“I——er——willspeakwithher——alone。“
Theroundeyesagainsawthecompletecollapseofauthority，asthetwowomenshrankbackfromthevoice，andsaidhurriedly，——
“Certainly，ColonelStarbottle；perhapsitwouldbebetter，“andingloriouslyquittedtheroom。
Butthecolonel’striumphlefthimhelpless。Hewasalonewithasimplechild，anunprecedented，unheard-ofsituation，whichlefthimembarrassedand——speechless。Evenhisvanitywasconsciousthathisoratoricalperiods，hismethods，hisveryattitude，werepowerlesshere。Theperspirationstoodoutonhisforehead；helookedathervaguely，andessayedafeeblesmile。Thechildsawhisembarrassment，evenasshehadseenandunderstoodhistriumph，andthesmallwomanwithinherexulted。Sheputherlittlehandsonherwaist，andwiththefingersturneddownwardsandoutwardspressedthemdownherhipstoherbendedkneesuntiltheyhadforcedherskirtsintoanegregiousfullnessbeforeandbehind，asifsheweremakingacurtsy，andthenjumpedupandlaughed。
“Youdidit！Hooray！“
“Didwhat？“saidthecolonel，pleasedyetmystified。
“Frightened’em！——thetwooldcats！Frightened’emoutentheirslippers！Oh，jiminy！Never，never，NEVERbeforewastheysoskeert！Neversinceschoolkeptdidtheyhavetocrawllikethat！
TheywasskeertenoughFIRSTwhenyoucome，butjustnow！——Lordy！
Theywasn’ta-goin’toletyouseeme——buttheyhadto！hadto！HAD
TO！“andsheemphasizedeachrepetitionwithaskip。
“Ibelieve——er，“saidthecolonelblandly，“thatI——er——intimatedwithsomefirmness“——
“That’sit——justit！“interruptedthechilddelightedly。“You——
you——overdid’em“
“What？“
“OVERDID’EM！Don’tyouknow？They’realwayssohighandmighty！
Kinder’Don’ttechme。Mymother’sanangel；myfather’saking’——
allthatsortofthing。TheydidTHIS“——shedrewherselfupinapresumableimitationofthetwowomen’smajesticentrance——“andthen，“shecontinued，“you——YOUjestdidthis“——heresheliftedherchin，andpuffingouthersmallchest，strodetowardsthecolonelinevidentsimulationofhisgrandestmanner。
Ashort，deepchuckleescapedhim——althoughthenextmomenthisfacebecameseriousagain。ButPansyinthemeantimehadtakenpossessionofhiscoatsleeveandwasrubbinghercheekagainstitlikeayoungcolt。Atwhichthecolonelsuccumbedfeeblyandsatdownonthesofa，thechildstandingbesidehim，leaningoverandtransferringherlittlehandstothelapelsofhisfrockcoat，whichsheessayedtobuttonoverhischestasshelookedintohismurkyeyes。
“Theothergirlssaid，“shebegan，tuggingatthebutton，“thatyouwasa’cirkiss’“——anothertug——“’aniggerminstrel’“——andathirdtug——“’aagentwithsamples’——butthatshowedalltheyknew！“
“Ah，“saidthecolonelwithexaggeratedblandness，“and——er——whatdidYOU——er——say？“
Thechildsmiled。“IsaidyouwasaStuffedDonkey——butthatwasBEFOREIknewyou。Iwasalittleskeerttoo；butNOW“——shesucceededinbuttoningthecoatandmakingthecolonelquiteapoplectic，——“NOWIain’tfrightenedonebit——no，notoneTINYbit！
But，“sheadded，afterapause，unbuttoningthecoatagainandsmoothingdownthelapelsbetweenherfingers，“you’retokeeponfrighteningtheoldcats——mind！NevermindabouttheGIRLS。I’lltellthem。“
Thecolonelwouldhavegivenworldstoheabletostruggleupintoanuprightpositionwithsuitableoralexpression。Notthathisvanitywasatallwoundedbytheseirresponsibleepithets，whichonlyexcitedanamusedwonder，buthewasconsciousofanembarrassedpleasureinthechild’scaressingfamiliarity，andherperfecttrustfulnessinhimtouchedhisextravagantchivalry。Heoughttoprotecther，andyetcorrecther。Intheconsciousnessofthesedutieshelaidhiswhitehanduponherhead。Alas！sheliftedherarmandinstantlytransferredhishandandpartofhisarmaroundherneckandshoulders，andcomfortablysnuggledagainsthim。Thecolonelgasped。Nevertheless，somethingmustbesaid，andhebegan，albeitsomewhatcrippledindelivery:——
“The——er——useofelegantandpreciselanguageby——er——youngladiescannotbetoosedulouslycultivated“——
Butherethechildlaughed，andsnugglingstillcloser，gurgled:
“That’sright！Giveittoherwhenshecomesdown！That’sthestyle！“andthecolonelstopped，discomfited。Nevertheless，therewasacertainwholesomeglowinthecontactofthisnestlinglittlefigure。
Presentlyheresumedtentativery:“Ihave——er——broughtyouafewdainties。“
