourseIwantthebest；butit’ssohardtoalwaysknowthebest，and——’
AtthisveryinopportunemomentMasterBertramtookoccasiontowakeup，whichbroughtevenadeeperwrinkleofworrytohisfondmother’sforehead；forshesaidthat，accordingtotheclock，heshouldhavebeensleepingexactlytenandone-halfmoreminutes，andthatofcoursehecouldn’tcommencethenextthinguntilthosetenandone-halfminuteswereup，orelsehisentirescheduleforthedaywouldbeshattered。Sowhatsheshoulddowithhimforthoseshould-have-
been-sleepingtenminutesandahalf，shedidnotknow。AllofwhichdrewfromAuntHannahtheastoundingexclamationof：
Oh，mygriefandconscience，Billy，ifyouaren’tthe——thelimit!’Which，indeed，shemusthavebeen，tohavebroughtcircumspectAuntHannahtothepointofactuallyusingslang。
CHAPTERXXIV
ANIGHTOFF
TheHenshawfamilydidnotreturntotheStratauntillateinSeptember。Billysaidthattheseaairseemedtoagreesowellwiththebabyitwouldbeapitytochangeuntiltheweatherbecamereallytoocoolattheshoretobecomfortable。
WilliamcamebackfromhisfishingtripinAugust，andresumedhisoldhabitofsleepingatthehouseandtakinghismealsattheclub。Tobesure，foraweekhewentbackandforthbetweenthecityandthebeachhouse；butithappenedtobeatimewhenBertram，Jr。，wascuttingatooth，andthissoworeuponWilliam’ssympathy——
Williamstillcouldnothelpinsistingit_might_beapin——thatheconcludedpeacelayonlyinflight。SohewentbacktotheStrata。
Bertramhadstayedatthecottageallsummer，paintingindustriously。Heretoforehehadtakenmoreofavacationthroughthesummermonths，butthisyearthereseemedtobenothingforhimtodobuttopaint。HedidnotliketogoawayonatripandleaveBilly，andshedeclaredshecouldnottakethebabynorleavehim，andthatshedidnotneedanytrip，anyway。
Allright，then，we’lljuststayatthebeach，andhaveafinevacationtogether，’hehadansweredher。
AsBertramsawit，however，hecoulddetectverylittlevacation’toit。Billyhadnotimeforanythingbutthebaby。Whenshewasnotactuallyengagedincaringforit，shewasstudyinghowtocareforit。Neverhadshebeensweeterordearer，andneverhadBertramlovedherhalfsowell。Hewasproud，too，ofherdevotion，andofhertriumphantsuccessasamother；
buthedidwishthatsometimes，justonceinawhile，shewouldremembershewasawife，andpayalittleattentiontohim，herhusband。
