“Oh, dear, I am tired of being a girl. Just let’s play I’m a boy. You can call me Peter.”
“I don’t want to play you are a boy. I like you better the way you are,” Christopher said, as he glanced at her blue frock.
“Yes, Peggy,” said Uncle Joe, “we all like you better the way you are.”
“Well, I suppose I’ll have to be a girl and make the best of it. But I do wish I had men and boys in my family.”
“You might adopt us,” said Uncle Joe. “I would like you and Alice for nieces. A lot of children I’m no relation to call me ‘Uncle Joe,’ and I’m sure the boys would like you and Alice for cousins.”
“You bet we would,” said Christopher.
So Peggy came back from the picnic a much richer little girl than she had been when she went to it. “Alice,” she said, as she burst into the house, “Mr. Beal says we can call him ‘Uncle Joe,’ and we can play that Tom and Christopher are our cousins.”
“I’d like to call him ‘Uncle Joe,’” said Alice, “for he was so nice about Topsy, but I don’t want the boys for my cousins.”