“Yes，“saidPansy，“Isee；butthey’refromthewrongshop，youdearoldsilly！They’refromTomkins’s，andwegirlsjustabominatehisthings。YououghterhavegonetoEmmons’s。Nevermind。I’llshowyouwhenwegoout。We’regoingout，aren’twe？“
shesaidsuddenly，liftingherheadanxiously。“Youknowit’sallowed，andit’sRIGHTS’toparentsandguardians’！“
“Certainly，certainly，“saidthecolonel。Heknewhewouldfeelalittlelessconstrainedintheopenair。
“Thenwe’llgonow，“saidPansy，jumpingup。“I’lljustrunupstairsandputonmythings。I’llsayit’s’orders’fromyou。
AndI’llwearmynewfrock——it’slonger。“Thecolonelwasslightlyrelievedatthis；ithadseemedtohim，asaguardian，thattherewasperhapsanabnormaldisplayofPansy’sblackstockings。“Youwait；Iwon’tbelong。“
Shedartedtothedoor，butreachingit，suddenlystopped，returnedtothesofa，wherethecolonelstillsat，imprintedaswiftkissonhismottledcheek，andfled，leavinghiminvestedwithamingledflavoroffreshlyironedmuslin，wintergreenlozenges，andrecentbreadandbutter。Hesatstillforsometime，staringoutofthewindow。Itwasveryquietintheroom；abumblebeeblunderedfromthejasmineoutsideintotheopenwindow，andsnoredloudlyatthepanes。Butthecolonelheededitnot，andremainedabstractedandsilentuntilthedooropenedtoMissTishandPansy——inherbestfrockandsash，atwhichthecolonelstartedandbecameerectagainandcourtly。
“Iamabouttotakemywardout，“hesaiddeliberately，“to——er——
tastetheairintheAlameda，and——er——viewtheshops。Wemay——er——
also——indulgein——er——slightsuitablerefreshment；——er——seedcake——
or——breadandbutter——and——adishoftea。“
MissTish，nowthoroughlysubdued，wasdelightedtograntMissStannardthehalfholidaypermittedonsuchoccasions。Shebeggedthecoloneltosuithisownpleasure，andintrusted“thedearchild“toherguardian“withthegreatestconfidence。“
Thecolonelmadealowbow，andPansy，demurelyslippingherhandintohis，passedwithhimintothehall；therewasaslightrustleofvanishingskirts，andPansypressedhishandsignificantly。
Whentheywerewelloutside，shesaid，inalowervoice:——
“Don’tlookupuntilwe’reunderthegymnasiumwindows。“Thecolonel，mystifiedbutobedient，struttedon。“Now！“saidPansy。
Helookedup，beheldthewindowsaglowwithbrightyoungfaces，andbewilderingwithmanyhandkerchiefsandclappinghands，stopped，andthentakingoffhishat，acknowledgedthesalutewithasweepingbow。Pansywasdelighted。“Iknewthey’dbethere；I’dalreadyfixed’em。They’rejustdyin’toknowyou。“
Thecolonelfeltacertainglowofpleasure，“I——er——hadalreadyintimateda——er——willingnessto——er——inspecttheclasses；but——I——
er——understoodthattherules“——
“They’resickoldrules，“interruptedthechild。“TishandPrinkwellaretherules！YousayjustrightoutthatyouWILL！
Justoverdoher！“
Thecolonelhadavaguesensethatheoughttocorrectboththespiritandlanguageofthisinsurrectionaryspeech，butPansypulledhimalong，andthenswepthimquiteawaywithatorrentofprattleoftheschool，ofherfriends，oftheteachers，ofherlifeanditsinfinitelysmallmiseriesandpleasures。Pansywasvoluble；neverbeforehadthecolonelfoundhimselfrelegatedtotheplaceofapassivelistener。Nevertheless，helikedit，andastheypassedon，undertheshadeoftheAlameda，withPansyalternatelyswingingfromhishandandskippingbesidehim，therewasavaguesmileofsatisfactiononhisface。Passers-byturnedtolookafterthestrangelyassortedpair，orsmiled，acceptingthem，asthecolonelfancied，asfatheranddaughter。Anoddfeeling，halfofpainandhalfofpleasure，grippedattheheartoftheemptyandchildlessman。
Andnow，astheyapproachedthemorecrowdedthoroughfares，theinstinctofchivalrousprotectionwaskeeninhisbreast。Hepilotedherskillfully；hejauntilysuitedhisowntoherskippingstep；heliftedherwithscrupulouspolitenessoverobstacles；
struttingbesideheroncrowdedpavements，hemadewayforherwithhisswingingstick。Allthewhile，too，hehadtakennoteoftheeasycarriageofherheadandshoulders，andmostofallofhersmall，slimfeetandhands，that，tohisfastidioustaste，betokenedherrace。“Ged，sir，“hemutteredtohimself，“she’s’BlueGrass’stock，allthrough。“Toadmirationsucceededpride，withaslighttouchofownership。Whentheywentintoashop，which，thankstotheingenuousPansy，theydidprettyoften，hewouldintroduceherwithawaveofthehandandtheremark，“Iam