Ida is no less a favorite with Jack than with the other members of
the household. Rough as he is sometimes, Jack is always gentle with
Ida. When she was just learning to walk, and in her helplessness
needed the constant care of others, he used, from choice, to relieve
his mother of much of the task of amusing the child. He had never
had a little sister, and the care of a child as young as Ida was a
novelty to him. It was, perhaps, this very office of guardian to the
child, assumed when she was so young, that made him feel ever after
as if she was placed under his special protection.
And Ida was equally attached to Jack. She learned to look up to him
for assistance in anything which she had at heart, and he never
disappointed her. Whenever he could, he would accompany her to
school, holding her by the hand; and fond as he was of rough play,
nothing would induce him to leave her.
"How long have you been a nurse-maid?" asked a boy, older than
himself, one day.
Jack's fingers itched to get hold of his derisive questioner, but he
had a duty to perform, and contented himself with saying, "Just wait
a few minutes, and I'll let you know."
"I dare say," was the reply. "I rather think I shall have to wait
till both of us are gray before that time."
"You won't have to wait long before you are black and blue,"
retorted Jack.
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