“Papa, I have intended to be so; I—I don’t know what I have done that—that you bade me not.”
“Think a moment. What was it you said as you passed the door just now?”
“Only three words, papa, in answer to Annis, ‘I guess not.’”
“Ah! and what did I say to you the other day about using guess in that way?”
“You forbade me,” she faltered, her eyes filling with tears. “O papa, please forgive me this once! I’ll try never to forget again. I’m sorry, very sorry, dear papa.”
He laid down his pen, turned toward her and held out his arms.
She sprang into them, put hers about his neck, and laid her cheek to his.
“This once,” he said, caressing her softly, “but my little girl must be careful not to forget again.”
“You’d have to punish me another time?”
“Yes.”