CHAPTER XIV
FAMILY AFFAIRS
He continued to watch the child furtively, while she made her arrangements for writing. Finding that no chair in the room would bring her to a proper height for the table, she looked all about, and finally skipped over to the morocco lounge and tugged from it a pillow almost too heavy for her to carry; but she arrived with it at the chair, much to the amusement of Mr. Evringham, who affected absorption in his papers, while he enjoyed the exhibition of the child's energy and independence.
“She's the kind that 'makes old shears cut,' as my mother used to say,” he mused, and turning, the better to view the situation, he found Jewel mounted on her perch and watching him fixedly.
She looked relieved. “I didn't want to disturb you, grandpa, but may I ask one question?”
“Yes.”
“Did I consult Dr. Ballard this afternoon?”
“Not that I noticed,” returned Mr. Evringham; and Jewel suspected from his expression that she had said something amusing.
“Well, it was a word that sounded like consult that Mrs. Forbes said I did.”