“An’ I,” said Toddie, “’zh goin’ to make you a present all alone by myseff. I don’t know yet what it’ll be. I guess it’ll have to be a ’prise. What would you like best?—a gold watch or a piece of peanut candy?”
Between two presents of such nearly equal value Michael, the benefactor, found some difficulty in deciding, and he walked away with that application of fingers to head which is peculiar to many persons when in a quandary. Meanwhile Mrs. Burton led the children toward her own house, saying:
“What can we do to-day that can be extremely nice, little boys? Mamma expects you home to-morrow, and Aunt Alice wants to make your last day a very happy one.”
“To-morrow!” exclaimed Budge, apparently oblivious to all else his aunt had said. “I thought we were going home to-day!”
“So you were, dear,” said Mrs. Burton; “but you didn’t seem to be in any hurry, and I couldn’t bear to let you go so soon. Did you really want to go to-day?”
“Why, I’ve been thinkin’ about it an’ countin’ days till to-day ever since we’ve come,” said Budge. “Sometimes it seemed as if I’d burst if I couldn’t be back home again, but I tried to be real good about it, ’cause papa said ’twould be better for the sister-baby and mamma if we stayed away. Sometimes in the night-time, I’ve cried because I wasn’t in my own little bed.”
“You poor dear boy,” said Mrs. Burton, stopping to kiss Budge, “why didn’t you tell Aunt Alice when you were so unhappy?”
“You couldn’t do me any good,” said Budge. “Nobody could but my papa or mamma. An’ then I don’t like to tell what’ hurtin’ my heart—somethin’ in my throat makes me hate to tell such things.”
“Haven’t you had a pleasant time at our house? When you’ve not been doing whatever you liked, haven’t Uncle Harry and I been trying to make you happy?”
“Oh, yes. But some folks know just what we like, and some other folks know what they want us to like; and the first some folks are my papa and mamma, an’ the other some folks are you an’ Uncle Harry. You’ve done some real nice things for us, though, an’ I’m goin’ to ask mamma to let us invite you to our house, an’ then I’ll show you how to take care of little boys an’ make ’em happy!”