III

THE PAINFUL AGE

"OH WILL--EE!"

Thus a shrill voice, to his ears hideously different from that other,
interrupted and dispersed his visions. Little Jane, his ten-year-old
sister, stood upon the front porch, the door open behind her, and in her
hand she held a large slab of bread-and-butter covered with apple sauce
and powdered sugar. Evidence that she had sampled this compound was upon
her cheeks, and to her brother she was a repulsive sight.

"Will-ee!" she shrilled. "Look! GOOD!" And to emphasize the adjective
she indelicately patted the region of her body in which she believed
her stomach to be located. "There's a slice for you on the dining-room
table," she informed him, joyously.

Outraged, he entered the house without a word to her, and, proceeding
to the dining-room, laid hands upon the slice she had mentioned, but
declined to eat it in Jane's company. He was in an exalted mood, and
though in no condition of mind or body would he refuse food of almost
any kind, Jane was an intrusion he could not suffer at this time.

He carried the refection to his own room and, locking the door, sat down
to eat, while, even as he ate, the spell that was upon him deepened in