When Nunky told him a story, he begged that it might be about Indians, for he liked to feel his hair stand on end. Posy could not understand that at all: there were many things about her dear brother she never would understand.
But Nunky refused to tell horrible stories, and chose only such as the children would be the better and happier for remembering. He was very kind, too, about drawing pictures on the slate for Pollio to copy; and this was a thing the little fellow greatly enjoyed.
Indeed, everybody was so kind to him, that the small boys in town rather envied Pollio. “I’d ’most be willing to creep round as he does, if my mamma’d give me such nice things to eat,” said they; which shows that they had no idea of Pollio’s trials.
When he was down stairs, he wanted to go up; and, when he was up stairs, he wanted to come down. You would feel just as he did if you couldn’t walk. Everybody was ready to carry him, and nobody complained, But Pollio found after a while that he did not need so many “horses:” he could travel on all-fours nearly as fast as Beppo or Muff.
You ought to have seen him run! How he did run away from his medicine! Why, he went so fast that his aunt Ann could not catch him. It was her business to give him his drops three times a day; but the moment she began to shake the vial he was missing. He could slip out of the room without any noise, then up stairs or down cellar,—anywhere to get away from that hateful vial and spoon.
“Pollio, this is very naughty,” said his auntie, quite out of breath. “Your little sister Alice didn’t behave like this: she took her medicine without any trouble.”
“Did she? Then what made her die?” exclaimed Pollio, slipping under a chair.
It was too hard for aunt Ann to be led such a chase; and Nunky said he would take charge of the medicine. Pollio knew then that it was all over with him, for Nunky could run like a fox. But Nunky had no idea of running. He was a man who believed that little children should be taught to obey.
“Pollio, you have made enough trouble, my boy; and from this time I expect you to swallow your medicine as soon as I have counted ‘One, two, three.’”