interfere with my child. I c'n take it 'n' go anywhere 't I please 'n'
never be afraid o' any subpenny comin' down on me. 'S far 's I'm
concerned, I only wish 't she'd send back 'n' abduct him too, 'n' then
the community 'd have some peace on the Shores subjeck. There ain't
nothin' left to say, 'n' every one keeps sayin' it over 'n' over from
dawn to dark. I must say, Mrs. Lathrop, 't when I c'nsider how much
folks still find to say o' Mrs. Shores 'n' it all, I'm more 'n proud
that I ain't never been one to say nothin' a _tall_."

Mrs. Lathrop did not speak for some time. Then she took up her parrot
again and looked thoughtfully at its feet.

"What made you decide on a b--" she asked at last.

"I didn't decide. I c'u'd n't decide, 'n' so I shook a nickel for
heads 'n' tails."

"'N' it came a boy."

"No, it came a girl, 'n' the minute 't I see 't it was a girl I knew
't I'd wanted a boy all along, so, 's the good o' me bein' free to act
's I please is 't I do act 's I please, I decided then 'n' there on a
boy."

Mrs. Lathrop turned the parrot over.

'F you was so set on a boy, why did you--"

"What do folks ever toss up for? To decide. Tossin' up always shows
you jus' how much you didn't want what you get. Only, as a general