One afternoon Sir Edward was returning from a stroll up the avenue when he saw the child at play among the trees, and for a moment he paused and watched her. She appeared to be very busy with a doll wrapped in a fur rug which she carefully deposited at the foot of the tree; then for some minutes she and Fritz seemed to be having a kind of a game of hide and seek with one another, until she pushed him into a bush and commanded him to stay there. Suddenly dog and child darted at each other, and then, to Sir Edward's amazement, he saw his little niece seize Fritz by the throat and bring him to the ground. When both were rolling over one another, and Fritz's short, sharp barks became rather indignant in tone, as he vainly tried to escape from the little hands so tightly round him, Sir Edward thought it high time to interfere.
"Millicent," he called out sharply, "come to me at once; what are you doing?"
In an instant Milly was upon her feet, and lifting a hot flushed little face to his, she placed herself in her favorite attitude when in his presence; her hands clasped behind her back, and feet closely planted together.
"Don't you know Fritz might bite if you are so rough with him? Were you trying to choke him?" demanded her uncle.
"Yes," she responded, breathless from her late exertions, "I was trying to kill him! He's a bear, and that's my lamb, and I am David; that's all."
A child's games were beyond Sir Edward's comprehension. He looked down upon her with a knitted brow.
She continued—
"You see, he has to do for both, a bear and a lion, for they both came, and they both tried to get the lamb. Nurse was the lion one day, but she is too big; I can't knock her down, though I try hard."
"I will not have Fritz knocked down in that fashion. He might hurt you," said Sir Edward, sternly.
Milly looked sorrowful; then brightening up, she asked—