ogether._) Oh!

(_Their eyes are suddenly bright and their faces glow with a sort of
awed curiosity and pleasure, not unmixed with envy._)

ELSIE.

What kind?

TERESA.

(_Eagerly._) Yes; which is it?

BOB.

(_Proudly._) A boy, of course!

(_The two little girls' faces fall for a second, and they are silent,
but not for long._)

ELSIE.

Of course there have to be boys sometimes.

TERESA.

Yes, to make a change.

ELSIE.

Isn't it funny where babies come from!

BOB.

Yes, you find them in cabbages.

ELSIE.

Oh, no! They come down in rainstorms.

TERESA.

No, no! They come out of the flowers.

BOB.

Stuff!

ELSIE.

They do come from the skies, because you know the stars are little
babies waiting to be picked.

TERESA.

I thought the stars were the places where God put his fingers through.

BOB.

They aren't any such thing; they're the gold tacks that fasten on the
carpet of heaven.

ELSIE.

When I grow up I shall have eleven babies, because I have eleven
favorite names, and I shall have them all at once, so they can have
nice, happy times playing together, and there won't have to be any
horrid older brother and sister, always getting the best of everything.

TERESA.

And I'll tell you what! I'll have eleven children too, to marry yours.

BOB.

No, I'll marry one of them.

ELSIE.

No, you must marry one of us.

BOB.

Which one?

ELSIE.

Well, I think it would be best for you to marry me and be father for my
eleven children. I want them to have a father. I love my father.

TERESA.

Yes; but then who'll be a father to my children?

ELSIE.

Yours can be sort of orphans; they needn't ever have had any father.

TERESA.

(_Approaching a tearful state._) No, that's awfully sad. I want my
children to have a father, too!

BOB.

Never mind. I'll be their father besides.

ELSIE.

Let's play house.

TERESA.

Let's!

BOB.

Let's play Indians, and I'll scalp you two girls!

ELSIE.

No, that's too rough. We'll play husband and wife. Bob and I will get
married, and, Teresa, you must be the minister and a bridesmaid.

(_They retire into the house, where, with the aid of a wrapper, a
night dress, a bouquet, and a black mackintosh, the ceremony is
properly performed._)

ELSIE.

Now we'll have a little girl baby, and (_to Teresa_) you must be
it.

TERESA.

No, I want to be the wife now, and you be the baby.

ELSIE.

No, I'll be the husband, and