Now, shorn of his
locks and of some of his courage, the child was sitting quietly by
her side, listening to a superior moral lecture and indulging in a
compulsory heart-to-heart talk with his relative.
"I don't see that it does you any good, William, to put you to
bed."
"I don' see as it do neither," agreed Billy.
"I can not whip you; I am constitutionally opposed to corporal
punishment for children."
"I's 'posed to it too," he assented.
"I believe I will hire a servant, so that I may devote my
entire time to your training."
This prospect for the future did not appeal to her nephew. On
the contrary it filled him with alarm.
"A husban' 'd be another sight handier," he declared with
energy; "he 'd be a heap mo' 'count to you 'n a cook, Aunt
Minerva. There's that Major--"
"You will never make a preacher of yourself, William, unless
you improve."
The child looked up at her in astonishment; this was the
first he knew of his being destined for the ministry.
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