\"It’sofnouse：mymindismadeup。Youcansendformytrunkassoonasyoulike；butIshallstayhere，andconfrontthatmanwiththeproofofhisvileness。Iwillputhimfacetofacewithhisinfamy。\"
IdonotknowwhetherCol。StarbottlethoroughlyappreciatedtheconvincingproofofTretherick’sunfaithfulnessandmalignityaffordedbythedamningevidenceoftheexistenceofTretherick’sownchildinhisownhouse。Hewasdimlyaware，however，ofsomeunforeseenobstacletotheperfectexpressionoftheinfinitelongingofhisownsentimentalnature。But，beforehecouldsayanything，Carryappearedonthelandingabovethem，lookingtimidly，andyethalf-criticallyatthepair。
\"That’sher，\"saidMrs。Tretherickexcitedly。Inherdeepestemotions，eitherinverseorprose，sheroseaboveaconsiderationofgrammaticalconstruction。
\"Ah！\"saidthecolonel，withasuddenassumptionofparentalaffectionandjocularitythatwasglaringlyunrealandaffected。
\"Ah！prettylittlegirl，prettylittlegirl！Howdoyoudo？Howareyou？Youfindyourselfprettywell，doyou，prettylittlegirl？\"Thecolonel’simpulsealsowastoexpandhischest，andswinghiscane，untilitoccurredtohimthatthisactionmightbeineffectivewithachildofsixorseven。Carry，however，tooknoimmediatenoticeofthisadvance，butfurtherdiscomposedthechivalrouscolonelbyrunningquicklytoMrs。Tretherick，andhidingherself，asifforprotection，inthefoldsofhergown。