A tear trembled on the mother's cheek.
"A little brother?" The mother looked far away.
"Oh, a b-i-g brother!" said the child, stretching her arms by way of illustration.
"What would you say, sweetheart, if a big brother should come to-day?"
The little one clapped her hands.
"A really, truly, big brother?" she asked, dancing about in glee.
"A really, truly, big brother,—Wathemah. You have never seen him, and he has never seen you, since you were a baby. But he is coming home soon, you know."
"Will he play with me?" she asked. "You and Aunt Carla just 'nopolize father and the big ladies and gentlemen when they come. But sometimes father plays with me, doesn't he, mother?"
"Yes, sometimes. He loves his little daughter."