Arkwrightisstillabroad，asIpresumeyouknow。
Ihearheisdoinggreatstuntsoverthere，andwillsinginBerlinandParisthiswinter。I’mthinkingofgoingacrossfromPanamalater。IfIdoIshalllookhimup。Mr。andMrs。Cyrilareaswellascouldbeexpectedwhenyourealizethattheyhaven’tyetsettledonapairofnamesforthetwins。’
Iknowit——andthepoorlittlethingsthreemonthsold，too!Ithinkit’sashame。You’veheardthereason，Isuppose。Cyrildeclaresthatnamingbabiesisoneofthemostseriousanddelicateoperationsintheworld，andthat，forhispart，hethinkspeopleoughttoselecttheirownnameswhenthey’vearrivedatyearsofdiscretion。
Hewantstowaittillthetwinsareeighteen，andthenmakeeachofthemabirthdaypresentofthenameoftheirownchoosing。’
Well，ifthatisn’tthelimit!’laughedCalderwell。I’dheardsomesuchthingbefore，butIhadn’tsupposeditwasreallyso。’
Well，itis。Hesaysheknowsmoretomboysandenormousfatwomennamed`Grace’and`Lily，’andsweetlittlemouse-likeladiesstaggeringalongunderasonorous`JerushaTheodosia’
or`ZenobiaJane’；andthatifheshouldnametheboys`Franz’and`Felix’afterSchubertandMendelssohnasMariewantsto，they’daslikelyasnotturnouttobemenwhohatedthesoundofmusicanddotedonstocksanddrygoods。’
Humph!’gruntedCalderwell。IsawCyrillastweek，andhesaidhehadn’tnamedthetwinsyet，buthedidn’ttellmewhy。Iofferedhimtwoperfectlygoodnamesmyself，buthedidn’tseeminterested。’
Whatwerethey？’
EldadandBildad。’
Hugh!’protestedBilly。
Well，whynot？’bridledtheman。I’msurethosearenewandunique，andreallymusical，too——’wayaheadofyourFranzandFelix。’
Butthosearen’treallynames!’
Indeedtheyare。’
Wheredidyougetthem？’
Offourfamilytree，thoughthey’reBiblenames，Bellesays。Perhapsyoudidn’tknow，butSisterBellehasbeenmakingthedirtflyquitelivelyoflatearoundthatfamilytreeofours，andshewrotemesomeofherdiscoveries。Itseemstwooftheroots，orbranches——say，areancestorsroots，orbranches？——werecalledEldadandBildad。NowIthoughtthosenamesweregoodenoughtopassalong，but，asIsaidbefore，Cyrilwasn’tinterested。’
Ishouldsaynot，’laughedBilly。But，honestly，Hugh，it’sreallyserious。Mariewantsthemnamed_something_，butshedoesn’tsaymuchtoCyril。Mariewouldn’treallybreathe，youknow，ifshethoughtCyrildisapprovedofbreathing。
AndinthiscaseCyrildoesnothesitatetodeclarethattheboysshallnamethemselves。’
Whatasituation!’laughedCalderwell。
Isn’tit？But，doyouknow，Icansympathizewithit，inaway，forI’vealwaysmournedsoover_my_name。`Billy’wasalwayssuchatrialtome!PoorUncleWilliamwasn’ttheonlyonethatpreparedgunsandfishingrodstoentertaintheexpectedboy。Idon’tknow，though，I’mafraidifI’dbeenallowedtoselectmynameIshouldhavebeena`HelenClarabella’allmydays，forthatwasthenameIgaveallmydolls，with`first，’`second，’`third，’andsoon，addedtothemfordistinction。EvidentlyIthoughtthat`HelenClarabella’wasthemostfeminineappellationpossible，andthemostforeigntothedespised`Billy。’SoyouseeIcansympathizewithCyriltoacertainextent。’
Buttheymustcallthelittlechaps_something_，now，’arguedHugh。
Billygaveasuddenmerrylaugh。
Theydo，’shegurgled，andthat’sthefunniestpartofit。Oh，Cyrildoesn’t。Healwayscallsthemimpersonally`they’or`it。’Hedoesn’tseemuchofthemanyway，now，Iunderstand。
Mariewashorrifiedwhensherealizedhowthenurseshadbeenusinghisdenasanurseryannexandshechangedallthatinstanter，whenshetookchargeofthingsagain。Thetwinsstayinthenurserynow，I’mtold。Butaboutthenames——
thenurses，itseems，havegotintothewayofcallingthem`Dot’and`Dimple。’Onehasadimpleinhischeek，andtheotherisalittlesmallerofthetwo。Marieisnoenddistressed，particularlyasshefindsthatsheherselfcallsthemthat；
andshesaystheideaofboysbeing`Dot’and`Dimple’!’
