"No, he wanted me to be papa and him the coachman. Sometimes I make him a pirate, and he likes that, and once I made him a girl."
"He would be proud?"
"That was the day he hit me. He is awfully angry if I make him a girl, silly boy. Of course he doesn't understand."
"Obviously not. But did you not punish him for being so cruel as to hit you?"
"Yes, I turned him into a cat, but he said he would rather be a cat than a girl. You see he's not much more than a baby—though I was writing books at his age."
"Were you ever charged with plagiarism? I mean with copying your books out of other people's books."
"Yes, often."
"I suppose that is the fate of all authors. I am told that literary people write best in an old coat——."
"Oh, I like to be nicely dressed when I am writing. Here is papa, and I do believe he has another portrait of Stanley in his hand. Mamma will be so annoyed."