"And what is it now?"
"It's a—a flower-pot, that the gardener's boy left outside the tool-house. I—I—well, I put it on Fritz's head for a hat, you know. He did look so funny, but he tossed up his head and ran away, and it fell, and it is smashed to bits. I have got the bits outside the door on the mat. Shall I bring them in?"
A flower-pot was of such small value in Sir Edward's eyes that he almost smiled at the child's distress.
"Well, well, you must learn not to touch the flower-pots in future. Now run away, and do not disturb me again."
But Milly stood her ground.
"I think you have forgot, Uncle Edward. You told me that if I broke anything again you would punish me 'most severely.' Those were the words you said; don't you remember?"
Sir Edward pulled the ends of his moustache and fidgeted uneasily in his chair. He always prided himself upon being a man of his word, but much regretted at the present moment that he had been so rash in his speech.
"Oh! ah! I remember," he said at length, meeting his little niece's anxious gaze with some embarrassment. Then pulling himself together, he added sternly,—
"Of course you must be punished; it was exceedingly careless and mischievous. What does your nurse do when she punishes you?"
"She never does punish me—not now," said Milly plaintively. "When I was a very little girl I used to stand in the corner. I don't think nurse has punished me for years."