"TICK-TOCK!"
"Whir-r-r-"
And the clock struck half-past six!
Steps sounded upon the porch—Mother was going to the door—it opened!
"Where's Buster?"
And Mother told!
... And somehow when Father spanked it always seemed as if he were meddling. He was an outsider all day. Why, then, did he concern himself so mightily at night?
After supper Father would sit before the fire with you on one knee and Lizbeth on the other, while Mother sewed, till by-and-by, just when you were most comfy and the talk most charming, he would say:
"Well, Father must go now."
"Oh no, Father. Don't go yet."