"Yes!" exclaimed Mrs. Mayton, with great decision.
"Well, you needn't be," said Budge, "for Uncle Harry's awful careful an' smart."
"He ought to be ashamed of himself!" exclaimed the lady.
"I guess he is, then," said Budge, "'cos he's ev'rything he ought to be. He's awful careful. T'other day, when the goat ran away, an' Toddie an' me got in the carriage with them, he held on to her tight, so she couldn't fall out."
Mrs. Mayton brought her foot down with a violent stamp.
"I know you'd 'spect him, if you knew how nice he was," continued Budge. "He sings awful funny songs, an' tells splendid stories."
"Nonsense!" exclaimed the angry mother.
"They ain't no nonsense at all," said Budge. "I don't think it's nice for to say that, when his stories are always about Joseph, an' Abraham, an' Moses, an' when Jesus was a little boy, an' the Hebrew children, an' lots of people that the Lord loved. An' he's awful 'fectionate, too."
"Yes, I suppose so," said Mrs. Mayton.
"When we says our prayers we prays for the nice lady what he 'spects, an' he likes us to do it," continued Budge.