Ishouldsayso，’laughedCalderwell。NotIregardthatasworsethanmy`Eldad’and`Bildad。’’
Iknowit，andAlicesays——Bytheway，youhaven’tmentionedAlice，butIsupposeyouseeheroccasionally。’
Billypausedinevidentexpectationofareply。
Billywas，infact，quiteplumingherselfontheadroitcasualnesswithwhichshehadintroducedthesubjectnearestherheart。
Calderwellraisedhiseyebrows。
Oh，yes，Iseeher。’
Butyouhadn’tmentionedher。’
Therewasthebriefestofpauses；thenwithahalf-quizzicaldejection，therecametheremark：
Youseemtoforget。ItoldyouthatIstayedherethissummerforreasonstoonumerous，andonetooheart-breaking，tomention。Shewasthe_one_。’
Youmean——’
Yes。Theusualthing。Sheturnedmedown。
Oh，Ihaven’taskedheryetasmanytimesasI
didyou，but——’
_Hugh!_’
Hughtossedheragrimsmileandwentonimperturbably。
I’moldernow，ofcourse，andknowmore，perhaps。Besides，thefinalityofherremarkswasnottobemistaken。’
Billy，inspiteofhersympathyforCalderwell，wasconsciousofathrobofreliefthatatleastonestumbling-blockwasremovedfromArkwright’spossiblepathwaytoAlice’sheart。
Didshegiveanyspecialreason？’hazardedBilly，ashadetooanxiously。
Oh，yes。Shesaidshewasn’tgoingtomarryanybody——onlyhermusic。’
Nonsense!’ejaculatedBilly，fallingbackinherchairalittle。
Yes，Isaidthat，too，’gloomedtheman；
butitdidn’tdoanygood。Yousee，Ihadknownanothergirlwho’dsaidthesamethingonce。’Hedidnotlookup，butavividredflamedsuddenlyintoBilly’scheeks。Andshe——whentherightonecame——forgotallaboutthemusic，andmarriedtheman。SoInaturallysuspectedthatAlicewoulddothesamething。
Infact，Isaidsotoher。Iwasboldenoughtoevencallthemanbyname——Ihadn’tbeenjealousofArkwrightfornothing，yousee——butshedeniedit，andflewintosuchanindignantallegationthattherewasn’tawordoftruthinit，thatIhadtosueforpardonbeforeIgotanythinglikepeace。’
Oh-h!’saidBilly，inadisappointedvoice，fallingquitebackinherchairthistime。
Andsothat’swhyI’mwantingespeciallyjustnowtoseethewheelsgo’round，’smiledCalderwell，alittlewistfully。Oh，Ishallgetoverit，Isuppose。Itisn’tthefirsttime，I’llown——butsomedayItakeittherewillbealasttime。Enoughofthis，however!Youhaven’ttoldmeathingaboutyourself。Howaboutit？
WhenIcomeback，areyougoingtogivemeadinnercookedbyyourownfairhands？GoingtostillplayBridget？’
Billylaughedandshookherhead。
No；farfromit。Elizahascomeback，andhercousinfromVermontiscomingassecondgirltohelpher。ButI_could_cookadinnerforyouifIhadtonow，sir，anditwouldn’tbepotato-mushandcoldlamb，’shebraggedshamelessly，astheresoundedBertram’speculiarring，andtheclickofhiskeyinthelock。
ItwasthenextafternoonthatBillycalledonMarie。FromMarie’s，BillywenttotheAnnex，whichwasverynearCyril’snewhouse；andthere，inAuntHannah’sroom，shehadwhatshetoldBertramafterwardswasaperfectlylovelyvisit。
AuntHannah，too，enjoyedthevisitverymuch，thoughyettherewasonethingthatdisturbedher——thevaguelytroubledlookinBilly’seyes，whichto-daywasmoreapparentthanever。NotuntiljustbeforeBillywenthomedidsomethingoccurtogiveAuntHannahapossibleclueastowhatwasthemeaningofit。ThatsomethingwasaquestionfromBilly。
AuntHannah，whydon’tIfeellikeMariedid？whydon’tIfeellikeeverybodydoesinbooksandstories？Mariewentaroundwithsuchadetached，heavenly，absorbedlookinhereyes，beforethetwinscametoherhome。ButIdon’t。
Idon’tfindanythinglikethatinmyface，whenI
lookintheglass。AndIdon’tfeeldetachedandabsorbedandheavenly。I’mhappy，ofcourse；
butIcan’thelpthinkingofthedear，deartimesBertramandIhavetogether，justwetwo，andI
can’tseemtoimagineitatallwithathirdpersonaround。’
Billy!_Thirdperson_，indeed!’
