第28章

andleaveoutthatdreadful`ickeywickey’？

Ofcoursehecan’tunderstandthingsnow，really，butweneverknowwhenhe’llbeginto，andwearen’tevergoingtolethimhearbaby-talkatall，ifwecanhelpit。Andtruly，whenyoucometothinkofit，itisabsurdtoexpectachildtotalksensiblyandrationallyonthementaldietof`moo-moos’and`choo-choos’servedouttothem。OurProfessorofMetaphysicsandIdeologyinourChildStudyCoursesaysthatnothingissoreceptiveandplasticastheMindofaLittleChild，andthatitisperfectlyappallinghowwefillitwithtrivialabsurditiesthathaven’teventhevirtueofbeingaccurate。Sothat’swhywe’retryingtobesocarefulwithBaby。Youdidn’tmindmyspeaking，Iknow，AuntHannah。’

Oh，no，ofcoursenot，Billy，’retortedAuntHannah，alittletartly，andwithatouchofsarcasmmostunlikehergentleself。I’msureI

shouldn’twishtofillthisinfant’splasticmindwithanythingsoappallingastrivialinaccuracies。

MayIbepardonedforsuggesting，however，’

shewentonasthebaby’swhimperthreatenedtobecomealustywail，thatthisyounggentlemancriesasifheweresleepyandhungry？’

Yes，heis，’admittedBilly。

Well，doesn’tyoursystemofscientifictrainingallowhimtobegivensuchtrivialabsurditiesasfoodandnaps？’inquiredthelady，mildly。

Ofcourseitdoes，AuntHannah，’retortedBilly，laughinginspiteofherself。Andit’salmosttimenow。Thereareonlyafewmoreminutestowait。’

Fewmoreminutestowait，indeed!’scornedAuntHannah。Isupposethepoorlittlefellowmightcryandcry，andyouwouldn’tsetthatclockaheadbyateenyweenyminute!’

Certainlynot，’saidtheyoungmother，decisively。My`DailyGuideforMothers’saysthatatimeforeverythingandeverythinginitstime，istheveryABCandwholealphabetofRightTraining。Hedoeseverythingbytheclock，andtotheminute，’declaredBilly，proudly。

AuntHannahsniffed，obviouslyskepticalandrebellious。AliceGreggorylaughed。

AuntHannahlooksasifshe’dliketobringdownherclockthatstrikeshalfanhourahead，’

shesaidmischievously；butAuntHannahdidnotdeigntoanswerthis。

Howlongdoyourockhim？’shedemandedofBilly。IsupposeImaydothat，mayn’tI？’

Mercy，Idon’trockhimatall，AuntHannah，’exclaimedBilly。

Norsingtohim？’

Certainlynot。’

Butyoudid——beforeIwentaway。I

rememberthatyoudid。’

Yes，IknowIdid，’admittedBilly，andI

hadanawfultime，too。Someevenings，everysingleoneofus，eventoUncleWilliam，hadtotrybeforewecouldgethimofftosleep。ButthatwasbeforeIgotmy`EfficiencyofMotherandChild，’ormy`ScientificTraining，’and，oh，lotsofothers。Yousee，Ididn’tknowathingthen，andIlovedtorockhim，soIdidit——thoughthenursesaiditwasn’tgoodforhim；butIdidn’tbelieve_her_。I’vehadanawfultimechanging；butI’vedoneit。Ijustputhiminhislittlecrib，orhiscarriage，andafterawhilehegoestosleep。

Sometimes，now，hedoesn’tcryhardlyany。I’mafraid，to-day，though，hewill，’sheworried。

Yes，I’mafraidhewill，’almostscreamedAuntHannah，inordertomakeherselfheardaboveBertram，Jr。，who，bythistime，wasvoicinghisopinionofmattersandthingsinnouncertainmanner。

Itwasnot，afterall，soverylongbeforepeaceandorderreigned；and，induecourse，Bertram，Jr。，inhiscarriage，layfastasleep。Then，whileAuntHannahwenttoBilly’sroomforashortrest，BillyandAlicewentoutontothewideverandawhichfacedthewonderfulexpanseofskyandsea。

Nowtellmeofyourself，’commandedBilly，almostatonce。It’sbeenagessinceI’veheardorseenathingofyou。’

There’snothingtotell。’

Nonsense!Buttheremustbe，’insistedBilly。Youknowit’smonthssinceI’veseenanythingofyou，hardly。’

Iknow。WefeelquiteneglectedattheAnnex，’saidAlice。

But

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