"No," he said slowly, "but I don't like for folks to be familiar like that. If I wanted to be a fool like you——" He stopped and stared a moment from the window.
"The next time she kisses me," he said shortly, "she will mean it."
CHAPTER VII
What a wonderful thing is a baby! Babies were not new to either Bill or Jap. In Bill's memory lingered the shrill duet of his twin half-sisters, a continuous performance that had lasted more than a year. And Jap had never fully corrected a lurch to the left side, due to carrying his sister, Agnesia, when he was little more than a baby himself. Yet the little visitor from the Land of Yesterday was a never failing miracle to them. His cry filled them with fear for his well-being, and his laugh intoxicated them with its glee.
"Wait till he can talk," smiled Flossy, "Then you will see how wise he is."
In her heart she was beginning to combat the fear that he would never talk. Other children of his age were already chattering like magpies.
"Ma said that I said 'papa' when I was eight months old," declared Jap. "But I don't know why I should 'a' said that."
Bill grinned fatuously as the baby pulled at his hair.
"Bill won't get his hair cut," said Jap. "He knows that J. W. would hang after me, if it wasn't for his curly hair."