“Because I promised, Nat,” replied Dorothy, firmly, “and because I just like to do it for little Emily. I got the very doll she ordered, and Aunt Winnie got me a lot of pretty things this morning.”
“Wish momsey would devote her charity to her poor little son,” said the young man, drily. “He is the one who needs it most!”
“Never mind, dear,” and Dorothy put her arms around him, “you shall have a dolly, too.”
“Here’s Ned,” he interrupted, “I wonder if he got my skates sharpened? I asked him, but I’ll wager he forgot.”
The other brother, a few years Nat’s senior, pulled off his furlined coat, and entered the library, where the cousins were chatting.
“Getting colder every minute,” he declared. “We had better take the cutter out to Sanders’s—that is, if Doro insists upon going.”
“Of course I do,” Dorothy cried. “I wouldn’t disappoint little Emily for anything. Funny how you boys have suddenly taken a dislike to going out there.”
“Now don’t get peevish,” teased Ned. “We will take you, Coz, if we freeze by the wayside.”
“Did you get my skates?” Nat asked.
“Not done,” the brother replied. “Old Tom is busy enough for ten grinders. Expect we will have a fine race.”