Barbara promised; and when her guests arrived, Helen had brought some flowers to make the party look more exciting. She had also made up a rhyme to say; at least, she and her Father had made it up between them, and Helen said it.
Barbara is six to-day,
Hooray, hooray, hooray, hooray!
Then they all had tea.
And Helen and Susan and Henry Dog and Mrs. Perkins thought it was a lovely tea. But all the time Barbara was saying to herself, “Only three more days, and then I shall have my real birthday.”
THE BABY SHOW
MR. THEOPHILUS BANKS was a very important man. His friends called him Theo. I forget what he did exactly, but it was very important, and if he didn’t do it, then where should we all be? I don’t know. Everything depended on Mr. Banks.
He had three children. The first was a girl, and she was called Jessica Banks after her Mother. The next was a boy, and he was called Theophilus Banks, after his Father, Theophilus Banks. Some people thought it would be rather confusing having two Theophiluses Bankses in the family, but Mr. Banks thought not. He said that for many years the child would be Master Banks, and if they liked they could call him Phil for short; and that by the time he was old enough to be Mr. Banks, his Father would be Judge Banks or Professor Banks, or Colonel Banks or President Banks—he hadn’t quite decided yet. So the baby was called Phil for short. And then, later on, there was a third child, and as Mr. Banks couldn’t very well call him Theophilus, too, he decided to keep as much of the name in the family as was possible. So the Baby was called Theodore, or Toddy for short.