commenced actin' kind of solemn, an'
kind of whispered to himself. I think he was kind of pretendin' he was
talkin' to Miss Pratt, or at a party, maybe. Anyways, he spoke out loud
after while not just exactly LOUD, I mean, but anyway so's 't I could
hear what he said. Mamma--he said, 'Oh, my baby-talk lady!' just like
that, mamma. Listen, mamma, here's the way he said it: 'Oh, my baby-talk
lady!'"

Jane's voice, in this impersonation, became sufficiently soft and
tremulous to give Mrs. Baxter a fair idea of the tender yearning of the
original. "'OH, MY BABY-TALK LADY!'" cooed the terrible Jane.

"Mercy!" Mrs. Baxter exclaimed. "Perhaps it's no wonder Mr. Parcher--"
She broke off abruptly, then inquired, "What did he do next, Jane?"

"Next," said Jane, "he put the light out, an' I had to--well, I just
waited kind of squeeged up against the wall, an' he never saw me. He
went on out to the back stairs, an' went down the stairs tiptoe, mamma.
You know what I think, mamma? I think he goes out that way an' through
the kitchen on account of papa's clo'es."

Mrs. Baxter paused, with her hand upon the key of the shaded electric
lamp. "I suppose so," she said. "I think perhaps--" For a moment or
two she wrapped herself in thought. "Perhaps"--she repeated,
musingly--"perhaps we'll keep this just a secret between you and me for
a little while, Jane, and not say anything to papa about the clothes. I
don't think it will hurt them, and I suppose Willie feels they give
him a great advantage over the other boys--and papa uses them so very
little, especially since he's grown a wee bit stouter. Yes, it will be
our secret, Jane. We'll think it over till to-morrow."

"Yes'm."

Mrs. Baxter turned out the light, then came and kissed Jane in the dark.
"Good night, dear."

"G' night, mamma." But as Mrs. Baxter reached the door Jane's voice was
heard again.

"Mamma?"

"Yes?" Mrs. Baxter paused.

"Mamma," Jane said, slowly, "I think--I think Mr. Parcher is a very nice
man. Mamma?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Mamma, what do you s'pose Willie barked at the lookin'-glass for?"

"That," said Mrs. Baxter, "is beyond me. Young people and children do
the strangest things, Jane! And then, when they get to be middle-aged,
they forget all those strange things they did, and they can't understand
what the new young people--like you and Willie mean by the strange
things THEY do."

"Yes'm. I bet _I_ know what he was barkin' for, mamma."

"Well?"

"