What was to be done?
"I thought it would brighten up the house so, to have a child in
it again!" sighed the Mistress as she and her husband discussed
the matter, uselessly, for the fiftieth time, after one of these
scenes. "I looked forward so much to his coming here! But
he's--oh, he isn't like any child I ever heard of before!"
"If I could devote five busy minutes a day to him," grunted the
Master, "with an axe-handle or perhaps a bale-stick--"
"You wouldn't do it!" denied his wife. "You wouldn't harm him;
any more than Lad does. That's the trouble. If Cyril belonged to
us, we could punish him. Not with a--a balestick, of course. But
he needs a good wholesome spanking, more than anyone else I can
think of. That or some other kind of punishment that would make
an impression on him. But what can we do? He isn't ours--"
"Thank God!" interpolated the Master, piously.
"And we can't punish other people's child," she finished. "I
don't know what we CAN do. I wouldn't mind half so much about the
other sneaky things he does; if it wasn't for the way he treats
Laddie.
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