peculiarity, such as the aged Aunt Cooley Hunchberg's deafness, on which
account Beasley never once forgot to raise his voice when he addressed
her. Indeed, the details of actuality in all this appeared to bring as
great a delight to the man as to the child. Certainly he built them up
with infinite care. On one occasion when Mr. Hunchberg and I happened to
be calling, Hamilton remarked with surprise that Simpledoria had come
into the room without licking his hand as he usually did, and had crept
under the table. Mr. Hunchberg volunteered the information (through
Beasley) that upon his approach to the house he had seen Simpledoria
chasing a cat. It was then debated whether chastisement was in order,
but finally decided that Simpledoria's surreptitious manner of entrance
and his hiding under the table were sufficient indication that he well
understood his baseness, and would never let it happen again. And so,
Beasley having coaxed him out from under the table, the offender "sat
up," begged, and was forgiven. I could almost feel the splendid shaggy
head under my hand when, in turn, I patted Simpledoria to show that the
reconciliation was unanimous.




VI


Autumn trailed the last leaves behind her flying brown robes one night;
we woke to a skurry of snow next morning; and it was winter. Down-town,
along the sidewalks, the merchants set lines of poles, covered them with
evergreen, and ran streamers of green overhead to encourage the festal
shopping. Salvation Army Santa Clauses stamped their feet and rang bells
on the corners, and pink-faced children fixed their noses immovably to