"There!" declared Jed, stacking a dozen sailors beside a dozen of
what the order called "birdhouses medium knocked down." "There!
that's the livin' last one, I do believe. Hi hum! Now we've got
to box 'em, haven't we? . . . Ye-es, yes, yes, yes. . . .
Hum. . . .
"'Di--de--di--de--di--de. . . ."
"Where's that hammer? Oh, yes, here 'tis."
"'Di--de--di--de--'
"Now where on earth have I put that pencil, Babbie? Have I
swallowed it? DON'T tell me you've seen me swallow it, 'cause that
flavor of lead-pencil never did agree with me."
The child burst into a trill of laughter.
"Why, Uncle Jed," she exclaimed, "there it is, behind your ear."
"Is it? Sho, so 'tis! Now that proves the instinct of dumb
animals, don't it? That lead-pencil knew enough to realize that my
ear was so big that anything short of a cord-wood stick could hide
behind it. Tut, tut! Surprisin', surprisin'!"
"But, Uncle Jed, a pencil isn't an animal."
"Eh? Ain't it? Seemed to me I'd read somethin' about the ragin'
lead-pencil seekin' whom it might devour. But maybe that was a--
er--lion or a clam or somethin'."
Babbie looked at him in puzzled fashion for a moment. Then she
sagely shook her head and declared: "Uncle Jed, I think you are
perfectly scru-she-aking. Petunia and I are convulshed. We--" she
stopped, listened, and then announced: "Uncle Jed, I THINK somebody
came up the walk.
Pages:
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257