There!Iknew’twouldshockyou，’mournedBilly。Itshocksme。I_want_tofeeldetachedandheavenlyandabsorbed。’
ButBilly，dear，thinkofit——callingyourownbabyathirdperson!’
Billysigheddespairingly。
Yes，Iknow。AndIsupposeImightaswellownuptotherestofittoo。I——I’mactuallyafraidofbabies，AuntHannah!Well，Iam，’shereiterated，inanswertoAuntHannah’sgaspofdisapproval。I’mnotusedtothematall。Ineverhadanylittlebrothersandsisters，andIdon’tknowhowtotreatbabies。I——I’malwaysafraidthey’llbreak，orsomething。I’mjustasafraidofthetwinsasIcanbe。HowMariecanhandlethem，andtossthemaboutasshedoes，Idon’tsee。’
Tossthemabout，indeed!’
Well，itlooksthatwaytome，’sighedBilly。
Anyhow，IknowIcannevergettohandlethemlikethat——andthat’snowaytofeel!AndI’mashamedofmyselfbecauseI_can’t_bedetachedandheavenlyandabsorbed，’sheadded，risingtogo。Everybodyalwaysis，itseems，butjustme。’
Fiddlededee，mydear!’scoffedAuntHannah，pattingBilly’sdowncastface。Waittillayearfromnow，andwe’llseeaboutthatthird-
personbugabooyou’reworryingabout。_I’m_
notworryingnow；soyou’dbetternot!’
OnthedayCyrilHenshaw’stwinsweresixmonthsold，amomentousoccurrencemarkedthedatewithaflamingredletterofremembrance；
anditallbeganwithababy’ssmile。
Cyril，inquestofhiswifeataboutteno’clockthatmorning，andnotfindingher，pursuedhissearcheventothenursery——aroomheveryseldomentered。Cyrildidnotliketogointothenursery。Hefeltillatease，andasifhewereawayfromhome——andCyrilwasknowntoabhorbeingawayfromhomesincehewasmarried。
NowthatMariehadtakenoverthereinsofgovernmentagain，hehadbeenobligedtoseeverylittleofthosestrangewomenandbabies。Notbutthathelikedthebabies，ofcourse。Theywerehissons，andhewasproudofthem。Theyshouldhaveeveryadvantagethatcollege，specialtraining，andtravelcouldgivethem。Hequiteanticipatedwhattheywouldbetohim——whentheyreallyknewanything。But，ofcourse，_now_，whentheycoulddonothingbutcryandwavetheirabsurdlittlefists，andwobbletheirheadsinsofearsomeamanner，asiftheysimplydidnotknowthemeaningofthewordbackbone——
and，forthatmatter，ofcoursetheydidn’t——
why，hecouldnotbeexpectedtobeanythingbutrelievedwhenhehadhisdentohimselfagain，withareasonablechanceoffindinghismanuscriptashehadleftit，andnotcutupintoaridiculousstringofpaperdollsholdinghands，ashehadoncefoundit，afteravisitfromawomanwithasmallgirl。
SinceMariehadbeenatthehelm，however，hehadnotbeentroubledinsuchaway。Hehad，indeed，knownalmosthisoldcustomarypeaceandfreedomfrominterruption，withonlyanoccasionalflittingacrosshispathofthestrangewomenandbabies——thoughhehadrealized，ofcourse，thattheywereinthehouse，especiallyinthenursery。Forthatreason，therefore，healwaysavoidedthenurserywhenpossible。Butto-dayhewantedhiswife，andhiswifewasnottobefoundanywhereelseinthehouse。So，reluctantly，heturnedhisstepstowardthenursery，and，withafrown，knockedandpushedopenthedoor。
IsMrs。Henshawhere？’hedemanded，notovergently。
Absolutesilencegreetedhisquestion。Themansawthenthattherewasnooneintheroomsaveababysittingonamatinthemiddleofthefloor，barricadedonallsideswithpillows。
Withadeeperfrownthemanturnedtogo，whenagleefulAh——goo!’haltedhisstepsmidway。
Hewheeledsharply。
Er——eh？’hequeried，uncertainlyeyeinghissmallsononthefloor。
Ah——goo!’observedtheinfantwhohadbeenverylonesome，withgreateremphasis；andthistimehesentintohisfather’seyesthemostbewitchingofsmiles。