Aunts -- Fiction; Children -- Fiction; Sisters-in-law -- Fiction
Then Hugh suggested the glorious possibility of the angels bringing
it to Fullfield, whereupon Hyacinth said that was not at all likely,
because she knew that when a baby was born, it was usual for one or
other parent to be present!
We stayed for a few days at Fullfield, and Hugh and Betty enjoyed
themselves immensely. Hyacinth said it was just like staying for a week
at the pantomime, and Betty said, with a deep sigh, that it was much
nicer, a billion times nicer.
Pauline's brother Jack most nearly resembled any one in a pantomime, and
the children loved him. One day at lunch he went to the side-table to
fetch a potato in its jacket, and coming back he laid it on Uncle Jim's
slightly bald head and said, "Am I feverish, father?"
"It Good Heavens, my boy!" exclaimed Uncle Jim; "you must be in an awful
state!"
After that, the eyes of the children never left Jack during any meal
at which they happened to be present, and whenever he got up to fetch
anything, Hugh began dancing with joy and saying in a loud whisper,
"He's going to do something funny"; and if Jack remained silent, Hugh
was sure he was thinking of something to do. It is difficult to live up
to those expectations.
One morning at breakfast Hugh said suddenly, "Aunt Woggles, have you got
a mole?"
I said I believed I had.
"It's frightfully lucky. I have," he said, pulling up his sleeve and
disclosing a mole on his very white little arm. "It is lucky."
"I've got one too," said Betty, diving under the table.
"All right, darling," I said, "you needn't show us."
"I couldn't, Aunt Woggles, at least not now. If you come to see me in my
bath, you can; but it's truthfully there."
I said I was sure it was.
"I 'spect she's sitting on it," said Hugh in aloud whisper; "that's
why."
"We asked Mr. Hardy once if he had a mole, and he got redder and
redder;" we asked him at lunch, said Betty.
"He got redder and redder," said Hugh, by way of corroboration. "Mother
said moles weren't good things to ask people about, so we asked him if
he had any little children, and he hadn't; then we didn't know what to
ask."
"We only asked about moles because we wanted him to be lucky," said
kindhearted Betty.
"Last time I went to the Zoo," said Hugh, "I gave all my bread to one
animal. He was a lucky animal, wasn't he?"
"It was the hippopotamus, I think; he was lucky."
"Perhaps he has a mole, Hugh," I said.
We'll look, said Hugh. "I 'spect he has."
The proverbial difficulty of finding a needle in a haystack seemed
child's play compared to that of finding a mole on a hippopotamus.
Chapter XII
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account