“Well, well!” cried Tess, impatiently. “What are the names?”
“One’s ‘Starboard’ and the other’s ‘Port,’” declared Dot, seriously. “And they are real nice names, I think.”
Tess was rather taken aback. She had a hazy opinion that “Starboard” and “Port” were not Christian names; they might be, however, and she had heard them herself a good deal. Besides, she wanted to agree with Dot if she could, and so she sighed and wrote as follows:
“We got to names alreddy, Missus Mcall, and one’s Starborde and the other is Port. They are very pretty names, we think and we hope you an unc rufs and Sandface will like them, to. You give them to the kittens that they seem to fit the best, pleas.”
Neale, and Ruth, and Agnes came along some time afterward and found the smaller Corner House girls reduced almost to a state of distraction. They had been unable to decide upon two more names. “Starboard” and “Port” had been inspired, it seemed. Now they were “stuck.”
“It does seem as though there should be some other seashore names that would sound good for kittens,” sighed Tess. “I think ‘Starboard’ and ‘Port’ are real pretty—don’t you, Ruth?”
“Very fine,” agreed her older sister, while Agnes restrained her giggles.
“Why not call one of the others ‘Hard-a-Lee’?” suggested Neale, gravely.
“Is that a seashore name?” asked Tess, doubtfully.
“Just as salt as a dried codfish,” declared Neale, confidently.