"'At's what daddy says he is."
All this time the little maiden at Mercy's side had been pondering her own peculiar problem. "What would you do if you had a little girl?"
"Well, let me see; I'd teach her to knit and to sew, and I'd comb her hair so nice, and make her a silk frock with flounces, and, oh! such a sweet little hat."
"How nice! And would you take her to market and to church, and to see the dolls in Mrs. Bicker's window?"
"Yes, dearest, yes."
"And never whip her?"
"My little girl would be very, very good, and oh! so pretty."
"And let her go to grandma's whenever she liked, and not tell grandpa he's not to give her ha'pennies, would you?"
"Yes ... dear ... yes ... perhaps."
"Are your eyes very sore to-day, Mercy, they are so red?"