low tone of voice, and frequently interrupted when it seemed to
disturb her, 'Toinette had slept feverish and restlessly; but as the
washwoman crept away to begin her daily labors, and Teddy lingered
for a moment more to look at the poor little sister whose beauty was
to him an ever-new delight, her great blue eyes suddenly opened, and
fixed upon him, while with an airy little laugh she said,--

"We're King and Queen of Merrigoland, Peter; isn't we? Does you love
me, Peter?"

"I couldn't tell how well I love you, Cherry dear; but it's Teddy I
am, and not Peter," said the boy, bashfully kissing the little hot
hand upon the outside of the bed.

To his dismay, the delirious child snatched it from him with a wild
cry, and burst into a storm of tears and sobs, crying,--

"Go away, wicked lady! go away, I say! God won't love you when you
strike me, you know. He won't: my mamma said so. Oh, oh, oh!"

Her cries brought Mrs. Ginniss to her side in a moment, who,
tenderly soothing her, turned upon Teddy.

"Bad 'cess to yees, ye spalpeen! An' what ud ye be afther vexin' her
for, an' her in a faver? What did yees say to her?"

"I said my name was Teddy, and not Peter; and then she said I was a
lady, and struck her," replied the boy, bewildered, and a little
indignant.