" I
saw several telegraphic signals of rebuke, entreaty, and warning flash
from her gentle eyes to his; but nothing did any good. Nature was too much
for him; he could not at that minute force himself to be quiet. Presently
she said, in a perfectly easy and natural tone, "Oh, Charley, come here a
minute; I want to tell you something." No one at the table supposed that
it had any thing to do with his bad behavior. She did not intend that they
should. As she whispered to him, I alone saw his cheek flush, and that he
looked quickly and imploringly into her face; I alone saw that tears were
almost in her eyes. But she shook her head, and he went back to his seat
with a manful but very red little face. In a few moments he laid down his
knife and fork, and said, "Mamma, will you please to excuse me?"
"Certainly, my dear," said she. Nobody but I understood it, or observed
that the little fellow had to run very fast to get out of the room without
crying. Afterward she told me that she never sent a child away from the
table in any other way.
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