"Jimmy, please stop it and be a man," said Brennan. He put a hand on
Jimmy's shoulder. Jimmy flung it aside with a quick twist and a turn.
"Please, Jimmy," pleaded Brennan. Jimmy left his chair and buried his
face in a corner of the wall.

"Jimmy, believe me," pleaded Brennan. "I'm going to take you to live in
your old house, among your own things. I can't replace your folks, but I
can try to be as close to your father as I know how. I'll see you through
everything, just as your mother and father want me to."

"No!" exploded Jimmy through a burst of tears.

Grandfather Holden grunted. "This is getting close to the tantrum stage,"
he said. "And the only way to deal with a tantrum is to apply the flat of
the hand to the round of the bottom."

"Please," smiled Brennan. "He's a pretty shaken youngster. He's
emotionally hurt and frightened, and he wants to strike out and hurt
something back."

"I think he's done enough of that," said Grandfather Holden. "When Louis
tossed one of these fits of temper where he wouldn't listen to any
reason, we did as we saw fit anyway and let him kick and scream until
he got tired of the noise he made."

"Let's not be rough," pleaded Jimmy's grandmother. "He's just a little
boy, you know."

"If he weren't so little he'd have better sense," snapped Grandfather.