"Yes, sir, it is," said the old gentleman solemnly. "Girls didn't act that way when I was young."
"How did they act?"
"Why, they were taught to be ladylike."
"And what is ladylike?" asked Fred.
"Why, it is to act like a lady."
"Yes," protested Fred, "but why shouldn't a lady do these things you're speaking of?"
"Because they are not ladylike," replied Mr. Button testily.
"But why aren't they?" persisted Fred. "I don't see."
"That's because you haven't learned any sense yet," said his grandfather, irritated at last by the failure of his grandson to agree to all that he had said.
Fred laughed goodnaturedly, for behind the manner of his grandfather he knew there was a heart that was big and generous. Mr. Button occasionally stormed about the "present generation" being so markedly different and deficient in all the good qualities that marked the young people of his own younger days.