With a big chunk of
rock she was chipping it off. It was a piece of blue china cup with the
handle still on it that she chipped off first.

When Old Man Smith saw it he screamed.

"Woman! What are you doing?" he screamed.

"Her name is Young Annie Halliway," I explained.

"Young Annie Halliway--_Come Here!_" screamed Old Man Smith.

Young Annie Halliway came here. She was perfectly gentle about it. All
her ways were gentle. She sat down on the ground at Old Man Smith's
feet. She lifted her eyes to Old Man Smith's eyes. She looked holy. But
all the time that she looked so holy she kept right on braiding the
handle of the blue china cup into her hair. It cranked against the tin
trumpet. It sounded a little like the 4th of July.

Old Man Smith reached down and took her chin in his hands.

"Oh my Lord--what a beautiful face!" he said. "What a beautiful
face!--And you say she's lost her mind?" he said. "You say she's lost
her mind?" He turned to Carol. "And what do _you_ say?" he asked.

"Oh, please, Sir, Carol doesn't say anything!" I explained. "He can't!
He's dumb!"

"_Dumb?_" cried Old Man Smith. "So this is the Dumb Child, is it?" He
looked at Carol. He looked at himself. He looked at my freckles. He
rocked his hands on his stomach. "Merciful God!" he said. "How are we
all afflicted!"

"Oh, please, Sir," I said, "my brother Carol isn't afflicted at
all!--It's a great _gift_ my Mother says to be born with the Gift of
Silence instead of the Gift of Speech!"

He made a little chuckle in his throat. He began to look at Young Annie
Halliway all over again.

"And what does your Mother say about _her_?" he pointed.

"My Mother says," I explained, "that she only hopes that the person who
finds her mind will be honest enough to return it!"

"What?" said Old Man Smith. "To return it?--Honest enough to return it?"

He began to do everything all over again!--To chuckle! To rock! To take
Young Annie Halliway's chin in his hand!

"And what did you say your name was, my pretty darling?" he asked.

Young Annie Halliway looked a little surprised.

"My name is Robin," she said. "Dearest--Robin--I think."

"You think wrong!" said Old Man Smith. He frowned with ferocity.

It made us pretty nervous all of a sudden.

Carol went off to look at the bee-hive to calm himself. Young Annie
Halliway picked up the end of one of her long braids and looked at that.
There was still about a foot of it that didn't have anything b