Sears might hear her
son's voice. In a moment the boy caught the faint sound of his mother
calling from the distant bedroom, "Jimmy, Jimmy, come here; I want
you."
The boy pretended not to hear. She called his name again. "Yes 'm," he
answered. When she repeated her request, he filled his mouth with pie,
and replied, "I'm a-eatin' now." He slipped a piece of ice down the
back of his adoring little sister's dress, who sat near him. When she
wept noisily, he laughed under his breath, and spoke aloud to his
sister at the dish-pan,--
"What'd you want to take Annie's doll away from her for? Give it back,
why don't you?"
[Illustration: "_What'd you want to take Annie's doll away from her
for_?"]
"Why--Jimmy--Sears!" retorted the girl. Then lifting her voice,
"Mamma, Jimmy's put ice down--" But the lad pressed the ice against
the child's back, pretending to be removing the source of the trouble,
and the child's lusty howls drowned the girl's protest. When he heard
the bedroom door close to shield his mother from the turmoil, Jimmy
knew that he had outwitted Mrs. Jones, so he quelled the disturbance
he had caused. When Mrs. Jones returned to the kitchen, the boy was
sitting on the porch steps with his little sister, telling her about
"raw head and bloody bones," greatly to the child's horror and
delight.
Jimmy heard his elder sister inquire, "Did Mamma eat her supper?" He
heard Mrs. Jones respond, "Not very much of it; but she will after a
while, I guess.
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