“I haf ask her the name,” she said, as she tied the strings, “but I no unnerstan’ her. She try to talk, but she yust—”
“Jabbers,” said Cricket. “I should say she did. Good-by! Thank you ever so much for taking care of her for us.”
When the girls arrived at home they found a free field. Mamma had gone to Marbury to spend the day with grandma, and had taken Kenneth with her. Marjorie was out to lunch with a friend; and papa, Jane said, had been unexpectedly called out of town an hour ago, and would not be back that night. They took the baby up to the nursery, and introduced their prize to astonished ’Liza and the twins.
“But you can’t keep it,” said ’Liza. “I jest guess its poor mother is running all around the streets looking for it.”
“Oh, do you think so?” said Eunice surprised. “Why, I never thought of her. Well, of course, papa will advertise the baby, and do everything about it, but if we don’t find anyone belonging to her, we are going to keep her, Cricket and I.”
Whereupon ’Liza pretended to faint away.
The twins were perfectly delighted with the addition to the family.
“It’s just like the little boy we finded once,” piped up Zaidie, “only it’s a girl. Auntie wouldn’t let us keep it.”
“This is a really, truly, losted baby, though, and Phelps wasn’t,” explained Helen. “He had only runned away.”
The “losted baby” here took its thumb out of its mouth, and suddenly began to cry.