William’s expression of virtue melted into a scowl. William was eleven years old. He objected to being called a “little” anything.
“I heard there was a little brother,” went on the visitor, perpetrating the supreme mistake of laying his hand upon William’s tousled head. “‘Will’ is the name, is it not? ‘Willie’ for short, I presume? Ha! Ha!”
Mrs. Brown, noting fearfully the expression upon her son’s face, interposed.
“We call him William,” she said rather hastily.
“I call him ‘Willie’—for short,” smiled Mr. Bennison, patting William’s unruly locks.
Mr. Bennison laboured under the delusion that he “got on with” children. It was well for his peace of mind that William’s face was at that moment hidden from him. It was only the thoughts of the top which might be the outcome of all that made William endure the indignity.
“And I have brought a present for Willie-for-short,” went on Mr. Bennison humorously.
William’s heart rose. It might be a top. It might be something he could exchange for a top. Best of all, it might be money.
But Mr. Bennison took a book out of his pocket and handed it to William.
The book was called “A Child’s Encyclopædia of Knowledge.”