"I don't want you to be a
great, rough boy; I want you to be sweet and gentle like a little
girl; I am going to teach you how to sew and cook and sweep, so
you may grow up a comfort to me."
This was a gloomy forecast for the little boy accustomed, as he
had been, to the freedom of a big plantation, and he scowled darkly.
"Me an' Wilkes Booth Lincoln ain't never hafter play with no
dolls sence we's born," he replied sullenly, "we goes in
swimmin' an' plays baseball. I can knock a home-run an' pitch a
curve an' ketch a fly. Why don't you gimme a baseball bat? I
already got a ball what Admiral Farragut gimme. An' I ain't
agoin' to be no sissy neither. Lina an' Frances plays dolls, me
an' Jimmy--" he stopped in sudden confusion.
"Lina and Frances and James!" exclaimed his aunt. "What do you
know about them, William?"
The child's face flushed. "I seen 'em this mornin'," he
acknowledged.
Miss Minerva put a hand on either shoulder der and looked
straight into his eyes.
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