ut him like that; so to-day she did somep'm, an' now
he can't come any more to behave that loving way of Miss Pratt that you
said you would be in the lunatic asylum if he didn't quit. But he hasn't
found it out yet."

"Found what out, please?" asked Mr. Parcher, feeling more affection for
Jane every moment.

"He hasn't found out he can't come back to your house to-night; an' he
can't come back to-morrow night, nor day-after-to-morrow night, nor--"

"Is it because your mamma is going to tell him he can't?"

"No, Mr. Parcher. Mamma says he's too old--an' she said she didn't like
to, anyway. She just DID somep'm."

"What? What did she do?"

"It's a secret," said Jane. "I could tell you the first part of it--up
to where the secret begins, I expect."

"Do!" Mr. Parcher urged.

"Well, it's about somep'm Willie's been WEARIN'," Jane began, moving
closer to him as they slowly walked onward. "I can't tell you what they
were, because that's the secret--but he had 'em on him every evening
when he came to see Miss Pratt, but they belong to papa, an' papa
doesn't know a word about it. Well, one evening papa wanted to put 'em
on, because he had a right to, Mr. Parcher, an' Willie didn't have any
right to at all, but mamma couldn't find 'em; an' she rummidged an'
rummidged 'most all next day an' pretty near every day since then an'
never did find 'em, until don't you believe I saw Willie inside of 'em
only last night! He was startin' over to your house to see Miss Pratt in
'em! So I told mamma, an' she said it 'd haf to be a secret, so that's
why I can't tell you what they were. Well, an' then this afternoon,
early, I was with her, an' she said, long as I had told her the secret
in the first place, I could come in Willie's room with her, an' we both
were already in there anyway, 'cause I was kind of thinkin' maybe she'd
go in there to look for 'em, Mr. Parcher--"

"I see," he said, admiringly. "I see."

"Well, they were under Willie's window-seat, all folded up; an' mamma
said she wondered what she better do, an' she was worried because she
didn't like to have Willie behave so's you an' Mrs. Parcher thought that
way about him. So she said the--the secret--what Willie wears, you
know, but they're really papa's an' aren't Willie's any more'n they're
MINE--well, she said the secret was gettin' a little teeny bit too tight
for papa, but she guessed they--I mean the secret--she said she guessed
it was already pretty loose for W